I try to fight the smile that’s tugging at my lips. I slow down my pace, joining Piper and Kate again. Sienna pulls back ahead, going to her roommates. The Teaching Bell rings and I walk to Circle Room 2, where my next Profession Exam will be. I sit down along the counter and tap up the hologram.
Profession Exam Two
This exam will determine your strongest skill in the areas of the Teachings.
That shouldn’t be too difficult. The light keyboard appears and I click the space bar to move forwards. The first question lights up. Math.
What is the reciprocal of the integer negative five eighths.
I type in my answer. That question was simple. We passed that content years ago. Another math problem pops up after I enter my answer. Then another. Thirty different math questions appear before it switches to a different Teaching. History Teaching. After History, Literature.
Questions pass for each Teaching, except for Inspection and I.L.I. After it ends, I trudge back into my room and quickly change into my night clothes. I barely get any sleep, too worried to relax. Worried about Dana. Worried about Canton. Worried about getting caught. Worried about my answers on the exams. Worried. Worried. Worried.
˚˚°˚˚
My chin aches the entire day. My Renewal Official brushes more makeup on, but I feel like it’s catching all of the Officials’ attention. Piper and I meet up at Free Hour as soon as we get off the stairs.
“Why were you talking to 988?” Piper asks.
“Sienna, not 988. She remembers Canton.”
“What? How?” She scans the crowd for Sienna, but she’s nowhere in sight. She’s probably on the other side of the track.
“She has the bandage, but she asked me what I thought about him.”
“How…if she remembers, do other people? Why didn’t she forget when we did?”
“I don’t know, but I told her about meeting with Josh.”
“What?” Piper’s eyebrows rise, “Is that a good idea?”
“She told me her name. She’s at least a little defiant.”
Piper bites her lip. She’s not convinced. What can I say to make her understand? We can trust her.
“We should give her a chance. I trusted you, why can’t I trust her?”
Piper sighs, but doesn’t say anything more. She’s still not completely reassured.
Kate catches up to us. Piper clenches her fists in frustration. It’s impossible to figure out anything when we can only talk once a day. Our already few conversations are always cut short when Kate shows up.
Kate talks for the entirety of Free Hour. Piper and I exchange hopeless glances as she launches into her detailed opinion on the Heads being gracious, kind-hearted, and several other overly used words.
Free Hour ends and I walk back through the halls to my third Profession Exam. I stride into Circle Room 7 and sit down at the stool with 986 on it. I tap up my hologram.
Profession Exam Three
Answer the questions as accurately and quickly as you can.
It’s the same activities we do in I.L.I. Memory. Concentration Match-making. All the questions resemble the ones in I.L.I. class. I guess my results are mediocre. Other topics steal for my attention, instead of memorizing random symbols.
Once the exam is finished, a message blinks on my hologram.
Please remember the final two locations for your Profession Exams.
Day 4 – Circle Room 2
Day 5 – Circle Room 15
I gasp at the final location. I’ve never been to Circle Room 15. I didn’t know there was a Circle Room 15. We can’t venture that far down the hall. The furthest I’ve ever been is Circle Room 10.
Girls stand and begin leaving the room. I numbly stagger out of the room. Why would we have to go all the way to Circle Room 15? What’s down there that isn’t in any of the other Circle Rooms?
˚˚°˚˚
My Renewal Official’s gaze darts around the room throughout my Renewals. What’s wrong? She drops a vial of makeup, a loud clatter filling the air. Fine pale dust coats the floor. She twists her mouth and cleans it up, muttering under her breath. Once her mess has disappeared, she hurriedly applies the rest of my makeup.
She bites her lip, and scans the rooms again before going over my mascara again. She whispers into my ear, “Dawn. My name.”
She tilts her head away, as if she was only examining her work. She dismisses me without a glance.
I stumble to the Eating Hall. Why would she tell me this? Not every Renewal Official gives away this many secrets. Why do I need to know?
I press my thumb into the scanner for my food. An Official marches over with my oatmush and sets it down in front of the counter. I take my tray, and find my seat. Piper and Kate join me. I push the tasteless oatmush through my lips.
Sienna catches my eye as she sits down. A slight spark dances in her eye. Today she’s going to sneak out with us. We go back to focusing on the wall in front of us.
The Teaching Bell rings.
We place our trays on the conveyor belt and file out of the Eating Hall. I allow myself a few minutes in the Toilets and I stand in the stall thinking.
Why would Dawn tell me her name? What would be in it for her? Why would she want me to know?
What piece am I missing that connects this all together?
˚˚°˚˚
I slip on to my stool during Late Meal. I begin eating my bread. Sienna sits down besides me, keeping her eyes on the tray. Sienna’s fingers fold up her napkin and slip it into the waistband of her skirt.
She’s coming tonight.
˚˚°˚˚
I walk to the Circle Room for my Profession Exam, my fourth one. The exams are almost over. What are my results saying? What Profession will I get?
I take a seat on my stool and tap up the hologram. The questions immediately appear.
Profession Exam Four
Pick the answer that you believe is correct for the situation provided.
1. You see a girl whisper in the halls. You should…
a) Ignore it. Pointing it out would suggest inequality.
b) Report it quietly to an Official without disruption. She deserves to be in the Unknown.
c) Quietly reprimand her during Free Hour. There’s no need to inconvenience an Official if you can take care of it yourself.
d) Announce her clearly and immediately to all the Officials and girls around you. If there is a dangerous rebel around, everyone should know for their own safety.
I stare at all the possible answers. Each one has the words twisted carefully to trap us. You should report it to an Official, but what if she is ‘dangerous’? We aren’t supposed to talk to other people besides our roommates at Free Hour, but are we inconveniencing Officials?
It says to pick the answer I believe is correct. If I were honest, I would click answer A, but not because it would ‘suggest inequality’. How could I report someone for rebelling when I do the same? Which one is the ‘right’ answer?
I clench my teeth together, before pressing B. The question disappears, replaced by another.
2. An Official tells you to do something that would physically hurt someone.
a) Obey the Official. Sometimes you have to hurt people physically to heal them mentally.
b) Disobey the Official. Hurting someone would show that you have more power over them, and therefore show inequality.
Only two options this time, but more difficult. How do the Officials expect us to answer these? Are the answers clear to other girls, the right answers clouded by my rebellion? Will my answers show my defiance?
I click A and hope it’s right.
More questions appear each one harder than the last. I feel like every answer I click is wrong, but there’s no answer that would fit better. I’ll never know which one the Officials considered ‘right’ and ‘wrong’. We never get to see the results.
The test ends with my head aching. After tonight, I don’t know if I’ll even get a Profession. I might be taken straight to the Unknown. I stagger back to my room.
I slip the napkin into the lock and change into my nightclothes. The door slams shut and the light flicker off. What is Sienna doing right now? Is she melting in anxiety? Buzzing with excitement?
The vents shut off. I slip out of bed, and Piper taps my shoulder to let me know that she’s here. I slide the door open a crack and peek out into the hall. Nothing. I push it open just enough to squeeze through. Piper slips though after me and I close it, leaving it open just an inch. We creep towards the Eating Hall.
Just as we reach the doors, a light beam appears around the corner. We dart inside the Eating Hall, ducking under the tables. I wince as my elbow hits the corner of a table. My whole arm vibrates with a tingling.
The Official passes and I scan the dark room. No Sienna. We walk over to the counter where Josh left us the last time.
Piper sits up on the counter, and I struggle to do the same. She grabs my arm and pulls me up. I perch on the counter, and mouth, “Thank you.”
We continue waiting. After a couple minutes, a hand grips my shoulder. My heart jumps as I twist around. Josh again. He stands on the other side of the counter, a stupid grin on his face. Why does he have to do that? I grit my teeth, and push my growing anger aside.
I don’t want another situation similar to when Dana punched him.
He motions for us to follow, but I shake my head.
“Come on.” He whispers.
“No,” I say, “someone still needs to come.”
“Your other roommate? Why didn’t she come with you?”
“Not our roommate. Our roommate is completely loyal.”
Josh frowns. “How did you manage to get anyone involved who wasn’t your roommate? When did you have time to talk?”
“Since Dana was taken away, she’s been my partner in I.L. She…she can remember Canton.”
“What? How?” Disbelief tints Josh’s voice.
“No idea.” I shrug. “She has the bandage.”
Josh’s brow wrinkles in thought just as a silhouette appears in the doorway.
She stumbles in the dim light, her head shifting from side to side. We’re in the darkest section of the Eating Hall. Can she see us? I hop down off the counter and shuffle to where she is.
She lets out a sigh of relief as I reach her. I beckon with my hand to follow. We weave through the tables and reach the counter. Josh smiles lightly at her. She openly stares at him. He twists his mouth, shifting from foot to foot. Sienna breaks from her trance and glances at the rest of us.
Josh asks, “Ready to go?”
I’m not sure where we are going today. Probably a quiet room where we can talk again. Josh motions for us to come over the counter. I groan slightly, earning a soft laugh from Piper. She gracefully vaults over the counter. I jump up to the counter and managed to get over it without hurting myself.
Sienna pushes herself over, only slightly awkward. She doesn’t have as much difficulty as I did, but at least I’m not the only one who has problems with it.
Josh leads us out of the Eating Hall. His fingers fly over the keypad, entering in a complex code. The door glides back into the wall. We step out into the hall and the door moves back into its place.
We follow Josh down the hall. Door after door looms out in the dim light. Each has a scanner adhered to the wall next to it. The hall is unfamiliar, not part of our daily paths.
How many places in the Complex have I not been to? How many halls stretch outward, that I may never reach?
Josh whispers, “We’ve been spending all our time in the girls’ Complex. I thought it would be time that we visited one of the boys’ Complexes.”
My heart rate picks up. Anxiety crawls over my skin. If we get caught, there would be absolutely no way to lie our way out. If I got separated from Josh, I’d never be able to make it back to my room.
How will it be different?
My thoughts scream to stop, to not go a step closer to the boys’ Complex. But isn’t this what I want? I sneak out at night to learn more information, to understand. There’s so much I could learn at the boys’ Complex.
Josh enters another number code, this time much more intricate, into the scanner. How has he learned all this?
The door glides open slowly, almost like it’s taunting us. My heart falls when I see what’s waiting on the other side. I don’t know what I was expecting to be different. It’s the same dimly lit gray hallways. I wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference.
A disappointed sigh escapes Piper’s lips. Sienna’s pale in the dim light. She must be terrified. It’s her first night leaving the safety of her room, and she’s in the boys’ Complex.
We sneak down the hall. Josh opens another door with codes. It’s an Eating Hall. Almost exactly identical to ours, except for one thing. The floor is made of black, shinning metal instead of the gray.
Josh leads us up to the counter and I groan. Not again. Piper flawlessly follows. Sienna struggles slightly, but makes it over. I fall on to my stomach, somehow managing to save my chin.
Josh leads us out into the hallway, at the other end of the Eating Hall. We step into the dim hallway. It’s once again almost a copy of ours. Just the different floors.
Josh leads us around a corner. Up a hall. Left. Then right. He slides a door open. We enter.
A blinding flashlight shines into my eyes. A flashlight in the hands of an Official.