Tina Chan: imperfect

Now Troop remembered who Maya was. New girl at Ludus; moved to the city a few weeks ago. She was pretty, but not exceptionally eye-catching in a school full of Perfects. Troop thumbed back a reply, hastily covering his electro-slate for a second when the teacher glanced his way.

Sounds like you’re jealous of the new girl.

He didn’t have to wait long for a reply.

I am so not jealous of her. I mean, really, blue eyes and black hair? That’s so cliché. I bet her parents were “Ravenhood” fans back in their days and wanted a daughter that looked just like Raven.

Troop grinned, fully aware that Jennifer was a Ravenhood fan herself. Ravenhood was a popular e-book published thirty years ago. Although the novel was no longer on the top ten books of the year, most people still recognized the title “Ravenhood.” Troop had read the story only once—he didn’t find it especially interesting.

The main character in the novel was a girl named Raven who had black hair, blue eyes and a snappish attitude. So Jennifer is jealous of Maya. Poor Maya; she’ll be receiving Jenn’s wrath. Jennifer was ruthless when other students threatened her popularity at school. Feeling some pity for Maya, Troop did his best to mitigate Jennifer’s envy towards her.

Jenn, how many times have I told you I’m not looking for a girlfriend? Maya’s not an exemption.

Jennifer shot back an answer:

Well, maybe you’re not interested in Maya, but she’s definitely interested in you.

Kristi couldn’t shake off the feeling she was being followed. Probably just Glenn and his friends trying to harass me, she thought. Wait—that can’t be right since I just saw them leave with the Speaker to look at colleges. Maybe they’re back early.

Kristi passed over the short cut that ran through the center of town, trying to throw off whoever was following her. She ducked into an alley in the poorer part of district, thinking if it really were Glenn, he would stop following her. He would never associate himself with the lower class.

The normally well-maintained sidewalk progressively grew more neglected and chipped the further Kristi strode on. Footsteps mirroring her own echoed loudly in the backstreet. She paused and whirled around.

No one.

She resumed walking, heart thumping loudly in her chest. The footsteps behind her picked up again. Kristi unexpectedly stopped once more, hoping to surprise her pursuer and get a glimpse of him or her. A low-lying rose bush to her left shuddered. She whipped her head around.

A pair of luminous gold eyes blinked back then disappeared.

Louder, faster footfalls sounded. Someone was definitely chasing her. Racing blindly, Kristi turned into another twisted alley. Warped shadows of the tall brick buildings leaned over her. Kristi glanced at a street sign. She had no idea where she was.

But what she did know was that she had just entered a dead end. In front of her, two silhouettes materialized. Gasping, Kristi turned around and saw the original pursuer behind her. The three men were wearing loose, nondescript clothes and bore a buzz cut.

All of her escape routes were blocked. I need a weapon, Kristi thought. She frantically ran her hands over the grimy brick walls in search for something hard and wieldable, like a loose brick. Perhaps she could knock out one of the three men if her aim was accurate. Nothing. Her fingernails scraped up a lot of dirt and gunk, but found nothing useful.

Kristi glanced around. The gang was closing in on her; they were no more than fifty feet away. She slapped the brick wall with frustration and fear. A hole opened up in the wall and she fell forward and through. Tumbling through the darkness, Kristi hit the dirt floor with a thud .

Then she groaned when she realized any second the gang was going to find her. She curled up into a small ball in the corner of the room.

Thirty seconds passed.

Then a minute.

After five minutes, Kristi worked up the courage to uncurl herself and switch her electro-slate onto flashlight mode. She was in a small, barely furnished room. The gap she had fallen through had completely closed up. Cautiously, Kristi made her way to the wall and heard people conversing on the other side.

“We lost her, boss,” a deep voice said.

“What do you mean ‘we lost her’?” a female voice snapped back.

“She just disappeared on us.”

“Yeah, she was standing by the wall, then poof! She vanished,” said another guy.

The female voice lashed out, “You guys are useless. Can’t even do a simple task. Did you search the area?”

“Of course. She’s not around anymore.”

The woman snorted. “Well, the girl’s obviously far away now. No point in going after her. You guys are terrible at snatching electro-slates for the black market. Let’s leave.”

Their footsteps faded away and Kristi let out a sigh of relief. For the first time, Kristi noticed the TV standing in the corner of the barely lit room; her electro-slate was the only source of light. That’s strange, she thought. Nobody watches TVs anymore .

Fictional movies and TV shows were banned since the actors were sinning every time they performed a script. Actors were no more than paid liars. The only shows approved by the government were learning channels and the official news station, which were broadcast on the electro-slates and public news-screens.

Kristi’s stomach growled, reminding her it needed food. She placed a hand on the bricks that outlined the entrance to the room. Silently, the bricks revolved away creating an exit back to the alley. She stepped outside, blinking in the sunlight.

When Kristi looked behind her, the brick wall was solid once more. Shrugging, she sped-walked home as fast as she could. She no longer felt as if she was being followed.

Kristi grabbed a quick lunch of waffles (leftovers from breakfast) then flicked the kickstand of her hydro-bike away with her heels. All level eleven students were required to fulfill a minimum of five service hours per week, and Kristi still needed two more hours.

She guided her bike around a lamppost and then between a wishing fountain and a bronze statue of a winged lion guarding the steps leading up to the learning center. The pair of lions that guarded the center’s entrance looked well-aged; in truth they were less than five years old. A special ageing acid wash had been applied to the statues to give them a weathered look.

Kristi rolled her bike to the rack and double-checked to make sure she had properly locked her padlock; many people would be more than happy to steal the bike of the only freak in town.

After scanning her ID card at the front desk, Kristi ambled into the library of the learning center. The library wasn’t very big. Five floor-to-ceiling bookshelves lined three of the walls. Only two of the shelves contained paper books; the other three shelves held government approved DVDs. Smart-glass desks and one smart-screen occupied the rest of the room.

Jaiden stood at the front of the room, beside the smart-screen. The group of level-six students he was tutoring leaned forward in their seats, not wanting to miss a word of his lecture. Jaiden’s sessions were always full; not only did he teach, he taught classes in a fun and engaging style.

Since Kristi had twenty minutes before it was her time to tutor, she decided to wait in the library. She looked on the tutoring session with as much attentiveness as the students; perhaps she could pick up a few tips from Jaiden to make her own class more interesting.

“Who can tell me the four regions of the United Regions?” Jaiden asked.