The Culling: Book 1 (The Culling Series)

by Tricia Wentworth

  “It’s going,” she replies glumly and I look to where she is looking. Maverick and Elizabeth are blatantly flirting. They seem to be getting along very, very well. Although they are at our table, they seem to be in their own little world.

  “I’m so sorry,” I whisper.

  “Don’t be. I should have expected it by this point.” She shrugs and gives me a smile to confirm that she is okay.

  Our conversation is then interrupted when none other than Marisol and her sidekick Sapphire sit down across from us.

  “Reagan. Vanessa. How are you guys today?” Marisol asks sweetly. Far too sweetly.

  “Peachy,” Vanessa says sarcastically as we exchange a glance wondering what she’s up to.

  “You ready for the presentations today?” she asks, taking a bite out of an apple in her hands that I only wish was poisonous.

  “Sure,” I respond with a smile. “And you?”

  “I think so, but I’m a little worried. Some of us just haven’t had to work as hard as others.” She looks me dead in the eyes. I hear the accusation in her voice.

  “Sounds like a personal problem to me,” Vanessa defends me. I know Marisol is just trying to get under my skin before our presentations, but I’ll be darned if it isn’t working.

  “October is your group leader and the smartest person I’ve ever met, so you’ll probably win. You should have nothing to worry about,” I say nodding in the direction of October. I’m trying to keep my cool while getting the attention off of me.

  “I’m surprised you noticed.” Marisol smiles an evil smile. “You seem to be a little too busy getting to know the boys in your own group.” She looks briefly at Lyncoln while she and Sapphire laugh their evil little laughs.

  My blood starts to boil as my temper flares. I’m about to stand up and leave before I say or do anything stupid, but Lyncoln softly squeezes my knee under the table and leaves his hand there.

  He glares at her. “If she was, Marisol, I could tell her a thing or two about you that could make her life easier. Like, oh, say the time you were caught with Christopher? When you were 16?” He spits the words with obvious hatred towards her and I have never seen anyone so intimidating in my life.

  They are definitely not in cahoots like I thought they might be that first night of the ball. He does not like her at all. At allllll. And I had better not get on his bad side. If he wants to be, he can be just as mean as she is. When he turns the evil switch on, I want to run for dear life. The coldness in his eyes is downright unnerving. I hope he never turns those things on me. Yikes.

  The color starts to drain from her face and Marisol looks mad. Sapphire hasn’t said a word the entire time and now looks like she wants to run away.

  “You just have daddy issues,” Marisol says through clenched teeth.

  I wonder what the deal is with Lyncoln’s dad. He flexes his jaw and every inch of him tenses up. That was apparently not the thing to say. I make a mental note to ask Vanessa later what Marisol means.

  Lyncoln squeezes my knee under the table again, this time I think for his sake and not mine. “Marisol, what exactly is your end goal here? You won’t get Henry. No one from Denver wants you either, those who haven’t already had you that is. So what are you trying to accomplish here other than intimidating your competition? In what world will you beat either one of these girls? Do you even have any guys chasing you?” He pauses as he knows he has struck a chord. “Didn’t think so. While we are on the topic of daddy issues, you wouldn’t still be here without yours pulling some serious strings, so why don’t you just can it?”

  She almost looks like she wants to cry as she plays with her apple and I would feel sorry for her if she hadn’t just verbally attacked me. “I’m just not hungry anymore. Come on, let’s go get ready for presentations,” she says to Sapphire and they get up and leave with their long blonde hair bouncing as they sashay away.

  Lyncoln leaves his hand on my knee for a while and I let him. I’m not sure who is comforting who but both of us are sufficiently pissed off.

  ****

  “So we decided to demolish half of the town and then completely refurbish the other half, leaving a smaller town, but a usable one. We can do all of this on our budget without finding anything of value although there, of course, will be valuables found along the way, as there are in any city left untouched. So anything we do find will actually be pure profit. It will take more time, but will be worth it in the end,” I finish explaining my portion of the presentation. I’m very nervous and the girls snickering when I began aren’t helping anything. Lord knows what Marisol was back there saying under her breath.

  “Smart,” Professor Zax nods while taking notes. We are the third group to go so hopefully we nail our presentation.

  “So we took Reagan’s idea one step further,” Lyncoln says, stepping forward to take over and purposefully name dropping me. As he begins his portion of the presentation, you can tell he works in tactical forces not just by his muscly body, but because he is very methodical and straight to the point in his delivery. He talks about the game plan, which direction things will go, and the fact that our city can be used as a backup township if ever the need arises.

  Henry talks about safety precautions and budgeting while Joshua and Oliver discuss the demolition and refurbishing. Our presentation goes pretty fast, but goes fairly well.

  October’s group is next and will be the only group that might possibly beat us. They decide to use their budget to not only refurbish but also expand the energy plant within the city, thus creating a product immediately useful for the townships. Our idea is different, but I’m not sure it beats October’s group. They nailed it. Which sucks because Marisol is in that group.

  At the end, Professor Zax dismisses us for dinner telling us we will soon know who won the contest. I hope more than anything we are able to beat the group Marisol is in, but am not sure we got the job done. I don’t even care if another team besides us wins, as long as it isn’t Marisol’s group that does. I head to dinner feeling exhausted and a little like I am starting to come down with something. I feel congestion coming on in my head giving me a killer headache and just feel a little achy all around.

  “Can I get you anything?” Jamie asks, seeing me in my weary state.

  “Would you please get me some cold medicine?” I ask.

  “Yep. And I’ll grab an electric blanket for your bed. What a crappy time to get sick,” he says sympathetically.

  “Tell me about it.” I shake my head in agreement as I loop my arm through his as we head on down.

  I manage to get through dinner. Henry is busy with Katie again, who can’t seem to leave him alone. I try not to be a total stalker, but I do glance over often to watch him with her. Although he is nice, he doesn’t seem to be putting any moves on her. Lyncoln is nowhere to be found all throughout dinner so I take the opportunity to leave early and ask Vanessa a few questions as we go back to our rooms.

  “Hey, where did Lyncoln go?” I am confused why any of us can leave unless we are going home. We aren’t due for any cuts, and even if we were, I don’t think he’ll be the next to go home.

  “Uhhh. His military rank sometimes calls for him to be needed at weird times,” she says vaguely with a shrug. She looks torn. Like she wants to say more, but isn’t sure if she should.

  “So he’s a big deal?” I ask confused. “That’s why his guards don’t always have to be with him?”

  “You could say that.” She smiles and laughs a little nervously. “Let’s just say that what he does is important. And he is kind of his own guard. I don’t think I’m supposed to say more than that because of who my dad is. Sorry.”

  “Oh,” I say even more confused than before but respect why she can’t give me all the deets I’m wanting. “What about that thing Marisol said about his dad?”

  “She shouldn’t have.” Vanessa clenches her teeth.

  “Why?” I pause. “Can you tell me?”

  “I’m not sure I sh
ould, but I will.” She pauses and then almost whispers, “His dad was murdered. In front of him.”

  I can’t find my breath. “No way!”

  I’m slowly starting to put together the pieces of who Lyncoln really is. At first I thought maybe he was an enemy. I don’t see him as an enemy or a friend. Lyncoln is just something entirely different. A puzzle I can’t seem to figure out. And one with an entirely good reason for being dark and mysterious it turns out.

  “Yeah. Since murders don’t really happen anymore, it was a big deal in Denver.” She shrugs. “It shook us all up. But he was definitely never the same.”

  “When?” I myself feel shaken by what he had to see. I can’t even wrap my head around it.

  “Would have been about eight years ago. So he would have been about thirteen.” She shakes her head sadly.

  “Oh my word. Thirteen? No wonder he seems so dark,” I think out loud.

  Vanessa laughs at that. “He is dark. He’s definitely dangerous since he has done and seen stuff no one at our age should, and he definitely had his bad boy stage after his dad died, but he really is a good man underneath it all,” she tells me. Before I can wonder if she’s into him, she adds, “And no I don’t want him in that way, I just really respect him. We kind of grew up together. And for the record, I have seen girls follow him around for his looks or bad boy image his whole life, but I haven’t seen him follow anyone around until you.”

  “Thanks. I think.” I think about what she is telling me. Other than the showdown with Marisol earlier, he hasn’t given me much attention at all. I don’t get it. “He’s backed off a lot though.”

  “Yeah, probably because he and Henry are good friends,” she says shaking her head and chuckles. “You really aren’t good at this boy thing are you?”

  I blush. “Ah, no. I am not. I told you I have no idea what I am doing, and I meant it!” I laugh and then add quietly, “You think both of them are really interested in me?”

  “Yes,” she says smiling without hesitating. “So what are you going to do about it?”

  “I have no idea,” I say totally flabbergasted. I would rather answer more tests than have to sort out my feelings about those two boys. “And hopefully I don’t have to be the one to decide. The Culling is hard enough as it is. I just want to make another cut, not worry about my hormones wrapped up in those two boys.”

  “I hear ya,” she nods and gives my shoulder a squeeze in support.

  Despite feeling horrible, I toss and turn all night wondering what Lyncoln’s job is that he gets to leave when no one else does, including Henry, and what I am going to do about the both of them. I don’t want to give them the wrong idea or lead them both on, but I like parts of both of them. After a few hours of tossing and turning, I rationally decide that I don’t really know either of them well enough to do anything about it. I need to get to know both of them better.

  This whole process is straight up crazy! I can’t decide who I want to spend the rest of my life with, or if we will even have a long lasting attraction, based off of only a few times in seeing one another. Asking me to do so, is unreasonable. And then there’s always the possibility that I am dismissed and never see either of them again. I hope for my sake that the Culling lasts a whole lot longer and I stick around so I can figure this out.

  Chapter 10

  The next morning, I wake tired. Normally I can just turn the switch off and sleep, but these boys and this whole situation are making that darned difficult. I’m sure I look even worse than I feel and my voice sounds groggy. Gertie and Frank notice but don’t say much and get me hot tea right away.

  They are becoming the highlight of my day. I typically don’t like mornings, but when I wake up to the two of them getting me prepared for the day, I am much less crabby about having to get my butt out of bed. I have my hair curled and half-way up. I’m wearing a navy pencil skirt, beige heels, a burgundy tank top with ruffles down the sides that I’m not sure about, and a cream blazer over the top. When it comes to putting outfits together, these two seem to have a knack. Ready for the day and the results for our group project, Jamie takes me downstairs.

  “Ready to find out?” he asks in a good mood.

  “Maybe if I wasn’t scared to get murdered in my sleep,” I respond, wishing I had had another cup of tea before class.

  He laughs as he hits the button on the elevator. “We won’t let that happen.” He wishes me good luck, sensing that I am dreading these results.

  If we happen to win, I will have a bigger target on my back. If we lose, Marisol and Sapphire will never let us live it down. So the only thing worse than winning, is losing. I kind of almost wish one of the other groups will win, just so I don’t have to deal with either of those possibilities. How I haven’t punched Marisol in the nose by now is beyond me. Miracles do happen, I suppose. Her schnoz is perfectly attached. Momentarily.

  At our classroom, I see my group all already present and sitting around our table. I sit down and say a pleasant but not really heartfelt hello. Naturally, the only spot open is between Lyncoln and Henry and their cologne smells colliding are doing weird things to me again.

  “Brought you this. Hope you’re feeling better,” Henry says, placing a tea before me. I smile a thank you and take a sip. He notices the little things about me.

  Just then Jade walks by and smiles at me. “I can’t wait for the next group project when I get to work with a bunch of gorgeous men and have them do all the work for me.”

  I’m already on edge and she threatens to send me over it. I’m about to open my mouth when I feel Lyncoln’s hand squeeze my knee from underneath the table. How does he always know when I’m about to lose it? And why my knee? I glance up at him to see him glaring at her, jaw clenched. He’s mad too.

  “And that attitude is exactly why we didn’t pick you,” Joshua says coolly before Lyncoln can verbally destroy her like he did Marisol.

  Oliver also looks mad but adds sarcastically, “But thanks for calling me gorgeous.”

  I’m surprised they have no reservations whatsoever in defending me. As she storms off I say, “Thanks, Joshua.”

  “Being a girl must suck. Heels and draaa-maaa!” Oliver says and I laugh. I avoid looking at the other girls in the room as I know I won’t like what I see.

  Soon Professor Zax breezes through the room and greets us excitedly. “Today, I get to inform the winners of their prize.” He pauses and I can just feel glares bouncing off of me. “And then we will move on to our next project. Leaving immediately to skip the rest of the day of classes, our winners will be taking a helicopter ride to an un-refurbished area of an old city close to Denver. They will go for a tour of the area, then come back this evening for a special dinner with the President and myself. These people are dismissed immediately. There is special gear for you to wear in your rooms. Your guards will take you where you need to go. And last but not least, you are safe from the next cut.”

  He pauses for dramatic effect.

  Please, let it be us! I want to get out of this room. And I want to be safe from the cuts.

  “Please help me congratulate…” Professor Zax pauses some more for effect, “Lyncoln’s team.” He starts clapping with the others joining in, some in an almost murderous way.

  We smile and high five or hug each other. I try not to be too feely with any of them since all the other girls’ eyes are on me. As I am the only girl, I take this opportunity to be the first to leave to go get ready for our field trip like Professor Zax instructed. I might as well get out of here as quickly as possible so they quit with all the emotional hate I feel rolling towards me. The target on my back grows with every step in the direction of the door.

  “See, not so bad, right?” Jamie smiles.

  “You totally knew, didn’t you?” I smile back. “That’s why you were so chipper this morning.”

  “Yeah. They’ve been prepping us since dawn on the trip.” He nods guilty.

  “Well, I have never been happier to s
ee you in my life, although I’m not sure how I feel about this helicopter business,” I laugh.

  I’m in such a hurry to leave that I don’t have to share the elevator, which is probably a good thing. I’m in a funky mood and I still don’t feel well. This is not a good combination. And it sounds like I’ll be spending the whole day with my group. Which means a whole day with Henry and Lyncoln. Both.

  We arrive at my room shortly and I don’t hesitate to enter as I wonder what I get to change into. I’m more than glad to kick off my heels. I find black pants, black boots, a black tank top, and a black jacket. All are a sleek and smooth material I’m not familiar with. So basically the stuff Lyncoln is always wearing. I quickly change into them.

  I take a look in the mirror. I look different. I’m not feeling feminine at all for the first day since arriving in Denver. I pull my hair up into a ponytail even though I know Frank wouldn’t like it. I smile. This feels good.

  No boys.

  No Presidency.

  This is me.

  For the first time in a long time, I feel like me.

  ****

  The helicopter is new and scary, but I find I actually love looking out the window as we fly. We are sitting on two long benches facing each other in the back part of the helicopter. Being the woman and getting first choice, I sit by the window. My subconscious also points out that this means I can’t be sitting in the middle of Henry and Lyncoln again. Once is definitely enough for the day.

  Henry sits beside me and Lyncoln across from me with Oliver and Joshua on the other sides of them. We also have guards on board with us. Half are sitting on the bench seats and half are standing holding onto a handle attached to the ceiling.

  “You are crazy,” Henry says over the headset to me.

  “Why?” I ask confused as to which reason he is calling me crazy for.

  He nods to the window where I am admiring the mountain-view. From up here, I think it may be the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.