Among Us

Chapter 2

Word spread fast around my neighborhood. The people next door began staring at me with either regretful smiles or jealous frowns. When a day ago I was ignored, now I was praised.

And hated.

It was no surprise to me, honestly. Hate is human nature. They know that I have somehow acquired  a ticket out of here. I will no longer live by the strict rules the government places every now and then. I will no longer wake up in the middle of the night because someone was just run over. I will no longer deal with the fact that this meal might be my last. But they will. They will deal with it every day, and know that somehow, their next-door neighbor managed to avoid these things. 

And how?

Yes, How?

That question still lingered in the lack of my mind. I wasn't rich. I usually spent my days without eating. I wasn't charming or had good connections. I was an introvert. I had literally no friends. We weren't allowed to keep dogs or any other pet in the apartment.

I wasn't pretty. As I paced my apartment, I would catch glances of myself in the mirror. I was 5'4. Average height. I had brown eyes, outlined with black and amber streaks. My only distinguishing feature was my bright blonde hair, which I usually wore in a ponytail. 

I shrugged and continued pacing, thinking.

 I did pretty bad in school. It wasn't because I was dumb. I had an extremely high IQ. It was the fact that the school system was flawed. My grandmother laughed when I first complained to her about it. 

"Of course, dear." She said with a smile. "It isn't your fault. Just know that. Don't be brainwashed into working at a factory like a machine. Think outside the box."

I stopped pacing. Of course. They had asked for my grades, sure. But they had also made me take an IQ test. 

I grinned at the realization. This wasn't a lottery. It hadn't been chance. I had earned my spot among those 2,000 people. Somehow, I was special. I was above everyone else. I was so special, so unique, that I could leave this godforsaken earth and start a new life on a new planet.

I said nothing that night during dinner. There was one more day left until I left for the training facility. I could barely eat anything. My grandmother didn't seem to notice. She was playing bingo online. 

I went to bed, but didn't sleep.

How could I? I was about to freaking become an astronaut.

I would, for the first time in my life, be free.