The Hidden End [Ender's Game]

+ Chapter 01

PART 01 || CHAPTER 01

Different Fields

Morgan Bellar couldn't remember the last time she'd felt so out of place. She was sitting in a rocket among a bunch of other kids like her--mentally gifted, she'd heard the grown-ups say--but even though every adult she's encountered had tried to convince her that they were so much alike, Morgan could feel their differences. Her eyes darted to the faces around her, which only made her wince and turn her head away. They were nothing like her, she decided.

She'd remembered getting scouted for Battle School after wearing a monitor for a couple of years, and she'd remembered Colonel Graff giving her the choice of coming with him and training to be a soldier. Somehow, Morgan got the feeling that even if she'd said no to his offer, he'd make her go. She found it wiser to give in to his wishes rather than start an argument and put herself on the blacklist before her training even began. After all, there wasn't much she'd be missing on Earth. There was no actual reason to refuse, unless she was afraid of the commitment and the challenge. And Morgan would most definitely not succumb to fear.

When her younger brother, Florian, had heard about her departure, he grimaced and huffed. "How long will you be gone?" he said.

"Long enough," Morgan told him. She ruffled his hair and brought him into a headlock, poking his nose. "Cheer up. I'll be back before you know it. You won't even have time to miss me."

But even though Florian was only nine, he understood perfectly. He knew that the chances of seeing Morgan again anytime soon were very slim. She was smart; they needed that kind of stuff at the Battle School. There was no way they'd let her go home unless she somehow became physically unable to go on.

Florian never said much, but he thought a lot. He was a meditative boy, always cautious with every single decision he made. People tended to overlook him because of those very reasons, thinking he was too young and naive to be taken into consideration, but sometimes, Morgan thought he would be a better candidate for Battle School than she was.

But it wasn't Florian they picked. It was Morgan, and as more kids filled in the seats around her, she found it harder and harder to wrap her head around that thought.

She was sitting in the very back row on the right side, on the second seat from the left. She noticed a tan boy take a seat two chairs down from her, and he turned his head to look at her. Morgan's cheeks heated up, and she kept her gaze ahead. Don't look at him, don't look at him, she kept telling herself. Avoid all confrontation.

"What's your name?" he asked.

It took a couple of seconds for Morgan to register the fact that the boy had spoken to her. She slowly turned her head around to face him. "Morgan," she said.

The boy glanced at her shoulder-length hair, eyes scanning the small scars on her face. One above her eyebrow, and one on her nose. "You a tomboy?"

"More or less."

The boy gave her a small smile, his eyes twinkling slightly. "I'm Bean."

She didn't know what else to say, so she nodded and exhaled. Bean stared at her a few more seconds and then moved his attention elsewhere. When she thought he wasn't looking, Morgan snuck a glance his way.

It was only a few moments later that another boy walked in. Morgan's eyes flickered around, and she realized that the last seat available was the one to her left. She snapped her head up to look at the boy walking down the aisle, and immediately regretted it.

He wasn't anything special. He looked sort of average, if maybe a little too much on the skinny side. His hair was short and dark, and his eyes were a pale blue--very different from her almost black irises. That wasn't the part that made Morgan panic. She'd seen much better-looking boys than the one in front of her.