Dusk -
Dinner comes too quickly for my liking. We're always hungry, there's never enough food for everyone to cure the constant grumbling of our stomachs. Plus, there are seven mouths to feed, and only five workers because Winter is too young. She's only six.
We used to have an older brother named Kyle, but he was drafted when he turned eighteen and we lost contact with him about a year ago. Our dinner table is too small for seven people. It can fit four at best, but somehow, we make it work. Dawn and I always share a plate, and Astralia and Lunaris squeeze onto one chair.
Lunaris is Astralia's twin, but they're not identical like Dawn and I are. Luna has jet-black hair and golden-brown skin. Her eyes are eucalyptus green, borderline gray, and freckles are scattered across her face. She's just as pretty as Astra, but Luna's the other half to Astra's energetic personality.
Winter sits in Mom's lap and Dad sits by himself. Mom and Dad get their own plates because they're currently our best source of income and need the most food. They go hungry more often than we do though. Dawn and I do alright, but people prefer proper adults over a pair of eighteen-year-old girls because there's a lot of heavy-lifting involved with housework.
Currently, Dawn and I have been working as maids for a rich family of Twos, but who knows how long it will last. Every time Mrs. Richards looks at us, her nose wrinkles like she's disgusted. It makes me want to crawl into a hole and die.
The only good thing about working for the Richards' is Brandon. He's handsome, funny, smart and most importantly, kind. He doesn't look at me with the same disgust his parents do. He looks at me like I'm special.
Flashback -
"What are you doing?" Someone asks.
I turn around quickly, but it's only Brandon standing behind me. I try to fight the blush that's trying to spread across my cheeks, but it's a losing battle.
"What do you mean?" I ask. I
Is he so pampered that he doesn't know what dusting is?
"I saw your back turned." He says.
Is that pink on his cheeks? For the first time the thought occurs to me that my attraction to him might be mutual. I hold up the feather duster in my right hand, feeling more at ease now that I know he's just as nervous about this interaction as I am.
"Dusting!" I exclaim, doing jazz hands but only with my left.
He looks taken aback, and for a second, I wonder if my sarcasm has just driven him away. But then he starts laughing, and he doesn't stop. It wasn't that funny. I think. But I'm not going to stop him. The sound is beautiful, unlike anything I've ever heard before and all I want is to hear it all the time. I laugh too, because laughter is contagious and he stops laughing and grins.
"You're... Dusk right?" He asks.
Oh my gosh. He knows my name.
"Y-Yes?" I stammer, knowing I sound like an idiot.
"I'm not going to pretend I don't think you're the most beautiful girl in the world. I'd love to get to know you better." He says.
My heart stops beating. Brandon wants to get to know me? If I didn't hold on to the ounce of self-control I have left I'd be swooning so hard they'd have to use an AED to revive me.
"I'd- like to get to know you better too." I manage to say.
Dawn is going to have a heart-attack when I tell her later. He grins then, like a boy that's found treasure, and salutes me in goodbye, turning and practically skipping down the hallway, which is one of many in their giant mansion. And that's when it hits me. He's a Two and I'm a Six. His mother will kill me.
End of flashback -
Dawn -
Once we're all finished eating, Mom stands up dramatically and we all turn our heads to look at her. It's not very difficult because the table is so small, but all the same the moment my gaze falls on her I wish I had just ignored her. Because clutched in her hand triumphantly are the damn letters.
My fists clench under the table, nails digging into my palms, threatening to draw blood- until Dusk squeezes my hand and I stop. I'll never go to that dark place again. Not after she realized what was happening and became my beacon of light.
Mom opens one of the envelopes and begins to read the letter inside. My heart freezes. I try to drown Mom's voice out but all that does is make me sink into the nightmares, the shadows that are always just out of my reach.
Flashback -
Madison pushes me again, and this time I can't catch myself in time. I hit the ground hard, and mud splatters onto my arms. She laughs like a hyena, and the rest of her pack joins in, their laughter surrounding me.
She picks up a blob of mud, grimacing. Then she stalks up to me, rubbing the mud into my face before I can stop her.
"Now you're where you belong. In the mud, like all Sixes."
Her friends laugh again like she's said something smart, and rage bubbles up inside of me. As she turns to sashay back to her posse, I grab her leg and she trips, landing in the mud. Trembling with fury, I stand up and look down at her. Suddenly her little group of fellow Twos don't find the whole thing humorous anymore.
"You think just because you're a Two, you're better than all of us. That we don't deserve to breathe the same air you do. Let me tell you something, Madison. I may be a Six, but you're not even half the person I am. If there's ever a time when you'll need to skip a meal or two, you won't know how because you've never been hungry in your life. And I mean really hungry. So hungry you can feel your stomach growling nonstop-"
"Stop!" Madison begs.
I can see the fake tears lining her eyes.
"Remember that next time you think anyone a caste below you is beneath you." I say.
I storm away, too angry to even wipe the mud from my face. The rage doesn't dissipate until after I've showered and I'm sitting on the ground with Dusk, her brushing my hair in front of our cracked mirror.
End of flashback -
"Dawn!" Dusk exclaims, and I snap back to reality.
Luckily, no one else has noticed, too focused on Mom reciting the contents of the letter back to them. Finally, she stops talking and looks at me and Dusk pointedly.
"Fine!" I snap. "I'll enter the stupid lottery. I won't get picked anyway and if it makes you get off my case, I'll fill out the application tomorrow." I say.
I know Dusk doesn't want to because of Brandon, but she nods too, taking my side because she knows I need her. Mom looks shocked, but she recovers quickly, a small smile spreading across her face.
"That's all I wanted Babygirl." She says softly.
"You know she just wants the best for you." Dad says in his deep voice
It's rare for him to add his opinion; usually he's just the peacemaker. "I know." I sigh.