to be with you.

chapter one

     "Ellie, I swear to God and all of the almighty saints." Dad said as he slammed his fist onto the table. "I'm not letting you get lost to the damn government!"
     That's my dad for you. Great introduction, right? Anyway, I'm Elizabeth Aspen, but you can call me Ellie. I'm a sophomore at Kingsland High, and a basketball player for the school's team. Let me fill you in on what's currently going on:
     Recently, the government decided that blue eyes were dangerous, inhumane criminals. A few people have been caught, and only God knows where they've been taken to. As a blue eyed girl myself, my parents have done everything in their power to keep me safe. I wear brown eye contacts to keep my real identity a secret from the stupid government.
I used to be a book nerd, and I saw a few books about this kind of stuff. I hate having to live myths in reality like this. Like, who thought the coronavirus would be like another plague? Who thought that blue eyes were a crime?
     "We thought that 2020 couldn't get any worse." My mom joined us at the dinner table. "First the fires, then the virus, then the riots, and now this? It's only October!"
     I looked at my mom with weary eyes. "It's October, we have three months left. The government can't be this stupid. There's no way they'll get away with this for a long time."
     "While they do get away with it, I'll have you wearing brown eye contacts all the time." My mom frowned as she noticed my ticked-off face. "I know it's hard, but you need to for your own safety."
     My smeared by food around my plate. As long as I'm not in some jail with the government for a pointless reason. I thought. I heard my Snapchat notifications go off like, three times in a row, so I excused myself.
     Oh. It was my best friend, Danielle. We've been best friends since second grade, and they're one of the lucky ones with brown eyes.
     "Ellie you haven't been caught have you??"
     "Ellie?"
     "Els!!!!!!!"
"Elizabeth Rose Aspen answer your freaking phone right now!!!!!!!"
"Ellllliiiiieeeeeeeee!"
     They're crazy like that. But I love them for it. I immediately texted them back with a skull emoji and an "i'm fine," but we all know I'm really not.
     "Eat your dinner Ellie." My mom pushed my plate towards me once I sat back down. "You have school tomorrow."
     Yeah, that's true. I'm on a hybrid schedule and the days I go to school I'm wearing some stupid mask. Some of the kids in my school don't even bother getting changed anymore, they just show up in sweatpants and a sweatshirt.
     I'm one of those kids.
     Anyway, I finished my dinner and went to my room. Of course, I was seeing notifications everywhere on my phone for the stupid virus and what not. Surprisingly, I haven't seen anything about the blue eyes yet.
Probably because it isn't popular yet. I thought to myself. It's only been two days since they decided such a stupid rule, but it is what it is I guess.
I put my phone on the fuzzy chair beside my bed and stared up at the red LED lights on my wall. I slowly drifted asleep, usually, but today was a little harder knowing that today could be the last day with my family. Not with the contacts. I assured myself.
Even if I'm caught, there has to be a way I can get out of wherever I go.

Monday, October 18th, 2020
5:00 AM

I woke up the next morning with tons of energy. My parents were still asleep, and my dogs were probably with my mom. I grabbed a bagel from the counter and spread some cream cheese on it before grabbing my phone and sitting down.
Same thing— as always. The virus, riots, fires... New York is a bullseye for the riots right now. Oh well, my town is pretty peaceful.
I scrolled through my phone, watching a few videos of pointless DIYs and such, and skipping through some of my friends' stories. They post way too much compared to me; I'm afraid of somebody finding out my secret.
I cocked my head as I saw the first post of the breaking news: Three more Americans caught with blue eyes. I was a little shocked, my heart probably slipped a beat. It's better than not to know that there's an update on people like me, but I didn't want to know they're- wherever God knows where.
That reminded me— makeup. I threw my plate out and headed to my room. First, of course, I needed to do my contacts. Boom, dark brown, romantic eyes. What if somebody has one blue and one brown eye? I smirked. Seriously, that's a good question.
I rubbed my primer on my face, making sure not to get it in my eyes like I did the last time. My eyes were bloodshot for weeks. Notice the emphasis on bloodshot.
Next, the usual: Foundation, blush, powder, mascara, you name it. It's pretty natural, but there's really no point because I'm wearing a mask all damn day.
It just doesn't make sense to me, though— I don't bother to get changed and just wear my pajamas to school, but I still put on a full face of makeup.
It's chill though. Nobody likes my side profile. Or at least I don't. I come home from school with a mask of ivory foundation and pink blush, and maybe some rosy pink Vaseline from my lips that morning.
After straightening up my tiny room I grabbed my bag and headed straight out to the bus stop. Once I heard the rumbling of the vehicle I put my mask on and listened to the same old music on my ride to schoo- I mean, living hell.