Her

My whole body is numb. I'm still stunned when Jayne clamps a translucent red band on my wrist. It burns as lasers in the band quickly tattoo me with my lavaliere, which will mark me for the rest of my life as a Throwback. I stare into Mom's eyes as the lasers cut into me until she buries her face in her hands. Dad stares at a spot over my shoulder, like eye contact might singe him.The consequences of what's happening start to hit me. Any future that I get to choose is gone now.My career path will be determined for me, since I was cloned for a reason. My dream

Addie meets me at the door when I come home, and she can tell from one glance at my face what I need. She ushers me upstairs, where my room is dark and cool. I slide into bed, running my hands along the crisp sheets that she washed today."Thank you," I murmur.Addie sits in a chair next to me, like she did when I was little and couldn't fall asleep at night. Her gentle fingers thread through my long hair, relaxing me. As the aching in my head recedes, the relief is so profound that I slip into sleep.

The next two months pass more slowly than the last four years of high school. Mom enters my applications to various theater programs that I'm eligible for, including the Seattle Secondary Theater program Crew mentioned.It's a necessary step because Strand checks to make sure all graduating Throwbacks are enrolled in a job training program at the beginning of the summer. Medical school in Paris won't begin until the fall. I'll have a few months to dip my toe in the water of Throwback life before I leave for good.Ava and Fletch are busy planning for college in t

The rest of the week is filled with nonstop activity as I prepare to leave home for Seattle Secondary. Throwbacks aren't given the summer off after they graduate, like Evolved students are entitled to before starting college.I have a week to pack my entire life into a couple of suitcases and buy the required supplies for the Seattle Secondary Theater program. Mom is in heaven, purchasing my makeup kit, downloading the required reading, and updating my wardrobe—while I fight her all the way, since I know it's out of our budget, and I'll leave all this stuff behind in a few months when I board a plane to Paris.My parents and Addie cry when the autonomous car from my new school com

A flood of students from the dorms heads outside, presumably to the "Little Theater," so I knock the dirt off my boots and join the herd.We walk a couple of blocks and approach another old building with an empty marquis sign. The large wooden doors have elaborate brass handles, but they're old and turning green with age. This theater might have been fancy once upon a time, but now it's dilapidated enough that the Evolved have turned it over to the Throwbacks.Thinking that the inside will be equally dilapidated, I'm awestruck at my first glimpse of the theater's lobby. Everything is covered in paneled wood with a golden finish, hand-polished to perfection. The classic beauty of the the