Chapter Seventeen, Part Three

         Everyone in the sanctuary was shifting uncomfortably.  Pastor Simon was late to worship, which basically never happened, and the whole colony had been instructed to not bring visitors today, which definitely never happened.  No one knew what was going on, but no one dared speak.  They merely shifted, stared around at each other, tried to deduce things for themselves, which was mostly impossible.  Elizabeth, sitting in between Sandra and Aimee, looked around for Derek and finally found him sitting in the front pew next to his Rose Angel, who appeared to have a firm grasp on Derek’s shoulder.  Derek looked utterly defeated…and at the same time as though he still had some life left in him.

            Elizabeth squinted at the back of Derek’s head, remembering the exchange she had overheard between him and his Rose Angel in the atrium.  They had been standing in a corner, Derek with no means of escape and glaring weakly at his companion, who was standing with his arms crossed, looking intimidating.

Chapter Seventeen, Part Two

         “As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance.  First Peter, chapter one, verse fourteen.”  The girl who was speaking looked expectantly at Pastor Simon, who nodded in approval.  She breathed a sigh of relief and sat down on the floor again.

            Elizabeth’s stomach rumbled, but she didn’t let herself respond to it.  For the entire day, a whole group of the Level Twos had been assigned to fast.  And now they were sitting uncomfortably in possibly the tiniest room in the church reciting practiced answers to each of Pastor Simon’s questions.  They all sat completely rigid, cross-legged on the floor, their eyes staring directly ahead until they were called upon and stood.  Sandra had told her that today was a test—these were the Level Twos that had been thought ready to move up, and now Pastor Simon needed to make sure.

Chapter Seventeen, Part One

           Elizabeth started her first job a mere three days after graduation.  It was a job that Sandra had helped her find—a cashier in a small bookstore in the mall.  When Elizabeth had found out how interested Sandra was in helping her find a job, she had been incredibly confused.

            “Wouldn’t making money be greed?” she had asked.

            Sandra had shaken her head and answered, “Unfortunately, the world we live in is all about greed, and in order to survive in this society you have to have money.  You want extra spending money when you go off to Drighton in a few months, don’t you?”

            “Yeah, of course, but…”

            “Then stop worrying about it.  Besides, to make yourself feel better and be less greedy, you’ll donate most of your money to the church anyway.”

            Now Elizabeth was a week into her new job and loving every minute of it.  She couldn’t believe she was being paid to work with books—it seemed more of a luxury than a job.  Weren’t you supposed to hate your summer job?  Dread going into work with every fiber of your being?  Be counting down the days until you move back to school and don’t have to work there ever again?  Every person she had ever talked to about summer jobs had said this—that they hated working in retail, that people were stupid, that it was the worst possible job you could ever have.  It was supposed to be the reason you go to college, to avoid having to work in a job like this ever again.  In truth, at work was the happiest Elizabeth had felt outside of the church in months.