P A R T T W O
I wake up to the smell of fresh pine trees and pancakes. I cuddle up into a ball, hugging the white comforter that always fails to keep me warm in the morning. The morning sun has already woken me up, and I roll onto my side, still barely awake.
My legs ache while I stretch my body, as does my head.
Did I drink last night?
It was all a blurry vision, one minute I was with Brooke and the next I was with some really handsome guy with whom I watched the stars with. Was he real or was it a dream?
I slide out of my bed, my mouth basically watering at the smell of my mother's pancakes. They sound really good, even right now, when I'm not hungry.
"Whose dress..." I think out loud and my voice trails off as I examine the white dress on my body. I have never seen it before. "Mom?" I call. No answer.
She must be listening to music or something, that's what she did when she cooked sometimes.
I place the slippers that always sit next to my bed onto my feet and walk towards the door to go downstairs.
First, I have to deal with the bird's nest that sits on my head. I'm a heavy sleeper, so my hair always gets tangled after a night's rest.
I approach the mirror and my mouth drops. My hair is perfectly laid against my chest, smoother than I have ever seen it before. It's a lighter blonde than usual. I also notice the pimple that was on my forehead earlier is now gone. I take a few steps forward to examine my skin and then I see my eyes.
I blink a few times in utter shock. I look down at my body to make sure this isn't some crazy dream. That's when I see my arms. They're perfectly smooth and normal, which doesn't sit right in my head.
I gasp when the memories flood into my brain all at once. It's overwhelming, so much that my body goes weak. The fire. Dying. Becoming a stage two. Tanner, Brooke, Jack. Nick. That's why my body hurts, it's because of the procedure that girl was talking about. What was her name? Lorena? She never told me it was going to lead to severe memory loss and confusion when I woke back up again.
I forgot that I died.
I run my hand over my wrists. They're smooth. No scars. Nothing but the small fire engraving. I can't believe this.
I turn to face my large bed.
Why is my room the exact same as it was when I was alive? What happened to the communal bedroom that I was in? I want to find Brooke, or anyone that would make me feel sane again because nothing is making sense.
I look back up at myself in the mirror, and examine my eyes. Instead of being brown they're grey. Not even a blue grey, just grey. An absence of color. Like Stacy, they have flakes of color in them, but mine are dark red and a peachy orange instead.
Like a fire.
There are specks of glitter near my pupil. I back up, almost smiling. I'm happy with them. They're not too much but not too subtle either.
They are beautiful, and the grey makes the colored flakes stand out even more. I can't wait to show Brooke, whose eyes are probably prettier than mine, because she can make anything work. You can put any color with dark brown hair and it will stand out. She could have her same brown eyes and they'd still look better than mine now.
A knock comes from my door and I jump. Nervous to see who it is, I approach the door slowly and look through the peephole. This door isn't like my room, it's like a hotel door-- heavy and wide.
It's Stacy.
I immediately open the door and welcome her in. She has a smile on her face, but no clipboard this time.
"Wow, I never expected your room to look like this. I assume this is your room from home, correct?" She peeks her head inside.
I nod. "Who made this? It's exactly like my room. Maybe a bit bigger but everything's the same." I look around. Even the TV on the wall is still there.
"Why, you did." She replies as if it were obvious. "Everyone gets whatever room they want, the one that makes them feel the happiest. For most people that is their normal room."
"Where am I? I feel like I have been in a coma or something." I rub my eyes to wake myself up more because it's like they are droopy.
"You're in The Gate. In your dorm. This is where you'll be living for a while." Stacy tells me. She is very calm despite how panicked I was acting.
"Wait. Where's Brooke?"
"She should be in orientation right now. You start tomorrow, today is your rest day. Feel free to explore wherever." She smiles.
"When does Brooke's orientation end?"
Stacy narrows her eyebrows and her face contorts into a confused expression, like she's freaked out by my panic. "Not for a while. Why?"
I groan. "I want to see her, that's all. Are you going to see her anytime today?"
She thinks about it for a moment. "I don't think so. I'm pretty much busy all day. But you might be able to find her in the cafeteria outside in the training center. Other than that, no."
"Do you at least know which dorm she's in?" I inquire. I don't know how else I would find her in this busy place. I don't know where her room is or where the orientation building is. I don't remember anything from that tour, nor anything that happened a few hours before my procedure.
"She's in The Gate with you. I'm pretty sure she's a floor above you, but I might be able to find Chris and ask him. He knows where she is."
"That would be great, thank you so much. I really need to talk to her." I sigh with relief.
"Alright, I'll see if I can find him." She smiles, "Oh, and I love your eyes." Stacy winks at me as she shuts my door, her eyes twinkling. I wonder if mine sparkle yet, but I doubt they do. That's not something the procedure adds.
Jack's eyes sparkled, Tanner's eyes, and also Brooke's eyes. The fact that she told me that mine didn't forces me wonder if there's something wrong with me.
I shake it off.
I can't wait to see Tanner now; I bet new eyes would just make him that much more attractive. I'm curious to see Jack's as well, but I never got the chance to see his old eye color just because I never made eye contact with him. He's intimidating.
***
I felt groggy basically the whole day, napping on and off for a few hours. Stacy came back to check on me again and said that it was completely normal to feel a little off for the first few days. My vision was a little weird too-- my eyes kept focusing and unfocusing randomly and eventually became too tired to stay open. I concluded that it had something to do with the fact that they're basically new.
I open my eyes to a dark room. There's a little bit of light coming from my window. Frustrated, I leave my bed to see my view outside. I always used to hate taking naps, I thought that I was missing out. I could have visited Brooke by now, but I still didn't know where her dorm was.
Behind the curtain is the row of shops that I walked through yesterday. The stone path is dotted with people, who are walking around with their coffee cups or their leftover food boxes. One of them has wings. They are bright white and heavily feathered. They look like the fake ones I used but bigger. I wonder what it's like to fly whenever I want.
That guy has to be a stage three, it would only make sense. What is he doing in a stage two dorm? I want to ask them what it's like to enter people's dreams and do whatever they want in there. To me it seems like making up your own movie.
I close the curtains again and head towards the door. I'm sick of staying in my room all day, I want to use my day off to my advantage and explore the dorm that I would be living in. I could also make an attempt to find Brooke, but I doubt I would see her in this massive place. Each building is its own town essentially.
Outside my room is a long marble hallway, kind of like the one in the stage one dorm but less wide. It's literally like a hotel. There are many rooms lined up down the hall and an elevator at the end. I'm not sure if I need a key to get back in, so I keep the door cracked open with my alarm clock. I assume nobody breaks in here, right?
I also note my room number— 414. I almost forget to look, but it wouldn't have mattered if I didn't because my room is probably the only one that is propped open by an alarm clock.
The paintings on the walls remind me of the renaissance. There are pillars emerging from the walls, forming arcs at the ceiling. In between each support beam is a painting of something. The elevator doors are gold, which really enhanced the beauty of the hallway. I feel like I'm walking through a museum as I look at some of the miniature statues scattered everywhere.
The lobby is even better. Everything is a cream and gold color. There are pillars everywhere and a ton of couches and lounge spaces. There's a ping pong table and what looked like a small movie theatre down the hall.
I most definitely look ridiculous because of the astonishment plastered on my face. I can't help it, I have never seen anything like this before. There's a pool at the really tall white building, so there has to be one here, right?
I make my way around the lobby looking for any signs that could lead to the pool, but there aren't any. I would have gone outside to look, but it's getting dark. I didn't do much walking, but my body still hurts. Maybe another good rest will help it recover.
Sorry for not updating much this week, I've been super busy. Hopefully you liked this chapter and the fact that Julia is finally a stage two!
Make sure to vote and comment what you think!
- SM