somewhere | b.blake ✔️

1x02 Part 1✔️

My level is too high to bring me down (happy)
Can't nuthin', bring me down (happy)
I said, let me tell you now, unh (happy)
Bring me down, can't nuthin', bring me down (happy, happy, happy)

-Happy, Pharrell Williams

*****

Flashback:

Ten-year-old Ash Growins walks slowly down the dimly lit hall, her gaze fixed on the floor as if the ground might swallow her whole. Each step feels heavy, weighed down by the burden of secrets and struggles that no child should have to bear. Her father's illness has left her family on the brink of starvation, and her mother's meager income from her low-paying job is their only source of ration points.

Ash's clothes hang off her thin frame, threadbare and oversized, while her long hair falls limply around her face, lacking the sheen it once had. Dark circles frame her eyes, a testament to sleepless nights spent worrying about her family's future.

After weeks of scraping by with only half a protein packet for dinner, Ash could no longer watch her family suffer. She resolved to take matters into her own hands, even if it meant breaking the law.

With an innocent smile plastered on her face, she single-handedly broke into the Chancellor's office, her heart racing with every creak of the door. Over the course of two weeks, she added small amounts of ration points to her father's card, careful to avoid detection. 

She knows she's risking everything, but the thought of her father's recovery keeps her going. She just needs enough to get by until he can work again.

The tightly gripped card feels like both a lifeline and a ticking bomb as she makes her way down the hall, her head bowed and eyes darting nervously.

Just as she steps into Mecha Station, a bustling hub compared to the Factory Station where she used to live, she collides with someone and stumbles back, her heart racing in panic.

Everything blurs for a moment before she regains her senses. Her first thought is frantic: the card. She quickly scans the ground and the surrounding area, her pulse quickening when she doesn't see it.

Then, a voice breaks through her panic. "Looking for this?"

Ash's gaze shoots up to meet the eyes of a boy not much younger than herself. He holds the ration card in his hands, brown hair falling over his forehead, revealing a knowing glint in his warm brown eyes. The sight sends her heart racing for an entirely different reason.

Is it that obvious? she thinks silently, dread pooling in her stomach.

"Yes, thank you," she replies, her voice wavering slightly. "May I have it back... please?"

The stakes feel impossibly high. If a guard sees her—a ten-year-old with a full ration card—there's no telling what might happen. The unjust laws would see her arrested without a second thought, and this boy could easily find himself implicated.

"Yeah, here." He hands the card back, his nod reassuring her somehow that he won't betray her secret. "You might want to hold onto that. Someone could take it and it could get into the wrong hands."

Ash gulps, a genuine smile breaking through her anxiety. "Thank you."

Together, they walk down the hallway in a silence that feels thick with unspoken understanding. Finally, the boy breaks the quiet. "What's your name?" he asks, curiosity evident in his tone.