a/n: When I first published this story, I had a few chapters done. Now that I've gone back and read them again, I've gone in with editing. In this chapter there are minor changes and I've separated a near four thousand word chapter to almost three, I think it's a more clean break this way! While I recommend rereading it, I don't think it'll be terrible if you choose not too! As a writer, you can't go back and edit enough. While I feel like I can still go over this and find ten more things to change, I think it's time for me to step away, at least for this chapter. Chapter two will be uploaded tonight. Thank you for reading and your patience!

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Part One

cu·ri·os·i·ty
/kyo͝orēˈäsədē/
a strong desire to know or learn something.

She didn't feel. At least, that's what they said. Since she started school she was known for it, she sat in her chair, perfectly calm, staring straight ahead. Only speaking when spoken to. A cheerful Harper bouncing next to her, the first day of second grade. Her wild light brown hair was tied into two pigtails, a wide smile on her face. The smaller girl looked over, a blank expression unchanging, her hair was down, with two butterfly pins on either side. Her mother put them there, she liked them.

"I'm Harper, wanna be friends?"

So they were, it was hard on Harper. Most conversations were dull and one sided, she didn't blame her for getting frustrated every once in awhile. Harper maintained her other friendships, gaining more and more over the years, Lavender knew that. She was comfortable with Harper flying in and out of her life for the next few years, they were friends after all. Her parents didn't know what was wrong, at home she spoke a little easier, but with no feeling. She didn't have the passion of her botanist mother, or the ambition of the engineer father. What happened? Doctor Griffin said that she was fine, just a little quieter than most of the other children, she'd grow out of it. Lavender didn't answer, looking down at her ratty shoes whenever the subject came up.

It was one Monday afternoon when Harper came over, pacing around the room. Her cheeks were painted pink and she huffed angrily. "There's nothing wrong with you! They just don't get it, everyone's a little different." She fumed, the bows in her hair bouncing with every heavy step she took, "I like you the way you are, don't listen to them."

So she didn't, she had Harper and her parents, that was really all she needed.

It was days before she turned 17 when she saw. She'd started volunteering doing shifts in the kitchen earlier that year, twice or sometimes three times a week. She'd ignored it the first day she'd seen a sliver of brown hair and the storage box open. Had she thought she wouldn't be able to see her? She could almost scoff, maybe if she cared more, she would ask Harper who she was stealing the food for. Maybe she would even help her to not get caught, tell her her shifts and when not to come.

She didn't, and two weeks later, the doors swung open before they were touched. Two guards carried a struggling Harper out, her face was set into a grimace but she was fighting them with all she could. She would die, easy as that. Lavender wasn't a fool, she knew Harper wasn't either. Harper knew no matter what she did from this moment on, there was an eighty percent chance, (and growing with her insubordination) that she'd die.

"Lav!" Harper yelled, now tears were streaming down her face, she pushed one guard away, the other looking surprised. She wanted her help, she had to help Harper. So Lavender punched the guard. Her fist stung, but gave Harper enough time to run down the hall, she looked back but somehow didn't look surprised to see Lav standing over the man, looking indifferent. She would die. Come next year, she would die for the crime of assaulting a guard and aiding a criminal. She didn't run, she allowed them to stand back from the assault and take her in, giving no protest.

They'd questioned her, who was she? (An question that was quickly answered without her help) Who was stealing food? Lavender stared forward, her almost black eyes never faltered. She'd hold out, if Harper was dumb enough to continue stealing, that'd be her mistake. She'd done her part.

She wasn't put in isolation, she debated whether she should punch another guard and get put in there. At least then she wouldn't have to deal with the side long glances and wary looks. Was she not among criminals? Her emotions, or lack thereof, seemed to stop anyone from approaching her during the meal periods. There wasn't a bouncing Harper with pigtails, it was just Lavender. She didn't mind, she didn't care for more company. Lavender rather liked to be alone, silent.

Her parent came to visit, once, sometimes twice a week. Her mother almost always dissolving into tears only ten minutes into the visit, she'd counted off the minutes. Her father told her about his new experience, about how they'd been working on one new gadget or the other. Science and Engineering interested her, maybe it was the simplicity of it. Numbers, exact calculations. When she'd been home her mother would sometimes take her into the greenhouses, showing her plants and flowers. She'd hardly paid attention, but hearing her father drone on about cables she'd never get to tinker with was enough for her to want to go back to talking about cactus. She didn't say anything.

Lavender would've liked to say she slept well almost every night, she'd slept easily back in her own bed. It wasn't the bed that'd bothered her though, it was the incessant sobbing from the cell next to her. Her eyes would lock onto the wall separating the two and she would almost wish she could do something. But she could, she could call out, introduce herself, talk to the crying girl. She didn't, she would stare at the wall until the crying stopped and fall to sleep on the rough cott given to each and every prisoner.

She wasn't sure how much time passed, maybe a month, maybe two. She put another tasteless bite of food into her mouth. She was eating, and a bounding, bouncing Harper came over. Her eyes traced over the girl, she had a split lip, a bruised eye and her hands were cut.

"You got caught." It wasn't a question, she was here, wasn't she? Harper sat down, putting her own tray down. "Who were you stealing for?"

Harper looked bashful, almost.

"Uh, do you know the Brown's?" Harper asked, the unchanging look made her continue, "Them, their rations got cut a few months ago but Ms. Brown is pregnant."

Lavender nodded, satisfied with the answer. Harper continued to talk, she listened easily. Life went on, Harper made other friends, but once a week she would come and talk to Lavender in the Mess Hall. She had an issue keeping track of time while she was here, everything felt like in blended into a large circle, never ending. She guessed it was a year, that's the only reason the guards would come in, taking her arm.

"Ms. Bell?" a female voice asked, Lav looked over to the entrance. Doctor Griffin. She had a contraption in her hand, did she want to know what it was? Doctor Griffin couldn't keep the eye contact, growing uncomfortable she stepped forward. One of the guards spoke loudly.

"Put out your right arm!" She would've done it either way, she didn't break her stare on Doctor Griffin, even when the round metal latched into her skin. Doctor Griffin looked up, meeting her stare again.

"Is it my birthday?" she asked. She'd read about the procedure plenty of times, none included wasting technology on someone to be floated in mere hours. After a few seconds passed she asked again, "Is it my birthday?"

"No."

It was the only answer she got, she wasn't the only one, but she was certainly the calmest. Getting shoved into a seat and strapped down next to criminals, she wondered what was happening. She'd had good behavior, her chances of get to live had been at least fifty percent, especially since Harper had been caught. And now she was being sent for a mass floating? She was put on the top floor, back row, there was an empty seat to the left, the seat farthest from the ladder downstairs. A guard came and took the seat, strapping himself in beside her. He looked over to her once, twice before clearing his throat. Lavender looked over, her eyes landed on the guard insignia.

"Why am I here?" Lavender asked, her voice was light, what you'd expect to come out of the small looking girl, but it was cold, hollow. The words felt empty and Bellamy didn't want to answer. Thankfully he didn't have to, they'd started to move.

"Funny, didn't think I'd die surrounded by people. This is probably the worst way I could imagine." She didn't look like she found it funny, Bellamy wasn't sure what to make of her, "Is this a mass floating? Perhaps a leak in the oxygen tanks?"

"No, we're going to Earth."

Lavender stayed quiet after that, so she would die? Earth was supposed to be covered in radiation, uninhabitable. She closed her eyes, attempting to block out the noise around her. She could hear the audio from the video playing on the hardly used screens. He was right, she hadn't doubted him. After all, what was the point in lying to her now? Her eyes cracked open, looking around at the mix of frightened teens. She looked over to the guard, would he help them survive? What had he done wrong to be expendable like the rest of them? Panicked voices started to get louder when the audio cut out, they were going too fast. Her eyes widened a fraction, is this how she'd die?

A hand grabbed at hers, she looked over to the guard who'd grabbed it, he had his eyes shut, leaning back into his seat. She considered taking her hand back, but this was supposed to be comforting, right? If these were her last moments, she didn't mind holding hands with a man she thought would rescue her only moments before. She allowed it, her hand feeling dwarf like in his. She didn't mind physical contact, not as much as people thought she did.

"You look scared." He said, now looking over, his jaw was still clenched.

"I'm not."

The ships rockets came up, lowering their speed. They would still crash roughly, but they'd make it. She took her hand back.

"We almost died, you're not scared?" Bellamy asked, his hand resting on the seatbelt holding him down.

"I'm not scared to die." Was she? No, on The Ark she justified her death with saving Harper for a few weeks, in her mind, she took the tiniest bit of credit for Ms. Brown and her unborn child's welfare. She was fine with dying then, but she supposed if they walked out that door, and she could breath non toxic air, she'd have to find something worth dying for. "Are you?"

She was almost doll like, he didn't put it together until then. He'd heard about her before, people said she killed four guards for looking at her too long, other people said if you made eye contact with her you'd die within the week. They were stupid, of course, things people made up to pass time and feel excitement. She'd earned the nickname Glass Doll long before she got locked up in the Sky Box. Not that anyone, including Harper, let her in on it. Even if they did, Harper was sure she either wouldn't get it, or wouldn't care.

"No."

He was lying, she didn't correct him, choosing to stare forward instead. Maybe he could still lead them, she supposed her apathy wasn't sign of good leadership, maybe his willingness to live was. It wasn't a graceful landing, her body pressed against the seat belt harshly, holding her from shooting forward. Once she was see the drop ship had come to a stop, her hands unclasped the seat belt. Beside her Bellamy had gotten out easily, already standing and assessing where he was, the next move. She followed him, he was a guard, she supposed he knew the most here. Besides, he could see over most of the teens, were all she could see where the chest and shoulders around her. Yes, she would stay on his good side, as much as she could. Once he'd reached the ladder he looked over his shoulder. He looked almost amused, she was behind him following him like a puppy through the crowd. She'd be an asset for him, but first thing came first, he would find Octavia and get out of the drop ship. They'd be able to stay with the group a couple days, maybe he'd gather a few people and they'd leave the camp together, they couldn't possibly stay there. The Ark would eventually come down, assuming that the outside was habitable, and he was sure the rules about the crimes being forgiven didn't apply to him as well. His eyes scanned the crowd, looking for O, he was close to the entrance now, everyone was gravitating toward the big doors as well, although no one looked to be making a move to leave the drop ship.

Lavender tapped Bellamy's arm, putting her other hand on a metal latch that would open the door, or at least was supposed to open it. With the harsh landing they'd had, there was a chance the door would need more than a simple lever to open it. Someone pushed against his back, he held up, not rocking in the slightest, instead speaking, "Hey, back it up guys."

The two behind him scuffled away as much as they could, at least they weren't touching him.

"Stop!" A blonde girl yelled, pushing her way through the crowd, "The air could be toxic!"

It took Lavender a moment to realize she'd been talking to her, she looked to her hand that still rested on the bar before putting it back at her side.

"If the airs toxic, we're all dead." Bellamy answered, looking at the girl who'd yelled. Half because he knew he was right, and half to start to establish a leader position.

"Bellamy!" Someone yelled, running into his arms. Lavender heard murmurs behind her.

"That's the girl they hid under the floorboards." Someone whispered, she didn't look to see who. Peculiar, The Ark had ruled set in place to control overpopulation, yet some still decided to not follow procedure. But she supposed that's why they were all here, because they didn't follow some kind of rule. That girl was probably imprisoned the most innocently, for the crime of living. She couldn't bring herself to feel sympathy for her, after all, they were all supposed to be even here, right?

"My God, look how big you are." Bellamy said, he looked relieved. Maybe he hadn't been searching for the exit, but for her instead.

"What the hell are you wearing, a guard's uniform?" Since Bellamy had made the other teens move, Octavia spoke low, but not enough for her not to hear, not that she'd noticed, too preoccupied with her reunion. Her eyes kept glued to the wall in front of her, thoughts beginning to run through her head.

He wasn't a guard. Did he at least know something about Earth that put him ahead of the rest of them? Perhaps the blonde girl would be a better person to follow and take direction from. She seemed confident, although dumb if she thought they'd be able to avoid going outside.

"Where's your wristband?" The same girl demanded, Octavia turned quickly.

"Do you mind? I haven't seen my brother in a year." She snarled, the blonde seemed to piece things together. Lavender didn't pay attention to things around her, not names and she didn't know faces. It was easy enough to follow along, even for her, they had some similarities appearance wise. Almond shaped eyes, slightly tanned skin. She looked at her own, certainly darker than the blondes, maybe a shade or two lighter than the guards sister. The entire population of the Ark had dull skin tone, a show of the unnatural source of vitamin D, the processed and bland tasting food. She was surprised that the man looked healthy, especially if he wasn't a guard. The rich faired well, she could see the blonde with a fair amount of muscle on her, in comparison to the sallow cheeks of some of the lower class citizens in the drop ship. She wondered how they'd fare, Lavender was suddenly very grateful she'd lived a semi comfortable life on the Ark.

"That's Octavia Blake, the girl they found hidden in the floor."

Octavia took a threatening step towards the girl who'd essentially outed her, although she'd done a pretty good job of it herself. There weren't many horror stories about someone breaking the second child rule. It was hard to hide a pregnancy full term, and with the required doctor visits, Lavender herself wasn't sure how they'd done it. She didn't get far, Bellamy taking her forearm.

"Octavia, Octavia, no. Let's give them something else to remember you by." he aided, she looked back at her brother questioningly.

"Yeah? Like what?"

Bellamy's eyes caught Lavender's, they flickered over to the metal bar before going back to his sister. She understood, pulling down the handle after he spoke.

"Like being the first person on the ground in a hundred years." The loud hiss came from the ship, the door coming open. Lavender hadn't had much of a struggle pulling it down. She'd used both hands, putting her weight on the bar until it gave. Her eyes had a hard time adjusting to the natural light, they closed for a few seconds, her lids a peach color on the inside.

"We're back, bitches!" Octavia's voice yelled, it was as if a spell had broken and the rest of the teens stormed out of the drop ship, whooping and hollering. Someone bumped harshly into her shoulder, sending her against the wall. Her eyes opened, thankfully her hand automatically went up and caught her before she got completely thrown into it.

"You okay?" They didn't have a very deep voice, her eyes trailed from their shoes up to their eyes, brown.

"Yeah." she answered simply, they shifted, debating whether to leave her she supposed.

"Don't you want to see outside?" They asked, raising an eyebrow, she looked towards the exit and she felt something. It was weird, and it tugged at her heart. She did, she wanted it, what was this called?

Curiosity.