CHAPTER SEVENI stand there, in shock, watching the gymnasium empty out, feeling numb. How could I have not been selected? What were they all selected for, anyway?
Coming here was a mistake. Even if it's what my dad wanted for me. Obviously, I don't fit in here.
"Did you hear me?"
I turn to see Alice standing there, waiting for something.
"Sorry, no." My mouth is dry, and the words come out coated in dust. No one but Alice is paying attention to me, and yet it feels like a million eyes are on me. I want to dig a hole and crawl into it.
"I said, let's go," Alice says. "Standing there like that will only make it worse."
I find myself following this girl I don't even know as she leads me out of the room, past the groups of students chatting and welcoming their tiers' new members, and con
