Lost Girl

Three days from now I would be the happiest person on Earth. Goosebumps formed on my skin at just the thought of my upcoming big day. Anticipation warmed my stomach. I felt a tingling sensation of butterflies bouncing off my stomach lining as I struggle to start my day. I want it to go by as fast as possible. Everyone knows that on your 16th birthday you are assigned a superpower that you get to keep and use your entire life.

My 16th birthday was only a few days away.

“Honey. I know you are excited but you need to eat something.” My mother commented as she slides a plate of breakfast onto the table. The aroma of biscuits and gravy filled the air, but no matter how appetizing it smelled, it didn’t change the fact that the last thing I wanted right now was food. I ever so slightly pushed the plate away from me.

“Sorry, Mom. I just can’t.”

A few moments passed and to my surprise, she stopped trying to force food on me. We sat in silence at the kitchen table. I was getting more anxious by the minute. Finally, I put an end to the awkwardness and rose from the table, walking towards my bedroom to grab my things.

My school day was not a very productive one. I didn’t figure that it would be either. They hadn’t been for a while. All I did was daydream about the wonderful superpower that I would hold in my possession in just a couple of days. That day getting closer and closer by the second. The other parts of my school days were spent hanging out with Jeneveve and Emily. They had been my best friends ever since I can remember. They were the kind of people that you could take one look at and know that they wouldn’t leave you when you are at your worst, and be there only when they feel like it. I had always hated people like that. However, those characteristics precisely described Brielle.

Brielle was a girl that I had known since elementary school. We had actually been pretty close, up until freshman year when she realized how easy it was to take advantage of people who longed to be like her, which was just about everyone. I had seemed to be just about the only person that had the ability to see right through her cakey face of makeup and her perfect silky straight blonde hair to see her for the real jerk she was. At least I thought I was the only one. That was until I got to know Jeneveve and Emily. One of the many things we had in common.

I walked through the front door of my house after a long day at school and kicked off my shoes on a nearby rug. I glance up and spot a newspaper sitting on the counter near the coffee maker so I wander over to have a look at it like I always did as I sat down and had my usual afternoon snack. I flipped through the pages looking at all the different articles. I was about two pages in when a headline caught my eye. It said, “Why You Shouldn’t Get Assigned.”

No matter how much I disagreed with this headline, I was now intrigued, so I continued reading.

Turning 16 is a very exciting moment for all teens. However, getting assigned seems too good to be true. The fact of the matter is that the government just does a really good job of hiding the dirty truth from us all. Let me fill you in. Check out my website www.dontgetassigned.com/bennett to get all the details. If you or a loved one is nearing the age of 16 please reconsider being assigned. It will pay off and you will thank me when the truth unfolds.

I didn’t know what to say. I put the newspaper back on the counter where I had found it and retreated to my room, ready to forget about what I had just read.

School days just seemed to keep getting harder and harder and go by slower and slower. Brielle was still a jerk like always and so were her friends. You know, the “popular girls.” She and her squad didn’t help anything that had been going on recently either. The anxiousness filled my stomach with a tingling sensation that kept getting more severe every day. But today was different. I know it sounds crazy but I just couldn’t seem to get the thought out of my head. What if getting assigned was a terrible thing, but everyone was yet totally oblivious to it. I had to know.

Without thinking I rush out of my study hall and hurry to the library. I slide into an open seat and began typing in the URL of the website that had been listed in the newspaper. I spent a good 20 minutes just scanning through the website. I couldn’t believe what they claimed to be the truth about getting assigned. I found a phone number in the “About” section and my fingers suddenly couldn’t dial numbers fast enough.