Conform

by Ariel Sullivan

I’ve never been good at anything. Or that’s what I’ve been told my whole life. I disagree, though. I’ve always been good at fucking things up.

His lips pulled up in a half smile, a dimple appearing on the left side, and heat rushed to my cheeks.

His light brown irises had a ring of amber along the inside, as if a star had burst from the pupil. They were beautiful.

On the platform, robe off,” she instructed, cramming something in my hands. Ivory lace panties. If you could call the small scraps that.

I had only one choice before me: to fly or die trying.

Collin’s eyes locked on mine. He seemed to exude power into the room. “I stopped caring about the Elite’s opinions long ago.”

I should stay quiet and count my blessings. But I had never been good at acting appropriately.

Lo threw me a reproachful look. “I didn’t think you’d mess up. I know you, though. You don’t like the way things are. You get upset easily.”

Startled, I turned to find Hal leaning against my doorframe with that damn dimple of his.

I had loved going for daily runs before my MIND forbade it. Each pounding footstep into the earth cleared my head, washed out the fear.

“You must fly now, Emeline. There is no other option.”

“I do not hide. I do not have to adhere to the Elite’s standards. And”—his lips brushed my ear, and I shivered—“I wasn’t expecting you either.”

Those sapphire pools found me—and I willingly drowned in them.

“Horrible things happen to those who can’t conform. Did you fly too high?”

A soft knock sounded on the door. “You all right?” “Fine,” I responded. “I’m fine.” I wasn’t fine. Not even close.

“So do you want to talk about your findings of the male body or what drove you to execute a long-distance run you clearly aren’t in shape for? Barefoot. In a gown.”

Trust what you see and not what they tell you.”

“I do have one favor to ask of you. If something like yesterday happens again”—Collin cleared his throat—“if you feel you need to run from something, I ask that you run to me. You may contact me anytime, and I shall assure your safety.”

“Do you like to run?” Nora asked. “I have never seen the point.”

The question I never asked hung heavy all around me. The question I would not dare voice. Was Hal the Reaper?

“There are many ways to kiss someone. Hands don’t cling to obligations. Nor do polite kisses linger.”

“Are you content being his vessel, Fledgling? Or do you want power?”

“I’m not foolish enough to ask for something no longer obtainable.”

I had been asked to do nothing, but I had never been good at following rules.

protest. I had to do a better job of not wearing my emotions on my face.

“Because it is normal to be afraid of doing something that matters.

How can anyone win when you all hate one another?”

“I don’t lie,” Gerald assured me in that calm voice. “If I cannot give you the truth because it endangers those I love, I won’t answer, but I will not lie.”

Oftentimes the lies cause more damage than the truth.”

There were no saviors, just varying shades of morally corrupt people with different lines in the sand.

“You do not know pain yet, Emeline.” His lips brushed my jaw. “But you’re about to, and I cannot stop it.”

“No matter what, you were defective, Emeline. Even if your eyes matched. You have free will. You failed every single test at the Academy. You wouldn’t conform. You wouldn’t obey.