A/N: So the picture above ⬆️⬆️ will portray a different character in each chapter. The name in bold print below ⬇️⬇️ tells which point of view each chapter will be told under, usually switching back and forth between June McIntyre and Jo Peters.
June:
Our summer lakeside cabin. Flies, heat, dust, and a dock leading to the cool, refreshing heaven of water. Dad could always be found in his collapsible aluminum lawn chair with a fishing pole in one hand and a Budweiser in the other. Mom would be in the kitchen chopping the endless supply of watermelon and making sandwiches while Peter and I would balance our time between splashing around in the cool, shallow water and hanging out at the top of the old oak tree in the makeshift, wooden box that our father had always promised to make into a real tree house. From the top, I could barely make out the vast, luscious fields that surrounded the rural, lakeside town of Fish Creek, Wisconsin.
But those days are over now. All that's left is the faded memories, placed in the back of my mind so that I can recall them from time to time to remember what life was like before the Academy. Before the fires, earthquakes, chemical attacks, wars, disease and the fear that dwelled in the innocent minds of the billions of people who populate the country. Once there was peace, happiness, and hope but now our once beautiful lives are filled with constant terror and helplessness.
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The obnoxious beeping of the morning alarm blared over the loudspeaker, waking me up with a jump. Even though it had almost been two months since I was brought to the academy or the "School for the Ungifted", as was plastered on the sign in the visitors' area where our parents were allowed to visit with us once every other month, I still wasn't quite used to its everyday lifestyle.
"Ungifted" is the word that was stamped across every article of clothing that I owned and tattooed into my left forearm, reminding me every day of my flaws and failures. "Ungifted" is the word that described everyone in this lifeless, overcrowded compound that I now called my home. "Ungifted" is the word that stripped children from their home and ruined families. "Ungifted" is the word that cleansed our country of the many impurities that held our society back from achieving greatness and brought destruction to our world.
I am one of those impurities.
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"Come on, Claire! We slept in today," I shouted sluggishly across the room at my half-asleep roommate as I threw my thin, grey blanket to my feet and climbed out of bed. Her small, wide eyes blinked tiredly at me before closing once again and drifting off once again into the world that I longed to live in. I made my way across our cramped room and shook her shoulders gently, waking her up again.
Our small sleeping quarters were extremely dull. Claire's childish stuffed animals were the only possession that brought any kind of life to the room. The light fixture in the center of the room was broken so that it blinked uncontrollably while turned on and gave me a headache. Luckily, there was a small window in the corner of the room that provided a small sliver of light that was barely enough to suffice. Our cramped bunk beds sat in the other corner of the neatly-kept room.
In the compound, everyone made sure to keep their sleeping quarters clean so that they could pass their weekly room checks. If they failed, they would be given a punishment, usually extra chores.
"We gotta go, Claire," I mumbled as I threw on my dark green t-shirt with the word "Ungifted" plastered across the front in bold white letters that matched everyone else in the compound. I then pulled on my black shorts and followed my twelve-year-old roommate through the corridor of the girls' sleeping quarters and to the breakfast line in the cafeteria.
Since we slept in today, the breakfast line was much longer than usual. Step by step we approached the front of the line, getting closer and closer to satisfaction for my rumbling stomach. My stomach practically shouted from hunger as Claire and I grabbed plastic plates off of the top of their lessening stack.
"No eggs this morning?" I asked as I scooped up a spoonful of green grapes and dropped them onto my plate.
Claire responded with a shrug before grabbing a bottle of orange juice at the end of the line and making her way to our usual table in the opposite corner of the cafeteria.
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"Morning, sleepyhead," Jo, my best friend, ruffled Claire's unkempt, blonde hair as Claire took a seat next to her and I followed close behind.
Sitting across from the two, I mumbled sarcastically, "Good morning to you too," with a deep breath.
"Well aren't you just a big ball of sunshine this morning!" Jo exclaimed mockingly with a wink which caused an explosion of laughter from Claire.
I joked across the table to Claire's wide, toothy grin, "Oh, so you think that's--"
"Attention please!" a rough voice interrupted me from the center of the room, but the chatter of the cafeteria still continued. "ATTENTION!" the voice ordered, louder this time, but a few voices still lingered. "That includes you, Mr. Myors." The burly man that the voice belonged to pointed one of his meaty fingers at Tyler Myors, the biggest douchebag of this century.
Tyler shut up immediately before the man, whom we knew as Sarge, continued. "As you all know, it is visit day. If you do not have your privileges, and therefore cannot participate in this event, make your way to your usual classes after breakfast.
"If you do have these privileges, you may greet your families in the visitors' area. Remember that all of you are still expected to have your chores completed by five o'clock sharp. No exceptions. That is all."
Sarge turned the microphone off with a click and marched through the cafeteria and to his office where all residents were sent when in need of punishment. Punishment was classified into three levels here. The first level consisted on receiving extra chores and getting your privileges taken away; the second, isolation; and the third, well let's just say that you didn't want to have a level three punishment. If your "crime" was classified on the second level, you received both the level one punishments and the level two punishments.
It wasn't often that there was a level three crime. In the three months that I had been enrolled here, I had never seen one, but I had heard stories about a to a girl named Sarah who had mysteriously disappeared after being found guilty of one.
Thankfully, I had only ever received a level one punishment, which I was currently serving. The reasoning behind it wasn't important, but it meant that I had to mop the cafeteria floors along with my other assigned chores every day for the rest of the week. Thankfully, my punishment only lasted two more days.
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"After your fight with Kayla the other day, I'm surprised to see that you aren't sitting in isolation right about now," Jay Irvine whispered from the desk beside me in the gray, expressionless classroom.
Okay so maybe I told off Kayla Flaine publicly in the cafeteria last Friday and that's why I was sitting in class instead of seeing my parents for the first time in three months, but it wasn't like she wasn't asking for it. I must be extremely lucky because anyone else with that kind of offense would have been sent into isolation, but because I'm new, Sarge let me off with a first level punishment.
"Shut up," I snapped back, barely managing to keep the volume of my voice to a minimal level. I glanced around the room to find Ms. Stranton still fixed on her romance novel and the seven other students immersed into their homework.
If anyone would have heard my outburst, I easily would have received a first class punishment. Expressing your emotions, especially when it came to anger, was deemed unacceptable at the Academy. Anger led to conflicts and rebellion which is what caused the outside world to fall into the mass chaos and destruction that it was in.
"This sucks balls," Jay muttered under his breath as we continued scribbling the gibberish known as "Algebra" into the lined paper of our notebook.
"It's so unfair how everyone else gets to see their parents while we have to sit in class." I agreed. After a few moments filled with the scraping of pencils on paper, I continued, "What about you?"
"What about me?" He raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Why are you here? What did you do?"
"Nothing," he muttered blankly, but I could barely make out a faint tinge of sadness in his eyes.
"If you don't want to tell me, it's fine." Obviously something was going on. We were among the only nine students who were forbidden to see their parents today. He had to have done something.
Jay took a deep breath like he was about to speak, but instead redirected his attention to his addition and subtraction.
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A/N: So this is my first chapter that I've ever written on Wattpad! Let me know what you think or if you find any mistakes for me to fix. I would greatly appreciate any votes and comments! I want to hear what you guys think! :)