Sixteen year old Aine lives in the Colony, and his whole life was decided before he was born. In two years he will marry the girl next door, Brin, who was assigned as his Other at birth. Then he will be given a position in the Colony's workforce that best suits his talents. Each night he takes four pills, like everyone else in the Colony, and he knows the pills keep them safe and their world in order. Everything is fine. Perfect, in fact. Until Aine accidentally drops one of his pills. Terrified, he tries to hide the mistake, but when he dreams for the first time in his life, he discovers all he's been missing. What scares him more than not taking the pill, though, is how alive his dreams make him feel. Because it isn't Brin he dreams of but his best friend Kyer. Another boy. Suddenly Aine's world turns upside down, and he doesn't know what to think or who to trust. All he knows for sure is he's falling in love with Kyer, which is forbidden by the Colony's Code, and he will do anything to protect their budding relationship. Even if it means defying the Overseer and leaving the Colony behind.

The Colony Book 1: Rebellion

The indoor playground was on the sixth level. The entire floor was covered with a thick coating of coarse sand; in some areas, sand had been piled up into blocky structures that resembled our homes, leftovers from when the younger children had been there to play. Now a few other teenagers had the same idea as I did, and huddled together on the carousel or by the slide in an effort to be alone with their Others. Kyer and I were the only unmatched pair on the playground. The swing set was empty, so we headed over there.


The swings hung too low for us to enjoy, so we spent a few moments throwing them high into the air, trying to swing them over the crossbar above. Mine went over first, and I managed to get it to clear a second time before Kyer got his swing over. Then we turned the seats to kink up the chains a bit more, rising the swings off the ground. Finally they seemed high enough, and when we sat down, we pushed off the sandy floor to get some air.


Chapter 20