my beta boy | ✎

R16

Sometimes I look in the crowd of passersby and I think I see myself in them. The shade of yellow in their hair or the slope of their nose. I wonder if someone I've seen on the streets has contributed some of my genetic material, if they exist in some small part of me. - Sistine

The repurposed wooden walls of what looked like a cross between a warehouse and a dormitory stretched seemingly for miles. It housed exactly a hundred girls around the ages of sixteen to twenty, all undergoing the same strenuous training as performers for the Names, or as they are known to the working classes, the Snobs.

The favor is returned by the upper classes, who refer to those providing labor and entertainment as Cogs because without them, the Names would be unable to focus on making Society meaningful as Inventors and Leaders, or Artists and Writers.

The performing academy was situated strategically by the construction academy which housed a platoon of construction workers. Having the girls in close proximity kept the boys in check. They had no reason to stray, with such beguiling treats just out of reach.

The girls were no different, often traipsing across the suspension bridge that connected the industrial area to the mainland, trying to catch the eye of B6, the mean-looking captain who kept his boys in check with strict militant regimes. It kept the boys ripped and lean, which only invited the girls' wandering eyes.

Being trained to play a certain role since birth meant that many were professionals from a young age. B6 made captain when he was fourteen, which is slightly younger than the median age for captaincy of a construction platoon. He also had a way with girls, despite his short stature and thick jaw, there was something charming about the way he handled his team, which consisted of boys who ranged from sixteen to twenty.

R16 looked out the window positioned just above her top bunk bed and watched as the boys marched out of their academy and started their daily warm up run. B6 was easy enough to pick out, since he was much stouter than the rest. He also wore a dark vest as opposed to a light grey one that everyone else wore. His team has been working on the suspension bridge for the installation of a new radio tower.

"Sistine," R18 called from the opposite bunk in a sarcastic voice, she added, "He's so fine isn't he?"

"Who do you mean, Aem?"

The dark-haired girl gave R16 a sly smile before vaulting off her bed and sticking the landing on the soft mat that covered the entire floor.

"You know what I mean," She rolled her slightly slanted eyes at R16 in an amused manner before stretching up and executing slow cartwheels out of the room. They were always training, from the moment they woke, till the moment they struck the light-switch for bedtime with an excellently executed arabesque. It came naturally to them, but when they are out on the streets, they know to stop training.

R16 gave the window another glance, her eyes gravitating towards B6's second-in-command. He was younger, taller, leaner with a friendly and open face. The girl gave a huff and launched herself off her bunk bed, catching the rings that had been installed on the ceiling, and lowered gracefully to the ground. She didn't like the look of him because she didn't trust pretty things.

"Girls, girls! Kindly be ready in five. We'll be taking the suspension, so no dawdling, especially when crossing the bridge. I don't want to see any of you making eyes!" There was a chorus of giggles, but R18 gave a snort and shook her head slightly.

"Only airheaded bimbos think boys are everything," she mumbled under a smirk, directed at R16 who cracked a smile at her. R18 had a wicked sense of humor, which was what made R16 worship the very ground she walked on. If she said boys were dumb, boys were dumb. The girl was a year younger than R16, but she was filled with all sorts of ideas that R16 found absolutely fascinating, even if she didn't always see things R18's way.