Life Designed (Life Plan Series Book 1)

by Eliza Taye

  Opal nodded, staring at the floor.

  “In all my years…all thirty years of teaching…I’ve never lost a student to the Undecided sector. I had prided myself on preparing students for the real world and helping them find what they wished to do in life. It was my Life Plan to help others find their way. And until today, it had been just as I’d envisioned.”

  “Oh, Mrs. Steinworth, you can’t blame yourself for this.” Mrs. Carneth leaped from her seat and placed a hand comfortingly on Mrs. Steinworth’s arm. “As teachers, we try our best to prepare our students for life, but it is up to them to make the choices they wish to make. We can only provide them the tools. They decide what they will create with them.”

  Opal and Gabrielle gawked at one another. They’d never heard their mother be so insightful. Usually, the insightful speeches came from their father.

  Nodding, Mrs. Steinworth replied, “You’re quite right, it’s just so hard to lose one. I had hoped…dare I say, I had assumed in my hubris that this would never happen to me. I will think of Garrett Gibbons every day. As much as I’d like to say that I wouldn’t, I’ll certainly be wondering what I could have done better to help him.”

  “You’re not the only one, Mrs. Steinworth,” piped in Opal. “As his best friend, I should have pressed him harder to make a legitimate Life Plan earlier. When I saw him at City Hall yesterday, I should have asked to see his Life Plan instead of simply assuming he’d written a real one.”

  “I do have to say, though. How and why did The Council accept such a Life Plan?” wondered Mr. Carneth aloud.

  “I agree, Alan.” Mrs. Carneth inclined her head once, furrowing her brow. “It is such an odd Life Plan to begin with, but what makes it so weird is that they actually approved it. Surely something like that would have gone straight into the denial bin.”

  “I agree as well, Mrs. Carneth. In fact, Garrett told me himself that his exact words were, I wish to become one of the Undecided.”

  Opal’s blood turned to ice. “That’s what he said he wrote? He asked to become one of the Undecided?”

  “Yes, Opal. It is unfortunate, but he told me those were the exact words written in his Life Plan.”

  Opal’s hands began to shake. Why would Garrett have written such a thing? It made absolutely no sense. Did he think if he wrote such an outrageous thing that it would bring The Council to Galaxcion? Was he still trying to find information on them? Was that why he’d written such a blatant Plan?

  “Why, I’ve never even heard of a one-sentence Life Plan before.” Mrs. Steinworth directed her statement at Mr. and Mrs. Carneth.

  “Me neither,” agreed Mrs. Carneth. “It is such an odd thing to do.”

  “I’m sure if someone has in the past, it was automatically rejected and so we’d never heard of it,” surmised Mr. Carneth.

  “Very true. I suppose that’s why they carted Garrett away right after the ceremony.”

  “They what?” Opal exclaimed, jumping to her feet.

  Mrs. Steinworth set her empty teacup on the table in front of her. “You didn’t know? Not long after the ceremony was over, one of the enforcers took him away to the Undecided sector in a personal transporter.”

  Opal’s eyes widened as she rushed to the front door, slipping on her shoes without tying them.

  “Opal, what are you doing?” Her father asked, his mouth wide open in shock.

  “I have to go somewhere.”

  “But we’re supposed to take you to the dormitory in two hours,” reminded her mother.

  “I know, I’ll be back by then.”

  Before they could say another word, Opal raced out the door and down the street. She ran the entire way to the transport station and boarded a transporter bound for the edge of the Undecided sector.

  “April, you haven’t touched your dinner.”

  April ceased pushing the green mush of vegetables around on her plate. “Mama, do you know where people who are banished to our side of town go if their Life Plans are rejected?”

  April’s mother’s eyebrows crinkled; her sad lips pulled down further into a worried pout. “April, why do you torment yourself by going to the Declaration Day Ceremony each year?”

  Resuming her pushing of the food, April responded, “I just like to see the faces of the Submitters turned Declarers. I like to watch the excitement and hope on their faces.”

  Her mother reached over and cupped her chin. “Even though that same excitement and happiness were denied to you?”

  April met her mother’s sad dark brown eyes. The years had not been kind to her. Worry wrinkles creased her forehead even when she wasn’t downhearted. Frail hands with see-through skin worked for hours in a factory five days a week from dawn to dusk. Scars crisscrossed her hands and forearms from various accidents at work over the years. Her light brown skin, once lustrous and full of life now as dull as her black hair had become. Even if she’d become one of the Decided, she wouldn’t have been able to save her mother from this fate.

  “Yes, even though it was denied to both you and me.” Holding her breath, April spooned some of the food into her mouth and swallowed the bad-tasting mush down. “Besides, this time I knew someone there.”

  “Ah, I heard today was an unusual one. A boy actually chose to become one of the Undecided. Is that true?”

  April nodded, eating some more food. “Yes, it is.” She paused before adding, “And, Mama, I know him.”

  Her mother’s eyebrows rose in shock. “Really? Was he from our side of town?”

  “No, he wasn’t and that’s why I was asking about what happens when someone is rejected.”

  Her mother’s eyes turned dark, lost in remembrances of the past. April hated to ask, to dredge up hurtful memories of her mother’s past. She knew her mother’s own Plan had been rejected and she’d become an Undecided. Her grandparents had died in a personal transporter accident the year before her mother’s Submission Day leaving her alone in the world with nothing but grief for company. They’d left her with plenty of money, so she didn’t have to worry about that, but other than the teachers at academy, she had no one else to guide her in writing her Life Plan. She’d accidentally made one mistake and been too specific in the Plan. After it was rejected, she’d been banished to the Undecided sector.

  “Mama?”

  Shaking from her reverie, her mother sighed and responded, “When someone is moved from the Decided sector to the Undecided sector after a denial of their Life Plan, they are put into temporary housing. Well, at least it is supposed to be temporary. Unless you are assigned a job that will pay you a wage where you can save up and move out, you’ll be there for some time.”

  “Do you know where that place is?” April watched as her mother stood from the dinner table and walked towards the hall closet. “Mama?”

  When she returned, she had a set of sheets, a towel, a couple of washcloths, and a hand towel. Placing it in the center of the table, she said, “When I was taken to the temporary housing, there was nothing there. If it is the same as back then, then your friend will need these.”

  April gave her mother a worried look. “That is our spare set.”

  “They do not allow you to take much from your home in the Decided sector with you. Trust me, your friend will need these more than we do.”

  With a solemn nod, April rose to her feet, hugged her mother tightly, and then gathered the sheets and towel set in her arms. Finding a cloth bag, she placed them inside.

  Her mother followed her around their small apartment. “I’m not sure where they would be taking people now, but when I first arrived, there was an apartment block on Warren Avenue I was assigned to. You may want to ask around first. Since he was the first one to be sent to our sector in six years, I’m sure he’ll be the talk of the town.”

  “Thank you, Mama. I won’t be gone long.”

  April left with the bag cradled in her arms. The darker part of night had arrived and the streetlamps continued their ever flicker as she walked down
the pathway. Warren Avenue was about two miles from where she lived, which meant it’d be quite a walk. It wasn’t in quite the worst part of town, but it wasn’t good either.

  On the way, she asked around and at first, no one knew where the newcomer from the Decided sector was being housed, but the closer she got to Warren Avenue, the more specific the directions became.

  “Yeah, word is he’s been assigned apartment 3B in the old Carvington Mansion,” advised an old man with several missing teeth with an aroma of urine emanating from him.

  “Thank you,” bid April with a nod, hurrying away from the pungent man.

  April found the place with ease and made her way to the third floor. As she raised her fist to knock on the door, she hesitated. What in the world was she doing? She didn’t even know Garrett that well. The library was one thing, but visiting him alone in an apartment complex like this?

  Shaking off her negative thoughts, April raised her fist again and knocked on the door.

  No one answered.

  Knocking again, more soundly this time, she waited and could have sworn she heard footsteps behind the door. Not long after, the door opened a crack.

  “April?” Garrett opened the door further. “What are you doing here?”

  April’s heart began pounding in her chest as she remembered how shocked, angry, and hurt she was after hearing his Life Plan. All the time they’d spent two moons ago preparing his Life Plan for him to just lay it to waste made her anger rise again.

  But then she took in Garrett’s face. The haunted, broken spirit peering through his eyes at her. They glistened as if he were fighting back tears just before her arrival. The permanent hint of a smirk that always seemed to be on his lips had disappeared and replaced with a downturned pout.

  “Are you going to let me in?”

  Garrett swung open the door to allow her to passage inside.

  April looked around. Her mother had been right. They had given him the bare minimum and not even enough of the necessities. No sheets were on the bed and there was no closet that could have housed any towels. The single light above flickered in and out as if it were ready to expire at any moment. “I brought you these,” she held out the cloth bag.

  Garrett peered into the bag and then drew out the towels and sheets. “Wow, April, thank you.”

  April gave him a small smile. “Don’t worry about it.”

  Handing the bag back to April and placing the towels and sheets on the chest, Garrett started making up his bed first.

  Not wanting the awkward silence to persist as he made his bed, April said, “So, they really don’t give you much to start with do they?”

  Garrett gave her a side-long glance, not pausing for a moment. “No, they don’t.”

  “Garrett,” April sunk into the solitary chair in the corner of the room, placing her bag on the table. “Why did you do it?”

  Finished with his bed, Garrett sat at the end of it. “I thought I knew, April, but now I don’t.”

  “You had everything…everything at your fingertips and you just gave it all away.”

  Garrett stared at her for several long seconds. “Fine, if you really want to know, I’ll tell you.”

  Chapter 21

  Opal didn’t stop running even after departing the transporter line. She ran through the streets of the Undecided sector, people glancing her way wondering what her rush was. She didn’t cease running until she saw the front of the shelter. Banging on the door, she waited for Mrs. Shaffer to answer.

  “Opal? What are you doing here, child? You should be moving into the dormitory, shouldn’t you?”

  Breathless, Opal shook her head, heaving gulps of air and trying to steady her racing heart. “No…no, I…I’m looking for a friend.”

  Mrs. Shaffer looked at her with a puzzled expression. “A friend?”

  “Yes, the boy who was banished to the Undecided sector,” Opal patted her chest over her heart, still trying to catch her breath. “He is my friend.”

  “Oh, no,” gasped Mrs. Shaffer, a wrinkled hand raising to cover her mouth.

  “Where would he be taken? I just found out he was sent here directly after the Declaration Ceremony.”

  “Oh, Opal, I’m sorry, but I don’t know, dear.”

  Opal rested her hands on her knees, taking in several large breaths again before panting out. “You don’t have any idea? Do you know of anyone here who would? Please, Mrs. Shaffer, I need to find him.”

  “I am so sorry, Opal, but I don’t. It’s really best if you head home. You shouldn’t be here at this time. There are a lot of people here who are upset at what your friend did. They cannot believe someone would choose a life such as this.”

  “I know, I can’t believe it myself, but I’m sure he’s scared. He’s never even been to this part of town before and he doesn’t know anyone here. I just want to…I just want…” Opal bit her lower lip, trying hard not to cry.

  “You just want to comfort him. Show him a familiar face.” Mrs. Shaffer reached out and grabbed Opal so suddenly that Opal raised her eyebrows in surprise. She wrapped her in a tight embrace, rubbing her back comfortingly. “It’s all right, dear. I understand. I’ll ask around and see if I can find anything out. I’ve been here long enough that no one will wonder why I’m asking. It also helps that I’m an old lady. No one pays much attention to us anyway.”

  “Thank you, Mrs. Shaffer.” Downhearted, Opal began admonishing herself for thinking it’d be easy to find Garrett in the Undecided sector and that she’d be able to see him before moving into the dorms. She should have stayed with him longer after the Declaration Ceremony even after her dad insisted she leave the Gibbons family alone to process Garrett’s decision.

  “Go ahead and return home before the last transporter line stops for the night,” urged Mrs. Shaffer.

  “I will. Thanks again, Mrs. Shaffer, have a goodnight.”

  “You as well, Opal. I’ll still see you next Fourth Moon?”

  “Of course,” responded Opal.

  When she returned home, Mrs. Steinworth had already left, and she had to explain to her parents why she’d left so suddenly. They weren’t happy about it, but they both understood.

  “Well, we’d better take you to the dormitory now. We don’t have much time left.”

  “Does that mean we can use the personal transporter?” wondered Gabrielle enthusiastically.

  “Yes, we can. Besides, we can’t take all of Opal’s belongings on the public transporters now can we?” Her dad planted his hands on his hips.

  The family transporter was rarely used due to the expensive price of fuel, so the family reserved it for special occasions.

  “Yes!” erupted Gabrielle, throwing her fist into the air and bringing it back down to her side. “This is going to be amazing!”

  Gabrielle fled out the door to the transporter parked in the back of the house. Opal and her parents laughed at her excitement while they gathered Opal’s bags, two apiece, and loaded them into the back of the personal transporter. Due to the high cost of the personal transporter, the Carneths weren’t able to purchase one with an ample rear storage compartment, so the girls were forced to wedge a few of the bags between them in the backseat.

  Mr. Carneth took the driver’s seat and backed them onto the alleyway behind the house. Cutting onto the main road, he directed the transporter into the traffic of the other personal transporters headed to the collegiate academy across town.

  While her father drove, Opal stared out the window at her home passing by. She knew once her classes started she’d be too busy to visit often, so she tried to memorize everything as she’d known it for the past seventeen years of her life.

  At last, the slight traffic let up and her father drove at a regular speed through the city. As the familiar locations of City Hall, Anaxia Library, and her academy passed, Opal’s excitement grew. Soon they’d reach the School of Law and she’d be one step closer to helping those in the Undecided sector as a lawyer. A twinge ignite
d in her chest as she realized there was a real possibility she could be representing Garrett one day.

  Pushing the thoughts of Garrett aside lest it forced her to break into tears, Opal continued to admire her city until her father announced, “We’re here.”

  Twisting around to take in the building they’d parked in front of, Opal’s eyes widened in surprise. The dormitory was enormous! Eight stories rose towards the blue-black sky and extended outward so far it took up an entire city block.

  “Wow, Opal, this place is huge!” exclaimed Gabrielle, her jaw dropped so low it nearly touched the ground.

  “Yeah, I know,” agreed Opal apprehensively, butterflies fluttering in her stomach as she realized this would be her new home for the next several years.

  A closed campus except for the few days of the year such as Declaration Day, the Academy of Higher Learning boasted some of the most highly academic achieving students. The administrators believed the closed campus allowed the students to remain focused on their studies rather than being distracted by outside friends and family. Not every collegiate academy functioned in that way, but this one did.

  “Holly, do you remember which room they notified us Opal was in?”

  Opal’s mom took out her interwave and double-checked it. “Room 806.”

  “Ah, you got the top floor, Opal. Nice!” praised her dad. “You’ll get a really nice view.”

  “Yeah, until there’s a fire drill or power outage and I have to go down eight flights of stairs,” mumbled Opal.

  Her mother laughed. “Aw, Opal, don’t think that way. Be positive about it. The power rarely goes out here.”

  Even though power failures in Galaxcion were rare, Opal didn’t like the idea of having to descend eight flights of stairs in a fire drill or real emergency either.

  “Gabrielle, help us carry Opal’s bags up to her room,” ordered Mr. Carneth.

  “Sure thing, Dad.” Gabrielle took the bag her dad proffered.

  Between the four of them, they found the elevator and then Opal’s dorm room. The attendant on her floor signed her in and gave her the room key.