Another Reality

The Results

~

The next couple of weeks after the survey seemed to come and go faster than Alina found comfortable. However, for the rest of the school that were head over heels about the survey, time to them ticked by far too slow. They wanted to know the outcomes of the survey, impatience for the results that would pick the lucky student.

Alina wasn't sharing in any of their feelings, dreading the day the results would be announced. She kept to herself and only stuck close to Rebel, who also shared her opinions in the same way. They both wanted the surveys to be done and over with, forgotten in a pit of burning fire.

Over the weeks leading up to the results, Alina kept busy with her school work. It proved a good distraction from everything that was happening around her. Mr. Walker, now aware of Alina's struggle with chemistry, had started tutoring her privately after school. Alina wasn't too keen on the idea at first, but a few days in, she saw how her grade started improving. Quizzes and test were becoming less stressful for her to handle and her homework became easier to understand.

Lost in school work and tutoring, the morning of the survey came up almost unexpectedly. She was pulling out her books for chemistry when Rebel approached her, soft brown eyes wide.

"What happened to you?" Alina asked when she saw her. "Get a boyfriend finally?"

"We got picked!" Rebel said, ignoring the teasing comment.

"For what?" Alina asked.

"The survey! Our school has the student that'll be picked for Blue Health's research." Rebel exclaimed.

Alina shut her locker and leaned back on it, closing her eyes. "Of course..." she muttered quietly remembering the survey she had nearly forgotten about.

"Did you forget the results would come out today? Again!" Rebel laughed, shaking her head.

"I've been really busy. School and tutoring don't give you much room to think about anything else." Alina responded, looking down at her chemistry book.

"The whole school's been on fire over it the last few days. Didn't you hear all the talk from the students?" Rebel grabbed the book out of her hands, opening it to a random page.

"I've been busy! Besides, why would I want to even think about the results? You know what I think about this whole thing." Alina started down the hall with Rebel following.

"You and me both, love," Rebel handed the book back, uninterested. "The only good thing that comes from this is we get to skip all our classes after lunch."

"I'm so excited. Not really."

"We could just walked out of school instead of going to hear the results." Rebel said.

"I wish," Alina replied.

"I'm sure it won't be too bad. Maybe not for us, but for the kid that gets chosen, I'm already praying."

"I've been praying far before this even started." Alina muttered.

The two girls turned into the cafeteria to get something to eat before the day began. Alina hoped it wouldn't be too bad. All she needed to do was get through the day in one piece. After today, she could forget that this ever happened and carry on with her life.

*

The end of lunch came sooner than expected. Alina and Rebel didn't want to leave the cafeteria when the bell rang, not wanting to face the results. However, they found themselves walking down the hallway to their first period class to meet up for the assembly.

Mr. Walker greeted them at the door. "Fancy seeing you two again. Didn't I already have you this morning?"

"Things are about to get trippy," Alina said heavily.