"No way."

"But Cass--"

"No."

"But you--"

"I said no Bri!"

I'm currently sitting on the floor of my best friends' room, trying to talk her into joining the training program with me, and it's going about as well as I'd expected.

"It would be so much fun! Just think, no more putting up with bullies at school."

"For the last time, I am not joining that stupid program. And neither should you."

When I got back from HQ yesterday my mom had demanded I tell her everything that happened, but I had to tell her that some things I just couldn't, I had sworn not to tell. Like, for example, what my Gift was. She was overjoyed when I told her that I indeed had a Gift, but her hurt expression when I couldn't elaborate on it almost broke me then and there.I would tell her everything just so she would stop looking at me with such a heartbroken expression. But then she smiled and told me she understood, and that as long as I was happy, she could live without knowing the whole truth. I knew she was thinking about dad, about all the things he would keep from us, and I told myself that the next time I went to the compound I would ask for permission to tell mom everything. It wasn't fair that she always had to be kept in the dark. Once we sat down for dinner, she told me that Cassie had called right after I left with Kalen to check up on me, and nearly had a panic attack over the phone when my mother told her what happened. I called her back that night and listened to her rant about how stupid I had been, how I had been too reckless and how something bad could have happened to me. But when I told her about my Gift, all thoughts of my careless behavior seemed to vanish from her mind. I couldn't tell mom, but Christian had allowed me to tell Cass. To convince her to join of course. After all, I knew she would never agree unless I told her.

"Girl you better not be messing with me," she said. "Because if you are, I will personally drop kick you."

"Trust me, I was freaking out too, but I can't explain it over then phone, mom might hear. Can I come over to your place tomorrow?"

That's how I ended up here. After breakfast with mom I walked over to Cassie's house, which gave me a chance to get my thoughts in order. And then when I finally made it to her apartment, I got pulled into her room as soon as I stepped through the front door. I explained everything; from the car ride with Kalen, to the meeting with Christian, and she listened in silence, nodding every now and then. But now came the tricky part. Actually convincing her to join.

I knew the Elites had reached out to her when she was younger, she told me about it in the first grade, but she had refused. At first, I thought it was because she didn't want to leave me behind, but now I think she had another reason for not wanting to join. When I think back to that moment, it was around the same time her dad passed away. Cassie and her dad had been much closer than me and my old man. He treated her like a princess, and she looked at him as if he hung the stars and the moon. They were inseparable, which is why she had been devastated the day he passed away. We had been young back then, too young to fully understand death, but she knew she wouldn't get to see him again, and it broke her.

She changed.

Gone was the girl with the happy smiles and silly faces. She was replaced with someone that didn't trust as easily. That used a hard exterior to hide her true nature. But what changed most, was her opinion on Elites. She was mad at the world because of what happened, but she seemed to take it out mostly on them.

Now that I know about the program and how it works, I'm guessing that since she didn't join, she and her mother must be under surveillance. I never saw anyone near the house, but I guess they only checked up on them when they were alone. I bet that didn't help fuel her trust towards them.

"Come on Cass, you know I can't join if you don't come with me."

"Then don't join," she huffs. "You said you had until Monday to decide, then decide not to go!"

"But what if I want to go?"

She stares at me as if I've grown a second head.

"Why on earth would you want to go?"

I open my mouth to explain myself, but she seems too upset to care, she just plows on.

"Your dad died because of that place Bri. Both our dads did! How could you say you want to join them after everything they've made us go through? Those Elites care about nothing but themselves and their own goals. It doesn't matter if lives are lost trying to achieve them, as long as they get what they want."

"Cass, you know your dad's death was an accident. A freak accident. Just like mine. No one could see something like that happening."

"If they hadn't sent him to that power plant then maybe he would still be here. But no. They had to send him the day there was a malfunction. They had to send him to check it out, not caring that it might be unsafe or that he could get hurt."

She wipes her eyes furiously, face red from anger.

"They are selfish."

"But they aren't!" I exclaim, trying to reason with her. "I've met them, and they're actually really nice! They offered to help me, and they agreed to you joining after you denied them once before, because I asked them to."

She just snorts, throwing her hands up in the air in defiance.

"Besides, you know our dads Gifts were dangerous. They knew the risks they were taking when they signed up."

"No!" she yells, "your dad signed up for that. My dad worked in the labs. He was never supposed to do field work, but because they needed someone expendable to go on that recon mission, they sent him! You know it just as much as I do that he never should have even left the compound that day. Why send a biologist to a power plant? It makes no sense Bri!"

"They must have had their reasons." I try to calm her down, reaching out, but she just shies away from my touch.

"Besides, if they really were that selfish or cold hearted, why would they help me? They want me to join."

"Wake up Bri! They don't want you. They want your Gift because it's useful to them!"

Ouch, that stung.

I hang my head and play with the fuzzy pieces of her rug, trying not to take what she said to heart. She's just upset, she doesn't know what she's saying. But that doesn't make it hurt any less. What if she's right? Do they only want me because of my Gift? Was that why people were nice to me? Because suddenly, I'm not useless anymore?

She sees my hurt expression and sighs, sitting on the floor across from me.

"I'm sorry," she whispers, "you know I didn't mean it that way. Of course you're special Bri, you always have been. But girl, we can't start trusting these people! We are fine as we are, aren't we? It's always been the two of us against the world, why change that?"

Ah, so that's what this was about.

I look around the room, at this place that has practically been my second home my entire life. How many times did I sit in this exact same spot, to study, to laugh, to cry? How many times did I sit in here and listen to Cassie tell me about her latest crush, how many times did she listen to me when I told her about all my troubles at school? Pictures of all our best moments together hung on the walls, just as she said, always the two of us against the world.

Cass isn't doing this because she hates the Elites. I mean, that's probably part of it, but the biggest thing holding her back is her fear of change. She's scared of trying and being rejected by more people. She knows that she will always have me, maybe she's scared she'll be losing me too.

"Cass," I say, as she stares out her window, "look at me."

It takes her a moment, but slowly, she moves her eyes over to my face. I smile.

"Over there, people are like us. They are strange, and special. And I bet there will be some that don't like us, but I know that there will be many that will."

Mara's kind face flashes in my head, followed by Jayson's bright smile. Kalen's disapproving frown seems to worm its way in there as well and I sigh internally. Well, maybe there is someone who won't like us very much.

"Come on Cass, let's do this, together. I promise that no matter what, you and me, we are always going to be the dynamic duo."

I stick out my pinky, like the promises we would make when we were kids, and wait for her to decide.

I can tell she's conflicted as she thinks it over. But eventually she gives in and wraps her finger around mine, giving it a tug for good measure.

Happiness explodes in my chest like fireworks. We are really doing this!

"Thank you!"

I launch myself at her, making us both fall onto her rug, nearly crushing her cat, who meows indignantly and runs out of the room. We both laugh, laying on the floor as we stare up at the ceiling.

"You better be right," says Cassie after a few minutes of silence. "I hope you are right," she mumbles, probably to herself, and I pretend not to hear.

"I know I'm right," I say, with more confidence than I'm feeling. She's probably nervous, so I try to ease her mind by showing her that I am positive about my decision. Even though my own stomach is doing flips and my heart is in my throat.

"So, what's it like?" she asks, getting up to lay on her bed, facing me with her head propped up on her hands. I push myself up on my elbows, smiling at her sudden interest.

"It was giant, and you'll never guess where it is."

She purses her lips, thinking.

"Where?"

"Do you remember that building we learned about in history class, the one with a very unusual shape for which it got its name?" I hint, smiling when her eyes light up. She throws her hands down onto the soft fabric of the rug, mouth falling open to form a perfect "O".

"No way. The Pentagon?"

I can't help but laugh at her stunned expression, and I nod.

"Wasn't that place like, super-secret in the old world or something?"

"I guess, but they say they've changed parts of it to fit our time."

She closes her mouth. Opens it, then closes it again. A wide smile starts to grow on her face, and she laughs.

"Well you should have started with that. Now I have to go see it."