CHAPTER ONE

Alice was very tired when she woke up. Life in the communities was brutal and stuck to a very strict schedule. Today was Monday morning, so the loud alarm sounded through Community Four ordering the citizens to wake up at seven o' clock. Alice walked to her bedroom mirror and looked at her tangeled hair. She picked up a brush from the vanity and began to detangle her straight, blonde, sholder-length har. She then applied a serum to prevent frizzing.

She put her clear contacts on her crystal blue eyes and could finally see everything clearly. She dressed in her Academy uniform for those who were eleven and older. It was tight-fitted and black. The thick black leggings hugged her legs nicely and the long-sleeved shirt covered about half of her neck and up to her wrists.

In your uniform, you never got too hot or too cold, which was great because summers were always hot and winters were always cold.

The second alarm sounded at 7:05 ordering all citizens to eat breakfast with their families. She went to her 2 year old brother's room, picked him up and carried him to the dining room where her mother was already seated.

"Good morning," her mother said, "how did you sleep?" This was the official good morning all citizens were required to say to their family members, ordered by, of course, the Capitol. Sometimes they even send Officials from the Capital to make sure this is done.

Alice sat with her brother Henry on her lap and watched as her food, all chosen specically by the Capital each day, appears on the table right before her eyes.

"Good morning, Mother. I slept well. And you?" Alice responded the "official response" and rolled her eyes. Usually, they never even had this conversation because they were too busy mocking the Capitals silly customs.

"Very well, thank you," her mother said this quickly as she realized they were running out of breakfast time. Soon, the plates would dissapear. Alice swallowed as much food as she could, eating around the eggs, and gulped it down with some orange juice. Meanwhile, Henry was feeding himself. The plates dissapeared back to the Capital.

The alarm sounded at 7:30 which notified the citizens that it was time to go to the Academy. All those ten and under went to the Under Academy to learn basic history and science or, in Henry's case, go to day care. You started studying basic science and history at age four. The Under Academy children wore uniforms like Alice but in all white. All the Under Academy children had to be walked in by their parent or guardian.

This left Alice time to run to her best friend Jace's house and walk to the Academy with him. Jace walked out the door in his uniform, ran his fingers through his touseled blonde hair and looked at her with his piercing green eyes. He smiles, and bounds toward her. They start walking.

"Hey what's up?" Jace completely ignored Capital demands all together. Which made me laugh.

"Nothing much… But we might want to get to the Academy before we're late."

"You're always the responsible one," he mutters and rolls his eyes. The walk into the Hall, crowded with students. The alarm sounds and 7:40 ordering all citizens to recite the Anthem of our nation, Frei, meaning free. The Capital believes we're free. I laugh silently and recite the meaningless words I have said everyday since I was four. Now, I'm a sixteen year old rebel.

The alarm sounds. It's 7:45 and time for us to go to Advanced Sciences. The UA is now in Basic History. We walk into our room and immediately freeze. There is a Capital Observer here today, and this can only mean our Professor has been framed of something and the Observer is here to convict him and kill him or find him innocent. Which never happens.

"Hello, students. Today, we have a very special guest who is here today from our Capital. This is Doctor Jacobo. He will be observing our class today. He would also like it if you, once you sit down, that is, to write your name and age on a piece of paper and hand it to him," Proffesor Jacques sounded nervous. You could tell by the way his French accent started to show. As a Proffesor, he had to hide his accent. Everyone must be uniform. This day wasn't looking good for him.

The observer was not uniform at all. He was a black man and was obviously from someplace in South America. He wore white doctor's scrubs with his name, Doctor Jacobo, MD, on the front. He stood and spoke. Angrily.

"I believe that your Instructor has instructed you to SIT DOWN!" We couldn't sit down fast enough. When everyone was seated, I was next to Jace, seated in the back row. I scrawled my name and age.

Alice Jane Everheart

16 Yrs Old

Jace wrote his, obviously rushing as well.

JOHNATHON CHRISTOPHER BLACKWELL

16 YEARS OLD

I became aware that some people were taking their time, making their papers look beautiful to impress the Observer. Johanna's script was beautiful.

Johanna Christine Hardwing

Fifteen Years Old

I walked up to turn my paper in with Jace and saw her paper.

"Stupid bitch," I muttered under my breath, too low for her to hear. I heard Jace laugh next to me. I saw the Observer smile slightly. I hurried to my seat.

"Today, class, we will be learning of Advanced Technological Sciences. Please open your textbooks and read chapter 17," our Proffesor blew it. It was against the Law to teach students out of the textbook on the desks. We had never seen them before. On the cover, in read, it said:

THE CAPITAL'S DIRTY SECRETS

It was a rebel book. Our Instructor was shot within seconds. Capital officials came in, dragged his body away and left. The Observer never left.

"I will be teaching this class now. If you would, please, open your real textbooks to page 200 and read chapter 17 on Herbs for Medical Uses. I shall be back in a moment. I have Capital buisness to attend to," the Observer spoke as if he owned the room. One thing was absolutely certain. He did now.

a very seated years and years ago have stayed with us and have formed who we are toda