Kiesha awoke to an alarm the next morning and found she felt only slightly better. She turned off the alarm and decided to take Celina up on her offer of having breakfast together. Picking up her tray, she deftly balanced it on her left arm and knocked on the door to Celina's adjoining room with her right hand.

"Come in," Celina called from inside. Kiesha poked her head in the door.

"You still up for having breakfast together," she asked.

"Of course!" Celina exclaimed. "Come right in! You look awful. Did you sleep okay?"

"Not really," Kiesha said dismally. "I miss my family something terrible."

"I'm sorry," Celina said sympathetically. "It must be hard to be separated from them. I don't know what I'll do if I get transferred after the tests."

"When do we have to go through that?" Kiesha asked.

"Today," Celina said between mouthfuls of toast. "You got here just in time."

"Well, my day just went from bad to worse," Kiesha said, pushing her tray away.

"Look on the bright side," Celina quipped. "Maybe we'll be able to stay here or be transferred together!"

"That would make it easier," Kiesha said, smiling a bit, though still somewhat downcast. "I have to go put myself together. You know. Makeup and hair and stuff."

"See you in a bit," Celina called out as Kiesha disappeared through the door back to her room.

Kiesha determined that a simple french braid would be sufficient for that day. Unsure of what challenges would be presented to her and thinking it might get in the way, she chose to tuck and pin the braid tail underneath. After she deemed her hairstyle perfect, she turned to her makeup, applying it in such a way as to appear natural as opposed to her more elegant application of the previous night.

She looked in her drawers and armoire, having put her clothes away the night before, and selected something she felt would be appropriate for the morning's activities. Celina walked in soon afterward and looked disapprovingly at the clothes, which were nothing like her own.

"Your makeup and hair are perfect, but you need a change of clothes."

"What's wrong with my clothes?" Kiesha asked, somewhat miffed.

"Nothing," Celina replied, "if you are trying to blend in with the outside world. Here, though, there's a bit of a stricter requirement."

"What am I going to do now?" Kiesha asked, realizing that her style of clothing was extraordinarily different from Celina's.

"No problem," Celina said as she walked over to the bell pull to summon the servants. "We'll have a new set of clothes here in no time."

"It's going to take me a while to get used to that bell pull," Kiesha said.

Within about two minutes of Celina's summons, a female servant appeared. Celina informed her of the situation, and the girl soon returned with several outfits.

"Let's see," Celina said after the girl had left. "Ah, this one should be perfect!" Celina held up a maroon pantsuit very similar to her own.

"Okay," Kiesha said. "Think we can get that on me without tearing my hairstyle apart?"

"Totally! Just leave it to me."

Within a few minutes, and with a lot of help, Kiesha had the new set of clothes on with limited damage to her hair. A quick application of mousse fixed that disturbance, and Celina agreed that they were ready. Looking at her watch, she also informed Kiesha that, if they did not hurry, they would be late.

"They don't appreciate tardiness around here," she said as they hurried out the door of Kiesha's quarters. They rushed through the quiet halls until they neared the first floor, at which point Celina dramatically slowed her pace. Kiesha copied her friend's speed, and they descended the stairs in a somewhat dignified fashion.

Celina turned right upon reaching the ground floor and led Kiesha to the gathering group of students she had met the night before.

"Hey, how is everyone this morning?" Celina asked as she and Kiesha approached. Various responses ranging from fine to nervous followed, though no one mentioned Kiesha's personal feeling of terrified.

Kiesha nearly jumped out of her newly-acquired shoes when a male voice behind her said, "You're the new girl, right?" She turned around quickly, hoping the boy behind her had not noticed her jumpiness.

"I'm Kiesha," she replied.

"I wasn't quite sure," the smiling boy said. "I'm terrible with names. Sometimes I joke that I can't even remember my own half the time! Anyway, I'm Steven."

"Nice to meet you," Kiesha said, hoping the flutter in her chest was caused by nerves and not the rather handsome-looking boy standing before her. The last thing she wanted right now was to get involved with anyone, and this young man seemed awfully friendly. After all, no one else had introduced themselves. The others seemed to be in tightly-knit groups akin to the cliques Kiesha had witnessed in high school.

"Don't let him fool you," Celina said, bringing Kiesha back to the present situation. "He's probably the smartest one here."

"I disagree," Steven replied. "But I do appreciate the compliment."

At that moment, the door behind them opened, and everyone quietly filed in. The female instructor stood in the middle of the room.

"Greetings, students," she called in a cheery voice. "I am Miss Maria, and I will be giving you your first set of examinations today. Please remember that these tests are meant only to judge your strengths and weaknesses, and are in no way meant to make you compete against each other. There is plenty of room in all of our training centers. No one will be turned away."

Kiesha felt that Miss Maria was looking straight at her when she said this. Whether or not this was the case, the comment was reassuring.

Miss Maria stood in a large ring design on the carpet, and the students took their places around her, standing in smaller rings which branched out from the first. No one spoke, and all of the students gave their undivided attention to their instructor.

"All the examinations given this morning, whether completed in this room or others, will test your abilities for the most basic of the skills you will learn at the various training centers. As is tradition, you will not know which training center a room represents. If you are transferred, it simply means that you are not suited for that particular center. Don't be discouraged. Some of you may change rooms multiple times throughout the morning. Your results will be provided to you before dinner."

Kiesha swallowed hard. She could see herself being sent from room to room all day, embarrassing herself in the process by failing almost everything.

"The first few tests will examine your ability to move objects, starting with the skill of levitation."

Kiesha was stunned when a small rock appeared just in front of her circle.

"Look at the stone before you and imagine it slowly rising a few feet from the ground. Any space at all between the floor and the rock is a success, so don't worry about how high you can lift it. We'll work on that later. You will then gently lower it back to the floor. Let's start with you, Jeremy."

Miss Maria watched and helped each student in turn, taking notes as she went. When a student's rock failed to levitate, she would give a piece of advice and a second opportunity. If the rock still did not rise, she took notes and moved on to the next student. When Kiesha's turn came, she had no clue what would happen. So she stared at the stone in front of her and imagined it rising a little bit. To her surprise, it moved, although the term "wobbled" might be more precise.

"I think you aren't visualizing a big enough movement," Miss Maria said. "Try again, this time picturing it rising high above you."

Kiesha took a deep breath and tried again. This time, the rock did exactly what she visualized. It rose high in the air, perhaps even higher than any other student's, though she couldn't be sure. She then imagined it slowly descending, which it did until it rested on the ground once more.

Kiesha could have sworn the other students were staring at her. The sudden unwanted attention made her wish that the tests had been held privately.

When all of the movement examinations were finished, the rocks disappeared. Students whose rocks had not moved at all were instructed to report to Mr. James in the lobby for further testing. About half of the students left. Celina and Steven were among those who remained.

"Next," Miss Maria said, "we will test your ability to create light. You will hold your hand out in front of you and imagine an orb of light resting in your palm. Jeremy."

Jeremy found himself unable to produce any light. Miss Maria moved on to the next student. Kiesha became more afraid the closer Miss Maria got to her. She was the last to be tested and felt the pressure to succeed eating at her. When Miss Maria turned to her, Kiesha held out her hand and imagined a large, bright light like the sun emanating from her hand. She had learned with the motion tests that thinking big created results. Slowly, a glowing orb began to appear in her hand. It grew steadily bigger and brighter until the other students started to whisper to each other. Kiesha once again felt uncomfortable as the center of attention, so she quickly visualized the orb growing dimmer and smaller until it had vanished.

Miss Maria took notes and dismissed Jeremy, sending him to Miss Sharona in the library. Kiesha noticed that only Celina, Steven, and herself were left. The entire process had taken two hours, and it was now nearly 11 o'clock. Miss Maria dismissed the three remaining students, telling them to return to their rooms until lunch. With that, the morning's examinations ended.