The Color of Knowledge

Chapter Two (pt. 2)

"Ivy. You have to wake up. My goodness, you can't be late for your first day of work." Mrs. Stone stood over her, pushing Ivy's shoulder with her foot. Ivy had fallen into a deep sleep—one that had carried her all the way into the next day. Still on the floor, she sat up to stretch her stiff back.

"Well are you just going to sit there or are you going to get ready?" Mrs. Stone seemed to be back to her normal self. "You know what's great about your job?" she asked Ivy, smiling.

Ivy shook her head.

"I don't have to walk your sister to school anymore. Your placement is in the same building as hers and it starts at the same time she has to be there."

"I thought you were going to give me good news." Ivy stood from the floor.

"Sisterly bonding?"

"Awesome." Ivy rolled her eyes. She picked her green clothes up from the floor and headed to the bathroom to get ready.

"Why does she need an escort anyway?" Ivy yelled, starting the shower. "It's not like anyone will kidnap her—or want to," she added to herself.

Of course there were always bad apples in any community. All the police had to do was enforce a lockdown and search The Society in whole. It would only take about two hours or so to do. Even less, depending on the amount of volunteers they had. At first, the offenders were given a simple warning. Shortly after, all criminal activity had stopped. They figured nothing was worth being exiled over. Pretty soon the Law Enforcement Unit was no longer needed.

"You know your sister doesn't like being alone," Mrs. Stone answered, standing in the doorway of the bathroom.

"Oh, I forgot. She feels as though someone is watching her." Ivy mimicked the face Spencer had made when she had come home and told them she was being watched. She became terrified to walk out of the house alone, refusing to leave without the company of someone within the family. Her mother had stepped in to make her feel safe. She would do anything for Spencer.

"That's not funny!" Spencer shouted, coming out of her room. Sleep still resided in the corners of her eyes.

"It is to me," Ivy jeered. She mocked the contorted face once more, which angered Spencer further. The little girl turned a shade of red, looking as though she were holding her breath.

Ivy, however, had never told anyone she had also felt she was being watched when she was Spencer's age, before The End. The more she thought about it, the more she felt as though there had been eyes watching her since the moment she had been able to understand there were other people in the world besides her close family members. The first time she had grasped the word "stranger."

"Ivy, be nice. You're a working woman now, I expect you to act your age. Spencer, get your clothes ready to hop in the shower after your sister is finished."

Spencer sulked back to her room as Ivy closed the bathroom door. After her shower, she threw on her green clothes. They were more of an evergreen color, but she knew the older she got, the lighter the shade became.

"Hurry up, Ivy!" yelled Spencer, banging on the bathroom door. "I have to get ready too, you know."

Ivy swung the door open, making Spencer jump back a few feet. Bad nerves ran in the family. "Why? You want to be sure to impress your boyfriend K.J.?"

Spencer slipped past Ivy through the opening she had made. "No! He was just my best friend," she cried out, refusing to look Ivy in the eye. She slammed the door in her sister's face.