I
dug my fingernails into my skin as I looked at my pale reflection staring back
at me from the mirror. That was it. The last week of my childhood year classes.
After that, I would go on to my brand-new life full of inferior duties, never
to live with my superior family again. A breath of air filled my lungs as I
gasped in, realizing that I had been holding my breath. I painfully removed my
nails from my skin and peered down at the half moon shaped imprints stuck in my
skin.
“Laney?” A small voice whispered as
my door creaked open, “Are you up?”
“Yes, I am,” I whipped around, opening
up my arms to my sister. She leapt into them lithely, her long brown hair
smacking my shoulder.
“Last week of year seventeen, huh?”
Nolan asked, leaning back to peer at my reaction with her sweet blue eyes.
“That’s right, dearest. And don’t
forget, it’s your last day of year nine! Year ten was my favorite year,” I
reminisced, trying to pull away from the fact that I wouldn’t be around my
little sister the following week. When my life would begin.
“It doesn’t matter,” She mumbled,
wrapping her arms around me again, “Year nine and ten doesn’t matter. Year
seventeen does.”
I opened my mouth to respond, even
though I didn’t know what exactly to say. She was correct, of course. Year
seventeen was truly the only year that mattered wholly. The others were only
training to get to year seventeen.
I shut my mouth audibly, holding my
little sister away from me. We stood there for a moment, as my indecision
clouded my mind once again.
Our mother appeared in the doorway,
her mouth pressed into a line of disapproval. One that I saw more often than
not. It was strange, seeing my mother right behind Nolan. They were practically
the same person outwardly, barring the fact that Nolan was only nine. The long,
straight brown hair, that seemed to accentuate their strikingly beautiful blue
eyes, which differed so greatly from mine. If only I looked more like my
mother. Maybe she would have appreciated me more.
“Laney, you’re going to make your
sister late for her field trip. And don’t you have your own to get to?” She
sighed, pulling Nolan away from me, “Thank goodness you will be out of our home
by next week. Perhaps we might be able to stick to our schedules then, right my
sweet Nolan?”
Nolan only licked her lips and
shrugged, not wanting to get in between her mother and older sister. Just like
always. I couldn’t blame her.
“Nora, leave the girl alone,” My
father groaned, giving me a dazzlingly sad smile, “Regardless of schedule, I’m
sure we will be much worse off without our sweet Lanoree, don’t you agree, Nora?”
My mother only huffed, and turned to
go back to the family room, pulling little Nolan behind her. My father stayed,
smiling lightly.
“Good morning, dad,” I tried to
smile back, faltering.
“It will all be alright, dear,” He
said, ignoring my lame good morning. Dad walked towards me and slung his arm
around me, looking into my violet eyes. He did truly love me, I believed.
Unlike my mother, perhaps. We had the same violet shade of eyes, and the same
curls. Although, his were a dark shade of brown, and mine were a white blonde
type color, similar to how his skin was a light tan color and mine was pale. As
a little girl, I had loved looking so similar to my Dad, with just a dash of my
own twist on it.
“Come on, or we will truly be late,
Dad,” I leaned my head against shoulder, just like I used to when I was a baby.
He laughed slightly and gestured for
me to go ahead. I walked ahead, grabbing a protein pack as I headed out the
door.
“Goodbye, Nolie!” I called, patting
her on the head lightly as I walked out. I saw the flash of her bright white
teeth before I shut the door behind me. My best friend, Jacen, stood on the
concrete in front of my house, gripping his own protein pack.
“Hey, Lane,” Jacen breathed, hopping
back and forth from one foot to another nervously.
I nodded slightly, grabbing his arm,
“Why’re you so nervous? It isn’t even testing day yet, Jace.”
He shivered at the thought of
testing day, licking his lips, “But, think Lane. We are closer than we have
ever been to testing day right at this moment.”
“You could have said that at any
moment in time and it would have bee true, Jace. Don’t be nervous,” I quipped,
trying to hide my own nerves, “Today is a favorite of everyone, superiors and
inferiors. Taking a step into the past, and all. Just enjoy it.”
He just shrugged as we started
walking along. The other inferior students started filing in behind us as we
rounded the corner to the joint year education center for the ‘Inferior
Children of Society’. The separate transport engines sat stagnantly in front of
the building, waiting for the children to climb onto it.
I suppressed a grin as I watched the
younger children gather around the year seventeen engine. To think that all of
these children wanted to grow up so soon, yet they knew nothing of the inferior
world that they would be thrust into. Those lessons were taught at an older
age, where the description of inferior versus superior could truly sink in.
They would understand some day.
“Clear the way, children!” My
teacher, Mr. Talon, called, brushing children away from the engine gently,
smiling down at them, “The year seventeens are coming.”
They turned around quickly, backing
away from the engine as my classmates and I walked towards the transport. I saw
the nervous excitement, as they tried to peer into the engine.
I stepped on first, holding my hand
out to grab Jace’s. We had been practically inseparable since our year four
class. Jace’s mom used to call us the twins.
“Remember our first field trips?” He
whispered lightly in my ear, trying to calm himself down, “When they’d take us
to the different sectors! My favorite was service for sure. Ah, simpler times.”
“Service?” I puzzled, squinting my
eyes, “Service is the absolutely worst sector there is for inferiors. Is that
still your favorite?”
“Oh, no. I don’t think so at
least,” He shrugged, the panic starting to settle in his eyes again, “But, who
knows? Maybe the test will put me in service, or agriculture. Maybe I’ll even
be an inferior teacher, like Talon.”
“I would say anything but service,
but I suppose that the others are hardly better.”
“If only we had a choice in the
matter,” He said lightly.
Year seventeen testing lead to the
decision of where an inferior or superior child would be placed to live out
their lives. In my case, I would be placed in either service, agriculture,
teaching inferiors, or production. A superior child would be placed in either
government, civics, science, mathematics, teaching superiors, or medics.
My parents were superiors, both placed
into the science center after their year seventeen testing. After that, they
were matched as a pair to produce inferior children. This kept the hierarchy
honest. Superiors gave birth to inferiors, and inferiors gave birth to
superiors. Inferior children would grow up in a superior household, and vice
versa. This was implemented after the near apocalypse of two-thousand
thirty-nine. Each citizen would get a taste of both inferior and superior life,
which was supposed to help them understand respect of both statures.
In my opinion, it only created more
bitterness for both sides. Inferiors were suppressed, never allowed to live up
to their full potential. We were taught to serve superiors, above all. If we
served superiors, our world would run. Superiors felt that inferiors were below
them, or that inferiors did not work at all, as they were not educated in the
higher stance, as superiors most often put it.
Jacen, Nolan, and I would all be
placed in our own occupations when it was time. For Jace and I, that time was
that very week. After occupational placements, we would be whisked away to the
housing sections of whatever occupation we were put in. I currently lived in
the superior scientific center section, as my parents were both science
occupations. Just as Jacen’s parents were.
“Lane? Lanoree?” Jacen’s voice
popped back into my thoughts. I must have gotten lost in my own mind for a
moment.
“Sorry, Jace,” I mumbled, squishing
up against him as our other classmates piled in. I didn’t ask what he was trying
to get my attention for. I needed a moment to think on my own without Jace
stressing me out.
“Attention!” Talon called out as he
stood on the step at the front of the engine, “I am sure that your parents have
explained our field trip to you, as it is a very popular one for both superiors
and inferiors, but I will go into greater detail. Today, we will be transported
into the past. You will view life as it was before the change. Hopefully, this
will help you understand the greater need for your occupational status in the
upcoming years. We will arrive in a moment, so please, listen carefully.
“When we arrive at the museum, I ask
that you wait in here for a moment. We will then be taken to a room in which
will simulate many situations and places of the past. There will be memorabilia
for you to touch and read, but none of it is take home. Thusly, do not take
anything from that room. I understand that you will want to share the
experience with younger children, perhaps siblings or friends, but you do not
have permission to do so. You may tell them that you saw the past, but not in
any ways may you tell them what you saw. Their developing brains are not yet
ready for it.”
“Now, when we go in, you will be
separated into groups of two. Each person you are with will gauge your reaction
to the past, just as you will do to them, so that you might not get wrapped up
too far into the simulation. You may pick your partner for this trip. Now, any
questions?”
We all stood there staring at our
teacher. I had a million questions, but none of them were worth asking, seeing
as we were just moments away from what both superiors and inferiors wait to
see. I grabbed Jacen’s hand again and squeezed it lightly from nerves and
excitement.
“You know, this might be the last
moment where we aren’t miserable,” Jace whispered to me lightly, but I felt his
words more deeply than that.
“Well then, we must enjoy it,” I
sighed, as I brushed one of my long blonde curls out of my face. I would need
every area of my vision for this one.
“Follow me, follow me,” Talon said,
stepping into his tour guide position. We each stepped off of the transport,
holding our perspective partner’s hands tightly, not wanting to get separated.
A few stragglers found a partner and stepped off last. Talon gazed around,
clearly counting each and every student in his head to make sure we were all
there.
We walked across the concrete lot in
front of the building quickly, trying to avoid the other inferior and superior
groups of year seventeen children. There was one field trip simulation building
per regional area, and that included many other superior and inferior schools.
Many of the superior students gazed at us with clear pity, some even laughter.
They grew up in the inferior environment, and soon, we would switch places.
“When we arrive at the door, your
fingers will each be pricked, to document your inferior pathway coming in the
near future. Please, get into single file,” Talon stated, gesturing for us to
make a straight line. His grey face clearly showed a bit of excitement, which
was a strange thing for him.
I filed in behind Jacen, pulling
back my white sweater’s sleeves, hoping that I wouldn’t get my finger’s blood
on it. Jace placed his hand on the black slab lightly and flinched when the
needle pricked his hand so clearly. I swallowed lightly. In my family, we hated
blood. We often did our medical work at home, seeing as both of my parents were
high up in the superior scientific discovery, it was easy to get medics to our
house.
It was my turn then. I placed my
hand on the cold metal and was directed to relax. The needle pricked me harder
than I imagined, and I pulled away slightly, closing my violet eyes.
The woman stood suddenly and eyed me
strangely. I opened my mouth to ask her if everything was alright when she
turned to a supervisor behind her.
“It’s malfunctioning, Sir,” She
said, gesturing to the screen in front of her.
The supervisor clearly couldn’t have
cared less. He shrugged and tapped a couple of buttons, restarting the screen.
He waved me on, “I’m sure she’s fine.”
My eyebrows furrowed as Jacen pulled
me forward.
“You malfunctioned it, Laney,” He
laughed, eyeing me with his pale green eyes.
“I didn’t do it. The machine did,” I
mumbled, annoyed with the fact that nothing ever just went smoothly in my life.
Not even the blood test at a field trip, for God’s sake!
We kept moving along, until we saw
the clear labeled ‘Sector 74 Inferior’ room at the end of the hall. It was
almost as big as a stadium in size inside of the room. The obnoxious students
immediately starting horsing around and running when we got in, annoying Talon
instantly.
“Please, children, act your age.
Gather around me.”
Jace and I moved closer to him,
prepping ourselves for what was next.
This is only draft #1! Trying to get some comments and inspiration to start editing this! I know it's not perfect but I figured I'd put it out there :)
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