So this story is basically about Jonas and my OC, Eva. If you love romance then this story will not disappoint. You can skip the prologue if you like, but it explains something mentioned later in the chapter.

ENJOY!

Prologue

The little three sat on the soft rug, playing with wooden building blocks. Her dark chocolate brown hair was in two braids, as was the hair of all the female fours who sat playing, reading, or eating around her. The little girl looked up from the toys to see her mother standing in the doorway of the childcare center, chatting with one of the attendants. The young child's face lighted up, and she got up and ran to her mother, embracing the middle age woman with her chubby arms. Instead of returning the embrace, the mother looked aghast. She took her daughter firmly by the shoulders, and pushed her off. "Eva." She said firmly, looking the girl straight in the eyes. "Hugging is an invasion of personal space and is not allowed. Never try that again, alright?" the little girl was hurt, but she nodded. "Now, apologize for invading my personal space." "I apowogize for invwading your personal space." The toddler fumbled. "Good. Now never try to hug anyone ever again, okay Eva?" the mother said sternly. Eva nodded. "That's a good girl." Her mother said, taking Eva's hand and leading her out of the Childcare center.

Five years later

"Alright class, you are now dismissed. Have fun doing your volunteer hours." The instructor said, sitting down at his desk. The eights began to pack up, putting books and folders into their backpacks and filing out of the classroom. After packing her bag, Eva approached her teacher solemnly. "Instructor Samuel, may I speak to you?" the pale-eyed eight asked. "Of course, Eva" the Instructor said, looking up. "What is it?" "Well sometimes I feel empty." Eva answered. "You have to be more specific. Where exactly do you feel empty?: The instructor asked. "I don't know. It's hard to describe." "Do you feel ill?" The teacher inquired. Eva shook her head. "It's as if something is missing from me." The instructor nodded, and then answered "Alright, Eva, here's what I'll do. I'll write a letter to the hospital telling them to schedule an examination for you. I'll also give you a note for your parents, alright?" Eva nodded. "The doctors should be able to find out what is wrong. And if they don't, you'll just have to accept and learn to live with the emptiness."

*end of prologue*

Eva ran the metal hairbrush through her dark brown bob for the eleventh time, and it went through effortlessly, like it always did.

She looked at herself in the mirror, and saw a dark haired, pale-eyed girl in a gray tunic staring back at her. She went through the mental checklist she had learned when she was just a four. Hair brushed neatly? Check. Face and teeth cleaned? Check. Clothes on frontward and on the right side? Check. Shoes on the right feet? Check.

Eva smiled slightly at her reflection in the mirror. She remembered how her mother had told her that mirrors were only for "making sure one's physical appearance is neat, clean, and ready to begin a productive day in the community." When Eva asked her why mirrors were covered with a blind.

Satisfied with her appearance, Eva set her hairbrush down on her dresser and pulled down the blind that covered her mirror. She walked out into the hallway, and seeing her parents were still getting ready, sat down at the square dining table.

As she sat quietly, she stared at her hands and dwindled her thumbs nervously. Although she wouldn't say it, she wanted nothing more than to be chosen as a birthmother. She had been scolded strictly by her parents a few years ago for saying so, and since then she had learned to keep her true feelings to herself.

Two years ago, when she was a ten, she had learned in school how newchildren grew inside of birthmothers for nine to ten months. That was the moment she decided she wanted to become a birthmother. She had always felt an empty void inside of her, like something was missing from her everyday life. Having a cute little newchild growing inside her would certainly fill that void, she had decided.

"Eva?" her father asked, causing her to snap out of her trance. "Eva, are you ready to leave for the community center ?' " Yes father I'm ready" she replied, getting up from her chair and pushing it in. She followed her father outside, took ,her bicycle out of its port, and mounted it. Then, she and her parents began riding toward the community center.

After Eva had parked her bicycle, she began to search for her good friends Zanna and Jecile. When she caught sight of them, sitting at their cusioned seats in the auditorium balcony, they waved her over, patting the seat between them. She jogged up the stairs, dodging past dozens of people to sit betwen her two friends.

"Aren't you excited to recieve your assignment today?' Zanna squealed. " Tommorow. We are recieving our assignments tommorow." Jecile corrected her.

Zanna shrugged. "Well, it's exciting all the same " she replied. "Of course I'm excited", Eva replied, smiling weakly.

Although she was excited to become a birthmother, she was dreading seeing the look o f disappointment upon her parents' faces. Her father was the head doctor at the hospital, and her mother was a judge, both of which were extemely respectable assignments. To make matters worse, her older brother was an architcect, and and had designed the newest community buildings.

She looked up at them, smiling weakly. "Of course I'm excited. I know i told you both that i wanted to become a nurterer, but I have a confession to make." Jecile and Zanna nodded silmountaneously, their eyes curious. Bowing her head and wringing her hands Eva murmured, "The truth is, I'm hoping to become a birthmother."

Zanna and Jecile exchanged worried glances, and Jecile spoke up first. "Eva, why would you want that? Birthmother is the least respectable of all the assignments!" "Also,your parents would be extremely disappointed! You're much more intellient than any birthmother." Zanna added. Eva could feel anger boiling up inside of her, a rage that she never knew she was capable of.

"I don't are what anyone else thinks!I don't care if everyone thinks birthmothers are lazy and stupid! You know what I think? I think Being a birthmother is the most honorable assignment of all! Birthmothers are the reason we are all here, after all! They carried us around for ten months, growing us inside of them until we were ready to be born! I can hardly say that for our mothers! We're not even allowed to hug!"

"Eva, calm down, there is no need to get upset. Besides, hugging is an invasion of personal space." Jecile said. "There are more dignified ways to show we enjoy one another!" Eva could feel herself boiling over stood up, then turned to her friends and screamed "Well I don't care!"

She could instantly feel hundreds of pairs of eyes on her as half the auditorium stopped their shallow conversations to locate the sound of the scream. Realizing what she had just done, Eva turned and ran, runninng downn stairs and around corners, tears blurring her vision.

Eva ran dowm the corriders of the auditorium, nameless faces in gray passing her by. Tears ran down her cheecks like waterfalls from a source of utter lonliness of desperation. She didn't know where she was going, but she just needed to run.

Away from the emptiness, the loneliness, the fake feelings. She could hardly see, and the tears blurred her vision so badly that- SLAM. Eva ran smack dab into someone, sending her crashing to the carpeted ground. She quickly wiped her eyes and began to scramble up, when she saw a hand held out her, and took it gratefully.

"I apologize f-" Eva stopped mid- sentence when she saw who it was. It was none other than Jonas, the reciever of Memory, as he she recognized him from his selection three years ago. (not to mention his pale eyes). Their eyes locked, and for seconds they did nothing more than stare at each other. Flustered, Eva tried again. "I apologize for bumping into into you. I apologize for being so clumsy." she explained, tucking her hair behind her ear, "It's just that- " There's no need to apologize – Eva", he said looking at her namecard.

Another awkward moment of silence, and then Jonas realized that he was still holding on to Eva's hand. Breaking the silence, Jonas said . "Well, Eva. I've never seen you before." "Well I've seen you!" Eva replied, smiling and stating the first thing that came into her mind, and instantly realizeing that it a few probably didn't sound very intelligent. "Hey – Eva" Jonas said, using her name again, and for some reason it gave Eva a strange feeling. A pleasureable one, but strange all the same. "Were you crying?"

Eva instantly ducked her head. "No" she mumbled, but she knew that Jonas saw right through her little act. "Trust me" he said. "I know crying when I see it." Eva wondered what that meant, but she stayed silent with her head bowed. "Hey he whispered" putting his mouth close to her ear. Do you want to talk about it.?" He asked,.

Eva lifted her head, and couldn't help the flutter of hope that flew her for a second. All her life, no one had been able to help her fill the emptiness that she felt inside of her, so why should the reciever be any different? If she wasn't chosen to become a birthmother tommorow, she decided she would just have to accept and learn to live with the emptiness, like her instructor told her.

"No." she shook her head firmly, and pulled her hand out of Jonas' larger one. "No one has been able to help me, so why should you?" She asked, her voice cracking, sad and hopeless. "Just because you're the reciever doesn't mean you can solve everything." Looking spitefully into Jonas'pale eyes, she could tell that she had hurt him. Good. She thought. She didn't really want to hurt anyone, but she thought Jonas deserved a better companion than one with a strange emptiness inside her.

Now all she had to do was fake an apology to Jonas for hurting him, then fake another to her friends for yelling at them. "Jonas I apologize for hurting your feel-" Jonas said nothing, but firmly took her wrist and began dragging her along.

Eva snatched her hand away, "What do you think you're doing, Jonas?" she said, crossing her arms and giving the reciever a evil glare. "Look, Eva." he said, turning around. "I think i can help you. No, I know I can help you. But I can only help you if you let me. Please." Eva nodded slightly, and followed behind Jonas silently.

Jonas led her along to the upper auditorium, which was completely empty, and sat her down on a seat, sitting next to her. "Look, I know we just met. But-" "But what, Jonas, do you think you can magically solve everything no you can't." "You're no more special or wise than the rest of us." She said, although she knew the words were a liew as they came out of her mouth. She knew that recievers were special- they had the capacity to see beyond.

She stood to leave, but Jonas quickly put his arm around her waist and pulled her back down into the chair. "Look, Eva, there's a lot more going on here than you think. We have seventeen minutes left until the ceremony starts. Just let me help you. Please."

He looked desperate and pleading, and something in his eyes told Eva he was telling the truth. But, something was holding her back He took Eva's hand again, and squeezed it, looking her dead in the eyes, . Please? he asked. Ok, Eva said nodding slowly.

And so Eva told Jonas about the emptiness that she first noticed as a three, and had become worse as she got older. About how she tried to hug her mother, how her teacher told her live with her emptiness, and how she decided that becoming a birthmother would fill the emptiness she felt. Throught everything, Jonas held her hand and listened quietly.

After she had finished speaking Jonas said, "Eva, I know why you feel empty.I know exaclty why. There's a lot I want to tell you, but it will have to wait, alright?" he said, squeezing her hand . "You and I, and my Mentor, of course, are very, very special." "How are we special?" Eva asked, intriguied. "There's so much I will tell you soon, I promise. It has something to do with our blue eyes." "What's blue?" Eva asked. "I'll show you soon enough", Jonas said, smiling.

"But right now we have to get back to our seats. Meet me on the left staircase of the school building right after school the day after tommorow. And you can't tell anyone about this, ok?", Eva nodded, intrigued by all the mystery of what Jonas was saying. "Fellow Citizens of the community" The voice on the intercom boomed, "Please find your seats, as the age progression Ceromony will begin in exactly five minutes. Thank you for your cooporation." "It isn't a good idea for more people to see us together than already have" Jonas said, Eva hanging on to his every word.

"You go and find your seat, and I'll follow in a couple of minutes. The consequences of me being late will be much less than yours. He said, smiling at her. "O.K. Jonas" Eva said getting up and letting go of his hand. "I'll see you in couple of days. Thank you." "Jonas, why do we have to wait until school? Why not tommorow?" "Because I need to speak with my mentor first," Jonas said.

So... what do you think? Was the chapter too short, too long, what did you like and dislike about it? Please review because the only way I can make this story better is with feedback! I hope you enjoyed the story and hope to see you back for the next chapter! :)

Enjoy the day! :D