Emaria

chapter five.

Wc: 2673

A week later, our plan was ready to be put in motion, eager to find answers no matter who or what we had to tear through. I paced around my living room. Ma, Dad, and Grandma had gone to God knows where, and I was left alone in the shack. This was good, I couldn't tell them what was going to happen. The only thing is, I was a complete nervous wreck. Who did I think I was trying to sneak into the Dean's office? I had a small backpack stuffed with my panda, a water bottle, and a flashlight in the side pocket along with a pocketknife. I wore simple t-shirt and jean shorts accompanied by a pair of long white socks and brown converse (they were made brown, it's not dirt, trust). My Grandma had done my hair a few nights before, so my hair was in shoulder length bohemian locs, half up, half down.

There was a long moment where I just stood and stared at nothing in particular. I thought about the number of situations where this could go wrong, and it scared the living bejesus out of me. I lack a lot of strengths other than speed and maybe rationality, but being easily startled or rattled is at the tip top of the weakness chart. So far up there, that it's a strength at this point.

It took ten more long minutes before I found the strength to even step out of my house. As usual, the streets were illuminated by nothing but streetlights. That was something Jordan, Madison and I had thought about while making our plan, the streetlights near the school. But Jordan had reassured us that the only way to get up to the roof entrance was to climb up the back of the school, which was where no houses were, meaning no streetlamps.

I wave to any neighbors I see as I sprint by, not wanting to waste any more time than I already had and trying to shake the nerves out by pumping myself full of adrenaline. Madison said that would meet up at her house since it is the closest to the back of the school and go from there. I only knew where it was because the first night we started working on our plan, we met at her house. Judging by the amount of people that were outside, which was about none, it might've been around nine o'clock at 'night' and everyone was hurrying inside because curfew was at ten. The Emarian guards, the same ones that patrol the school, stroll around at night with M4 Carbines on their backs making sure everyone is in their house and killing anyone failing to comply. No one really knows why they do this, probably just another way to control us.

I slowed to a jog once I hit five doors down from Madison's house. The lights in each house were off and the whole street was void of people. It was nearing ten o'clock and we had to get to the school before we were caught. I come up to a small brown house, cardboard and plastic bags boarding the windows. It leaned to the left slightly and its roof had blankets that more than likely covered holes that made their way through it. Two girls sit on the front lawn.

"Fucking finally. I almost left your ass." Madison said getting to her feet and dusting off her skinny jeans. She didn't have a backpack at all, but I could see the outline of a pocketknife in her back pocket. She had her dark hair pulled back into a tight ponytail and a plain black t-shirt on. Jordan remained quiet, and as usual; her hair was up in a ponytail. And although it was a pretty warm evening, she almost blended into the night with her black sweatpants and dark gray sweatshirt.

"That's my bad. I was contemplating life and different ways we were going to die doing this." I said at last.

"Mood."

"Couldn't that have waited until later?" Madison asked, stepping into the street.

"Not if we were dead." I muttered, handing her my flashlight knowing she was bound to take the lead. And just like that, the plan is in motion. Madison sprinted, ushering us across the street and behind the houses on the other side. We entered the dark woods that would lead us right behind the school, only lit by the small flashlight provided. I stopped for just a second, trying to ignore the feeling of eyes in the back of my head and instead I followed closely behind Madison and Jordan, and we tried our best not to tumble over sticks, stumps, and broken tree branches that littered the area.