I wake up in a dark room. Normally, I would check my phone for the time, but unfortunately, it is still in my locker at school and I don't own a clock. Groaning, I get up and open my blackout curtains to try and guess what time it is. From the position of the sun, I would have to guess that it is time for school or almost time for school.
As I look around my empty, now sunlight-filled room, I can't help but remember the events of yesterday at the construction sight. I used to be like them, the women I mean. Constantly thinking men were below us. I still do think that, but it's less extreme.
That man didn't deserve punishment for falling. Now, he is possibly dead or on his way to being dead all because of something so minuscule.
How is our system now anything different from how it was before? It's the same way just in reverse and with much more dire consequences. It's not right.
I try to shake the unpleasant feeling crawling on my skin. If I continue to think like this, the elites will surely make an example out of me. With that final thought, I shake my head and go into the bathroom where the med kit still lies on the counter and my now dried blood stains parts of the sink.
I use the bathroom, clean up the blood, and put up the med kit before taking a shower.
The shower was cold. All of the heated water is preserved and given to the higher ranks on the other side of town, including the elites. While we the "peasants" get cold water in return for all the hardships we face, It's unfair.
Once I finish my shower, I get dressed in another simple outfit. A button-down shirt that is twice my size and blue jeans with a few different colored patches. My clothes have been ripped a few times, but I can never afford to pay for new ones, so I would take old fabrics I would find and patch them up. The stitch work isn't the best, but I am getting better at it.
Finally, I tuck in my shirt because of how big it is. I look like a mess, but I think to myself, when have I ever looked good? With that, I put on my only pair of shoes and headed to the kitchen.
Upon entering, I notice how clean everything is and how there are no more dishes in my sink.
"Wow. I thought Aimiah said that she cleaned the dishes, not the entire kitchen."
I murmured to myself kind of impressed. For someone who has been pampered her entire life and insists on being waited on hand and foot, she cleans well.
I decided to make some toast and cut up some apple slices. Once I'm finished eating in silence, I leave, making sure to lock the door behind me.
As I am heading to school, I can see the women back hard at work on building the elites altar. Smiles on every woman's face as they diligently focus on every detail, like little ants scurrying around. The men, however, looked miserable and tired. The bags under their eyes are visible for all the world to see. I try not to focus on it and continue my long walk to school.
Once I finally got there, I noticed the halls were empty.
"Great, I'm late. That's just what I needed today. " I roll my eyes slightly annoyed.
I head to my locker to grab my satchel and check to make sure my phone is still there. Once I see my phone, I check the time and make sure it's secure in my bag. I head to class.
Unfortunately, I missed almost half of the day. I have P.E. Then I go to lunch and after that, I have three more classes.
I go into the girls' bathroom and quickly put on my gym wear. Once I'm fully dressed, I go into the gym.
"Y/l, you're late! I get you aren't the biggest fan of physical activity, but you can at least have some decency and show up to P.E. on time."
My P.E. coach, coach Kane, sighs as she pinches the bridge of her nose.
"Well, since you decided to be late, you get to be paired with Chantel. You're lucky she is the only one without a partner today. "
My eyes widen in shock as the rest of the girls giggle and snicker at my expense. I completely forgot that Chantel is in my P.E. class. Usually, I just avoid her, but it looks like that isn't happening today. I look over to Chantel, who is already glaring daggers at me.
I start to tremble as I make my way toward her. "H-hey Chan-"
"Don't speak to me; don't look at me; don't even breathe in my direction. I was in a good mood before you ruined it. "
Chantel cut me off swiftly to set ground rules. I looked down as I sat down next to her on the gym floor.
"Okay, okay, everyone settle down. Today will be doing partner exercises. The first exercises will be partner pushes and partner pulls. You'll be doing 10 reps for each hand. Once you're done, come see me at my desk so I can give you the rest of the exercises for today. If you finish early, we can play some dodgeball. You all know the drill."
With that, the coach leaves to her desk in the front of the gym to get some work done on her laptop as the class cheers. Everyone begins their workouts with their partner; small talk and giggling can be heard distributed throughout the room.
"Ugh, great. Well, what are you standing around for? Let's do these stupid exercises!"
I flinched at Chantel, yelling at me. With a hitch in my breath, I turn towards her. She stands in her short shorts and DIY cropped gym shirt. Her hand was outstretched towards me, ready to start the exercise.
With a large gulp, I stand up and put my hand against hers only for her to jolt a little bit. If you were to look closely at her face, you could see a tint of pink. She clears her throat.
"Let's just start so you can remove your dirty hands off of me."
With that, we began our exercises. Chantel looked so at peace as we did our reps. I haven't seen her this serene since...It doesn't matter. Either way, when she is at peace, it's hard to deny how beautiful she is. She could have anyone she wanted, and they would be glad to have her if she wasn't constantly rude to everyone.
I guess she noticed me staring, and she was far from happy about it. On the final rep of the first exercise, she pushed me harder than she was supposed to. With that final push, she was able to knock me to the ground.
Chantel smirked as a low laugh erupted from her chest.
"I don't understand."
With those three words, Chantel's smirk slowly went away. Her eyebrows furrowed as she looked at me, confused, trying to understand what I meant by that.
"What?"
"I don't understand why you hate me so much. What happened to us? We were best friends. Was it my rank? Is that why you hate me now? That's why everyone else left."
At this point, I was shaking slightly, trying to hold in my tears. I refused to let her see me cry again.
Chantel looked shocked. She looked around to see if anyone was watching. When it was confirmed that everyone was too busy doing their own thing to notice us, she grabbed me by my shirt and dragged me to the locker rooms. She forces me to sit on the bench and she stares at me for a few seconds.
"Don't act innocent, y/n! I didn't stop being your friend because of your stupid rank! You know what you did to me!"
I was flabbergasted. I don't know what I did. What does she mean by "You know what you did to me"? I didn't do anything other than support and care for her, yet she left me like everyone else.
"What do you mean by that? You're the one who left, not me. I gave you my all, and you left like everyone else the moment my rank was changed. If anyone is acting innocent, it's you!"
Chantel feigns hurt...or is she actually hurt? She answers my question when I notice tears start rolling down her face. She wasn't pretending to be affected. She was actually in pain, but I didn't say anything too rude. Did I?
She starts breathing heavily as the tears continue to gracefully roll down her face. She speaks slowly to me with a quivering lip.
"How. Could. You. I gave you everything. I was willing to give you everything. My mind, my soul, my body. I tried so hard to get your attention, but you were always focused on Aimiah or Diara. Everyone always came before me in your eyes. WHEN IS IT MY TURN TO BE FIRST HUH?! I JUST WANTED YOU TO -"
She stops talking abruptly as the tension suffocates us. Her beautiful body was trembling. Almost as if she was frozen in an eternal winter. Her hands clutched into a tight fist as she quickly wiped away the tears and pushed past me.
I followed her eager to understand what was wrong. Everyone stops what they're doing as she rushes past it all, ignoring the coach's yells in the process. I also ignore the coach and follow Chantel out of the gym and into the hall only to lose her as people begin to exit their classes to go to lunch.
And with that, she's gone.