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Second

I had gone to bed immediately once I got home, I didn’t even bother changing. But I didn’t sleep. I laid in my bed and stared at the ceiling. All night I wondered about what it was going to be like. What Vox was going to be like. I fantasized that he was just like me. That he lived in a similar home, had similar parents. I was hoping that he too wanted a nice life, a nice family, a nice place to live, and someone he loved. I couldn’t bare the fact that I was leaving this life behind, though. My nice little life with Vox Bly turned sour. I started to picture his family being mean and hurtful. I imagined him hating me. I then couldn’t sleep because I was dreading waking up. I didn’t want the next day to start. I watched at the sun started to peak in through my window. There was a knock on my door and I sat up.

Mother opened the door. “I’m leaving for work. Make sure you are at the station by ten. It will take you to the Capital building.”

I nodded, just as she started to leave I stopped her. “Mother?”

“What, Emmary?” She looked somewhat annoyed.

“I’m leaving today.”

She looked confused, “I know. That’s why I told you to be at the station by ten.”

“Right.” She closed the door on her way out. I whispered goodbye even though she couldn’t hear me, nor did it matter. I felt a tear roll down my cheek, and I quickly wiped it away before more followed.

I got up and filled the tub with water before taking a bath. I scrubbed off any signs of dirt and outdoors on my body. As I dried myself with the towel, I heard a knock on the front door. I grabbed some dry clothes and put them on before answering the door.

A smiling Teyland was on the other side of the threshold. “I saw your mother leave and figured you could use somebody to help you get ready.”

I smiled and nodded, “Thank you, but doesn’t Koontz need your help?”

She laughed and walked into our home, “Boys are a little different. He just needed to bathe and put on the nice clothes I laid out for him.”

She was right, boys were different. They didn’t have to leave. They didn’t have say goodbye to their family, to their friends. They just had to wait for their match to show up at the station. Girls on the other hand had to look their best, we leave our whole lives behind. Every memory we’ve ever made will be the only things tying us to our pasts. We’ll never return, never come back. We just go live happily ever after with our matches.

“I would love your help, Teyland.”

She smiled, “Great. Where’s your brush?”

I grabbed my brush from the bathroom and sat down at the kitchen table while Teyland fixed my hair. There was some pulling and yanking as she brushed. “How long as it been since you brushed your hair?”

I put my hand to my head as she brushed out another knot, “A while. I haven’t seen the point. It’s not like had anyone to impress.”

“You didn’t need to brush your hair to impress Quin.”

The mention of Koontz’s name made my stomach wrench. I didn’t want to think about it. I didn’t want to face the fact that I would never see him again. I would never see Teyland or Elex or any of my friends ever again. I was leaving forever. I felt the tears start to slip. I covered my face with my hands, but that wasn’t enough to stop the onslaught of tears that were coming from my eyes.

I felt Teyland’s hands trying to pull mine away from my face, “Emmary, Sweetie, what’s wrong?”

I shook my head and started mumbling through the sobs, “I’m scared, Teyland, I don’t want to leave.”

She pulled me in for a hug, “I understand, but everything is going to be alright, I promise.”

“No, it’s not. I won’t see you again, I won’t see Koontz. I will never come back.”

I was now crying into her shoulder while her hands made circle motions on my back. “Shh, it’s okay, everything will be okay.”

“What if he’s mean? What if he’s a terrible person? What if he doesn’t like me?”

“Sweetie, it’s going to be okay. He’s going to love you. You are a beautiful young woman. You’re funny and smart and kind. He can’t not love you.”

I started to calm down a little bit. I pulled out of the hug and started to wipe my face. “What was it like for you?”

She smiled, “It was scary. I was terrified of leaving my family, everyone I knew. It might not have worked out for me, but I got two boys that I love with all my heart. It will work out for you, Emmary.” She helped me wipe the tears that were steadily stopping. “You are going to have a wonderful life, I promise.”

I nodded, “Thank you, Tey.”

“I think we should leave your hair down. You look prettier with your hair down. What do you think?”

“That sounds good.”

She smiled, “Great, now go put on your dress and I’ll walk you to the station.”

I gave her a hug before I went to go change, “Thanks again.”

I opened the bag and stared at the dress that hung on my door. It was a gorgeous blue with different beads sewed into the upper part and a darker sash around the stomach. I ran my fingers over it before I took it off of the hanger. I pulled it on and then walked out to meet Teyland. The dress stopped just above my knees and flowed as I walked.

I saw Teyland’s face as I stepped out into the living room. She lit up and said, “Wow. You look beautiful.”

I smiled, “Thanks to your dress. It’s beautiful.”

She reached out for my hand, which I gave her, “Come on, I’ll walk you to the station.”

The station was a small building on the outside of Sector 16F. It was the only way in and out. Guards stood on either side of it’s entrance. I took a deep breath and looked back at Teyland who gave me a smile and encouraging nod. I walked up to the door, and the guard on the left said, “Papers?” I handed him my identification papers. He gave them a quick glance and handed them back to me, “The dart will leave in a few minutes. You can wait inside, Miss Eaton.”

I looked at Teyland and gave her one last wave before I entered the building. I sat down in a vacant chair in the almost vacant station. Since Sector 16F was a smaller Sector there were only ten 18 year old females leaving for Selection. There were even fewer males. Even though we were all friends, we didn’t speak. I could tell all of us were terrified of what was going to happen next. It was only a few minutes later that a guard appeared and announced the arrival of the dart. I followed the rest of the girls onto the dart. It was only a few seconds after we boarded that I saw my life start to grow smaller and smaller in the distance.

Even though Sector 16A was miles away from my home, on a dart it only took half an hour. Darts were the fastest way of travel. Each Sector had a dart that traveled to and from it’s A Sector’s Captial building. There a dart could travel to any other Sector in America. I nervously got off the dart and followed the rest of my friends toward the main lobby where we would learn the Sector of our new home.

There was a huge holographic list projected on the far wall with each girl’s birthing number and Sector placement. I could easily see it over the crowd of girls’ heads. I quickly scanned for my number. 45729. After a few minutes I found it. I stood in astonishment.

I heard a girl next to me whisper to her friend, “There’s a girl here going to Sector 3.”

The other one replied with a “No way.”

“That’s the highest Sector on the list.”

“Yeah, whoever she is, is the luckiest girl in Sector 16. Hardly any girls from here get into the top ten.”

She was right. The top ten Sectors were the elite. Only most important people lived in those Sectors. People from the top ten were only matched with other people from the top ten. On a rare occasion someone from a higher Sector will get matched with someone from the top ten, but it was unheard of if you got matched with someone from the top five. It was a one in a trillion chance that a girl from Sector 16F would get matched with Vox Bly from Sector 3D.

I felt that wrench in my stomach come back. I looked around at the girls who telling their friends where they’d be. Some jumped for joy that they’d be in the same Sector. I was alone. I wasn’t happy with what I had gotten, even if I was the luckiest girl here. Sector 3D wasn’t something I had planned on. All I wanted was a simple life with a simple family. I wasn’t ready. Sector 3D was a whole different world, one that I didn’t want to explore.

I felt a hand grab mine. I spun around to face Koontz. He was smiling, “Koontz? What are you doing here?”

“I came to see you.”

I was still confused, “What are you doing here?”

He took a deep breath, “I came to tell you something.”

“Okay, what is it?”

He cleared his throat, “Em, I don’t want you to go.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I love you, Em. I don’t want you to go. I know that this is kind of an inconvenient time, but this is my last chance.” I didn’t know what to say. I just stood there uncomfortably while girls around us started eavesdropping on our conversation. “Let’s go.”

“Go? Go where?”

“I don’t know, anywhere. Let’s just leave and never come back. Come on, Emmy. We can be just like that one couple you always talk about, what's their name, Rocco an-”

“You mean Romeo and Juliet?”

He nodded, “Yeah. Just like them. We can run away, we can escape this whole stupid system.”

“Koontz, they died in the end.”

He gave me a confused look, “Really?" I nodded, “Okay, well, we can be like them but instead of dying we live somewhere.”

“Where? Out in the woods? How will we eat, we don’t know how to hunt or which plants are safe. If guards didn’t replace us, we’d be dead on our own within a few days.”

He shook his head and muttered something under his breath.

“What?”

“I said that this is unbelievable. All our lives all you have ever talked about is how some guy, your knight in shining armor, will proclaim his love and both of you will leave this place and never look back. Well, here I am. I mean I’m not in armor or anything, but I do love you, Emmary. I want us to be together.”

I could feel myself start to cry again, “I’m sorry.” I didn’t know if he could hear me or not, but it was all I could manage. Over the years I had thought about leaving with Koontz. I loved him, and I wanted to be with him. It had crossed my mind every once in a while, but then my practical side would kick in telling me that we’d never survive out in the woods alone. We had no training, no basic survival skills. We’d be dead in a few days.

There was a husky voice behind me, “Emmary Eaton?”

I turned to face the guard, “That’s me.” My voice was barely a whisper, I was surprised he heard me.

“The dart to Sector 3 is here. I’m your escort, if you will just follow me please.”

I looked over my shoulder, but Koontz had already left. I wiped the last tear off of my face and started to follow the guard out of the crowd and towards the dart.