Through my tears, our eyes met. I noticed how comforting they looked. Her arms stretched down towards me as the water wrapped around her. I looked up at her, seeing only her eyes, and I was taken back to the day I first met her…

     Her eyes were the first features I noticed about her. They were a warm, honey-colored hazel. I noticed that gorgeous smile of hers. When our eyes met, it was as if she knew everything about me, and I about her.

     She had to of felt the same way. She had to.

     She wasn’t perfect, although she looked it. I remember thinking that laugh of hers was the closest thing to perfect that there ever was. When she laughed, it was in slow motion. Her golden locks floated through water. Her dimples deepened, and her face glowed.

     She approached me, and speaking calmly, she asked, “You’re Sami, right?”

     Before I could even think of a response, she spoke again, “My name’s Aidan.”

     When she spoke, it wasn’t loud, or annoying, or high-pitched. The only word I could use to describe it was, “kind.”

     “Huh?” she asked.

     I had said it out loud, without realization.

     “Uh, your voice-it seems, uh…kind,” I stated, embarrassed.

     The first word I said to her had been without thought. I felt my face flood with color.

    She giggled, and my face reset. I smiled.

     “Thank you,” she said. “I like your watch.”

     It was my father’s. I hated talking about it. Feeling my eyes welling up, I swallowed hard. I choked back my tears and smiled back at her. Even though I was upset, her face calmed me. I don’t know what it was, but there was something about it. I focused on it a little too hard.

     I would figure this girl out. I knew I would.

     I was torn from my thoughts by the bell. Aidan and I talked on the phone until 4 am the next morning. For the rest of that month, all we did was talk. This was the first time since my father died that I felt truly happy. But the next day, all that would change…

     Across the yard, I saw her. I walked towards her, wanting to wish her luck, to have a chance to say goodbye, to-

     I was torn from my thoughts by the loudspeaker. We heard the words, “division nine.” A group of children flooded between us, and like the water rushing from a fallen dam, they swept her away. With another burst, I was swept up too, and before I could blink, I was there.

     Standing before us was the Processor. He was our leader, and although I had heard his voice every day for the past fifteen years, this was the first time I had ever seen his face.

     “Welcome,” he said, his voice booming. It was odd hearing his voice in person.

     “Welcome to the processing. As you all know, there are five processes total. One every two years until you are of the 25th year.  This shall be your first.”

     His words irked me. They sank deep into my head, and I hated him for it.

     He didn’t give a damn about a girl like me. He didn’t give a damn about anyone.

     He had sentenced my father to death. He gave the order that drifted my father…

     Once again, I was cut off mid-thought. I felt a sharp pain in the side of my neck. The world spun around me, and I thudded to the floor.

     When I awoke, I was in a white room. My arms and legs were bound to my chair so tightly that I hardly noticed the others in front of me. They were bound too, but they were still out cold, their heads hanging low.

     A few moments later, one of them shot his head up, confused, and in an instant, so did the next. The first’s shirt tag read, “Dawson.” I went to read the next tag, but before I could, a familiar voice asked, “Sami?”

     It was Aidan. My eyes met hers.

     “What do we do?” she asked, fear rushing through her.

     Just as shocked as she was, I looked around.

     Three podiums arose on the sides of the room, their buttons illuminated. Our restraints were released. We stood up, rubbing our wrists, and the chairs retracted back into the floor. Replaced by screens, they read, “05:00.”

     The loudspeaker commanded us to the three podiums. Reluctantly, we obeyed.

     My podium read, “Unlock the code.”

     The timer began to count down. 05:00, 04:59, 04:58…I clambered my focus back to the podium.

     Trying combination after combination, I realized my life could come to an end today.

     The 03:00 minute warning came along, and no sooner than three seconds later, Aidan’s buttons turned green. She sighed happily, but I couldn’t spare any more attention for her. My focus locked on the screen, trying even more combinations, I began to lose hope. 00:00:34, 00:00:33, 00:00:32.

     Green. My podium had turned green!

     “Yes!” I exploded.

     I noticed Dawson, still struggling. I reached out to help him, and a shocking sensation coursed through my body. I felt it inside every inch of me. I felt myself sink to the floor, and through my suffering, Dawson had gotten nowhere. When it stopped, there were only nine seconds left. I saw panic in his eyes. I remembered my father.

     Panic washed over his whole body. He looked at me through the glass. His eyes connected with mine.

     “I love you, Dad,” I told him.

     Although I couldn’t hear him, I was able to read his lips, “I lo—.”

     His words sank as he was sucked down into the deep blue. As he floated above, his eyes wide, he smiled at me, and drifted out of my sight.

     3…2…1…In an instant, Dawson was gone.

     Still drowning in fear, I felt a pair of arms wrap tightly around me. I turned back, and mine wrapped around her. For a moment, everything felt right.

     The door swung open. Letting only a single tear fall from my eyes, I wiped it away.     

     In the next room, we were to take a test. Only 80% and above pass.

     After exactly 50 questions, we waited shakily. In circles and circles the screen went.

    When her screen turned green, mine turned red. 78%.

     I knew that within seconds, I would be plummeting down.

     But I didn’t. Instead, I felt a hand on my arm, yanking me back. The hole was there, but I wasn’t in it. Aidan was. She had jumped in my place. The hole was now closing. I would not let anyone die for me, not again. In a panic, I jumped too. After I crashed down, the guards had her in chains.

     I watched her fall, the same way my father did.

     She was floating, and she was beautiful.

     Through my tears, our eyes met. I noticed how comforting they looked. Her arms stretched down towards me as the water wrapped around her. I looked up at her, seeing only her eyes, and I was taken back to the day I first met her…