Agent Jane Doe 1: The Catalyst

Praying

"So what does it take to be a Team Ruber member, Trevan?" I ask once Trevan and I leave the trailer to begin the nightly stroll.

"First rule of thumb. I am the leader here, so you follow my every instruction. Second rule of thumb. Do NOT go out alone. Safety in numbers is important. That's all," Trevan states. "So, enlighten me, Jojo. How did you get ousted?"

"I defended my friend Christian at a party,"

"Good to stick up for your friends, Jojo."

"How did you get ousted, Trevan?" I question. Trevan's eyes widened and he begins to sweat.

"That's a story for another time. So what's your friend Christian like?"

"He's not like the others at school. He has 'weird' views on things. He doesn't like to party and have sex. Oh, and did I mention he likes retro movies like Star Wars?"

"I was fifteen when The Force Awakens came out, way back in 2015. Good times, good times,"

"Christian also plays soccer and is on the swimming team. Another thing about him is that he doesn't like the coach. Everybody else does,"

"What's his coach like?"

"He yells at the players all the time and holds them to high standards. If they don't meet his standards, he yells at them,"

"You know, there was a similar situation to the one you're describing. In 2018, a bunch of teenagers from Kingsley High School in Los Angeles banded together to get the JV Basketball coach fired. Three kids, Dean Andrews, Hunter West, and Audriana Nazuri, made headlines back in the day when they created a petition. They got a lot of signatures and the coach was fired,"

"Wow. Seems like you couldn't get away with that shit back in the 2010s,"

"Actually, the coach who got fired, Matthew Kendrick, has been verbally abusing his players since the 1990s,"

"Wow," I gasp in wonder. I remember Christian complaining about his coach all the time. He used to harp on how he wants his players to win all the time and the like. I personally think he's a coach who used the tough love approach.

"Matthew got arrested shortly after he got fired and died in prison," Trevan says right before he squints his eyes. He points forward and I see a silhouette staggering forward.

"Who is that?"

"Let me handle this," Trevan lunges forward and meets up with the silhouette, who happens to be one of the kids from my school.

"Paul?" I ask. "What are you doing here?"

"I was ousted by my football coach," a boy with bulging muscles answers in a deep voice.

"Ousted? For what?"

"Not using steroids," Paul sobs before burying his face in his hands. I believe him but I get the sense that there's something more in his story. I honestly don't see the harm in using steroids but of course, Christian wouldn't approve. According to him, athletes use steroids to improve their performance and get their desired scores in games.

"Forget about your football coach. Come with me and I'll take you in," Trevan outstretches a hand.

"Take me in? But---,"

"You know what happened to Jojo? She was ousted and I took her in just this morning. You've got nowhere to go. Would you rather live with a stranger or panhandle for money?"

"I guess I'll go," Paul gets up and follows us back to the trailer.

---

"Everybody, we have another new recruit with us," Trevan announces once we get back to the trailer.

"Again?!" the guy with bulging muscles sighs. "Where'd you find this guy?"

"On the street," Trevan replies. "Now, Paul, you gotta show us what you can do. You know, show off your skills,"

"I can play football. You got a football around here?" Paul puts his hands on his hips.

"I can play football with you," the man with bulging muscles gets up and shakes hands with Paul. "The name's Mason Rodney,"

"Nice to meet you, Mason. I'm Paul,"

"Let's go outside," Mason leads Paul outside. I sit down at the pristine white kitchen table and spot a bunch of newspapers gathering dust about a few feet away from me. I reach out and read one of them, written by a woman named Isabella Crook.

"That's Isabella Crook's writing you're reading. She's the only one out of the reporters that actually says the truth about things. All the others talk about some fucked up version of reality," Trevan states.

"That's cool," I say. No wonder I've never heard of her.

"All the other newspapers cover up the truth about President Wills. Thing is, he's really stupid and incompetent," Trevan says. He's the second person I've ever heard criticize the president, the first being Christian.

"How so?"

"He's making society more and more superficial. We can't live that way,"

"Why?"

"Because we need to stay true to who we are. We shouldn't brag about our achievements on Hot Mess because that won't matter too much in the long run. Nobody's gonna care if you scored the winning goal in soccer in five years. If we don't stay true to who we are, we won't be happy,"

"Interesting," I nod.

"Tell you what, I'll introduce you to Isabella Crook tomorrow,"

"Deal then," I nod. "I'm off to bed. Goodnight," I head off to the sleep quarters, which were composed of four bunk beds. The girl with chin-length black hair was sleeping on top of one of them.

"Oh, hey, Jojo," she greets. "You sleep below me,"

"Gotcha," I jump into the bed below hers and fall into a deep and dreamless sleep.

---

Author's Note: Who's this Isabella Crook Trevan speaks of? What does she say about society?