Between the Lines

Twenty-five - Calvin

Lower-class isn’t as big and fancy as Upper-class, but it’s still very big. It’s definitely not the place where a man hunt would be easy, especially if you’re looking for a man who told you very little about where he lived or even went to school because he didn’t like talking about it. To be fair, when you’re in two different classes, it makes sense that you don’t really talk about where you live or anything because it’s not like you can (legally) visit each other. This won’t be easy. I mean, I could tell you a million things I’ve learnt about Oliver from the countless hours we’ve spent together, but I wouldn’t be able to tell you where he lived. At the very least, I think I can recall him mentioning where he goes to school, but I wouldn’t be able to remember it unless I see it or hear about it somewhere.

I keep walking. The layout of Lower-class is very different to Upper-class. Upper-class has a large stretch of barren fields right after the walls which then eventually meets suburbia. Whereas, in Lower-class, as soon as you step through the gate, you immediately find yourself in suburbia. There’s no acreage, but it’s so much more welcoming.

Okay, I need a plan. I’ll only stay here for two days, to avoid getting caught, but still be able to say I tried and hopefully make myself feel better in some way. By staying two days, I’ll need to stay here overnight which means I’ll need to find somewhere to sleep. I’ll also need to find somewhere to get food and hopefully somewhere where I can clean up, but that’s not overly necessary, public restrooms are a thing. I have a lot of scouting to do, so I pick up the pace. I need to move away from the suburbs and find the shops, hotels and restaurants so I can, for once, plan ahead instead of throwing myself in the deep end like I’ve done so many times already.

I walk until I meet a main road. I have no idea where I am or where anything I might need is. If I was in Upper-class right now, I’d need to go straight ahead in order to find the things I need, but I’m not in Upper-class. I can either go right, or left. I quickly look out to the left and it looks like denser suburbia, which is not what I want. I look right and decide it doesn’t look much different, but, there’s a promising feeling about it, so I go right.

Sooner or later, the buildings seem to mould into larger, taller buildings and I come across an area which appears to be the centre of the zone. Several shops and food joints line a thin street that ends at a large train station. Small groups of pedestrians make their way from shop to shop or walk rather aimlessly around the district.

I walk down the thin street briefly taking note of the restaurants and convenience stores situated along it. Eventually, the town centre fades into low-grade offices and small businesses. I walk further along the streets until I stumble across a small run-down motel. I can’t imagine room prices would be high in a place like this so I test my luck and push through the doors of the reception.

A grumpy-looking lady stares me down as soon as I enter. I look around for some information on the cost of the rooms, hoping to avoid having to ask the lady who’s so persistently staring at me. My eyes find a poster on the desk showing the costs per night for different rooms. Jesus Christ, these are some expensive rooms. I’m pretty sure I look dumb as I stand there just staring at the paper with my jaw dropped, but I have no idea how this place is still in business with such high prices for such low quality.

The lady clears her throat, “What?”

“What?” I ask confusedly and she narrows her eyes at me, “Oh right, I’m sorry, the rooms just seem a little expensive… for what I have… but that’s fine.” I drone on trying to not sound like a judgemental prick.

“What right do you think you have telling me how to run my business, huh?”

“Sorry-”

“And don’t think I’ll give you any sort of discount, especially not after you come in here and insult my life’s work. Shouldn’t you be at school anyway kid? What business you got trying to get a cheap room? Maybe if you just go back to school, they can teach you some manners.”