Republic of Omisha

Chapter 2: Eliza

  Once Kalea is out of sight, Eliza opens her window and climbs out sprinting into the woods as if someone might catch her and get her trouble, but she knows that Kalea is the only one that cares what she does. Eliza often escapes to the woods to clear her mind on her walks. She soon comes upon an old rusty fence that time has reduced to be a two foot tall barrier with rusty barbed wire. She steps over it confidently knowing where to place her feet without much thought. She walks to the edge of the woods passing caution signs that have faded from years of sun. She sees a boy holding a girl in his arms. She is too far to see more than a silhouette of them with the rising sun blinding her. She treads lightly with every intention to scare the couple. She knows who the boy is without seeing his face. It's Sebastian and this is their special meeting place. The fact that he brought another girl infuriates her.

When she's a step away from alerting them of her presence she hears a snap of a twig under her foot. Crap! She thinks. Both of the figures turn to look at her and Eliza is close enough to see their faces. She decide to have the first word of the inevitable dispute, but her anger has lost her edge and it doesn't out quite as angry as what she felt a moment ago. "What are you doing here with her?" Her voice sounds shaky and uneasy as if she were about to burst into tears but that isn't how she means to sound.

"Ummm..." Is all he can make out with a look on his face as if he was just caught by the police.

Eliza takes a second look at the girl and realizes that it's Mckinzie Morris, the most popular girl in school. Wow, Eliza thinks to herself, looks like he found himself an upgrade. Her anger has flared up again and she yell, "I'm your girlfriend, but if you'd prefer your replacement-"

"No," Sebastian is quick to defend, "this isn't what it looks like." He now says is a shaky voice that isn't convincing to cover up his lie.

"Well then what should this look like?" Eliza says in a voice that sounds like she's about to blow her top. She takes a moment to collect herself and is hit with an emotional wave of sadness. "This was our spot. I'm your girlfriend." Then she feels her lower jaw tighten as she began to glare at him, "was your girlfriend." She finishes with tears forming her eyes. "Get out." She tries to yell but is too choked up. "Get out!" She yells in an outrage and they both jump to their feet and take off still holding hands.

She lets the tears flow now that she's alone. Eliza recollects the first time they met as she sits where they were with her legs off of the edge of the corey looking the beautiful view. The corey is closed and there is vegetation at the bottom and not a soul in sight. The first time she met Sebastian was six months ago on her walk home from school. She was passing the playground of the elementary school and he was standing at the highest point. She wouldn't have taken much notice to him if he hadn't called down to her. "Hey, cutie." She looked up to see his grinning face and rolled her eyes at his remark. Eliza was known to be pretty looking but none of the students would dare talk to her because they all have seen her PTSD in effect and are scared of her. There are two hundred students at her high school and all of them know her by reputation so Eliza instantly realizes that he must be new to town.

"When did you move to town." She asks him trying to suppress her grin because she liked the attention and it is refreshing to have a fresh start, usually when she meets someone at school they have already labeled her as a "loser," "nobody," "useless," or "dangerous".

He snickers, "It's that easy to tell, hugh? That I'm not from here." Eliza now realizes that he has a slight english accent.

"The fact that you're talking to me speaks for itself that your an outsider." She watches him come down to her. Eliza finds him attractive with his dark brown spiked hair and his light eyes.

He stands less than three feet in front of her and he is obviously taller than her, being almost six feet tall. "Why is it odd that a boy talks a beautiful girl like you?" He says with a charming smile.

Eliza tries to force herself to keep a straight face but a half smile that's shows that she is flattered and trying not to blush shows up.

"Because," Eliza begins and then holds her breathe debating whether it is wise to tell him truthfully why she is shunned by the other students. She decides that he will find out eventually he will find out so she might as well end whatever this is going before it starts so that she won't be hurt later. "The other students are scared of me because I can't control my PTSD."

"I think that they judge too quickly." He responds without any hesitation as he takes a step toward her.

"I agree-" before she could finish her thought he pulls her to him for a kiss. It was quick and was only a peck before he breaks if off and the looks guilty for crossing the line. She looks at him in astonishment to see him evading her eyes. "It's okay," She responds sincerely.

"I'm Eliza," she adds.

"I'm Sebastian, Sebastian Morris."

"See you at school tomorrow." Eliza walks home and didn't tell anyone of this encounter.

They quickly became friends and he never kissed her again whether she liked it or not until two months ago when they started dating. She was his only friend and he didn't appear to mind but Eliza now thinks that her judgement was wrong. He started to act strangely two weeks ago but Eliza had choked it up to the approaching trials. It never crossed her mind that it was because he was cheating on her. Mckenzie was as pretty as she is shallow. She is the most popular sophomore and he's the same age. Maybe he got sick of dating a freshman? Eliza thought to try to justify his actions but she couldn't. It was very unlike the polite sweet young man that she grew to know.

The memory was wiped away by her tears. She watched the sun rise over the corey. She got up from her spot and went home to get ready for school, but how could she face him? Kalea say her walk through the front door. She took note of the tear stains on her cheeks but didn't ask. She assumed that she was upset from the morning and she knew that she sneaks off to the wood. She is unaware of the boy facter.

That day of school was grueling and boring. The teachers filled the day with in class work and lectures on the trials. They had no idea what kids would survive the weekend so they didn't give homework. History class was the worst for Eliza. They were learning about the first trials and the cause of them. It was as simple as overpopulation, but instead of just executing a handful of kids twice a year, they came up with an entertaining way with genetic-hybrid breasts.

On the night before the trials there is a six o'clock curfew so that no one skips town to get out of the trials. Of course this curfew does not "apply" to Eliza who escapes to the woods until after dark. Kalea sees her enter the house after nine o'clock. Her hair and clothes are in an unruly state. Kalea doesn't ask questions. As Eliza walks up to the dinner table where Kalea is picking up dishes, she expects her to reprimand her for being out so late on the eve of the trials. Kalea keeps a neutral face and puts a cold plate of mash potatoes, peas and ham in front of her. She neutrally says, "Your dinner is cold," then goes back to washing dishes. Eliza sits and eats.