Chapter 3 #3
We settle down in our space as the night falls. The way the stars shine through the windows has a sort of nostalgic feel to it, like although we are being watched by The Commons, the stars are watching out for us.
I can’t go to sleep like everyone else. My mind is plagued with the fact that it will be virtually impossible to search for Levon due to The Commons’ stringent rules.
I will have no private time to do any research.
Since this is the only night we are allowed to stay up past the usual bedtime, I take full advantage of it to memorize the rules and try to make a plan to find my sister.
The clock strikes midnight and I lie on my bed, wide awake, with The Commons manual rule book. I memorize the rules and highlight the punishments, writing out how I plan to incorporate this new information.
My pen drops from my tired hands, and my face falls on my pillow as my mouth opens in a yawn. A part of me is terrified of the dark dome, but I am more terrified of not finding my sister.
Surrounded by girls sleeping, I make my way into my private drawer for one last thing.
I open my bag to find a picture of my beautiful fair-skinned sister with long curly hair.
I wonder how she felt coming here and having to memorize seventy-four rules.
I wonder if she watched the stars like I did. I wonder if she was thinking of me.
Tear drops fall from my eyes. I remember the last day she left.
September 17th, 2124. Today, my nightmares become a reality.
Hidden under my ocean blue blanket, I pull the covers higher to drown the sound of the blazing breeze sweeping across the Atlantic to my home, where snow and ice collide.
It is not enough to escape the constant crackling of the ice crystals on my windows, but the moonlight mysteries mellow my heart in sweet silence and I sink into the depths of my silken mattress.
Suddenly, the freezing floor beneath me begins to scream, and the ice crystals that surround me begin to break louder and louder and louder until my ears are drowning in the roar of a stormy call—wake up!
Who else could shamelessly drag me from such dreamy delusion at two a.m. but Levon? My own mind begins to side with her aggressive proposition to propel me into a chilly reality. Buzz… Buzz… The sound of my alarm jars my body.
Levon is pounding on my bed, ripping the covers of comfort away from my skin, causing my toes to curl.
My eyes open, fluttering in semi-consciousness.
I sit up and stare at a blurry creature with green eyes, a light bronze face, and golden wavy things on her head.
She calls herself my older sister. Levon.
She shakes the bed like a trampoline, and I am the target of her jumping. My eyes blink, narrowing themselves into focus like a camera lens, and then they open completely. I am wide awake, and everything is in focus. I look at my sister.
Today is the day she leaves for The Commons.
“Oh my gosh, you’re leaving in thirty minutes! That’s not enough time to say goodbye to you,” I exclaim, pounding on the snooze bar.
“Maybe if you would listen to your alarm,” she teases, pulling the covers completely off me and sitting on my feet.
“Ouch! You promised to wake me up!” I whine. “I was gonna help you get ready.” I sit up and pull my feet away from her, hitting her with my pillow, giggling.
“Mmm… you were gonna help, huh?” She smiles, throwing the pillow back in my face.
I catch it, clutching it to my chest. I am still in denial that she is leaving. Maybe that’s why I didn’t wake up in time.
“I told you, Shantavia, I don’t need your help. I simply want to say goodbye, and you basically cooked me dinner all month as my farewell present. That’s more than enough.”
“Levon, you made me cook you dinner.” I draw closer to her, my gaze fixed on her face, trying to read her soul, as always. Something doesn’t seem right. “Mom and Dad are coming, right?”
“Only because The Commons requires them to, or you know they would have opted out, as usual, but they can’t go past check-in. They should be back by six this evening, so you won’t have to spend the night alone.” Levon wrinkles her forehead, turning her face away from me.
“Remind me again why you are traveling all the way to that god-forsaken island to go to a school with endless rules, that’s gonna brainwash you into becoming society’s robot?”
She turns back to me, eyeing me with a subtle smile. “Because when I become society’s robot, they think they control you, but really, you control them. How else am I going to be the first female president of our common world?”
“You’re Levon, you can do anything!”
“That’s not how our world works, Shantavia. The connections and political programs they have in The Commons are the best on the entire planet, you know that,” she says as she clenches her jaw.
“I know, but you can get that from somewhere else—”
“I can’t. I’m so lucky to have even been accepted. You know I can’t afford to miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. How else am I going to be able to help people who aren’t as fortunate as us?”
“People like your birth dad?”
“Exactly.”
“If he were here, he would be so proud of you.”
“I know. But he’s gone. Such is life! He did everything to give me the best until his very last breath.” Her eyebrows lower, knitting into a frown. “And if Dad hadn’t found me in that special shelter in Iceland when I was seven, I don’t know what would have become of me and...”
“We would have never met…” My voice breaks.
She stares at the wall behind me, like she’s wandering off into gloomy thoughts. My hands instinctively reach to comfort her, but she snaps out of it.
“Exactly. I would have no clue that I have a very emotional little sister who sucks at goodbyes.”
A slight smile escapes me, causing her to smile back, but her smile fades.
“I would have never had the chance of a life like this. I wouldn’t have interned for the governor’s office or had the knowledge to even apply to such a prestigious school.
You see why I can’t let this chance go to waste, can’t you?
I have to use it. I’ve worked too hard for this.
” Her hands shiver and she tightens her fists to control her passion.
“Yeah, I know.” I sigh. “I only wish it could be in a different way…”
“There is no different way.” Her eyes find mine. “This is the best, Shantavia.”
I tilt my head down and nod. “And you’re sure I can’t come?”
“Only parents and students are allowed on the island of Commonda. Cameras are everywhere. If I break a rule on the first day, I could face the dark dome.”
“The dark dome? What the heck is that?” My muscles tighten as I hold my breath.
“Nothing.” She flips her wrist like she’s flicking a mosquito away. “A rumor, that’s all.”
“That sounds scary. How is this school’s existence even legal?
I bet you, if The Commons was not more powerful than the government, they would have been out of business before they even started.
There’s a reason normal kids don’t go there!
” My skin tingles and my stomach flutters, afraid of the sound of my own words.
“Mmm… maybe you should think about becoming a lawyer. That was like an entire monologue, girl! You have good oratory skills, I’ll give you that.” She raises her eyebrows with an uneven smile.
“Levon, stop teasing, I’m serious!”
“You stop! I still have twenty minutes, so come on, let me brush that crazy hair of yours.”
I jump out of my bed and pounce on my chair in front of my golden dresser. Staring past the decorative white light at myself in the mirror, I do not see me. I see my sister, but my heart can’t stop racing.
Who is going to take care of me like she does?
Who is going to ask me how my day was after school?
Who is going to listen to me ramble on about new books that I read?
Who is going to hug me after a hard test?
Tears cloud the corners of my eyes, so I turn my face away from the mirror to avoid Levon seeing me.
Levon is not one to entertain tears. Moreover, I know deep down, she fears The Commons, or she would not constantly remind me of their rules. I know my sister—Levon does not like conforming to systems.
She sprays some argan oil and brushes my hair. I relax my shoulders and enjoy her gentle touch one last time, knowing that I will not see her for the next four years—this is the worst rule of all.
“I guess…” My voice fades.
“Don’t miss me. Okay!” she commands.
“Okay, whatever you say.” I hold my tears back, rolling my tongue to distract myself from crying, but a tear falls down my cheek. I wipe it with my shoulder.
“You’re gonna be fine. Pretend like Mom’s apathetic attitude is non-existent, and that Dad is not always away. Make new friends, okay?”
“Okay.”
We stare into the depths of each other’s reflection.
My stomach burns and bubbles, but I stay silent.
After a full minute, I break the spell. “I know you have your reasons, but I’m worried, that’s all.
Because… because I love you so much and I’m going to miss you!
I can’t… I can’t help it! Everything I am is because of you and all you’ve taught me. ”
“Your hair is not hideous anymore. That’s the only love you’re getting from me.” Levon drops the brush and walks toward the door.
I stand up to follow her and notice her cheeks are red. I gulp in shock that she is expressing emotion. “Will you at least make me a promise?”
She halts mid-step. “What promise?”
“Promise to call me once every week?” I lean forward, fidgeting with my fingers.
“I can only do it once every month. That is the rule in The Comm—” Her voice breaks.
“It’s okay. When you become the leader of our planet, it will all be worth it. For me, anyway, because maybe you won’t have time to destroy my sleeping patterns.”
Levon chuckles, sniffling. Tears swell in her eyes.
I stare at her, like one does a hero. I run to her, and she hugs me tightly, like one does a child.