Fire

Chapter Ten

(you guys are lucky I finished planting onions soon enough to type! :) ) 

Recap: But slowly I begin to see what I was blind to because I did not wish to see it. 

I have been losing Cora for a very long time. 

Cora will not look at me. 

~~~

When I get out of bed, and my feet stop freezing, I walk to the bathroom. I dress rapidly and glance in the mirror on my way out. 

I stop. 

Wow. 

I did not think it was possible to have bedhead this bad. I grab the brush and fumble it through my head, managing to get it tangled.

Orla steps up and expertly untangles it, then brushes it and twists it into a loose ponytail. 

"Good luck," she says, winking. 

What does she mean?

We walk to class, and Layla follows. She'd better learn. 

~~~

Cora has different classes than me because I have been here longer than she has. So Orla and I part ways with her at the Level Six hallway and walk to ours-Level Seven. This is our last year before we become full Resistance fighters. 

The training does not go by age, but by how many years you have trained. There is seven years' worth of training and seven levels. The youngest person in my class is eleven. She has been training since she was four. 

The others in my level are Jaziel, Karen, Star, Kyle, Orla, Abe, Aben, Kent, Mariel, Caleb, Boaz, Raina, Bern, Claire, Matt, Ally, Stella, and Amaris.

The girl who is eleven is named Eva. 

Combat training is for all ages, but the groups are split up by who is compatible with their training. The groups are posted on the wall every week. They are usually the same since no one improves as fast as to change groups that quickly. 

"Listen, class!" Mrs. Gray announces, clapping her hands. "You need to pay attention. We will be taking our Final Exams tomorrow." I freeze dead in my tracks. 

TOMORROW?

This isn't like it was in the other levels, where you were trying to graduate to another level. This is pass and become a Resistance fighter, or fail and becomes a helper. I don't want to end up cooking or cleaning or... or anything else. I have to pass. 

I have to. 

There is no way I am even close to ready. 

"You will be initiated into the Resistance in two weeks. Remember, once a full Resistance member there is no turning back. Please do not take your job lightly. The teachers have been studying each of you for years, all the years you have been training here to see which Resistance job you would be best at. So please put extra thought into everything you do. Class dismissed."

In a daze, I wander out of class. I will become a full Resistance member in two weeks? 

Orla looks scared. Many of my classmates-soon to be fellow Resistance workers-look nervous. 

My stomach flutters. I cannot do this. Layla!

She tugs my arm. What does she mean, Resistance fighter? she asks using hand motions. She refuses to speak now that her mother is dead. Though, knowing Layla, it probably sounded like, What doeth the mean, Rethithtanthe fighter?

I sigh. This is going to be a very long, complicated, one-sided conversation.

~~~

I climb into the lunch hall. There are fifty steps down to it because-we are underground and the ground slopes weirdly. 

I go to my table and sit next to Orla and Cora. Amaris and Jaziel are also at my table. 

"What's for lunch?" I ask. 

Amaris shrugs. "See for yourself." I glance at her lunch plate-sandwhiches and fruit. Not bad, considering our farmers use artificial light. 

"Can you believe we're gonna be full Resistance fighters in two weeks?" Amaris is gushing to Orla when I get back with my food. 

Cora slumps in her chair. She is not, because she is a Lever Six and she still has one more year of training to go. 

I sigh. "I'm worried about which job they're going to assign me," I confess. 

Eval comes over and I stiffen. If he notices, he does not let on. He sits next to me and slings his arm over my shoulders. "I think they know what they're doing," he responds. "And if you don't like your job, you can punch me as hard as you want."

"Hey-I want in on that!" Orla laughs. 

"Nope. One time deal for Ar here only," he grins. 

Instantly my brain is on fire, remembering what he told the Five. But I act normal. Otherwise, I am not sure I am going to survive. Bern and Kyle join Eval. 

"I'm hoping to get engineer of all technical stuff," Bern announces. 

"I want farmer," Eva smiles, passing by with her food to sit at the end of the table with Cora.

"Me, I'd like to be a nurse," Orla confides shyly. 

Kyle wants to be a fighter, Amaris, a scout. One by one they all share. 

"What about you, Ara?" Eva asks. 

"Oh! I... um... haven't given it much thought," I say. This is a lie. I have given it lots. but I do not know what seems right to me-what I want to do in the Resistance. 

"Are you serious?" Amaris asks in disbelief. "You haven't thought about it? Not even a little?"

"Well-I-I have been kinda busy," I stutter. Layla comes up and sits on my lap. She has followed me around all day. She only left because the doctor wanted to make sure she was alright, since she will not talk. 

Apparently, it is selective muteness. 

She can talk, but only will when she is ready. 

A 'coping mechanism'. To help her process trauma. And while I guess that makes sense, I cannot help wishing she would speak to me, to let me know she is alright. 

"Are you okay?" I say to her. 

She nods, still refusing to speak. 

I can only hope that someday-someday soon-she will open her mouth. 

Until then, I will do my best. 

Cora, still, will not look my way. 

I know, I know, that's how I ended it last time. SORRY!!! I needed a good cliffhanger cuz I have to go to my brother's baseball game and I have to leave so yeah. 

ILYSM!!!!!

thank you thank you thank you for all the comments, the follows, the vote (lol), and the reads. It means so much to me because I thought no one would read it or like it!!!

--ElleGrace, with lots of love.