"Ring the bells that still can ring/Forget your perfect offering/There is a crack in everything/That's how the light gets in." -Leonard Cohen

Abigail sat her tray down to sit between Alex and Bethany, barely able to contain her excitement to start the day. The look on her face must have shown her excitement, though, because it only took seconds for Lizzie to make a snide comment.

"Someone is bright eyed and bushy tailed this morning," she jested, "like a good little puppy ready to go outside." She laughed at her own joke and was accompanied by Jacob, who Abigail seemed destined to have a on and off relationship with. He seemed to keep going back and forth in his treatment of her.

"You will have to tell me all about it at lunch," Bethany interjected, happy to have the opportunity to dismiss Lizzie at any cost.

"I'm going to have to try to make it early today," Alex commented, "I really want to hear all about this, too. Danny used to brag and brag about the job, but he never really discussed the details of it with me."

Abigail didn't want to brag about it, herself, but she couldn't hold back the smile that emerged from his comment. Bethany elbowed her when she saw the blush rising to her face, making an effort to help conceal any feelings from Lizzie. That was the last thing she needed.

"Yeah, yeah," Shiloh chimed in with a mouth full of eggs. He swallowed before he continued, "just continue to brag about it." Though he sounded irritated, Abigail could see the smile he was working to hold back. "Just don't forget about the likes of us when you become so important," he continued.

"Man," Joseph chimed in: the first time Abigail had truly heard the boy speak, "I don't think she would be like that."

"Oh hush, Joseph," Lizzie responded, "You're just saying that because Bethany is all gooey eyed for the new girl."

Jacob laughed at this comment, too. Abigail gave him her best withering stare in response, attempting to let the boy know she wasn't impressed with his belligerent attitude.

"I guess I better get going," Bethany stood up to leave, "though I do hate to leave such great conversation." The sarcasm was heavy in her voice.

"I'll go with you," Abigail replied, picking up her plate and following suit.

"Yes," Lizzie called after them, "I would hate for the little puppy to miss her first day of obedience school."

As they made their way down the stairwell to their jobs, Abigail could feel her nerves mixing with the excitement. And though she hated to admit it, she could also feel some repercussions of what Lizzie had to say. Was she too excited about today? It didn't take long for her to decide her answer. She was definitely not too excited. Today marked the first day of the rest of her life, as the cliché goes. This was her chance to change her future, and perhaps a chance to become an entirely new person in the process.

"I wouldn't let what Lizzie says get to you," Bethany commented as they reached the last step and turned onto the hallway. "She just does that whenever someone new comes into the group. She was the same way with Joseph when we started dating."

"Is she just that desperate for attention?" Abigail questioned.

"You could say that," she mused, "But I think with you it goes a lot deeper. I think she is so jealous of you and Alex that she can't even see straight."

Abigail pondered on that a minute before replying. "I guess so," she responded, "but I kind of get the impression that Jacob may be a little sweet on her."

This caused Bethany to erupt into laughter. "I noticed that, too," she choked out between bouts of chuckles, "but poor old Jake won't stand a chance with that reptilian creature."

The response caused Abigail to chuckle, too, and as the two of them calmed back down to a normal conversation level, they had arrived at Maggie's office.

"I'll see you at lunch, Abby," Bethany waved as she headed further down the hall to the laundry services.
For the second time since she had arrived in Louxe, Abigail found herself standing before the large daunting door of Maggie's office. This time, however, she didn't have the familiar feelings of fear and doubt raging through her. Instead, she could feel the excitement and curiosity raging through her mind and into her hand as she reached her hand up to knock.

"Yes, Abigail," she could hear Maggie yelling through the door, "come on in!"

Abigail pushed the heavy door forward and stepped into the room. It had changed since she had last visited. While Maggie's oversized desk still sat at the back of the room, through a doorway to the right she could see a new desk had been set up. Books were piled on top of one another in the chairs by Maggie's desk, as well.

"I figured if we were going to do this," Maggie commented, "we were going to do it right."

Abigail fought to hold her composure. She was embarrassed to reveal how excited she truly felt. Back in Louxe she had loved to read, but now that she had the opportunity to read about things that had been hidden from her before, she was over the moon with joy. She slowly made her way farther into the room, approaching the stacks of books she hoped were set-aside for her.

"I hope you enjoy reading," Maggie said as she neared the teetering stack, "I figured there may be a good bit of things left out in your education in Louxe... so I took it upon myself to find what I could to fill in the blanks."

"This is incredible!" Abigail finally exclaimed, straining to contain her voice. "Can I start now?"

Maggie simply smiled at the girl and gave her a quick nod of her head. Immediately, Abigail stepped forward and picked up as many of the book as she could, carrying them to the smaller desk through the doorway. It took several trips to get them all, but once she had she pulled out the chair and started working on the first one Maggie had set aside: The Moral High Ground: A Manifesto. She had heard of the book, but had never read it in its entirety. It was written by Phillip Morales, Tobias's great-grandfather, and was quoted often in the schools.

The contents inside were not what she had expected, however. The writing itself was nothing odd, but every single margin was filled to the brim with comments and notes. In several instances Abigail could see words crossed out or circled or underlined with notes written above them. Someone had gone through and made serious changes to this, almost as if they were trying to make corrections.
It didn't take long for her to become completely enraptured in the notes. She found numerous instances where Phillip had written a doctrine only to have the comment explain why he had chosen it. Abigail had to admit that she had never thought deeper into why the rules existed; at least, not beyond what she had been told. But reading now that the reasoning behind making her dress in that grotesque garment for so many years was for nothing more than a controlling method put her in a mood that she wasn't sure she would come out of any time soon. Every single day she had woken up and loathed that piece of clothing and dreaded her day as she had to have others seeing her wear it.

Though, as she thought more deeply about it, she knew that it had worked. The dresses had brought uniformity to her life and had allowed her to ignore the clothing choices of the other girls. It had also stopped her from any sort of personalization or chance at learning to wear stylish clothing. Secretly, this had made her think more about Lizzie's off-putting attire: would she find it so distasteful if self-expression had been allowed back in Louxe? And is that what Phillip, and Tobias, was worried about? That if they had started to express themselves by their clothing choices, they would begin to express their opinions on other things as well?

Before she could get too far into the book, Maggie came into her room and sat across from her.

"Did you find anything interesting?" she questioned, knowing that Abigail was completely enraptured in the information before her.

"I just can't believe what I am reading," she began.

"This is about so much more than the laws or that stupid forsaken dress. This was my life." The realization hit her harder than she would have liked to imagine. That was her life. That was the person she was supposed to become and the seemingly identical attitude she was supposed to adapt about life.

"Yes," Maggie responded, "I understand your frustration, Abigail. This is why Elysium was created. We are a safe haven for those with alternative plans for their lives."

Abigail loved that idea: that this could be her safe haven to begin a new way of life. "Do you have a set of rules like Louxe did?" she dared to question.

"We have some rules," Maggie explained, "but nothing like Louxe. Here we just want everyone to contribute and work for something. That's why the meals work off of your job assignment credits. It's all about earning your way and creating the life you want."

"I'm just relieved that there isn't a dress code," Abigail joked, "I can't even describe the hatred I have for those dresses." Maggie laughed along with her at the comment.

"You are free to create your own style here," Maggie continued on, "And I know that you won't have many work credits built up yet, but we do have a store where you can purchase some new things."

"Please don't tell me it's the store room where Lizzie works," Abigail groaned.

"I'm afraid so," Maggie just laughed at the question before getting up and heading back to her own desk. She picked up the book once again and found herself enraptured in its contents. How could someone decide to dictate the lives of so many other people this way? What purpose would it serve to make an entire civilization look to one man for guidance in every aspect of their lives?

She sighed in discontentment after she had made her way through the first half of the book. As she looked to the clock on the wall, though, she was surprised to find that she had only a few minutes to make it to lunch if she wanted to eat with Bethany and Alex. After marking her place, she slammed the book closed and rushed to the door.

"I'm late for lunch with Bethany and Alex, Maggie," she turned to the Director as she reached the door. "I'll be back after lunch, if that's okay." Maggie simply nodded without even looking up at her.