Boondox

The Boquet

Hey everyone! Just a quick note, this is a 2 sided book. AshleyKait is doing the other part of this story! Make sure to check out her version called The Glass Dome! Trust me, you won't regret reading it!

I slip into my skin tight, long sleeved onesie silver uniform. We are required to wear this, but we can wear whatever else we want over top of it. I put on a black t-shirt and torn up jeans. I clasp some clips into my messy black hair to hide the fact that that's how I wore it to sleep last night.
I hear a knock on the door.
"Come in, Noah." I almost shout as I glance around the room to make sure I'm not forgetting anything. I swipe my shoes from their cubby in the wall, and join Noah, my best friend who lives 3 doors down from me. We sit on the thin glass railing and I fasten on my shoes.
"Sleep well?" Noah starts to make small talk. I look over at him. He's looking over his shoulder down at the city. His black hair almost makes it to his eyebrows, and below his eyebrows, lightning blue eyes. I've been told he looks like my brother. I also have black, strait hair, but mine falls past my shoulders. My eyes are a more green-blue, but still pretty vibrant.
"I thought we were to good for small talk." I say with a grunt as I yank on my UGGs.
"Hey, just trying to make conversation." He says putting his hands up in defense.
I glance down the hall at the 5,000 rooms on my level.
I don't know if you know this, but I live on what Monarch Jones calls, "a space shuttle" along with 150,000 other residents. There is a huge city making up the middle called Boondox, and the 150,000 rooms are all in the wall of the shuttle. There are 30 floors, no stairs. A glass railing lines the small halfway connecting all our room. My room number is 284,673. My floor is the 28th, hence the number 28 at the beginning of my room number.
I look behind me and gaze at Boondox, a simple bump and I'd start plummeting toward it.
"Ready yet, slow poke?" Noah asks.
I didn't realize I had stopped putting on my shoes. I finish wiggling my feet into my UGGs and say, "ready."
We both start leaning back and fall off the banister. We free fall for a couple seconds. I love the feeling of the wind on my face. I look over to where I think Noah is, but I realize he's below me posing at me like a model. I smile, and we both push buttons on our shoes. They release a burst of energy as they slow down my plummet until I'm just floating there. I lean forward and my shoes boost me towards the city. I dip down, and my shoes follow me. I make a tight loop and suddenly stop to look at Noah.
I only get a second to locate him. But when I do, BAM!! He runs into me, knocking the wind out of me. He was obviously purposefully doing this, because he keeps pushing me forward. We are at a slight tilt downward, and I start to worry. I push my feet behind me and start to push back against Noah. We both levitate there struggling against each other's shoe power. I lossen his grip on my arms, and he shoots down to Boondox. I quickly follow him and when he regains his balance, he says, "I totally beat you."
"I'm the one who got you off me!" I say breathlessly.
"Whatever." He breathes, and punches me. Most people would say he punched me playfully. Nope. Not me. He doesn't punch me playfully. That's ok. I punch him back. Harder.
He winces for a second, but I know I'm not strong enough to cause him serious damage. Not physically that is.
We quickly get to the school. Our school is called SD7 for School District 7. We have 7 schools in Boondox. Residents of floors 1-4 are in SD1, 5-8 are in SD2 and so on. I'm in SD7 with Noah because we are on the same floor. Floor 28.
Noah and I race to our classroom. Since our apartment rooms are so close together, we have the same school room.
I slump into my metal desk and sling my tablet bag over my chair. The screen at the front of the classroom lights up and it displays an animated video of our "teacher", Miss Quint.
"Good morning, students!" She says, joyfully.
A grumble escapes the tired mouths of the class.
"Please take out your History tablets."
I reach into my bag and grab my glass table. When I touch the front, it recognizes my finger print, and turns on. A transparent image pops up. Pictures and words litter the screen.
"Please flip to page 109." Miss Quint says. I tap on the top of the screen and then on the number 109. It flips to it, and I unconsciously scan the page to see what we are learning today.
The animated human on the screen starts pounding me with information. Information about what life was like before we were saved from the horrible planet they used to call "earth". About this brilliant man called David Jones and 3 others, Joseph Grant, Amelia Smith, and Lilly Hill, who built this huge shuttle to create this utopia, and put 150,000 babies on it, all the same age. David Jones became the leader of Boondox, Joseph Grant became Chief of Police, Amelia Smith became the head doctor, and Lilly Hill became chief owner of every business in Boondox.
I stared at the animation that was being shown to every other resident of Boondox right now. Because we are all the same age, we are all in the same grade.
We learn more and more junk about stuff that I don't even care to repeat. Finally, the teacher closes the lesson, and the screen shuts off momentarily.
Since we don't have to be in any different classroom, between classes, we just talk or, what I do, pull out my phone and start to play some games.
Noah taps me on the shoulder.
"Do your homework?"
I turn to face him. "Homework is for good girls." I turn back around. Mic drop. I think.
He taps me on my shoulder. "Soooo.... You did it?" He asks. I can tell he's trying not to laugh at his own joke by the humor in his voice. I roll my eyes, and turn in my chair to face him.
"Have you redecorated your room?" I asked.
"I'm not like you, Gabby. My room is as simple as it comes. Literally. The only "touch of me" that I've done in the last 15 years is clothes strung here and there."
With a room that looks identical to 150,000 other rooms, I try to be as different as I can.
"I need to take you shopping. I'm getting my paycheck today. I know you are too."
"I don't know..." He says. He avoids my gaze.
"Please??" I beg. He looks strait into my eyes and I can almost see his theology falter.
"Well..." I feel hopeful, but Miss Quint interrupts.
"Good morning students." You come at the worst times.
"Please pull out your math tablets." She says. "Today, we will be learning more on geometry." She starts her lesson, and I look down at my math tablet, but all I see is a bunch of scribbles that are supposed to help us, but everything just seems like a bunch of mumbo jumbo.
I start to hear Jessica, a super popular diva, whisper to her squad, Rosy with the red hair, Daisy with the pale skin and blonde yellow hair, and Tulip with the brown hair, died purple. I wonder if those are their real names, or names they were given when they joined Jessica's troop. Noah and I call them Jessica, and her Bouquet, because all her little minions have flower names.
They giggle, and I turn to glare at them. I don't know why I turned. I knew it was them, why did I involve myself? I realize that they are giggling at me. I see Noah out of the corner of my eye, shaking his head. Trying to tell me not to involve myself. But they are laughing at me! Me!
I turn my attention to the front. What can I do anyway. If I get myself involved in the middle of class, I could go under house arrest for the rest of the day. Boondox doesn't tolerate any kinda of rebellion. They say that's how earth was ruined. Rebellion. My mind wanders so far from my body, I almost lash out when I realize Noah is tapping my shoulder again.
"Class is over." He must have noticed I was in lala land because I hadn't jerked out my phone as soon as Miss Quint disappeared.
"So, about the room thing?" I push.
"If you stop bothering me, sure." He says finally. I want to jump out of my chair and hug him. I pull out my glass phone and text some friends. Asking how school is going on their end.
How's school? I ask on my group with Noah, a friend named Ashley, and her boyfriend Caleb.
Caleb: Ughhhh...
Ashley: I'm guessing not good then, huh?
Caleb: Oh yeah, just peachy.
Me: I hate math.
Ashley: I love math, I don't know what your problem is.
The screen comes to life again, and I slip my phone into my bag.
Lunch is after this subject, English. Lunch is something I look forward to every day.