My Perfect Imperfection

Chapter 1

Elsa

Today was the day. Judgement Day. The day when the rest of our lives would be planned out for us. The mood was horribly sober as I met up with the rest of the eighteen-year-olds that made up the group that was going to be judged this year. My parents and little sister Anna were just outside the door in a waiting room reserved for Perfects. The Imperfects had to wait for their children outside in the hot, noonday sun, but I, coming from a family of Perfects, tend not to think of the hardships of Imperfects very much.

I am sitting with few people, only my friend Rapunzel and her boyfriend Eugene. Punzie and I are good friends, but I'm not very close to Eugene. There are big groups and small groups littered around the auditorium, separated by what kind of family they come from, Perfect or Imperfect. The ones coming from Imperfect families are more gritty, but not nearly as gritty as their parents. The ones from Perfect families look relaxed and happy and clean, which is usual, as they expect to be judged as Perfect just like their ancestors.

"I'm nervous," Rapunzel says, her brow furrowing and Eugene's arm quickly wrapping around her. It was a strange relationship, since Eugene was from Imperfects and Rapunzel from Perfects, but Eugene wasn't specifically judged as an Imperfect so society allowed it. If they were judged differently, however, they would absolutely have to split. Relationships between Perfects and Imperfects were unheard of and would probably be reacted to violently if they were displayed publicly. No one questioned it; it was just the way of things.

"Me too, but everything will probably work out okay," I answered, giving Rapunzel a reassuring smile. The intercom suddenly switched on and all conversation in the room stopped.

"The Judgement Process is about to begin," a woman's monotone voice spread throughout the auditorium, continuing, "Subject's names will be called in alphabetical order and directed to their designated testing room."

And that was how it began. Since my last name was Arendelle, I was one of the first ones. The first few came out looking pale and sweaty. I wondered with a shiver of fear what the testing had been like. Then my name was called.

"Arendelle, Elsa. Room 006."

I barely heard Rapunzel's words of good luck as I stood and walked towards the door to Room 006. The door slid open, and I took one last glance at the auditorium before stepping into the shadowed room.

Something that looked like a dentist's chair sat in the middle of the room, and a person stood before it, apparently organizing some wires. They looked up and gave me a small smile. It was a thin, clean woman with brown hair that had streaks of gray and soft green eyes.

"Sit," she said in a steady voice, gesturing towards the chair. I sat.

"I will need you to give me your date of birth, category of your family members, and citizen ID."

I gave her the information quickly, wondering why she would need to know if the rest of my family were Perfects or Imperfects. Would she change the test because of my answer?

The woman tapped the information into a keypad I hadn't noticed before, then instructed me to lay back on the chair and relax. She then deftly applied what looked like neuron readers to my temples, the back of my neck, and the crown of my head. "Remember to relax," she repeated, and I was swept away into an unknown blackness.

I was in the slums of the city, where Undecideds that weren't assigned a status usually lived. They did the dirtiest of jobs, such as cleaning up the Perfect section of the city and managing the lower systems, such as our city's sewers. A small, starving Undecided with bulging eyes and so much dirt on himself I could barely make out his real features crawled up to my feet, his hand out for money.

Immediately I was disgusted, and I backed away. He just kept crawling towards me. I tried to slap his hand away, but then he started to claw at my clothing, drawing a small yelp from my mouth and harder slaps. His hands found my arms and started to pull me down, surprisingly strong for a starving person, and that was when I wrenched myself out of his grasp and started running, screaming for help.

I started to see the border of the Imperfect neighborhoods, where the Perfect section of the city started, when everything went white in color. I had been transported to another place altogether. It was the beach. The same beach, in fact, that I went to with my family every summer until I was ready to get judged.

Anna was beside me, talking and laughing as we lay on the sand. I started talking and laughing with her, when her face suddenly dropped into eerie seriousness.

"How could you do this to me?" she said, her face blank and her voice creepily unemotional.

"Do what, Anna?" I answered, wondering what she meant. Since our parents were Perfect, our lives were perfect. What did Anna mean?

"Everything," she answered, her face going from nothing to utter fury.

"Everything! Go away, Elsa! You're nothing to me anymore!"

"Anna, I—"

"No! Get away!" She stood and kicked me once, then again.

I stood and shoved her away from me to try and calm her down, but nothing worked. Anna just kept trying to hurt me.

"STOP!" I finally yelled at the top of my lungs, and as Anna froze in place, looking completely dazed, the world went black.

I came to with my bones shaking in my skin. The same woman from before was there, giving me that same kind smile.

"You did great," she said, taking the neuron readers off me and helping me out of my seat.

My legs felt like jelly and my head felt like a balloon. The test was impossibly intense and I never wanted to go through that experience again.

"Congratulations, Elsa. You have been judged a Perfect. Directions to your new quarters will be given to you shortly. You can exit the way you came in."

I nodded and shakily made my way out of the room and out of the auditorium, ignoring the way people were looking at me. As soon as I entered the waiting room, Mother, Father, and Anna came rushing towards me.

"So, what did you get judged as finally?" Anna asked eagerly, asking the question they all wanted answered.

"A Perfect. I'm going to get directions to my new quarters soon," I exclaimed happily, though still half-expecting Anna to start hitting and yelling at me at any moment.

Expressions of relief painted my parents faces, and Anna squealed before giving me a tight hug. Things were good right now. I wondered absently for a moment who my assigned Imperfect would be before my family took me to the nearest restaurant to celebrate.

Jack

"You have been judged an Imperfect. You will stay with your family before receiving your assigned Perfect and moving to their quarters."

I nodded to the man in front of me who had just told me the news I had expected to hear. An Imperfect. Just like the rest of my family. Honestly, I wouldn't want to be a Perfect. There is a kind of charm that attracts me to the Imperfects more, however much work they're forced to do.

I walked outside where lots of other Imperfect families were waiting, sifting through the crowd to find my own family. Soon enough, I recognize the many faces of my little brothers and sisters, as well as the faces of my parents. I have seven more siblings, all younger than me, which makes us a family of ten. It's pretty hectic most of the time, but there's a kind of comfort that comes with it that you'll never really be alone. I think I'll miss that comfort once I get assigned an Imperfect to wait on, but still, peace and quiet are rare in my home.

"I got judged an Imperfect," I said plainly, surprised to see that my parents had disappointment on their faces. I knew that Imperfect life was hard, but I could handle it. My brothers and sisters cheered, what they do for everything, and rushed towards me in a hug. I put on a fake smile during it all, still distressed at my parents' reaction.

"Congratulations, son," my dad said, coming up to me and clapping me on the back. I could tell he didn't mean it. My parents were genuinely disappointed.

"Yes. Your father and I don't have any work today because it was your Judgement Day, so I had time to make something special for dinner," my mother said with a smile, her voice calm and quiet as always. Despite her almost always serene mood, I knew for sure she was as disappointed as my father.

A/N: Okay, so this is just a little something I came up with to ward off my writers' block for this other story I'm doing, A Shock of White Hair, but if it really builds then I might start taking it seriously XD Any critiques are welcome, just no flames :) Questions about the plot are welcome also.