Circles

Chapter Four

        We all get up from our seats and get on a bus reserved for the new Circles, and the bus driver begins to let people off at their new houses. I take a seat near the front so I don’t miss my stop, and people begin to fill in the seats around me. A girl sits next to me, and I recognize her from my new Circle.

            “Hey. I’m Elizabeth,” she says. “My friends call me Liz, though.”

            “Alex,” I say. “Nice to meet you.”

            She smiles. Somehow she doesn’t seem nervous. I, on the other hand, am terrified.

            “Do you know anyone from our Circle?” she asks.

            “No,” I answer. “You?”

            “Nope,” she says, a puzzled look on her face.

            “Well,” I say. “I guess we’ll get to know them soon enough.”

            “Yeah, I guess you’re right,” she answers with a sigh.

            I look down the aisle of the bus at the other sixteen-year-olds. The boy who smiled at me before is staring at me. Or he was, until I caught his eye and he looked away.

            I turn my attention back to Liz.

            “So,” I start. “Are you nervous at all?”

            “A little,” she answers. “Less than I was earlier, I suppose. Are you?”

            “Yeah, sort of. It’s kind of scary.”

            She laughs. “I guess.”

            Finally we pull up to the house I’ll live the rest of my life in. For the most part, it looks just like my old house. At first I think it’s comforting, but the familiarity is almost painful. I get off the bus first, followed by Liz and the rest of my Circle, as well as our assigned Adult, who will check in on us from time to time over the next eight weeks. Once we’re inside, Samantha, our Adult, gathers us in the living room.

            “Hey guys! I’m Samantha, but you can call me Sam. Why don’t we all go around and introduce ourselves? When it’s your turn, say your name and something about yourself you’d like us to know,” she says cheerfully. After a few seconds of silence, the introductions begin.

            “I’m Mike. I left behind a little brother,” a boy –apparently named Mike- says. He’s tall, more than a head taller than me. He looks very strong, very sturdy.

            “Bella. My favorite color is orange,” says Bella, sounding very uninterested.

            “Jessica. I prefer to be called Jess.”

            I suspect that she doesn’t have much to share if all she could think to say was her nickname.

            “My parents named me April because my birthday is April fourth. You know, April is the fourth month of the year. They thought it was a sign,” April says.

            “Patrick. I was friends with almost everyone in my parent’s Circle.”

            I think that’s a subtle way of him telling us that he left a lot of people behind. But we all did, didn’t we?

            “Hey. I’m Luke. I love playing sports,” says Luke in a deep, rugged voice. Mike looked strong, but compared to Luke, he’s nothing. Luke has big arms and thick calves. No wonder he loves sports.

            “Max. I have a little sister. She was just born a month ago.”

            I’m sad just thinking about that. He knew her just long enough to get attached, and now he’ll never see her again. Never see her grow up.

            “Hi! I’m Liz. I’m typically pretty shy, but I’m determined to be more of an extrovert with you guys,” says Liz. She’s gorgeous; long blonde hair, skinny but curvy, glasses that make her look nerdy and cute at the same time. I wouldn’t be surprised if the boys in our Circle end up competing for her.

            “I’m Cody. I love card games.”

            It’s my turn. What do I want people to know about me?

            “I’m Alex,” I say. “I’m an only child.”

            “Okay!” Sam says, clapping her hands together. “So,” she starts. “For those of you who don’t already know, you are all required to pick a roommate, as there are only six bedrooms. One of those rooms will obviously be left empty, as a spare. You are free to share a room with whomever you’d like, and you can change at any time. Just communicate with each other, because everyone will always have to have a roommate.

            I find Liz. “Do you want to share a room with me?” I ask.

            “Sure,” she says with a smile.

            Once everyone’s found a buddy, Sam shows us to our rooms and goes downstairs to make us dinner while we unpack. Liz and I get settled in silence.

            After a while, I say “Ready for dinner?”

            “Definitely,” she says, grinning.