Beyond City Limits (Under Revisions)

Chapter 1: LAST DAY

I gaze at my last quiz for the year. I take my time and pretend to struggle with a question, but I finished ten minutes ago. Really, I let my mind wonder to more important topics: like the finality of this. No more quizzes, no more secondary teachers, and the students around me are going to change. I wonder how many people will stay in the Innercity after the Test, and how many will be Displaced.

I glance around the room. One of my closest friends, Emma, is punching in numbers on her touch screen. Her dirty blonde hair is pulled to the top of her head. Her gray eyes are almost touching the glass surface.

She's not blind, even though I asked her, but that's how she focuses. I tried to correct her once before, but she can't break the habit. She honestly looks like a psychopath, and I have no idea how she is planning to be a doctor. What is she going to do? Stick her nose into an open wound? She'll be a nurse at best. I have seen her scores and unless someone hits her with a genius hammer, there's no way she'll be approved.

My vision sweeps over my other semi-close friend. Jessica isn't as close as Emma and me, but she's fun to keep around. She's breath takingly beautiful, with raven hair, green eyes, and a sweetheart face. That's what made me approach her last year. She was talking to Andrew at a party, and all the boys eyes trailed her around the room. When I invited her to hang out with my group, I thought she was going to faint. She's a little over-dramatic, but a great person to party with.

Jessica twirls her hair around her finger. She glances at the quiz's screen before her eyes wonder. She sees me looking and waves enthusiastically. Her happiness is sometimes contagious, but so is her stupidity. I can't stand more than two hours around her without feeling my GPA plummeting.

The bell rings, signaling the end of the day and the end of my time at secondary school. Some of the students whoop behind me, but others are scrambling to finish their quizzes. I hit SUBMIT on the screen and the grade pops up: 50/50. I barely look at the score before I logout of the touchscreen and fold it into the desk. It fits inside, making the surface completely flat.

I grab my things and start making my way out of the classroom. Emma and Jessica catch up to me, already gossiping.

"Do you think Daniel will still be in the Innercity after the Test? He keeps asking me out, but I don't want to date him if he is going to another city. Long term relationships like that do not work."

Jessica's still playing with her curls, "I don't know. It's kinda romantic. Like star-crossed lovers."

Emma snickers, "Living in different cities is the opposite of romantic. We wouldn't even be able to talk to each other. I asked my sister about it, and she said that she knew a girl whose cousin was in love with a Middlecity boy, and the cousin tried to smuggle herself over there."

"What happened?" Jessica whispers, her eyes wide.

"What do you think? The border patrol got her. My sister said that they were transferred to the Outercity."

Jessica gasps, she reaches out and clinches my hand. "Oh my God. That's terrible."

I roll my eyes, "Oh please, that didn't really happen."

Emma looks dead serious, "My sister swears on it."

"And you believe her?" I ask.

"Why wouldn't I?"

I reach my locker and start collecting my things, "Would you move to another city for a boy?"

"Well...no."

"That is because", I continue as a shove notes in my bag, "it's illogical. A smart person wouldn't sacrifice their life for a childhood romance. And if this cousin is stupid, then how did she stay in the Innercity?" I raise my eyebrows at her, waiting.