Inevitable

Prologue

"Hey! You, with the grey jacket!"

I freeze in my steps and draw in a quick breath, praying to God that he isn't calling for me.

"M-me, sir?" I question him as he approaches.

The officer seems startled by my appearance; then he smiles as his eyes quickly scan me. "No, love. You're perfect how you are," he says and I hide my disgust. He turns to a boy around my age who had frozen at the same time I had, wearing the same color jacket. The cop grits his teeth and forcibly tugs the boy's arms behind his back, cuffing the wrists and locking it. "He is my problem."

I slowly creep towards the side of a building, out of sight, to listen in. Roughly pulling the boy to face towards him, the officer's dead-black eyes make contact with the boy's emerald-green ones. He narrows his eyebrows as the boy flinches in his grasp. Bringing his lips to the boy's ear, he whispers, just loud enough for me to hear, "Have you no respect for the law? What's your name, boy?"

"R-Roger," he stutters.

As quickly as he'd cuffed Roger's wrists, the officer stands up and leaves him to sit in the dust of the sidewalk. He paces for a second before rushing towards Roger again, grabbing a fistful of the collar of his shirt, grasping it so tightly that his knuckles almost turn white. Roger shudders as the officer finally lets go of his collar, their eyes never breaking contact.

"Did you not receive a warning letter about this?" he asks, then pinches his cheek, making a bit of fat visible between his index finger and thumb. It could've gone unnoticed; Roger isn't on the chubby side. He's probably only got a couple of pounds to lose, but of course with the sharp eyes of officers and upper chairwomen, he's in a huge predicament.

"Sir, I-I swear, I was just on the way to the gym. I'm so close to my goal, please give me two days and I will be perfect."

I cringe at his use of the word, "perfect." Physical appearance shouldn't matter, but of course society doesn't care. It's all about the latest fashion and newest style.

The officer contemplates for a second before raising his eyebrow and asks, "And you're sure that this problem will be eradicated in two days' time?" Roger nods nervously. "Very well," he pulls out a pad of sticky notes, "What's your full name?"

"Roger Pullman," he replies.

He hands Roger a note with writing on it.

                        Roger Pullman.

                        To lose weight by Wednesday, 2:30 P.M.

                        Officer Viccellio.

"I expect you to be ready for me to check up on you," Viccellio says, "As you should know, we have all the personal data of everyone here."

"Yes, sir," Roger replies, obviously eager for Viccellio to get the hell out of here.

Finally, the officer tips his cap to Roger. He walks towards my direction and I stumble, trying to not let it be obvious I was eavesdropping. Regardless, the officer sends a warm smile my way and says, "Have a nice afternoon, Miss..."

"Aisha," I reply, "And good afternoon to you as well."

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(A/N) I'm already having issues with writer's block since I wrote this like three months or so ago, but I finally decided to publish it onto here. I appreciate feedback!

~Menha cx