1
I am doing my best not to stumble and fall. The bus is crowded with teens, squeezing and jostling me from side to side. Most of them are stronger, much more popular, and beautiful. Sometimes, I think they don’t see me, that I don’t exist in their world. I can deal with being invisible, but not so much with being unwanted.
Tiptoeing, I hold on to the railing overhead. It’s embarrassing. If I’d been just a bit taller, maybe I’d have been friends with Faustina, the school’s queen bee, who laughs at me now. She glances back to check out her manicured fingernails on one hand, holding effortlessly to the rail with the other. I can’t hear her, but I know she’s calling me a dork under her breath. When all of us get ranked today, Faustina is most probably going to become a “Nine.” Nines are always mean to me. I’m surprised she even sees me.
Like my dad said, I was hoping I’d become a Seven today.
Finally, the bus stops in front of my school, Cubberley High. I’m obliged to wait for the Nines and Eights until they get out first. Predicted Nines are usually the most beautiful. Eights are the most elegant. Sevens like me have to wait in line. At least I get to do most things before the Sixes and the Fives.
Clumsily, I stumble over a boy’s shoes. My one and only friend, Ariadna, catches me. She is a pre-Nine too, but she’s unlike any other Nine I have come across. She’s been my neighbor since last year. Otherwise, we would have never crossed paths. Ariadna’s family was forced to move to our poor neighborhood because of her older brother, Max. A Monster who died in the same games as Woo, I guess.
“Pull your chin up and walk like a princess,” Ariadna whispers in my ear, making sure I straighten up my posture.
“I’m so worried, Ariadna,” I say. “What if I’m not a Seven?”
“Are you kidding me? You’ll be the most beautiful Seven in Faya. Just hang tight into your dress and don’t stumble in those heels until you pass the checkup. Then we’ll attend the amazing Ranking Day celebration.”
“Why do we even need this test?” I wonder.
“It’s just routine. The Summit double-checks our names and data in the system, to make sure we haven’t cheated in any way,” Ariadna says, her blonde hair fluttering in a gentle breeze. “Look at those cute boys getting ranked today. How have I missed those all year long?” She high-fives a couple of boys she is friends with. A lot of boys gravitate toward Ariadna. No one high-fives me. Maybe I’m too short.
I wish I didn’t have to wear a dress to the ceremony. I miss my pink hoodie, a warm place to bury my head when the people around me make the world feel so cold. Ariadna is still talking to the boys. She is so witty and confident. Max’s death never affected her. Why would it? Monsters are looked upon as germs: unwanted, and having the characteristics of a parasitic virus. We don’t need them in our nation.
A Gatekeeper, one of the guards who protects our school, stops us at the main door. “Everyone show me their iAm device on their way in, please,” the Gatekeeper demands.
Eagerly, I show mine. It’s a cellphone-like device that is a little bigger than my small palms. The device collects our body and brain’s data, analyzes it, and posts frequent results concerning our health and habits to the authorities. It’s called Self-Quantifying, and only our government, The Summit has access to the full and detailed results. Mine is Pink, a gift from my beloved father earlier this morning. My mother only pecked me with a dry kiss on my cheeks.
“Nice device,” Faustina mocks me, standing nearby. “Pink doesn’t look good on you, Monster.” She snickers, and her friends laugh at me.
The iAms decide the rank of every sixteen-year-old in Faya. It picked Woo and Max as Monsters. Faustina likes to remind me that the iAm predicted I’d be a Monster when I was ten. It was glitch in the system.
“Don’t respond to her,” Ariadna whispers, and squeezes my hand. “Faustina wants to provoke you to do something stupid that could affect your rank.”
“Did a cat eat your tongue, Monster?” Faustina teases.
“I’m going to be a Ten!” I shoot back, although I shouldn’t have. Like my dad said, I know that no one’s ever been a Ten. I can’t imagine what a Ten would look like, or what kind of talent he or she would possess.
“Speaking of Tens,” Ariadna says. “Who’s that hottie?”
I follow Ariadna’s gaze, as does almost every other student. Murmurs stir the air around me. Everyone is looking at the six soldiers guarding a criminal. A boy who looks a bit older than us. He is wearing a black leather jacket with silver pins, and is strangled by the soldiers who are struggling to get a grip on him. One soldier buzzes him with an electrical prod so he’ll stop resisting. The boy’s hands are already chained behind his back, and his feet too. He has his knees bent to his chest, so he won’t scrape the asphalt. Something strange inside me longs to see his face. Maybe because Ariadna thinks he is a hottie. Ariadna usually thinks boys are cute. Hottie is a whole other level for her.
I need to see his face.
The boy’s thick, silky black hair dangles down his forehead and covers his eyes. His haircut is rather unique in a wildish way, like musicians or motorcycle riders. His ears are pierced, and his arms are lankly but well-built, with a tattoo on each arm. One is of a golden tiger-like figure. But it’s the second tattoo that steals my breath away. It’s a Nine.
“Who is he?” I ask aloud, my curiosity escaping my lungs. “How can they treat a Nine like that?”
“That’s Leo,” a boy behind me explains. I know him. He is that sneaky boy with freckles and red curly hair. Timmy. I don’t usually talk to him, but I’m ready to listen if he knows about the hottie whom I can’t take my eyes off. The urge in me to look into his eyes increases. I want to brush away the hair covering his eyes.
“Is he some kind of a celebrity I don’t know about?” even Faustina couldn’t hold back her fascination.
“He was a famous singer once,” Timmy explains. “He had that hit song three years ago, if any of you remember it. It was called ‘I Am Alive.’”
“Really? That’s him? The boy who won the Burning Idol TV show when only sixteen?” Ariadna finally spoke. “I loved that song.”
“That’s him,” nods Timmy. “He was ranked a Nine that year. Some girls were ready to throw themselves off a bridge for that guy.”
“I am alive, I’m a Bad Kid, I’m a Monster, and I won’t back down,” Ariadna hums the chorus to the song, as if hypnotized.
Since I don’t remember the song, I pull out my iAm to search for it.
“Don’t bother searching for the song. It’s banned,” Timmy says.
“Banned? Is that why he is chained?” I wonder.
“Do you actually live here on this planet?” Timmy wonders. “Yes. It is banned because he dedicated the song to the…” Timmy glances around suspiciously, and lowers his voice. “M-M-Monsters,” Timmy usually stutters when excited, or afraid. “His name is Leo Van Ark,” I am falling in love with his name. “A Nine. A celebrity at sixteen who foolishly decided to rebel against the Summit with his song. He was unranked and exiled from Faya for the last four years. I wonder what brings him back.”
“I wonder why a guy like him chooses to oppose the Summit.” I sigh.
As if he’d just heard me, Leo suddenly raises his head and looks at me.