The Enlightened

Chapter 1: Who's Powerless?

"Apple 3! Wait up!" A gangly boy with black hair comes running up to me in the hallway. "Hey! So what's your plan for tonight? Getting prepared for the Evaluation?" His goofy grin makes me laugh.

I pull my red hair into a ponytail. "I'm not sure, Pear 24. I think my parents might come for visiting hours tonight." He looked at me over his glasses in disgust.

"Your parents showing up is never a good thing. Last time they visited you spent the rest of the evening throwing up." I avoid his gaze. I knew he was right but I didn't want to think about it.

"They're not bad people. They just put a lot of pressure on me. They can't do that anymore because of the Evaluation. Once I get placed in a territory they can't harass me about my studies. This weekend's visit is more of a goodbye. They are pretty sure I won't get placed in the Life Territory."

"That's right! That's because you'll get placed in the Control Territory with me!" A blonde beauty interrupts our conversation. "Come on, Apple baby! We can't be separated." I look over to Pear 24 who suddenly looks very shy.

"Hi, Cherry 13. What makes you so sure I'm a Control kid?" She gives me a dramatic shocked look with her big blue eyes widened.

"Apple baby! You can't be serious! Your red hair, cheekbones, and plump lips are a Control's dream! You're like the prettiest girl I know! You could use some fashion tips but Control kids aren't all fashion experts." At that time a group of male classmates walks by the three of us.

"Hello, Cherry 13! You wanna get dinner, baby?" After a few comments and whistles, Cherry tries to act undeserving of the complements. Cherry truly was the most beautiful girl in our year. She had beautiful blonde hair and blue eyes. Her presence made you blush she was so perfect. She was designed to be in the Control Territory. Plus her parents are Legacies there. Everything about her seemed to scream Control. It drew the attention away from Pear 24 and I. We didn't mind, honestly it keeps those pervs who gawk at Cherry 13 from bullying us. Pear 24 is an awkward kid. He has always been extremely shy and really smart. His parents are from the Cognitive Territory. I have been picked on for my hair. Not very often do girls with red hair appear. It's more common with the boys and even then, there is only one other boy with red hair and he is 10 years old. I am the first red-haired girl in decades. That's also why my parents have been putting so much pressure on me. I'm rare. I'm a freak.

"Anyway, what's this about the Life Territory? Are your parents coming to visit before the Evaluation tomorrow?" Cherry flashes a look of concern. I nod. I have no idea how she could just guess that. "Well, it can't be as bad as last time. At least now they don't expect you to be in Life. It's kind of rare to have red hair and be anywhere else, though." We pause awkwardly as she takes a piece of my hair and rubs it between her fingers. I shuffle awkwardly so my hair falls out of her hand.

"I think that's why my parents treat me like a disappointment." I joke but my friends don't seem to get it and my laughter doesn't seem to help.

"You know," Pear starts, "I don't even have an emotional attachment to the people I call parents. It's not like we have ever lived with them. We have lived here in the HUB all our lives and our parents have only visited. Plus! The older we get, the less they visit."

    "We aren't supposed to be attached to our parents," I explain. "That's the point of us living in the HUB. If we got attached and were assigned another territory, that would cause emotional distress. Now, can we not talk about this." My friends nod and we pack into the elevator with other students to head down to the dormitories. We stop at Pear 24's floor and say our goodbyes. Then the elevator stops at Cherry 13 and I's floor.

"You know, Cherry 13, I have no idea where I'm going to be placed." She steps in front of me and begins walking backward to our dorm.

"That's okay, Apple 3. We will figure it out. The hardest part is when we are given names. It'll be weird to call you anything other than Apple 3." She giggles to herself.