Life Designed (Life Plan Series Book 1)

by Eliza Taye

  “Except for the house,” muttered Garrett.

  April nodded solemnly. “Yes, except for the house.”

  Both remained silent, sitting across from each other for several long seconds.

  Eventually, April broke the silence. “Why are you here, Garrett? You still have one day left to write your Life Plan before Submission Day.”

  “I don’t know why I’m here, April. I just knew I didn’t want to go to academy, and before I realized it, I was taking a transporter to the end of the line and walking here.” Garrett glanced at her shyly, a little worried about what her reaction would be at his next words. “You’re the only person I know who isn’t pushing me towards writing a Life Plan and acting like you’re frustrated with me for not writing one.”

  “Well, that’s probably because I didn’t know you were procrastinating about writing one.” April gave him a small smile and he knew she was joking. “Still, Garrett. If I had a do-over and my Life Plan in my hands, I’d be rushing to City Hall right now to submit it.”

  Garrett nodded slowly, understanding her sentiment.

  “With all the books I’ve read, I can’t give you an answer to why our Life Plan system works the way it does. But what I can tell you is that it does give everyone a clean slate. Everyone has one chance to plan their life. It doesn’t matter whether you are born into the world of the Decided or the Undecided, each newborn baby has a chance to live a life of their own design. For that reason alone, I think the system is fair.”

  Garrett pondered her words. He could see her point of view where every newborn baby had a chance. If the system wasn’t fair, then every child born to an Undecided would be doomed to the same fate as their parents were. However, that didn’t account for people like April who had a terrible misfortune befall them. Why should they be placed in the Undecided simply due to the failure to submit a Life Plan they’d already written but lost?

  Standing, April reached her hand down to Garrett. “Come on, I’ll help you with your Life Plan.”

  Garrett stared up at her in incredulity. “But we aren’t allowed to have help with our Life Plans.”

  April shook her head, a small smile forming. “No, we aren’t allowed to let someone else write one for us. The rules say nothing about helping someone come up with an occupation or decide when they want major life events to occur. Those things I can help you with.”

  After hours spent with April teasing out ideas for his Life Plan, then returning home to the barrage of angry shouts from his parents for skipping the last day of academy, Garrett holed himself in his room and sat at his desk. Placing his interwave on silence, he spread the papers holding the lines and lines of potential plans he and April had proposed. Now all he had to do was coalesce them into an official plan.

  Appraising their work, he realized there had to be at least a hundred ideas written on the pages before him. He took out a clean sheet of paper and stared at it. This was it. He would finally write his Life Plan and know how his life would play out.

  With a confident inhalation, he pressed his pen to the paper and began writing.

  Chapter 17

  Submission Day. It had finally arrived.

  Opal awoke and stretched. She couldn’t believe the day was here. She’d officially submit her Life Plan today. Sweeping both feet out of bed at once, she slipped on her house shoes and made her way to the bathroom to get ready for the day. She wanted to look especially nice for her trip to City Hall to submit her Plan.

  As she held her hair up in the mirror, then let it down then back again several times, she thought back to how things had gone yesterday. Not long after Garrett had left his house, she’d arrived to walk to class with him like his parents had asked her too. She’d been shocked to discover Garrett had already left and told them he was going by her house to pick her up. It hadn’t taken long for both she and his parents to realize he’d duped them all. In class, she’d sat there staring at his empty seat and wondering where he was. After academy ended, she’d searched everywhere she could think of but couldn’t find him. It wasn’t until 9pm that night that she’d heard from his parents that he had made it home, but refused to say where he’d been.

  Shaking away her guesses at where he could have gone, Opal focused on getting ready for the biggest day of her life. Well, the second biggest day. Declaration Day would be the biggest day. Everyone who submitted Life Plans would have highlights from theirs read in front of the entire city. It was never anything sensitive, just what the person planned to be if they wanted to get married and how many children they wanted. If the Declarer had retirement plans what those would be. With so many Declarers to go through, they limited it to 60 seconds apiece.

  Opal sighed in satisfaction, dreaming of what it’d be like to hear the words, “Plan Approved” spoken before the entire crowd gathered in front of Declaration Park in the city center. The park was used for only one purpose every year: Declaration Day. Those who couldn’t fit inside the park or wouldn’t be able to attend in person could watch on their sciorbs. An official Taeopian holiday, everyone received Declaration Day off work—even the Undecided.

  Compromising with herself, Opal decided on a half-up half-down hairstyle. After showering, getting dressed, and perfecting her hair, she went down the stairs to the kitchen for a quiet breakfast alone.

  However, to her shock, her entire family was already waiting downstairs.

  “Congratulations, Opal,” shouted Gabrielle, setting off a little confetti popper.

  Opal giggled as the confetti rained down upon her head, then hugged her sister. “Thank you, Gabrielle.”

  Gabrielle hugged back, grinning wildly. “You’re welcome, big sis.”

  “Opal, we’re both so proud of you as well.” Opal’s mom gave her the biggest hug she could muster. “Although your father and I never pushed you on the creation of your Life Plan, I hope you know we both had high hopes for you.”

  Opal smiled and kissed her mother’s cheek. “Of course, Mom. I knew you did.”

  Her dad clasped her shoulder squeezing softly. He struggled to put into words his feelings of pride in his daughter. Instead, he pulled her in for a hug and said, “Well done, kiddo.”

  Laughing, Opal replied, “Thanks, Dad.”

  “Well, enough of the hugging. We don’t want the food to go to waste.” Her dad gestured to the table.

  “Food?” Opal turned to the table with wide eyes.

  Fruit of all kinds were piled in the center along with several different types of meat, cheeses, and bread.

  “Did you make all this this morning?” wondered Opal. No way her night owl family members had awoke before her and cooked all this food. They must have stayed up all night.

  Gabrielle beamed up at her. “Well, it’s your last full day in our family home. Starting tomorrow, you’ll be a Declarer and go over to college. We won’t get to see you every day or have a breakfast like this again, so…so..”

  As Gabrielle’s voice began to break and her lower lip trembled, Opal ducked down for another hug, pulling her sister close. “Don’t worry, Gabrielle. I’ll still come to visit. Besides, most kids with an older sibling going off to become a Declarer would be asking if they could have their room, not upset about it.”

  Gabrielle gave a half sniff that sounded more like a snort. “True, but most kids don’t have an amazing older sister like you.”

  Opal’s heart warmed at the love from her family. Both her parents remained staring at her with such admiration it melted her heart. Everyone was proud of her and saddened to see her go at the same time. It was like the same faces she’d been given at the children’s shelter in the Undecided sector. She was surrounded by so much love.

  With a smile, she sat down to eat with her family, wondering how Garrett’s last day with his family was going.

  Garrett stared down at the paper in his hand. He had finally written his Life Plan. Now, all he had to do was submit it and let the fate of his life take its course. Grasping the paper tig
htly, he read his Plan over and over. This was it. It was now or never. Even though the pre-submitters had the entire day to submit their Life Plans—well, until 6pm, he wanted to get it done and over with before some last-minute desire to make a change or edit made him reconsider.

  Shoving his palms against his desk’s edge, his rolling chair sent him backward halfway across the room as the wheels glided across the slick hardwood. Garrett bounced up and strode over to his door, yanking it open. The smell of breakfast wafted into his nostrils from the kitchen downstairs.

  Instead of going downstairs, he snuck across the hall into his parent’s office. Flicking the light on, he searched the drawers for a document protector for his Life Plan. It took several drawers of searching, but eventually, he found a professional-looking black one. Finding another loose sheet of paper, he wrote his name at the top in his best handwriting and placed it above his Plan. Closing the document protector, he exhaled. Thank goodness it’d all be over soon.

  Just as he was about to exit the room, he noticed his mother’s badge on the smooth surface of the wooden desk. Remembering his agreement with Simon, he took out his interwave and snapped a picture of it, sending it as an attachment to him. Technically, it was a day late, but he doubted Simon would do anything about it. Besides, it was still early in the morning and whatever Simon wanted to do with the badge, he still could.

  Leaving behind his parent’s office, Garrett went down the stairs and into the kitchen, his Plan clutched in his hands.

  His mother spun around in front of the stove when she heard him enter. “Garrett, sit down.”

  The lack of cheer in her voice made Garrett swallow hard. Based on her demeanor, she was clearly not happy with him and his father didn’t even place the article he was reading onto the table when Garrett walked in.

  Placing his Plan on the end table of the living room and returning to the kitchen, Garrett did as he was told.

  Without looking up from his article, his father asked, “What did you put in the living room, son?”

  “My Life Plan,” answered Garrett flatly.

  Lowering the article just enough to peer over it, Mr. Gibbons eyed his son curiously. “Your Life Plan?”

  At the sound of her husband’s voice, Mrs. Gibbons froze and rotated slowly until she was facing the two of them at the table. “Did you just say your Life Plan?”

  Garrett stared at the placemat as he replied. “Yes, I did.”

  His mom moved closer to the table, taking deliberate steps, the spatula still in her hand. “A real Life Plan? Like one that follows the rules and has a chance of being accepted Life Plan?”

  “One that includes more than just your first and last name?” added his father.

  Nodding, Garrett responded, “Yes to both.”

  Mrs. Gibbons and Mr. Gibbons studied their son. It wasn’t like him to be so quiet and wordless. The light and sparkle to his eyes were gone. It was replaced with a look of defeat so strong that they didn’t know what to do about it.

  “Is the food ready?” Garrett mumbled, his gaze still focused on the placemat.

  Breaking from her stupor, his mom replied with a glance at his father. “Yes, I’ll put it on the plates now.”

  As soon as his plate was placed in front of him, Garrett began to eat mechanically. Both his parents continued to watch him in puzzlement, hardly touching their own food. Garrett ignored them and simply ate, placing one spoonful of food into his mouth, chewing it to mush, and then swallowing. When he was done, he politely excused himself, gathered his Life Plan, and went out the door. His parents watched him go, blinking in awe.

  Opal walked down the street from the transport station with a pep in her step. Her stomach was full and overly satisfied from the feast her parents had prepared that morning. They’d also promised her favorite dinner for that evening and she had no idea where she’d put it all after the enormous breakfast.

  As City Hall came into view, her thoughts once again turned to Garrett. What would he do today? Had he finally sat down and written his Life Plan or would her best friend be moved over to the Undecided sector tomorrow by default for not submitting a Life Plan?

  Taking the steps of City Hall one at a time, Opal tried to push thoughts of Garrett out of her mind with each step and enjoy her momentous last day as a pre-submitter. Once she handed in her Life Plan, she’d officially be on her way to becoming a Declarer. Her life would begin and it’d be of her own design.

  Following the signs, she joined a line of other pre-submitters. She recognized some of the students from her class at academy, but others were foreign to her. Miranda waved at her from up ahead, then started throwing glances to Opal’s left and right, clearly looking for Garrett. When Miranda’s eyes found Opal’s again, her eyebrows furrowed. Opal shook her head to indicate that Garrett wasn’t with her. With a sad face, Miranda returned her gaze to the front to await her turn.

  The line wasn’t too long, but Opal was forced to wait 40 minutes to hand in her Life Plan. When she made it to the front, the same woman from the pre-approval office was there to accept them.

  “Ah, one of the pre-approval students. It’s always nice to see another one whose plan is destined to come true.” As she accepted Opal’s Plan from her, she added, “did you make any changes since your pre-approval?”

  Opal shook her head, a grin involuntarily gracing her lips. She felt so giddy inside she could hardly contain it. “No, I didn’t. I decided that I shouldn’t mess with something perfect.”

  The woman smiled back. “Very true, dear. Best of luck tomorrow. I’m sure we’ll see great things from you in the future.”

  “Thank you,” Opal gave the woman another quick smile and started making her way to the entrance of City Hall.

  Inhaling a huge intake of breath and blowing it out, Opal closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them. A huge weight had lifted off her chest. All the years of preparing and planning. All the early mornings waking up hours before anyone else to have quiet time to write and focus on her Life Plan. All the worrying, the agony of wondering if she was making the right choices for herself…it was all over. She would finally be announced a Declarer tomorrow and her Life Plan would be a reality.

  Just as she reached the doors to exit the building, Garrett opened them and walked in.

  “Garrett!” Opal said in surprise, a little louder than she intended to.

  Garrett looked up, his eyes taking a few moments to focus on her. “Hey, Opal.”

  Opal glanced down at the document protector in his hands and then back to him. “You wrote your Life Plan?”

  Garrett nodded, studying the tiles on the floor instead of looking at her.

  Perplexed, Opal stared at Garrett. In all their years of friendship, she’d rarely seen him this downhearted. It was like someone had sucked the fight right out of him. With dread, she wondered if that someone was her. She’d been the one who’d chewed him out outside the library last Second Moon and then he hadn’t shown up for the last day of academy yesterday.

  Without a second thought, Opal wrapped Garrett in a hug. “I’m so happy for you, Garrett. I knew that took a lot of work and now I understand why you missed class yesterday. It must have taken you the entire day to write your Plan. I knew you could do it.”

  Releasing Garrett and stepping back, Opal gave him a small smile, which Garrett considered returning, but instead, he allowed his gaze to meet hers for a split second, then he followed the signs to join the other pre-submitters.

  Opal watched Garrett leave feeling slightly hurt and a little empty. Perhaps she’d gone too far in pushing Garrett to write his Plan. However, it had gotten him to do what was necessary. Sometimes, he was so stubborn he was nearly impossible to sway. It’d been hard work, but with dedication, she’d saved her best friend and that gave her the biggest satisfaction of all. He just had to wait until Declaration Day tomorrow, then he’d see all his hard work yesterday would pay off as he stood proudly in front of the city as his Life Plan was
approved.

  Chapter 18

  Declaration Day arrived. The whole city gathered to celebrate the day where an entire group of Submitters would walk away as Declarers. Thousands of chairs had been placed on the lawn in Declaration Park, awaiting the honorary ceremony of the day to begin right at midday when Eris and Maytenar opposed each other in the sky, the reflected light from the faraway blue dwarf star shining into the park.

  The city of Galaxion radiated with excitement as people from both the Decided and Undecided sector gathered together, excited to see their relatives presented before the city and discover whether or not their Life Plans would be approved. It was rare for a student who submitted their Life Plan to have it denied. A denial hadn’t occurred in over five years, adding to the thrill of excitement amongst the citizens of Galaxion as they were sure it’d be the same again this year.

  Amongst the crowd of people gathered in the park, the Carneth family weaved through the long rows of chairs to find themselves a good seat.

  “I’m glad we got here early or we wouldn’t have found good enough seats,” observed Mrs. Carneth. Turning to Gabrielle, she instructed, “Keep two seats between you and your father so we can save seats for the Gibbons. I don’t see them here yet.”

  “All right, Mom.” Gabrielle held back, allowing the span of two seats to grow between her and her dad. “I wonder what Opal is up to right now.”