I'd always never minded large crowds.I mean yes  I don't talk to people that much but being in large social gatherings never ticked me off or anything but in this very moment I think I'm hyperventilating.

The school compound was a mess to say the least,yes a giant pile of hot stinking messes pooped out by another mess.

Kids,by the hundreds were everywhere.Well not technically kids but you know what I mean.There were so many teenagers in one area I could practically smell the hormones radiating off of the school grounds.

Some were crying,some were saying their probable last goodbyes,some seemed to be having the time of their damn lives and others were actually unconscious on the ground but I honestly couldn't blame them.

I watched as a couple said goodbye to their two kids all enveloped in a giant bear hug.I felt my insides ache at the sight and suddenly I wished I'd given my dad...no both my parents a proper goodbye but I knew no matter how much I tried I couldn't.

I couldn't process the idea that I'd have to say goodbye to them for what could be for good.I couldn't come to terms at all with the fact that I'd actually need to say goodbye.

"Aella!" I turned around to see Blake moving through the crowd towards me.Blake...my best friend since I was 5 who I would probably never see again.All these years he'd never changed same brown eyes,same full lips,same dark skin all that changed was his physical stature.In time he'd become very tall, so tall I literally had to look up at him whenever I spoke.

"You look terrible," he said,always blunt no matter the situation.I liked that about him,although so much was about to change in both our lives he would always stay the same.My only constant in a sea of variables.

I also didn't realize that any by stander could tell I had cried on the way here.I knew for a fact that my eyes were red and puffy and I hoped to God that wasn't snot I felt running down my nose.Thank goodness others are too worried about themselves to care about what I looked like.

"Good morning to you too good sir."I said to him in a voice so croaky that even I was caught off guard by.Wow I really needed to freshen up. "You sound terrible too,what happened?" I wasn't in the mood to talk about anything so I kept my mouth shut.He seemed to understand and gave a nod of his head as if I had actually said something.

That was what I especially liked about our weird relationship both of us knew when to give each other some space to think and perhaps best of all our relationship was strictly platonic.

I'd known him since I could walk and in all that time I'd never developed any kind of feelings for him at all.Although there was that one time we kissed when we were 12 because neither of us had ever done it before but still we had no feelings for each other.

Heck I'd bet we'd lose our virginity to each other with no strings attached.I stared up at him and noticed that although he'd like to hide it he wasn't feeling too good himself.

"You're not looking too hot yourself mister." I said to him in a demeaning tone.He gave a slight chuckle but surprisingly said nothing.Yet another sign he was out of it he always seemed to have something to say but not today it seemed.

"So...are you excited?" I asked trying to spark up a conversation.I'd never been the kind of person to start talking about something I'd always listen to what the other person had to say so it came out a bit awkward.

"Oh why yes I'm very excited that my life could turn to shit in the next couple of hours,thank you for asking." he said to me sarcastically. "Come on you know that's not true you're like super smart it'll probably compensate for how ugly you are." I said to him in the same tone.He chuckled again but said nothing and so I determined this conversation was not going anywhere.We were both too lost in our own little far away worlds to try and make small talk.

I surveyed the area once more and I could immediately tell there were other people among us.Some of them I'd seen from school but most of them seemed to come from other places.

We were all standing on the wide stretch of space at the front of the school building.A lot had changed since we went home yesterday because now a giant screen was stuck onto the literal building with a few speakers here and there.A podium was raised at the bottom of the screen with some stairs at the sides.On the podium was a small set up of a desk with a microphone sitting on top of it stuck to a small pole that had a wire snaking it's way down and behind the set up.

From many years of watching this same process I knew that was where the assigned speaker(usually a 7 or 8)gave a speech about the country's history and why this was important blah blah blah you get the gist.To the immediate right of the podium were the school doors with two men,one of them had a weird device in hand while the other appeared to be carrying what seemed to be a giant tablet which he was currently swiping at up and down furiously.Both men wore white lab coats and a few guards were around the door as well.I assumed that was where we would be entering the building.

Patrolling the area were police who upon closer inspection I found out to be actual soldiers in their army uniforms with the insignia Eltera's flag sitting proud at the front.

They were armed to the teeth,bearing large guns and faces so serious and stern that I thought they were having a collective stroke.I visibly shivered because I knew exactly why they were here.

Although it was rare sometimes some dumb probably suicidal teens decided to cause some chaos. 'Chaos' mainly consisting of killing some students before killing themselves,that kind of chaos.

And yes it is sad and disgusting that they would resort to that but I do see why some of us would snap.Knowing you could wind up homeless just because you aren't genetically predisposed to live a good life,which isn't your fault at all could do serious things to your mental health.If anything I felt sorry for them,sorry for all of us and sorry for myself but Al fucking as this is the world we live in and I can't possibly do anything about it.

I also noticed people with cameras moving around who were the news crew,ready to record anything about to happen and televise it to the rest of the country.I noticed some were even perched up on the roof of the school building to get a bird's eye view of everything.

"Attention candidates!" an amplified voice called out breaking me from my train of thought.Instantly everyone dropped their conversations and those who were still talking spoke in hushed whispers.We all turned to look at the podium which now had an old man who was vaguely familiar.Either he must have been very discreet about getting up onto the stage or we were all to invested in thinking about our future lives because I didn't see him walk up those stairs at all.

Instantly his image was mirrored onto the giant screen behind him which I also knew for a fact was being mirrored to a few local television stations.

I remembered seeing him on TV a few years ago and thinking his name sounded like he was named during the Cold War.Bartholomew?Lazarus?

"For those who for some reason don't know who I am,my name is Theodore Belton," Bartholomew,Theodore same thing. "Welcome to the 35th annual Ranking Day!" he exclaimed in his weird posh accent that I'd never heard anyone speak in but him.

He wore a neat black suit and most of his hair was already greying.I think he used to be a celebrity of some sort back in the day but his fame had long since fizzled out.Somehow he still believes he's relevant hence the massive ego he carried around.

If I could I would genuinely punch him.He seemed like the exact kind of creepy old guy who would sexually assault underage girls and get away with it, of which there have been actual rumors about. "Before we start off with the day's activities I would like us all to stand for our national anthem." Except we were already standing.He seemed to realize his mistake but before he could say anything more our country's national anthem started blasting out of the speakers.

We all stood still and put our palms over our hearts as the all too familiar verses played out.

Oh God our father bless this nation,
May you lead us to perfection,
Break us free from basic human limitations......

This part was heavily inspired by the World War that had transpired years ago.In fact that same war was what led to this messed up system that only the perfect get to live happily.

You see after the Third World War the world's leaders decided that humanity was far too imperfect?I had never understood it but somehow they felt that it was time for some kind of 'evolution' to take place.Where the so called superior humans would get to outlive ones who are deemed lowly and inferior.

They believed that the 'imperfect' among us are the people who caused wars and unrest previously.Of course there's nothing to back this claim up but so far there have been no wars anywhere on earth since they implemented this system.

Soon the anthem stopped playing and Theodore started talking again "Now I know a lot of you must have a lot of questions about what's going to happen over the course of the next few days," Days?!I didn't know this whole thing took that long I thought we were doing some damn test and then have someone look at us and that's it.How much have we not been told?

"I cannot answer any of them right now,you will have to figure most of them put by yourself.But I can tell you what's about to happen right now of which most of you already do know,you will be taking a test which may or may not be a literal test to your level of intelligence.Please do keep in mind that this test won't be your ordinary sort of history or math exam that you have so I hope none of you wasted time studying for this," as he said this there was some sort of unrest in the crowd.People started murmuring and others even proceeded to shout a loud "What!"

It had never crossed my mind to study for this I always assumed that this test wouldn't be a normal one because...duh?You don't determine how smart someone is depending purely on their academic performance,really that's just having a good memory.I also assumed everyone would figure that out sooner or later,turns out I was wrong.

Poor them,they must've studied for months maybe even years for this just for it to blow up in their faces.

Theodore gave a small smile before proceeding "And for those among us who think they can somehow cheat on this test I'll give you some advice right now.Don't do it it's impossible.Yes,you will all be given the same test but we will know when you cheat and I don't think I need to emphasize what happens to cheaters."

As he said this an every silence fell over each one of us.It was silent before but now it was creepily silent as if we all collectively knew what he meant and indeed we did.

Of course we knew what happened to cheaters.According to the law cheaters are to be publicly executed.The old school way.Guillotine,basket,entire family and neighborhood watching and all that jazz.

It's a rare occurrence to have someone cheat but over the years there have actually been multiple.What's worse is that the family of the cheater are basically publicly humiliated for raising such a child and even taken a ranking or two down,so not only is cheating really dumb it's a very selfish thing to do.

Theodore pulled up his wrist to check his watch.Even from here I could tell that watch would be able to feed my family and I for weeks. "Ok time's almost up so we need to get a move on,proceed in an orderly fashion toward the entrance door.Do not even try running or I guarantee you will get shot." I didn't even know if he was serious or not but I wasn't going to question it and it seemed neither were the others.

I felt my heart skip a beat,this whole thing felt extremely surreal.How I do on this test could make or break the entirety of my life and just the thought of it made me feel like I was about to have a heart attack.

I looked up at Blake and gave him a sad smile which he returned with his own.He held out his hand which I gladly took in mine.He gave me a light squeeze before we both followed the crowd towards the doors.

Let the games begin baby
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