Sector 17

Chapter One

I woke up to the all too familiar sound of my alarm clock and slapped my hand around on the end table till it found the snooze button. Reluctantly I opened my eyes and stared up at the ceiling, blinking quickly to clear my vision.

The room was bright, light flooding in from the window on the far wall. I squinted my eyes to avoid the blinding rays and sat up. Rubbing my face I looked lazily around the room.

The four walls and the smooth laminate floors were a clean white. The standard bedroom included a sleek white dresser and end table, as well as a writing desk. The official East American Empire's emblem was displayed on the bed's headboard. It was just like every bedroom in my social class.

My family was part of the Integer class. We had a little above average income, and the required Integer house. It was a  3 bedroom 2 bath house with the same white picket fence and layout as the rest of the Integer neighborhood.

I sighed and peeled the covers off of me. Walking over to the closet, I opened the door and took the school uniform off its hanger.

The white polo was well fitting and the symbol of an Integer was sewn onto the breast pocket. The white pants came down to my lower ankle, covering most of the calf high socks. I tucked the shirt into the pants and made my way to the bathroom.

While brushing my teeth, I took a look at myself  in the mirror. I had brown hair and brown eyes. My cheek bones were visible but not incredibly defined and my skin was a light tan. I had terrible bedhead and after brushing my teeth, I took a comb to it.

Once I was presentable, I made my way down to the kitchen for breakfast. Ma and Pa were already sitting down at the kitchen table, enjoying the Integer wide Monday breakfast of eggs and bacon.

"Good morning Cadmus," Pa said cheerfully through his full mouth.

"Good morning," I responded before heading to the fridge for a glass of milk. The cold rush of air when I opened the refrigerator was pleasant as always. I grabbed a glass out of the standard Integer drawer next to the fridge and poured myself some milk. I cautiously carried the milk to my designated seat at the table and began eating.

As I was finishing up the eggs, I felt a light tap on my shoulder. I turned around to find my sister, Hannah's, face staring at me.

"Boo!" She shouted. "Awww I never scare you. Why can't you be even a little bit jumpy?"

"Sorry?" I responded in confusion.

"I accept your apology," she said sarcastically in the government's official apology acceptance speech.

"Go grab yourself some milk and join us for breakfast." Ma said before she took another bite out of her bacon.

Hannah yawned and filled up a plate, and started stuffing her face.

"Hannah, slow down." Pa warned.

"But it's sooooo gooooood," Hannah mumbled through her mouthful of eggs. From then on we continued to eat in silence.

We stayed seated until the Government's Breakfast Bell rung, signaling to us that meal time was over and work time was starting.

We all stood up in unison and went to the trash can to dispose of our leftovers and set the dirty plates in the sink.

I didn't need to look at the clock to know that it was time to leave for school. Everyday we left when breakfast was over.

Grabbing our backpacks, Hannah and I made our way to the street corner, and waited for the tram to show up. It arrived at a quarter after seven just like it did everyday.