Agent Jane Doe 1: The Catalyst

Take It On the Run

I take a deep breath as I knock on the viridescent door to Christian's house. Almost immediately, the door opens, revealing a fair-haired woman. Right then and there, I knew there was something different about this woman. There was no makeup caked onto her face, unlike my idol, London Bane the singer.

"You must be Jojo," the woman says as I shake hands with her.

"Um...yes," I smile awkwardly as she lets me inside.

"Christian! Jojo's here," she calls out as she leads me to the living room. Christian is perched on the couch with a remote in his hand.

"Hey, Jojo!" Christian stands up and approaches me.

"Hey," I say shyly.

"Wanna watch a movie? I've got the entire Star Wars series,"

"Star Wars? I've never seen Star Wars. What is that?"

"Star Wars is a movie series about the dysfunctional Skywalker family, basically," Christian hastily explains. I let out a chuckle. "I love retro movies,"

"Do you guys need anything? Popcorn?" the woman asks.

"No thanks, mom," Christian plops himself back onto the couch. I follow suit as he takes out a small 'computer chip' (as he likes to call it) and inserts it inside the chip player. The movie is rather epic. It features a lot of space action and a laser sword they call a lightsaber. The plot is also pretty original.

Just then, the credits begin and Christian pauses the movie.

"You know what I think? President Wills doesn't care about anything profound. He's superficial," he begins.

"What do you mean?" I gasp. I've never heard anybody criticize President Wills before. Maybe this is the 'weird view on things' Kylie was talking about. Well, he's my friend. I shouldn't find fault with what he says.

"He only cares about superficial things like popularity. Popularity isn't everything, you know. I hear the popular kids end up being nobodies when they're older,"

"Who told you that?"

"There was a study done about that. According to that, the cool kids do 'cool' things like drink and have sex in order to appeal to their peers but that doesn't fly when they're older, because they resort to criminal activities and the like,"

"Interesting,"

"Like, I don't get it. Why is everybody so interested about being the best and bragging on Hot Mess? Why can't people just accept their flaws and move on? Flawed people are more interesting because they're relatable. This society's too concerned with appearing cool. I don't like it one bit. You know, I'm grateful that I'm brought up the way I am. You know, appreciate the flaws within people I meet,"

"Guess that's something to think about," I say. Soon, my mom comes and picks me up.

"How was the thing with Christian?" she asks.

"It was great. We watched Star Wars,"

"Oh, you mean that retro movie?"

"Yeah," I nod. As I gaze outside the window, I begin to ponder Christian's words. What am I doing, wanting to brag about the big win against our rivals on Hot Mess? Maybe this society isn't as perfect as I perceive it. I know talking to Christian is a no-no in school, but he's an interesting character. Still, I want to hear more, even if it may not be what society deems appropriate. I have to listen to Christian. Maybe he's right about all this.

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Author's Note: What do you think of Christian's views? Do you agree or disagree with him, and why?