Lifeline.

Chapter 1: The Detention.

I doodled on the back of my english notebook, trying to drown out the noise of the annoying teacher. I was already running out of space on my notebook, and it was only the third day of school. Sighing, I finished up the horn on my unicorn gangster sketch and looked up at the teacher. For some reason he was staring at me. Because I'm stupid and was really tired that day, my brain made me spit out my teacher's least favorite word.

"What?"

I snapped my mouth shut, biting my tongue in the process. This was not going to be a good day.

"What do you mean what?"

He stared at me accusingly. Great, it's only the third day of highschool and one of my teachers hates me. I just know it.

"Um..."

Great. His second least favorite word. Kill me now.

"I asked you a question."

Oh no. He asked me a question? I have no idea what he said. Again, me being really stupid, I said back the thing that tortured and praised me the most during all of my years in middle school.

"You didn't ask me a question."

"And how are you sure of that?"

"Because I would've heard you."

Please please please please work.

"Very well. Thank you for paying at least some attention in class."

He turned back to the class and began to drone on again about possessive pronouns. Yes! It worked! It really did! Happy and relieved, I went back to my notebook and began to find space for another drawing. Just as I had found a space on my notebook for a picture of a dwarf wearing a diaper, the bell signaled the end of class.

I picked up my things quickly, pushed my pencil back into my iron case, and was about to leave the room when Mr. Boiteux stepped in front of me.

"May I speak with you for a moment?"

"Uh, sure."

He walked over to his desk and gestured for me to come over.

"I'm going to need that pencil please."

"Sir, I'm sorry, but I can't give it to you."

"And why is that?"

"Um, it's kind of my Lifeline."

If you didn't know, a Lifeline is an everyday object that holds, well, your life. If you break it, you die. Simple as that. Oh, and you can't go more than a mile away from it or you die as well. When a child is born, the parents take anything they can find in their house to bring for the child as a lifeline. The first object the child picks up is their lifeline. If it is not chosen within 24 hours of the birth, they die. Sadly, that's how most of our population dies. The parents can't help, and if the baby chooses to sleep, normally they die. 20% of babies don't make it through the first 24 hours, and 50% don't make it through the first year.

The Lifeline crisis was found shortly after 3078, though no one knows how or why. In 3078, the population was said to be at 15 billion, not counting the 4 billion on the moon. Now in 4023, the population has decreased to 1.8 billion on Earth and 0.5 billion on the Moon, otherwise known as the Luna District. Well, there's the history of Lifeline in a nutshell. You're welcome. Okay, back to reality.

"I can tell it's your Lifeline, Miss Emilie, but I am going to have to take it."

"But I can die!"