Chosen Ones by Tiffany Truitt

with the thought. Part of me never wanted to see him again, and part of me shuddered at the possibility of passing up the opportunity he was offering. The more realistic side of me knew it did not matter what I felt—I had no choice, of course. I shook my head slightly, trying to clear it. Then I stopped abruptly before exiting the room.
    “I don’t even know your name.”
    I’m not sure why this mattered.
    “James.”
    I could feel the change even on the transport home. The other girls kept looking at me in such strange ways. Some girls giggled and whispered, pinching me with their eyes. A few avoided my gaze so forcefully it was bluntly and painfully obvious. One girl in particular just stared. She looked at me with what could only be described as sadness.
    I couldn’t shake the feeling that the next chapter of my story was already known to everyone on the transport. Everyone except me.



Chapter 6
    I remember the day Emma told me she was getting married.
    “Please try and understand, Tess,” my sister begged.
    Of course I understood. If I were honest, I would have told her I understood perfectly. I knew what everyone thought of me—they thought I had no heart. I did. It beat the same as everyone else’s. I was just better at controlling it.
    But I didn’t know how to put a smile on my face and pretend it didn’t destroy me a little more every time I admitted I wished for something or someone just to stay with me. And so I avoided wishing for anything at all.
    “You like Robert. You told me you liked him,” she said.
    She was begging me now. I sat on my cot with my knees pulled to my chest. Emma sat next to me and placed her forehead against the side of my head. I could feel her tears fall onto my shoulder.
    “You don’t need my permission,” I snapped.
    “Yes, yes I do.”
    I couldn’t help but laugh. “So, if I said right now that I didn’t want you to marry him, you wouldn’t?”
    She fell silent. My sister, who had always put everyone first, finally had done something for herself. I didn’t mind that. I just wished she wasn’t showing her independence by choosing death.
    “What if you get pregnant?” I whispered.
    She hesitated before answering. “I won’t.”
    “You can’t just say it won’t happen and hope it doesn’t. That’s not how it works.”
    She let out a sigh.
    She was going to leave me.
    I grabbed for her hand and clutched onto it with all my might. “Please. Don’t. This is dangerous. I like Robert, but he messes you up. You don’t think around him.”
    “Tess…”
    “You have a family. Why can’t we be enough?” I asked, my voice cracking.
    “I love you and Louisa, but there’s more to this life than what you have settled for. You’ve crawled so deep inside yourself I wonder if you even know you have a self to save. Trust me. There’s so much more to this life. I love him, Tess. I love him.”
    I shook my head.
    “One day you’ll know what I’m talking about.”
    “No. I won’t ever be dumb enough to fall in love!” I yelled. I pushed myself off the cot and stormed out of the room, colliding with Louisa on my way. No doubt she was eavesdropping.
    “You’re not being very fair.”
    “Leave me alone,” I muttered.
    She grabbed me by the arm to stop me. “I’m scared, too.” Her eyes filled with tears, and I wondered if she was freaking out. When our sister died, she would be stuck with only me. The girl who sought approval would never be able to win mine.
    We were too different from each other to ever have that happen.
    “Come on. She’s really excited about this. Can’t you be happy for her?”
    I wished I could. I wished my sister would be happy. But I turned on Louisa. “Do you want to see her dead?”
    Her face went pale. “She promised she would be careful. And I believe her. She won’t let us down. Rob’s a good guy, Tess. He wouldn’t let anything happen to Emma. You should know that.”
    I rolled my eyes. Delusional.
    “You’re just