I stand proud and strong when my father takes a photo of me in my guard's uniform. It isn't ELETE, it's a common gray guard cadet one but he looks happy enough.

"You get a smarter uniform with the guards anyway," he says, softening the blow.

"Thanks." I flag someone down and hand the data diskette over. "Take a picture with me and my pa, will you?"

I don't know how I could have missed that blue hair. Maybe that's my reason for choosing this person out of all others. He says nothing as he takes our picture and hands the diskette back.

I study his plain black worker's uniform as he scales the stands in the back to sit at the very top.

My first time at an acceptance ceremony, I'm not sure what to expect. Thanks to Job's training I'm at the top of my class. I'm even getting accepted faster than average. My pa keeps bragging about that to anyone who might stand beside him.

I just laugh.

"It's starting," my father says, gesturing to the stage. "You're lucky. This is a rare occasion that they get performers. That's why I chose this area. They get the nicest awards."

Rather than sit down, we stand and turn to the stage. A crowd forms within a matter of minutes, pressing so close to my father that he seems to cringe inward. I like seeing him push others away for a change instead, though. I'm by his side, looking up to see what performer could be this important.

Gara emerges from the curtain, looking as perfect as she always does. I envy that fat grin on her face. It grows as a cheer erupts. My heart stops and feels like it's about to implode. Six months of rehab and weaning off the drugs isn't the only thing I'm struggling with every day.

Seeing her here now is unreal, even more so because she looks strong. It's stupid but all those feelings start to come back, not that it'd matter; she'd have nothing to do with me. A glance at my father and the look of worry I see there brings me back to myself. It's then that I realize: I shouldn't want to have anything to do with Gara, either.

"Good day, cadets. It's my pleasure to be here today." Gara waits until the cheers die down before she continues. "You've signed over to the Colony and some of you aren't all that big. I know when you're young, you're in such a hurry to grow up, such a hurry to move past this singular moment. But sometimes you move a little quickly, and you can't come back.

"So live in the here, and live in the now, because once you've left that all behind, all that innocence and vulnerability behind, if it's done wrong, you end up searching for it...in anything you can get your hands on." Clenching her fists to her chest, she smiles. "That carefree moment when you were kinda happy...seize it, embrace it because your youth is the one substance you'll crave for the rest of your lives. And it's the only pure one that you're allowed to indulge in. So use it up, darlings. It'll stay with you if you let it. But don't worry, ten years from now, thirty years from now, you can always start over, because we're still damn young, right?"

The music starts and I smile—I can see why she's so happy. Blue; her signature song. The up when this song comes around in her lineup ever so often is always good, but the downward spiral she'll have after those shows are the stuff of legends.

A part of me frets that maybe she won't walk away from this one once reality rears its ugly head. The last time left her on medical leave for two months alone.

We meet eyes before it's her cue to sing. She isn't capable of moving for a long while. She pauses in her sway, seemingly dying inside at the sight of me. I still want to think that she has some regret. The right kind, a second guessing, but I suspect that isn't it, not even slightly. I'm the source of something awful for her, and that fills me with guilt.

She clears her throat and looks beyond me, singing as if I no longer matter. Like the long list of people she lets enter her bed, and immediately shows the exit, I know I'm maybe a nameless face by now; but for me she'll always hold something immortal that'll follow me to my dying day.

And then something else catches her eye and she freezes up entirely. The band keeps on but eventually dies down. Murmurs come from the crowd. I'm afraid for her. Maybe she's swallowed something before coming out and now it's taking its toll. Maybe she's feeling the effects of this song a lot sooner.

She stares at the stands for what seems like ages before she sucks in a deep breath and mutters something. Tearing off her sash and all the wires that connected her portable mic attachments on it, she jumps down and pushes her way through the crowd.

At the top of the stands, the man with blue hair rises to his feet, a blank look on his face. He seems equally as stunned at Gara's display, and then he looks at peace.

I don't catch sight of where Gara ends up. By the time I make my way through the confused fans, both she and the stranger are gone.

End.

Sated (Love or Possession 2.5)

This short is based off a larger series called Love or Possession. The first book is "The Nobleman's Masterpiece," now available online. Gara makes her first appearance in "The Me You Stole," available online.

Sated is also available for free. A review can go a long way for an indie author like myself, so please consider reviewing it.

This book is a standalone, book 2.5, in Love or Possession series (Phil appears in book 3).

How do I find it?
Just do a search for "Sated Lyna Forge" on any ebook site. There's also a link in my profile.

Is it FREE?
It is FREE on google, Barnes and Nobles, Kobo, etc. etc. Amazon won't allow me to make it free so it says 0.99 cents now but if enough people request it, Amazon sometimes price matches.

Why offer it elsewhere?

Well, it secures the entire story and it also allows people to perhaps use an app to hear a voice version of the book. I think it will widen the audience, if there is one.

Will this happen to all your stories?
Not all. But if it does, they, too, will be free.

Will it become a charged story eventually?
No. It'll remain free.

I hope to reach more eyes this way. I'd like to ask that if you read it, you either review it wherever you read it, or come back here and leave a comment. It's a lot of work, I know, but knowing that someone else is seeing it and enjoying would honestly mean a lot to me.

Thank you.