***
That day at lunch, Lily, Fisher, Stone, and I sat at a table by ourselves. The four of us were usually seen in one another’s company. In fact, we had begun to be labeled The Fearsome Foursome, although I didn’t think of myself as very fearsome.
“We are seventeen years old. I can’t believe that we are expected to start thinking about procreating already,” Fisher scoffed.
“You are supposed to think about it, not actually do it,” Lily laughed at him.
“I know, but…”
I interrupted him. “But nothing, Fish, we’re simply expected to know how to properly plan our future family.”
“Blue, I have entirely too much on my mind to possibly think about who I am going to be able to secure a Marriage Contract with and how many offspring I might be able to successfully create.”
“Like what?” I challenged him. “What could possibly be rolling around in that busy little brain of yours?”
In the past few months I had discovered that Fisher did indeed fiercely contemplate a plethora of subjects. Just talking to him was enough to tire me out sometimes.
“Like architecture. Have you downloaded the study of architectural drawings onto your tablet? I find it immensely fascinating.”
“Immensely fascinating,” Lily mimicked his tone exactly.
Stone released his cheek full of air. “Fish has had a thing for buildings since we were asked to draw a house in Year Two. You should see some of his drawings.”
“By the way, we are not all permitted to download the same studies. I haven’t tested for an aptitude in architecture and neither has Lily,” I pointed out.
“And neither have I,” Stone added.
“So, Mr. Fisher, none of us,” I pointed from myself, to Lily, to Stone, “are contemplating the intricacies of architecture.”
“You should,” Fisher shook his head. “You really should.”
Lily tapped his hand as he was scrolling through his tablet, looking at architectural photographs. “Have you been approved to download the study of defensive vs. offensive armory? Because I have,” she smiled.
“Lily!” I exclaimed. “Have you really?”
“Yes. I got a message this morning that the download was pending.”
“Your father will be so excited!” I smiled.
Lily beamed. “I know. I am an only child, you know, and my father always hoped that one day we could work together.”
“Not if you’re branded Fertile,” Fisher smirked. “It’d be your duty to produce a child for Concord first.”
“So I start my Career training, then have a child, and later I enter the Armory development field. Women do work, you know,” Lily scoffed. “Stone, have you found out what the future has in store for you?”
“Inconclusive. Further tests are needed,” Stone replied. “What about you, Blue?”
“The same.” I felt lighter after hearing Stone say that. I hated knowing that I wasn’t showing an aptitude for anything yet. “More tests,” I grumbled.
“Blue, you’ll be fine,” Lily squeezed my hand. She looked at Stone. “She’s been having a hard time with all this testing and she’s not sleeping well.” Lily whispered the last part.
“Lily!” I glared at her.
“What? I just said you are not sleeping well. I didn’t say anything else.”
“Anything else? What else is there to say?” Fisher asked. His eyes glittered with interest.
Stone blew out his air bubble. “Yes. Do tell.”
“Nothing.” Lily averted her eyes, afraid to look at either of the boys or at me.
Fisher stared at me. “Oh, no. Something is going on here. ”
I just stared back at him, letting a few moments pass, hoping that my silence would be taken as a refusal and they would just give up and start talking about something else. But within a few moments I had Stone looking at me with hopeful eyes. Then Lily finally turned to face me with a guilty look on her face.
“Ugh! It’s not that big of a deal. I just asked Lily, my BEST friend, not to tell anyone about some bad dreams I’ve been having.”
“And I didn’t say anything about the dreams,” Lily countered.
“True statement,” Stone said.
“Your reaction is the only thing that made us take interest,” Fisher informed me.
Stone tapped his finger on his cheek. “Bad dreams that are interrupting your sleep and making you uncharacteristically irritable…”
“Have I been that irritable?” I asked.
“A little. But then we’ve only known you for a few months; maybe you get this way quite often. It could be your norm,” Fisher said.
Lily shook her head. “Oh no, it is not her norm.”
“What’s so bad about the dream? C’mon you can tell your good friend Stone.”
“Now we’re blowing this up into something more interesting than it really is. Doesn’t anybody else have recurring dreams?” I asked.
“Sure. I’ve dreamt that Beta’s face cracks down the left side and little Betas come hopping out. I’m on six times now, I think,” Stone said.
“Okay that’s just bizarre. Little Betas?” I laughed, louder than I expected, drawing a few glances our way.
“It was after I watched some video about a little boy that dropped his sister’s doll the day before he left for Training Tech, and the face cracked. The doll’s face was so smooth. It reminded me of Beta. I don’t think anything came out of the doll’s face though. That’s purely my doing, I’m sure.” Stone shrugged.
“I’ve dreamt of myself building a house shaped like an H, a few times a year for awhile now. It’s like two rectangular houses connected by a central meeting area. It gets more detailed with each dream. I swear I’m going to build that house one day,” Fisher said.
I looked at Lily.
“Sorry. I hardly ever remember my dreams. Except for those falling ones where you wake up before you hit the ground. But, nope, nothing recurring. Sorry, Blue.”
Stone pointed at me. “Okay, Bluebell. Your turn.”
“I’m in a really green area outside, lush with flowers, tall grass, and trees. A woman is holding my hand, gripping it really tight. We are running. Fast. I’m not sure if I can keep up. I yank my arm free, but keep running. I start to lag behind. We are running toward a bridge. It’s made of planks of wood and ropes, all strung together. We have to cross it. I’m not sure I want to. I stumble and fall, but she doesn’t see that I’ve fallen and she steps onto the bridge without me. Then she turns around and sees me on the ground.
“She calls out, ‘Get up, Bluebell.’ But I can’t get up. My ankle hurts. The woman looks behind me. She focuses on something, and her eyes grow big with fear. ‘Get up, Bluebell!” She screams. I shake my head. ‘Get up, Bluebell!’ She screams again. It is so loud. I am frozen. I can’t move. Something grabs me from behind. And I wake up. There. That’s the whole thing. I don’t always dream it all from start to finish; sometimes it’s just her yelling at me. And it used to be only a few times a year. But lately, and I mean for about the last five or six months, it’s been almost every night,” I confessed the whole thing. More than I’d ever even told Lily. It felt really good to say it out loud, to admit to the entire dream.
“Wow, Blue,” Lily breathed.
“When did it start?” Fisher asked
I tugged at my lower lip, trying to remember. “I’m not sure. Year Eight maybe.”
“You probably read a weird story or watched a video that had somebody falling in it, and you identified with some part of it,” Stone suggested. “That’s how mine started. Dumb cracked doll’s face.”
Lily picked up a chunk of pineapple from her plate. “That could absolutely be the case,” she said then popped the fruit into her mouth.
“I don’t know…” I frowned.
“No, really, Blue,” she said through a mouthful.
“Swallow your food, Lily, you’ll choke.”
She swallowed. “Happy, Blue? Loo
k, you are always reading and you’ve told me before that sometimes you make up a new ending to the stories. So, maybe this is just your mind working overtime. Ooooh, maybe that is the field that you are going to test into… Creative Storytelling. I can absolutely see you doing that!”
“Sure, why not.” I shrugged in agreement. “It makes sense, except for the fact that in my head I don’t make up entire stories, I just change the ending of approved stories.”
“You make up new endings?” Fisher asked. “You are the first person I have ever come across that does that. Interesting.”
Stone pointed a finger at me. “You, rebel, you.”
I shook my head. “No. Not at all. I am not rebellious in any way. It’s just that… well, by the end of Incorporation our lives will be completely mapped out for us. Which is good, The Council has created a structured and surefire way to guarantee that society will be successful and carry on in the best way possible. We will be expected to do our duty and exclaim Concur with Concord and Concord Reigns and all of that… which I will. So I guess it’s just my one way to do something completely unexpected, in my head, where it does no harm.” I tried to explain.
Stone laughed. “I’m kidding, Bluebell. Make your own stories. I believe in being creative.”
“Maybe you’ll do something creative too?” Lily suggested.
“One can only hope,” Stone shrugged. “I don’t think I could survive in one of those desk jobs, staring at a tablet all day, analyzing facts. Nope. Mr. Stone would go crazy.” He punctuated his sentence by blowing up both cheeks with air. His eyes bulged, wild and wide.
“I think Mr. Stone might already be crazy,” I laughed.
The bell rang, signaling the end of our lunch. It was time to go to the medical center. Another vial of blood was needed… another test had to be taken, another duty to perform.