The Perfects Read online

  Like the robe, the material for the uniform was soft and comfortable. The stretchy gray material slid over my legs and fit me like it had been tailored to my exact measurements. None of the lockers had been labeled, so I had a feeling the stretchy material was made to fit all body types. The shirt was the same. It appeared fitted but slipped over me like a second skin.

  Lucy returned to the room just as we were all finished getting dressed.

  She handed Karen the glasses and Karen placed them on her face and sighed. “Much better.”

  I smiled at her, and she returned it.

  We walked together, following Lucy from the room.

  Entering another hallway, we were instructed to stand outside of a room.

  “I’m going to give you your monthly and lifetime assignments individually. It’s your choice to reveal your lifetime assignment to the group. But, in the past, we’ve found recruit success with focusing on themselves than others. The choice is yours.”

  Lucy called Ashley into the room first. When the door closed, Amy turned to us.

  “What the hell does that mean? ‘The choice is yours’?” she mimicked Lucy’s husky voice.

  “I have no idea,” Melanie said.

  “Maybe if someone gets a job they don’t like, they might be embarrassed. Having that rule in place might make it easier to feel less ashamed?” Karen suggested.

  “Our aptitude determines our jobs,” Amy said. “We shouldn’t be embarrassed of where we belong.”

  Ashley came out of the room after a few minutes.

  “Amy, you’re up,” she said and hooked her thumb toward the door.

  Amy went inside, and we all looked expectantly at Ashley.

  I could tell she noticed, especially when the corner of her mouth twitched.

  “Are you going to tell us your assignment?” Melanie asked.

  Ashley glanced at her. “If you must know, I got Educator.”

  Melanie and Karen looked impressed. I knew Educators were an important job, but since I was home-schooled, apparently they were more important than I realized.

  Ashley beamed, but I knew it was more for getting attention than the job. I couldn’t imagine her being my teacher, especially because of her nasty side. I didn’t have much to compare it to since my mother was my teacher. And she was kind yet firm in her lessons.

  Ashley had the firm part right.

  “What about your monthly job?” Karen asked.

  Ashley rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue. “Laundry. I’m glad to get that out of the way, though. I can’t imagine how gross some people are.” She blatantly looked at me.

  I was about to say something when the door opened again. “Abigail,” Amy said. “You’re next.”

  I turned away from Ashley, happy to be out of her presence.

  I closed the door behind me and looked around the room. It was a small room, just enough for a table and two chairs. One of the walls was mirrored. I looked almost futuristic with my uniform on, almost like I was an astronaut.

  “Have a seat,” Lucy said from the chair farthest from the door.

  I sat, and my heart hammered in my chest. This is what I’d been waiting for.

  “Your aptitude is on the higher spectrum than most in your age range,” she started. “And the fact that you’ve grown up on a farm gives you a certain advantage of having more experience than others as well. We’ve come to the conclusion that you would succeed in the field of Healer.”

  I sputtered. “A doctor?” I couldn’t believe it. That was the highest honor of career choice out there. I wished my mom was there; she would be ecstatic. If there was any minuscule amount of regret in my body about my choice to come to Edgewood, it was dashed away. I would be able to help people and live a comfortable life with the salary a Healer was compensated for.

  “A doctor eventually, but you will start off with basic nursing rounds, and your stay with Edgewood would continue after your first year. You will be allowed to live at home if you choose but there is a remarkable residence floor for those who work at the institute. But we will discuss that when it comes time. Congratulations, Abigail. This is a great honor.”

  “Thank you.”

  “You will also be joined by another recruit,” she said.

  I tilted my head questioningly. “Who?”

  “Ian Weber.”

  My insides fluttered. I’d be training with Ian? From what I heard, most of each day after the initial orientation period was an immersion in the career. So each day I would be spending the entire time with Ian.

  Lucy raised one eyebrow. “I take it you know him?”

  “We’re neighbors. We grew up together.”

  “I see.”

  I wasn’t sure if that was a problem or not, but she didn’t expand her strange reaction.

  “As for your monthly task,” she said. “You will be helping the cafeteria staff with preparation of meals.”

  “Okay,” I said, glad that I wasn’t on laundry duty with Ashley.

  “You may go now, and send Melanie in next.”

  We had a small lunch in our little group after the physicals and assignment of tasks. Then we went through each monthly assignment as a group, apparently, these weren’t a secret. I hadn’t revealed my career path yet, and neither had any of the other girls except Ashley.

  The last session was in the cafeteria. We met up with Ian, Marcus, and Christopher as the head chef, Alma, went over the preparation tasks. It seemed easy enough. I helped out with meals every day at my house, so chopping and dicing was nothing new. The refrigerators contained the freshest and most delicious looking food. Working on the farm, I was used to the crops not looking quite as nice as those in the grocery stores. These fruits and vegetables were probably manufactured differently, and it sure made a difference in looks.

  For dinner, the chef prepared a large feast with different types of meat, vegetables, and freshly baked bread. I thought this was something out of the ordinary for the first day, but Alma clarified that we were to be eating the best foods that they could provide while we were in residence at Edgewood. We had to keep our peak performance for the rigorous training so eating well was the first step.

  I sat next to Ian and ignored the death stares from Ashley.

  “How was your day?” I asked.

  He shrugged and shoveled food into his mouth. “It was fine. I’m starving, though. We were given these tiny sandwiches for lunch.”

  We had had those too, but they were the perfect size for me. I guessed Ian ate a lot. He was a young growing teen. I’d heard about how much boys around his age ate. It was a good thing I had a sister and not a brother or else I’d probably have to fight for my food.

  “Christopher said we’re both working together,” he said.

  “Yeah, I didn’t know you had an interest in that field.”

  He shrugged again. “I didn’t either; I suppose learning stuff from your dad helped. And I do well at science in school.”

  “At least we’ll know each other, I hear that’s the hardest training,” I said in a small voice. I wasn’t ready to share our secret yet. I knew Ashley would be even more jealous if I said I was going to be a Healer and be working with Ian.

  “I don’t plan on being here that long,” he said.

  “What?” I said, nearly dropping my fork onto my plate.

  He glanced up before looking down at his plate again. “I told you, this place isn’t what it seems.”

  “Does this have something to do with why you were late this morning?” I asked.

  He looked around then turned to me, bowing his head down until his forehead nearly touched mine. “I don’t want to get you involved.”

  “Ian, you know you can tell me anything.” If I could convince him this place was good then maybe he could get over this paranoia.

  “You know Josh.”

  “Your brother, yes of course.”

  “Remember how close we were?”

  As kids Josh and Ian were in
separable, even being two years apart in age. “Yes.”

  “When he came back from Edgewood, something was off. When I told him that he barely reacted. He said something about growing up and that was that.”

  “I’m sure Edgewood changes a part of you,” I said, trailing off. Where was he going with this?

  “Exactly. It changes you. But not in the way you think.”

  “How do you mean?”

  “Josh had this scar on his leg from when he fell out of our tree house. And it’s gone.”

  “What do you mean gone?” It seemed like an odd thing to notice. I supposed most scars faded over time.

  “It’s missing from his body, Abbey,” he said. “Then I started to notice other physical features of him were a little off.”

  “A year can change the way people look, Ian.”

  “It’s not aging, Abbey. They did something to him, and I’m going to find out what. My friend Caleb believed me. His brother was in the same class as Josh. So when Caleb was called in, I tried to break him out. That's how I knew where to come in today.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  He leaned close enough that our breath mingled. “I got Caleb through a break in the fence. Even though they were able to get him back and I escaped, they haven't repaired it yet.”

  “What's your plan?”

  “I intend to prove that this company is brainwashing the kids they claim they are training.”

  “How are you going to do that?”

  “I'm not sure yet, but first I'm going to pretend to be the perfect recruit until I can.”

  “I don't think you'll find anything, this is a proven program.” I wanted Ian to enjoy himself here as much as I wanted to. If he had another agenda, he might risk getting kicked out.

  “Who keeps kids locked up for a year? The military doesn't even do that. There's something else going on.”

  “Just don't get in trouble okay?”

  He nodded. “I won't.”

  After dinner, we were led to the residence. This part wasn't segregated boys and girls, but we were on different sides of the hallway. And I was happy that I wasn't going to be bunking with anyone. We all had our own rooms.

  Mine was twice the size of my bedroom at home. But this one was stark white like the rest of the place. A small pile of clothes sat on the dresser, and I recognized them as the clothes I came in with. The thin rope of my bracelet sat on the top, but the charm wasn’t there. I searched the clothes for the charm, but I couldn’t find it. I took them over to the bed and shook them out and checked the pockets of my pants. Nothing. My heart started to race. I knelt on the ground and checked the floor, seeing if it fell off, but nothing.

  Ashley’s smirk flashed in my vision. She did this. Somehow I knew she took my charm. And I was going to get her back for this.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Although I worried all night about the location of my grandmother’s charm, when I woke the next morning for the first day of classes, I felt like a little kid on her birthday. Granted, my birthday was less than a month away, I knew today would top anything that could happen that day.

  There were built-in alarms inside the digital clocks on our bedside tables which woke me around six in the morning. I was the first inside the communal bathroom at the end of the hallway. When I was shampooing my hair, I heard Ashley’s voice echoing through the room. I ground my teeth, still upset about the possibility of her messing with my bracelet. Whatever she had against me could be resolved by getting over herself and moving on.

  Thankfully, she was in the shower stall when I left the room. I quickly changed in my bedroom and awaited further instructions. Lucy said she’d come to get us each morning before going to our workstations for the day. It was to ensure that none of us wandered around the building where we weren’t supposed to. There were so many important things going on at Edgewood, so our presence wasn’t welcome outside the training center.

  One minute before seven, I heard footsteps outside my doorway.

  “Recruits!” Lucy’s voice rang through the hallway.

  I hopped off the bed and opened my door, stepping into the hall. Lucy and Christopher stood in the empty hallway.

  The rest of the recruits came out of their rooms, dressed and ready for the day.

  “This morning, you will have a breakfast orientation at your workstations,” Christopher said. “The remainder of your morning meals will take place in the cafeteria.”

  “Ian and Abigail,” Lucy said. “You two will come with me. The rest of you will go with Christopher to your assigned professional workstations.”

  Lucy turned on her heel and walked down the hall without checking to see if we followed. I glanced at Ian, and he held his hand out for me to go first.

  I caught the grimace on Ashley’s face. Good. That would teach her to be nasty to me. Even if I hadn’t told her about the Healer assignment for my lifetime profession, she knew what I was now. Ian had been open with a few of the others about it, not nervous about sharing. But everyone liked him. I was still working on making some friends. Now the cat was out of the bag, and I hoped Ashley wouldn’t prohibit the others from becoming my friend. At the very least, it was nice to have Ian share the training with me so I’d get to see more of him.

  We entered an elevator, and Lucy used a key card to unlock one of the floors for us. It all seemed very exciting. I felt honored and special to be included in such a coveted position.

  None of us spoke on the way up the elevator shaft. Ian’s eyes were narrowed as if he were thinking really hard about something. I hoped the longer he was at Edgewood, he would come to realize there was nothing shady going on. His brother had matured, and his friend Caleb might have helped make Ian a little paranoid. At the end of the day, we were here to learn, not to be a part of some nefarious plan.

  Once we arrived on the eleventh floor, Lucy stepped into the long, bright hallway. The lights above us reflected off the tile floor and stark white walls. Unlike the rest of the places we’d seen, this corridor led to an open floor plan.

  I kept on Lucy’s heels the entire way since I was so excited to see where I’d spend the next year working.

  The narrow hall opened up into a giant circular room. There were many workers in white lab coats bustling around the space. The back of the room was made entirely of windows, overlooking the vast ocean in the distance. The view was breathtaking and incredibly inspiring.

  At that moment, I thought of my grandmother. Had she worked on this floor when she visited the Institute? I wondered if I would run into anyone who knew her.

  Since Ian and I were on the Healer profession track, I wasn’t sure if we’d run into the lab workers much. I had a year to figure it all out, and if I had any clearance by the end of it, I was sure I could do some research. I would love to hear about her from other people’s perspectives.

  “Through here,” Lucy said, and we took a sharp right. She pushed through a door, and we entered another room. Inside were several long tables facing a lectern. Dr. Gates and another man stood in front of one of the tables. Platters of breakfast foods filled nearly half the table. I wondered how many other people were eating with us this morning.

  Lucy turned to us. “I will return at the end of the day to take you back to the residence halls.” And with that, she left.

  Dr. Gates smiled at me. “It’s good to see you again so soon, Abigail. Congratulations on your assignment.” I briefly wondered if she already knew I’d be assigned there and that’s why she did my physical the day before. Maybe to check me out before I started working for her.

  “I’m Dr. Harrison,” the man said. He was tall and gray-haired with the kindest blue eyes I’d ever seen.

  “After breakfast, we’re going to show you around the medical wing so you can familiarize yourself with the area,” Dr. Gates said. “The next few months will be a mix of classes and on-the-job training. Dr. Harrison and I will be your point of contacts for any questions you might have.”
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br />   I smiled and nodded.

  Glancing at Ian, his eyes were still narrowed as if he were trying to decipher a tough puzzle or equation. I glanced back to see if either of the doctors noticed.

  Dr. Harrison appeared unfazed by Ian’s strange expression, while I saw something in Dr. Gate’s appearance. Confusion, possibly?

  I bumped Ian’s arm to jump start him back to reality.

  “Let’s eat,” Dr. Harrison said. “I’m starving.”

  During breakfast, we learned that Dr. Gates and Dr. Harrison both lived at Edgewood for a majority of their time. Their families lived in town. Their talent was used best at Edgewood, and their sacrifice served the greater good. After we had eaten, Dr. Gates had to do her rounds so Dr. Harrison gave us the tour. He introduced us to dozens of staff that I stopped trying to remember their names after a while. I figured I’d get to know them during my training.

  At the end of the day, Dr. Harrison brought us back to the room where we’d had breakfast that morning. “Lucy will be here shortly to show you back to the cafeteria for dinner. I look forward to working with you both.”

  We said our goodbyes, and I sat down. I hadn’t realized how tired my legs were until I plopped into the chair.

  I let out a little groan. “I guess I’ll have to get used to being on my feet all day.”

  “You aren’t used to that yet?” Ian asked.

  I smiled. “I’m used to hauling hay or carrying heavy loads. Distributing my weight. Here, there’s just a lot of standing.”

  “True,” he said then scanned the room. He walked along the wall, looking toward the ceiling.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “Looking.”

  “For what?”

  “Anything.”

  “Evasive much?” I said with a smirk.

  “I told you I came here for a reason, Abbey. I’m not going to back down because they granted me a good position.”

  I crossed the room to be closer to him. I didn’t want the others to hear his wild accusations about Edgewood and hurt his chances. “It’s not just a good position, Ian. It’s the most prestigious one. You should feel proud.”