Hum/111 Week 3 Assignment

Decisions
“You can do it...you can do it,” I command myself in the full length mirror hanging from the wall.
Today is perhaps one of the most important days of my life. It is the day I take my placement exam that determines which major you will be put into at the higher learning institution. Shakily I finish getting dressed for the day, I am adorned in a pair of navy pants and a grey button up with the number 84 on the cuff. Each year the society gives a number to every child born. I was the 84th child of the year so that is the number I was assigned, many of my other classmates have number ranging from 20 to over 200. I slip out of my room and jog to the end of my hall barely catching the last lift to the 97th floor where the test is administered. Not everyone gets invited to secondary school, for 75% of the world primary is the end, they didn’t pass, and would be taught trade jobs with little opportunity for advancement. Due to this pressure of the test looms over me and the memory of leaving my mother and family take over my mind almost daily.
I slip into the cool seat of table 84, the same number I was assigned on the first day of secondary, the
table's sleek metallic finish reflects my gaunt face and auburn hair. Close to one hundred tables exactly identical to mine surround me, each with a glowing number like mine in the corner. Within minutes an automated proctor has given us our smart tablets and simply says “begin.”. As I answer each question I feel time stand still, but my heart continues to beat faster.
The test is over. I can’t believe this beast that has been looming over me for years is gone, and I will know my fate by 18:00. WIth my stomach is too unstable to eat, I take the lift down the seven floors to my room, and raise my cuff with the 84 to the sensor. Immediately I climb into my unmade bed and drift to sleep. As I doze my dreams are filled with art, design, worlds of creativity and beautiful poems. It is not the first time I have dreamed had dreams like this..
A loud message alert wakes me quite abruptly, and I swivel to see the small monitor near my bedside.
“This must be a mistake!” I almost yell.
The notification tells me that I have been convicted of cheating and must report the commissioner immediately. I can’t breathe, my world is spinning and I grasp the bed frame for support. Cheating is not taken lightly at secondary school, one conviction and you will be expelled, with little chances of a desirable job or life. Breathless I walk down the hall missing the lift I take the stairs instead. Although it is ten stories up I take each one slowly with so many thoughts running through my head. How could this happen to me? I have given up everything for this chance! Who did this? I am upset and enraged, with each step I take a breath and I am calm by the time I reach the door.
A sleek room opens up in front me with a reception area in the middle. I stutter as I say; “Lily F-foster to see the commissioner…” a long pause follows and the secretary looks up from her tablet.
“You can go right in,” she says with a slight smirk as she points to the tall steel door. the door slides open automatically revealing an olive green walled office with the commissioner directly in front of me.
“Thank you for coming Miss Foster. I assume you know why I called you in?” He started
“I think th-”
“Please sit down.” he interjected. He pulled out a pile of smart pads and placed them thoughtfully on the desk. “We have evidence that you tampered with the smart pad on your placement exam,” He trailed off. “You know what this means.”
“Someone must have set me up! I would never do something like this” I gasp for breath holding back tears, “I have given up everything to be here!” He has my file on the desk now. Leafing through the yellowed pages of information. Files are one of the only things that haven’t been transfered to smart pads, they say it keeps them safer, no one can hack a paper.
“You grew up here in chicago?” he asks, second checking the information on file.
“We lived in the saq on the southside”
“I see, well we can’t send you home then.” The saq was attacked just weeks after I left, my family didn’t make it out before it went up in flames.
“I’ll do anything to prove that I’m innocent! Please…” I can’t believe I’m crying. Dammit I told myself I wouldn’t cry in front of the commissioner.
“Since you are so sure you can prove your innocence I will give you until tomorrow at 18:00 hours.” He spoke with eyes focused on the desk, “If you don’t succeed you be immediately be sent off to start factory work.”
As the night continues on i feel a strange sensation rising in my chest. It is a mix of pressure and relief, normally one would cancel the other out, but this time it is different. I pull out my tablet and look through the hundreds of photos that I have managed to accumulate throughout my life. Photos of mother,grandmother, and sister float past, along with some sketches I drew in secret, and some of my favorite books I have photographed. Hours pass, with the thousands of pictures, and I fall into a deep heavy sleep without a single dream.

The morning lulls me out of my slumber, and lost in thought I stare out the small single pane window above my bed. Maybe I can fix this, but maybe I don’t want to. In the sea of madness that is my life my only escape is this window. Through it I can see a glimpse of the world I no longer know. Each fall I watch the leaves float down, each winter I watch them become covered in snow. The whole cycle in fascinating,and always ends with new life in the spring. Unfurling my legs from the cozy position I leave my solemn cove and venture out into the bright communal hallway.
“How can I fix this?” I mutter to myself, “I have to fix this.”
“Hey!” a familiar voice shouts from down the hall.
“Will?” I ask.
WIll runs up behind me, “I want to help!” he is wearing a smile along with his grey and navy uniform.
“I need all I can get” I manage to chuckle.
Will has been a distant friend for years, neither of us had much reason to stay close nor drift apart, our friendship was in limbo and this was his way to break out. Will begins to tell me that he suspects angelique,my former best friend, is behind this. Could this really be? We were very close in primary school, always top two in our class. As I began to improve more rapidly her distance grew stronger, we have barely talked in years. I Invite will into my personal retreat. He carefully steps around my piles of books and clothes to sit in my desk chair. A few moments pass in silence before Will speaks. “Where should we look first?” he urges.
I pick at my fingernails hands shaking, palms pooled with sweat. Then suddenly a devious idea creeps into my head. “Lets check her room.”
“Break in?” he says with eyebrows in his hair line, “I’m down.”
Light on our feet we make our way down two floors to angelique's room, and by a stroke of luck the laundress is coming out and Will shoves his foot in the door at the last second. The room is identical but reversed. “I’ll take the left half, you take right” I whisper to Will. My eyes dart first to the cabinet by the door the first drawer is mostly school supplies, and the second a mix of shirts and socks. I don't quite know what I’m looking for as I move onto the desk. I look over to will, methodically he picks up one objects and replaces it not leaving a trace behind. We have been in here almost too long, she could come in any minute, then I notice something off about a desk drawer I know all too well. Could it really be a false bottom? I pick at the corner with my fingertip and lift up a small piece of cardboard. Not much is underneath at first glance, I place my hand in the drawer and feel something soft and leathery. A note book, quite possibly a journal.
I am overcome with joy, if this cannot prove my innocence at least it will give me something on angelique. The journal is filled with months of entries each one outlining her day, and her feelings. A loud crash in the next room quickly brings me back to my senses.
“We need to get out of here!” I announce in hushed tones, “I think I’ve got something good.”
We traverse the skyscraper that is our school, to the library . Unlike the cold hard interior of the rest of school the library is cozy, and reminds me of home. We find a corner in the back to unwrap our treasure.
“Lily!” Will squeaks and points to the right side column, “this is from last week,”.
“We must be close.”I say flipping the pages, then I see the three most recent entries. Angelique writes her plan to take me down, because i am the only one in her way on the path to the next overseer. The current Overseers term will be finished by the time we finish classes at the Higher learning institution. Officials announced last year that the next candidate would be picked from this class.
“She really is afraid of losing to you…” Will is more taken aback than I would have expected.
“I’ve known her for years, she will stop at nothing to get what she wants.
On the very next page Angelique wrote in perfectly slanting handwriting, her plan to get me kicked out from beginning to end.
The day is quickly dwindling away, and with only three hours left we make our way to dinner.
I take my pre portioned meal and make way to one of the large tables spanning the Mess. So many thoughts travel through my head, but one continues to pop up. Do I even want to be overseer? I had never asked myself this in the past year, it was always just expected that Angelique or I would inevitably receive the title. My wants and dreams were never taken into the mix this whole time. I am just a walking statistic, one of a small group that could possibly fit the role. With this sour taste in my mouth I finish my tray and make my way to the commissioner. I must go alone. One hand clutched on the diary another on the wall I ride the lift to his office. Beep, Beep, Beep, the elevator alerts me of each passing floor.
Ding.
The disconcerting smirk is still plastered on his face when I walk in. He is ready to throw me out, I am sure of it. I timidly sit down on the squeaky office chair and slide the journal across his desk. “This is all you need to see.” I return the same smirk he presents to me.
The Commissioner reads for a few minutes, then looks up: “I see.”
“I think this is the wrong place for me ,” I proclaim abruptly.
“Take a look at these,” he says handing me a packet. It must be my test summary.
“We always knew that you could be the best, but your heart has always been somewhere else.”
“In the past few days I have started to realize my true passion.” I get up out of my seat and walk to the door, “I have to follow that passion, not the future this school has laid out for me.” passing Angelique in the entry we we make eye contact. She looks at me stone cold, but doesn’t say a word.
“Bye” the single word hangs in the air for a moment. I press for the lift and ride it down to the ground floor. The doors open before me to the quiet lobby. Confidently I walk out into the fresh air, for the first time in months, and begin my new life.