"Hey, did you guys hear about those two kids from Seaside High?"
As usual, Olivia had been there waiting for Bo and Luna when their bus had arrived and the three of them now stood in front of Luna's locker as she grabbed her books for first block.
"No, I didn't" said Bo. "How 'bout you Lu?"
"Nope" said Luna, her face hidden from Olivia behind her open locker door so that she couldn't see her roll her eyes. Who really cared about two kids from Seaside? They were probably just a couple of privileged exempt elitist friends of Olivia's anyway.
"They were boyfriend and girlfriend. The girl hadn't turned 17 so she hadn't even gotten her, you know... her notice yet."
Olivia was always hesitant to enter into a conversation about notices and discontinuance. Given her status, it made her feel uncomfortable. Luna didn't feel sorry for her though, not in the least. I mean, would she feel more comfortable talking about it if she were being given a date with death like the rest of them? No, she didn't think so.
"So, yea... she hadn't even gotten her notice and, you know, she probably would have gotten a bunch of days, right? But her boyfriend got his and it was just 2 weeks. So anyway, I heard that they went out to the cliffs last night and as the sun set, they kissed each other, held hands and they both jumped!"
Bo let out a low whistle. "Wow! Seriously? That's horrible."
"Actually, I think it's beautiful and brave." Luna said, stepping out from behind her locker door to face Bo and Olivia.
"What? You can't be serious Lu. Bo's right. It's horrible. And stupid and just tragic."
"Thanks a lot for your input there Miss Exempt, but if you think that it's ok for 'your people' to kill us at will but if we dare have the courage to take our own lives on our own terms that it's 'tragic', well then, I would say that we have a pretty serious difference of opinion."
"Lu, that's not what Olivia meant."
Olivia crossed her arms and looked away at nothing in particular, blinking back tears.
Bo continued, his voice low and serious. "And Lu, please don't tell me you're, you know... having those kinds of thoughts. I know you're in a bad place right now but..."
Luna held her face in her hands and sighed deeply. "No. No... I'm not suicidal Bo. Although I have to admit that there's a part of me that admires their final act of defiance. But sadly, I don't think I have the courage to pull that off."
She reached out and touched Olivia's arm. "And Liv, I'm sorry. You know I am." She turned back to face Bo and paused before continuing.
"No, don't worry. I don't want to die. But I don't want someone else dictating when I'm going to die either." She slammed her locker door closed. "I'm just SO freaking tired of sitting around waiting for someone to tell me when I'm going to die. I just wish there was something I could do that would at least tick somebody off a bit, you know? Just somehow get under their skin, at least for a moment. Tell me they don't deserve at least that?" Her face was a contradiction of resignation and rebellion.
"No, you're absolutely right Lu. They do deserve it. But, I mean... what can we do?"
Luna slowly shook herhead and bit her lip as she started to walk away. "Something. I'm going to dosomething."
YOU ARE READING
DISCONTINUED
Teen FictionCertainly they could trust that those in power ultimately had the best interests of the people in mind, right? ~~~ Luna slouched low in her seat, staring at droplets of water that ran diagonally down the window of the bus. The sky was a flat, depre...
