Elude

Lies and Insignificance

When I wake up I realize just how insignificant my life has been. I've never cared too much about school. I've always just goofed around with Ty, Domino, and Bridget.

But chances are I might never talk to them again. My breakfast comes down, but I don't want to eat it. Instead I wonder if my real hair has been somehow maintained or if it's just a tangled mess. How tall am I?

Is Luna even my sister? We were best friends up until high school. Or at least in the fake part of our life we were. Is Nox even my real name?

Most people would just not think about that if they were in my situation. I'm me, and the thoughts won't vanish from my mind.

I lie in bed for a few minutes, and I only get up because I'm hungry. My tablet buzzes and I realize that I left it at the foot of my bed.

I crawl over to it and find a text from Matthew. "Call me," it says. I tap the call button and the video chat connects.

"Don't eat the food," he says, looking like he just rolled out of bed. Meanwhile I look fine due to the dumb illusion... "It's drugged. Everyone's is except for mine. But they check once you leave your room. So you have to find a way to get rid of it." I hear a knock from his side.

A look of fear comes into his eyes. "I have to go!" he whispers. "I'm deleting this from the history. Just go about your day as normal." The chat ends and I find myself worried for Matthew.

Ugh. I almost forgot. I have to go to some sort of formal dinner tonight hosted by Matthew. It's for everyone in their last year of school before college starts. There's a knock on my door and I yawn softly.

"Nox?" Ty shouts. "Are you in there?" I freeze. I don't want to answer it, but he'll want to know where I was at the dinner. I'll tell him that I was feeling sick so I went to the medical clinic. Yeah, that's what I'll do.

The knocking stops and I hear him walk away. I take my tablet and whisper, "Who is Matthew Emerson?" It plays a prerecorded message.

"Matthew Emerson is the president of the Dome. He's responsible for the success and health--" I don't even listen to the rest. Why? It's most likely not true.

There's another knock on my door and I hear it slide open. My eyes widen. Is it a guard that Ty sent because he thought something was wrong?

No, Ty wouldn't do that. Matthew steps into my room and the door slides shut.

"How did you get in here?" I ask.

"I'm Matthew Emerson, I can go wherever I want," he says. When I raise my eyebrows he just shoots me a look. "Why did you search my name?" he asks.

"I don't know," I say. "I'm also not going to ask why you know that."

"I get notified if there are unusual searches," he says. "I came down here because Jace wants to see you."

"Jace?" I echo. "Is that--"

He nods. "When he heard I had a new officer-in-training, of course he wanted to see. Because he's Jace and he's intent on controlling every aspect of my life. And he can hear this conversation."

I'm not sure if I should be excited or scared. After all, I'm about to meet the person responsible for the Dome. A person who's willing to do that just to punish one person. Anyway I follow Matthew up to his office.

A guy is waiting impatiently. "You'd think he'd be a little less arrogant," he says viciously. "But no!" He looks at me. "Hi, I'm Jace and I'm in charge of you from this moment until you become a full officer."

"Way to introduce yourself," Matthew says. "You're calling me arrogant. And no, he's not in charge of you. He's just going to stalk you for the next few weeks and hover over you while you train. You get used to it.

Jace just smirks and I can tell that as soon as I'm gone, he's going to punish Matthew for saying that. "Well," Jace says. "I think that you should leave now."

I slowly back up, and turn and get in the elevator. But I don't press any buttons. Instead I wait.

"Down," Jace snarls. I hear the sound of someone dropping to their knees. Then a whip cracks and I hear a scream. I press the down button and hurry back to my room.

How could Matthew endure six years of that? I hold my hand up to the sensor by my room and the door slides open. I throw myself on my bed. Do I ever fall asleep? I'm not sure.

At 5:30 I finally get up and use my tablet to get a formal dress on and do my hair. It doesn't matter, but if I don't dress up then I'll have tiny food rations for a week.

I never ate breakfast, did I. Or even touch it. That means a guard will be in here to question me soon.

Sure enough, I hear yet another knock and I open the door to see the guard. "Why didn't you eat this morning?" he asks, holding an official clipboard.

"I was in our President's office because I'm training to be an officer. I'm tired and I fell asleep and never got the chance. If you'll excuse me, I'm on my way to the dinner."

He scribbles something down on his clipboard. "I'm sorry," he says apologetically. "But seeing as it's my job and all, I had to ask."

I smile and slip by him. One of the hovertrains that travels around the Dome flies by then slows down. I walk over to it and get on. Ty walks over to me.

"Where were you this morning?" he asks. Domino and Bridget appear behind him.

"Headache. I went to the medical clinic," I say. "I'm fine now."

It surprises me how all these lies are slipping out.
**Author's Note**

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