I woke to the soft song my alarm played. Nope, no loud beeping for me, but even that would be better then ice, right? I wasn't sure when I had fallen asleep. Late, really late.. The last time I had checked my phone had been at 3:37 AM.. okay now add about two more hours to that. That's when I fell asleep.

I got up, slipping into a black t-shirt that had Jack's favorite band, Twenty One Pilots, on it. I like to think it's what Jack would've wanted me to wear. I've never gone to one of these ceremonies before. Not for rejects. I've never had to....

I tried to comb down the blackish brown mop sitting on my head, which by the way, is my hair. It didn't help that it had decided to be the bane of my existence and curl at the end. It makes my bedhead horrifying. I glanced in the mirror at my small frame and my hazel brown eyes. My skin is kind of a murky pale, and (luckily) most of my acne is on the back of my neck rather than my face.

TMI? Yeah, probably. But you're not reading this to find out about me, are you?

Exactly. So back to the story.

I threw on a jacket and left my room. Forty-three minutes. That's how long until Jack would be gone forever. I decided to walk to the arena, rather than ride the bus. I wanted to think. My mind wandered to thoughts of rebels who had run in during the ceremony to save rejects.. Not that they ever succeeded. Of course, I could never pull off a stunt like that anyway. Not without some serious planning.. and I didn't have time for that. Jack didn't have time for that. I clenched my fists slightly. I didn't want to go to Storm training anymore. Not without Jack. I had waited for her, because I knew I wouldn't be able to get through it alone. And for the fact that, if I were ahead of her, it would drive her insane. I almost smiled at the thought, but it was immediately followed by a terrible feeling in my gut. I wouldn't be able to get through it alone. I hadn't noticed the fact that my feet had stopped moving until then. I took a deep breath. It was finally sinking in. She was actually gone.

Okay, sure. She's not gone gone until after the ceremony.. but she's still not talking to me ever again. That's gone enough for me.

My thoughts were giving me a stomach ache. Or maybe not, maybe it's just the terrible guilt weighing inside of me for getting through the test. I knew I'd never get over it.. My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I pulled it out. Why on Storm was Seth calling me now?

I lifted the phone, answering. Not that I wanted to.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Was his first words. They were sad, really sad.. Why was he so upset? He'd barely known her. "About Jack?" I asked, choking on the name.

"Yeah! How could you keep that from me? I thought we were friends?!" He asked, sounding almost broken.

I rolled my eyes, a bit of anger flaring in my stomach, "Oh, I'm sorry. I guess losing someone you've known for nine years is not a good enough excuse for forgetting about someone you've known for a week!" I snapped, saying it maybe a bit harsher than I had intended. Seth went silent a moment. I kept walking, waiting for him to hang up... but he didn't. Instead, he said something, "I'm sorry." It was quiet. Feeble. Like all the life had been sucked out of him. "I'm sorry, Dex. I didn't mean that."

I sighed. "Yeah you did." I told him, then I hung up. I really just wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone.. But of course, nothing goes right for me.

So naturally, when I finally got there, I ran into someone. Try and guess who.

"Go away, Devan. I don't want to talk to you. I don't want to see you. And last, but not least, I don't want to even know you exist, so how about you go stand with the little kids, where you belong?" I muttered, just loud enough for him to hear. To my surprise, he just walked away. I glanced over at him. He had his fists clenched tightly, his knuckles white, but somehow I got the impression that they were like that before I had gotten there. Maybe he had emotions after all. I took a seat, not too far from the center but.. not too close either. I don't think I could bear seeing Jack up close again.. My reasoning was that if I sat far enough back I could pretend that her eyes were still blue.

I took my seat, behind an old couple. They were wearing black. Guess I wasn't the only one with that idea. I was glad, to be completely honest. I always felt like everyone except me thought the cubing was totally chill, like it was just some jail you could go in and visit them. But that's all a lie. They are never ever seeing us, or anyone else. Not after this. Maybe that's how they justify it, by saying they don't really die. But what's the difference? I'd rather die than live out the rest of in some cube. Or whatever it really is they get trapped in.

The speaker finally came out, followed by the first ten or so rejects.. Jack was not among them. I looked down at the back of my wrist, where the light of the time illuminated through my skin; 6:57. They were early, which is something I hadn't known I'd dread until then.

"Welcome, please do remember to stay calm and seated as we begin. Most of you know how this works; as I call out the names of the rejects, you may come forward if you have the card you would have received last night for said reject..." The speaker said, and I could hear the stirring in the seats around me as everyone dug for their cards. I had mine tucked neatly in between my two fingers, not bothering to glance down. When you turn fifteen, you start writing up who you wish your final goodbyes to be from. They are the ones that get the cards.

"..as you come forward in an orderly fashion, remember that your notes are completely annonymus for your privacy, unless you wish to sign it, which we do recommend, as otherwise you may get your reject thinking you're someone you're not.. and well, some confessions might make that a bit.. awkward." That got a few slight chuckles. I didn't find it amusing, however.

"Let us begin," he said, gesturing the first reject forward.. it was a girl. She looked small for being sixteen. She was wearing a grey t-shirt and grey slacks with only socks on her feet-normal cubee appearal. Her eyes were still black as the night... but when I squinted my eyes, I couldn't help but notice the black spreading out from her eyes, as if it were still burning her skin.....

"Pierce, Isla." He said, and a few people got to their feet. A pair of teenagers that stood had the nerve to laugh at something their friend beside them who hadn't stood up said. I glared at the back of their heads as they made their way down...

I got the impression she was a much nicer person then them.. She deserved better friends. For some reason, I couldn't take my eyes off of the two boys. They were writing their notes to put into her cube, and she seemed to be looking at them. I didn't really understand how, or if she could see considering her eyes were burnt to the core, but she watched them anyway. She had a look of eagerness on her face, but the boys only kept sending eachother grins and showing off their notes to one another... Not even taking a glance towards their reject.

I felt guilty I hadn't gotten to know her. Not that I'm a great friend but.. I can at least show some respect.

As the last of the few people that had gone up dispersed, the horrific part arrived.

The papers fluttered down into this small hole in the center... then one of the guards led the girl-Isla-to the hole. You could see how hard she was shaking even from back where I was sitting....

They put her down into it.

I didn't know what happened next.

A small flash of light sprouted from the hole, and it was gone.. for a good three seconds. Then it opened up again. I reminded me of the garbage disposal on an old kitchen sink.. Which probably wasn't a pretty picture if you thought into it, but maybe that's exactly why I'd thought it.

"Jones, Daniel." This went on and on. With each disappearence, the sound of the grinding food of that kitchen sink filled my mind....

They had gone through fifty-seven of the hundred and three rejects before I saw Jack come out.

I sat up straight in my seat as they called out her name, I hung onto each syllable, as if maybe, just maybe, it might be someone else; "Sanderson, Jacube."

I sat there, frozen as a few people scattered across the crowd had gotten to their feet. Most of them I'd met, but there were a few people I had never seen. For instance, a eleven-or-so year old boy a few rows in front of me, crying his eyes out as he slipped out of the row...

I couldn't help but feel like she had shut me out from some parts of her life, but then again, I'd never asked.

I finally got to my feet and managed to get out of my row without bringing too much attention to myself.

When I got to the edge of the area, I picked up one of the small note cards, and a single pen... There was really no one around me. The arena was so huge, that most every one of Jack's closest friends could have twenty spaces to themselves. I hated how neat my space was. I wish it had the notecards scattered across the table, or the pens all out of the cup.

I began writing.

Jack,

Always getting yourself into trouble, huh?

She always liked a humorous undertone in sad movies... yet somehow I didn't think I was very good at mixing humor with grief.

Jack... I'm really going to miss you.

You know how much I suck at goodbyes.

How much I suck at anything, really, without you..

Hey, I promise I'll try and find your aliens, okay?

Even if it costs me my sanity. Though according to you, I never had it in the first place.

At this point I had to flip the card over.

I will promise you one thing more. I'm going to find you.

I'm going to find out where they are bringing you, and I'm going to save you.

Just think of me as your knight in shining armor.... but I'm not kissing you, sorry.

Maybe I'll even bring Sierra. She'd like to see you too, I think.

Wherever you are... just stay strong, okay?

I promise I'll be there soon.

Love,

Dex.

I glanced up at her. She had her eyes closed, although you almost couldn't tell from how black her eyelids were.. I slid the note into the slot, then shoved my card into the machine. The note then dropped down into the hole with the rest of the cards...

Then after one last glance at Jack, I returned to my seat.

They led her forward just like they had the others, and she went along. She didn't try and break away from them or anything.... I didn't know how she restrained from it..

They lifted her an inch or so off the ground and held her over the hole, ready to drop her.

And the grinding in my mind whirred to life, sounding like it was ready to devour her whole.. But even though there was no delay, it seemed like an eternity before the let her go... As if it were the garbage disposal, taunting me with time as I had with my finger when I was young. You can't tell me you've never done that, stuck your finger down into the disposal while it was off.

I never knew, however, if I was taunting the disposal, or if I had done it out of sheer curiousity. Maybe that's why I had this urge to climb down into the hole after her... Curiosity.

They finally dropped her, and her eyes opened for the first time since she had been up there. That was all I noticed before the flash of light. The hole closed as it had before.

And just like that, she was gone.

My heart wrenched in my chest, and directly after that it seemed to shove itself into my throat. I couldn't breath, and my vision blurred. I had to clutch the arm rests on my seat tightly to stay sitting up. The pain in my heart was unbearable, and I could feel the tears streaming from my eyes like a faucet.

This was not something I'd experienced before.

I mean, sure, I've felt emotional pain before. I was forced to leave my parents behind on Earth. But it was so different... Maybe it was because I was so much younger.

Or maybe it was because I know there is nothing I can do about Jack, no matter what I promised in my letter.

I would try. I would try as hard as I could. But there was nothing I could do. And that's what I had truly believed.

After the ceremony, I stumbled out of the arena like a drunk man. Everything was all blurry, and my body still ached with grief. I had to keep my hand against the wall as I walked, until some one came to my side and helped me walk. I didn't bother to look and see who it was. I choked on a sob that kept trying to escape my lips. The man helped me onto the bus, and sat beside me. That's when I got the chance to look at him. At first he was just a large black blur, until my eyes seemed to finally focus. I was rather surprised at who it was.

It was Mr. Jell-O.