U.T.O.P.I.A. | BOOK 1 of Death of the Future Series

FOUR

NEO

"You look tense," Olivia said out of the blue.

I looked at her for a second before I shrugged. "I'm fine." After a minute I added, "Thanks for asking."

Olivia hummed but didn't continue the conversation.

It was not like I was expecting her to, either.

My grandparents were shocked, and they definitely had things to say to me, but I didn't want to hear it. Maybe they wanted to tell me how I had hit the jackpot — or how I didn't fit well with her. Whatever it was, it wouldn't be anything good. Gathering my things as fast as I could, I left without turning to look at them. Perhaps one day I would need to go back but for now, the tightness in my chest loosened at having escaped them.

I looked outside of the window, houses passed us by before we got onto the highway. Monotonous, dark, and looking poorly kept with lawns almost non-existent — this was the place I had grown up in. As we left that neighbourhood, the scenery changed into a line of trees planted on each side of the road.

Guess the next stop would be South House.

Olivia came from there. She must be really rich if she lived there. Only four percent of World Population ever lived in South House and Southeast House. I vaguely remembered the map of World Population when I was taught about it at the age of five. How there was a huge mass of land in the middle and it was divided into four different large districts, with the World Government taking a spot on the East of the map and the Failed Zones taking up North of the map.

There were the South, Southeast, West and Northwest areas. As a kid, I had always heard stories about people who lived there. Especially people who lived in South and Southeast areas.

Golden houses and water fountains on their front lawn. It was a magical place, a fairy tale for kids like me.

I touched my necklace which was tucked underneath my shirt. I took it out and traced the ring attached to it. The silver ring glinted when the sunlight caught it and I smiled.

There had been a time where it would have been on my hand. Where the promise between us to stay together forever echoed into the sky and I believed in it. And that reality had been so close to being achieved too — before it was all taken away.

I had been too foolish back then.

"We're here," Olivia said as she got out of the car. I pushed my necklace back under my shirt and looked outside. My eyes widened when I saw a mansion, the symbol J on the big golden gates. The gates parted and a man with a suit came out, holding out two bags.

I bit my inner cheek and wondered if I should go out to help when the man beat me to it, already moving to place the bags into the trunk of the car. Olivia then waved at the man and got into the vehicle. That had been way too quick. For a moment, I almost let myself believe that she wanted to escape her family too.

But just as quickly as that thought occurred, I pushed it away.

"Aren't you going to see your parents?" I asked when she drove away.

"No," she said, her tone stoic. "They're not here at the moment."

"Where are they?"

"Away," she said and it was clear she didn't want to talk anymore, so I kept my mouth shut and looked away from her.

It took us thirty minutes before we reached the borders of Green Days. Ah, here we were. Green Days, a large area with apartment buildings for Matched pairs to live in. It was to help Matched pairs start their lives together before the couple got sorted into different districts, different social circles than the ones they had grown up in.

Would Olivia and I end up in the South House together or maybe in a completely different circle? Would she end up in the West House with me?

I frowned, deciding to stop that line of thought there.

There was a big green neon sign greeting us with people smiling on it but it didn't look as friendly as they wanted it to look. The security guards at the front handed Olivia the keys to our apartment and told us to head to Block Z.

My breath hitched when we finally entered Block Z where our apartment building was.

"No way," I breathed out in awe. "It's a fucking penthouse."

"It'll do," Olivia said as she drove the car to the entrance of the building, a chauffeur already waiting for us. I looked at her before I looked back at the man in a red suit. I got out, my mind blank as I gazed at the apartment building. "Come on."

"Our stuff?" I asked as the man got into the car and drove away.

"They'll bring it up," Olivia said with ease, no signs of shock on her face. I envied her for being so used to this and followed her inside the building. It was surreal that this place was going to be my new home. That kind of luxury was unheard of in my life.

The entire apartment was painted in off white but with gold trimmings everywhere I could see. It didn't scream anything remotely of things I had witnessed in West House. Were the people residing here as sophisticated as Olivia or as lost as me?

We walked to the elevator and got inside once the doors slid open. The entire building was quiet, not one sound could be heard. It sent shivers down my spine at how isolated it made me feel.

Not to mention, when I glanced around, I met my reflection, clear from the metal walls. It looked like it had been polished often, leaving it to look like a mirror. I stopped myself from touching it, knowing that if I did, I would leave fingerprints on it.

A childlike glee wormed into my chest at that thought.

I sighed, glancing around the four corners of the room, noticing golden trimmings at the sides of the glassy walls, on them were pretty intricate designs. Squinting my eyes at them, I wondered what the designs meant or what they looked like but they were too far up for me to get a proper view.

Even the elevator music was a piano piece accompanied by violins; emphasising just how out of depth I was.

I felt out of place.

Olivia seemed relaxed, her back against the elevator, hands crossed and eyes closed. She was in her element, even I could see that.

The door slid open with a ding and I was greeted with red-velveted floor and different door designs along the hallway. I walked out with Olivia next to me as we headed to the fifth door from the elevator on our right.

It had our names on it, Olivia & Neo. I touched the gold-indented plate, coldness seeped into my fingertips. Olivia pushed the keys into the slot and the door opened with a green blink.