fic preview
i have no idea if this will turn in to something, but i wrote the beginnings of what could be a fic and i thought i'd put it here as a teaser.
The sun was hot on Rachel’s back and she shifted her weight from foot to foot in a combination of nervousness and impatience. Beads of sweat were forming on her face, something that should have easily been corrected with a handkerchief except that Rachel in her anxiety over today had neglected to bring one with her. She glanced over the crowds again. Frail, little Sarah Puckerman was standing in the front of the crowd, chewing on her fingernails. If Sarah’s mother had told her once, she’d told her a thousand times to stop the dirty habit, but on a day like today Rachel couldn’t begrudge her a small comfort. Sarah was surrounded by all of the other twelve-year-olds in the district, as was the tradition of separating boys and girls by age. Rachel knew a few of the girls around her, but no one met her eyes. Usually, they avoided her for a variety of reasons all relating back to her personality, but today it was a universal feeling of trepidation. She looked away and ran her sweaty palms down her skirt to dry them off, and when she scanned the people around her, she caught Noah’s eyes. He stared at her with an intensity she hadn’t seen in years, not since the mining accident that took his father. Rachel swallowed, and he looked away.
He must be scared, Rachel thought. His name was up there at least three dozen times.
The sun was hot on Rachel’s back and she shifted her weight from foot to foot in a combination of nervousness and impatience. Beads of sweat were forming on her face, something that should have easily been corrected with a handkerchief except that Rachel in her anxiety over today had neglected to bring one with her. She glanced over the crowds again. Frail, little Sarah Puckerman was standing in the front of the crowd, chewing on her fingernails. If Sarah’s mother had told her once, she’d told her a thousand times to stop the dirty habit, but on a day like today Rachel couldn’t begrudge her a small comfort. Sarah was surrounded by all of the other twelve-year-olds in the district, as was the tradition of separating boys and girls by age. Rachel knew a few of the girls around her, but no one met her eyes. Usually, they avoided her for a variety of reasons all relating back to her personality, but today it was a universal feeling of trepidation. She looked away and ran her sweaty palms down her skirt to dry them off, and when she scanned the people around her, she caught Noah’s eyes. He stared at her with an intensity she hadn’t seen in years, not since the mining accident that took his father. Rachel swallowed, and he looked away.
He must be scared, Rachel thought. His name was up there at least three dozen times.