Disclaimer: I do not own Jonas, Gabriel, or anyone from Jonas's community.
I just felt like writing a fanfic on this because I read this book in my language arts class (also we got to do a ceremony of 12, I'M A LANDSCAPE WORKER, AINT THAT WONDERFUL?)
Review! And enjoy!
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The Receiver
Chapter One
Jonas was desperately trying to hang on to consciousness. He squeezed Gabe so tight that he started crying. He could see the blur of a house with people inside. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. His grip on the rope and Gabriel loosened as everything turned black.
-
He woke up in a small room. He was asleep on a red, square couch. He rubbed his head and struggled to stand up. Since he was unsuccessful, he sat up and looked around the room. Everything was colorful here, and nothing was the boring shade of his old community. There was a small rectangular table in front of the couch, and behind the table there was a fire, just like Jonas remembered from the Giver's favorite memory. Then he heard laughter and squeals of delight.
Gabe, he thought. He stood up (with great difficulty) and walked over to the door where the laughter was coming from. He gently turned the doorknob and pushed on the wood of the door. He peeked inside and saw 3 girls and 2 boys wrapping Gabe in blankets, and he was laughing because he had never seen real colors, except for the memories transmitted by Jonas. One of the boys turned around and saw Jonas standing there in the doorway.
"Guys, I think the other kid's awake." he said, not bothering to be quiet. The 4 other kids turned around and saw Jonas standing there.
"Hello." said the girl who seemed to be the eldest. "My name is Haley. I live here. My younger sister Sophie found you outside on your sled. My brother Colin is having it cleaned for you."
"You looked sick, so I called Haley to come help you." said Sophie. She looked about 7 years old.
"It's all clean, Hale." said a boy that walked in, drying his hands with a dirty towel.
"He's awake." said Haley to him. The boy wheeled around.
"Hi." he said. He looked about the same age as Jonas. "I'm Colin, Haley's sister. Are you alright?" he asked.
"I—I'm fine." said Jonas, speaking for the first time.
"What's your name?" asked one of the boys that was helping to clean up Gabriel.
"I'm Jonas." said Jonas.
"Todd. Nice to meet you." he said, shaking his hand. Todd looked around 15 years old.
"These are my cousins, Todd, Jared, and Tessa. And you've already met my brother and sister, Colin and Sophie." said Haley.
"There's three of you?" asked Jonas.
"What—what do you mean?" asked Haley.
"I mean the three of you are brothers and sisters with each other?"
"Well… yes." said Haley, raising her eyebrows.
"I'm sorry." said Jonas, realizing that he sounded awkward. "It's just… where I come from; we're only allowed to have two children to a family. A boy and a girl."
All of the children seemed to have gotten confused about this matter.
"Never mind." said Jonas quickly.
"So… Jonas." said Jared, the younger one of Haley's 'cousins' (Whatever that means, thought Jonas) "Why'd you come to our house? It's Christmas Eve, shouldn't you be with your family?"
Jonas tried to think quickly. "Uhh—my family doesn't celebrate Christmas. And they forbid fires in the house." he said, glancing nervously at the fireplace in the other room.
"How come?" asked Sophie.
"They think it's dangerous." said Jonas quickly.
"Oh, um, would you like something to eat? Something to drink?" asked Haley.
"I'd like that." said Jonas with a smile.
"Tessa, you go get him comfortable in his spot on the couch." said Haley. Tessa nodded. She smiled at Jonas and led him back to the other room.
"We'll bring your brother once we've finished wrapping him. He is your brother, isn't he? But didn't you say that you can only have a boy and a girl to each family?"
"I said that?" said Jonas thinking quickly. "I must've still been dizzy. Yeah, Gabe's my brother."
"So that's his name, Gabe, eh? He's a cute one. But a rascal as well." she giggled. "So Jonas, how old are you?"
"I'm 13." said Jonas. He was tired of lying. He had lied more in the past 5 minutes than he had ever lied in his life.
"Really? I'm almost 13. Only 10 days away. When did you turn 13?" she asked.
"A couple weeks ago, I think. It's just that I've been on the road for so long that I'm losing track of time and days." Tessa giggled again.
"Oh, I can't wait. 13 is when you can go to places alone in our community. We don't have many rules. Only 4. That rule is the 4th one, so it's the least important, but still very important."
Jonas smiled. "So are you going to have a 'birthday party'?" Jonas asked, using the phrase for the first time.
"Oh yes! And it's going to be a very fun one!" she laughed.
"So, how old are the other kids in there?" Jonas asked laying down on the couch.
"Well, Colin's 13. Todd's 15. Haley's 16. Sophie's 8. And Jared's 11. So Colin and I are closest to your age."
Jonas smiled again. "Where are your parents?" he asked, realizing for the first time there were no adults in sight.
"They're in the other room, having a party. They don't know about you and Gabriel yet. There are tons of guests. This is Haley's house, so I'm a guest here as well. But since we're cousins we're really close. Anyway, if Haley's parents freak out about you guys staying here, you're always welcome at my place. It's only 3 blocks away."
"Really?" said Jonas, not daring to ask what in the tarnation a 'cousin' was.
"Yes. We moved there about a year ago. Before that we lived over half and hour away."
"So are you close with Colin and Sophie as well?" asked Jonas.
"Well… yes, I suppose. They're my cousins too, obviously, but for some reason I never feel very comfortable near Colin. Maybe that's because—" She stopped and sighed. "If I tell you something, will you promise not to tell anyone?"
"Promise." said Jonas.
"Well, when we were all little, Colin's parent got into a huge fight. Their dad left with Colin, and their mom stayed here with Haley and Sophie. Sophie was still in my aunts belly then, though. Well anyway, they didn't come back for 5 years, and their dad apologized over and over again. Then they got remarried, even though they had never really divorced, and they've been happy together ever since. It's just that I don't feel comfortable around Colin because he wasn't a part of my life since I was 5 to since I was 10. It just feels like I missed something that I can't regain."
Jonas was puzzled. Remarried? Divorced? In my aunt's belly? What was she saying?
"I see." said Jonas.
"Well, what do you think I should do?" asked Tessa.
"Well—uh—" Jonas was stuck. "I'm not really the person to ask. You might want to try Haley."
"I can't try Haley, Colin's Haley's brother, remember? Please Jonas?"
"Uh—well—you can either tell Colin how you feel, or you just act like yourself around him."
"I see what you mean." said Tessa.
"I'm glad." said Jonas, and he really was.
"Well, I'll go get you your brother and see why Haley's taking so long with the food. Um, just sit tight till then." she said as she started to leave the room.
"Tessa!" called Jonas.
"Yes?"
"Thanks. For everything."
Tessa smiled. "Anytime." She left.
Jonas lay back. He had found the perfect place. If only they would let him stay…
Author's Note: What did you think! Please, please, please, please, please review! ;)