Escaping Elysia

Chapter 1 - Easy

Evita

Sitting in the stiff chair, the leaf design imprinting onto my back, I feel no impending sense of doom about the day ahead. It seems like just another Thursday, maybe the most important Thursday of my semester, but a Thursday nonetheless.

My phone blinks red and I break my concentration to detach it from my wristlet, unfolding its panels as wide as possible to soak up the sunlight. The solar chargers sparkle, sending pinpricks of light scattering across my arms and the coppery lengths of my hair.

Around the courtyard on campus, students gossip, filling the space with a low, soothing hum, like the trains rushing through downtown. The harsh light of my screen clashes with the natural rays from the sun, and the aroma of coffee slithers through the air and makes its way up my nose, tempting me. It cuts through the apprehension, the fear that I won't ace this test, that all this will be for nothing. I lay down my screen and stretch. I can afford a quick break.

Yawning, I leave my things at the table and join the line at the coffee stand. As I do, Claudine approaches behind me. She's brushed her hair -brown, only a shade darker than her rosy skin - neatly into a bob. Her jacket hugs her ample curves, which she's always carried gracefully.

"Ready for this test?" she asks. Not only do we intern together at the Environmental Impact Agency, but we're in the same program here at Dasset University.

I nod. "I think my eyes will fall out if I study any more."

She giggles. "Me too, I've barely slept for days. They give us so much work, it's like, just kill us already." I stiffen and her dark, thin eyes grow wide. "I'm so sorry, I know your dad-"

"Don't." I cut her off. "It's fine."

Laughter breaks out at her table. It's a group of students from our class with their screens out, but no one focuses on their notes. Instead they prop their feet on the tables and discuss the press conference scheduled to be held on campus later today.

The line shuffles forward, leaving only two people between me and caffeine.

"So," Claudine says, her face pink, "have you decided which job to apply for? I think I'll go for one in genetic modification. I heard they're opening new positions because of the food shortage."

"I've applied for soil fertility research," I say, moving forward again.

Her mouth falls open. "Ambitious. I thought they weren't taking graduates this year?"

They aren't, unless I can convince them otherwise. I frown. "I guess we'll see."

I reach the front of the line and hold up my wristlet for the cashier to scan. "One coffee please."

He hands me the coffee, the recycled cup warm and rough on my palm, as well as one packet of sugar, or whatever sugar substitute we're using these days. Moving to the side, I stir the sugar into my coffee, white snowflakes disappearing into a muddy lake, and Claudine joins me with her own cup. I take a sip, grimace, then force myself to take another. After all, it's my only extra drink allowance for the day. I might as well try to enjoy it.

Claudine sips her own coffee, and to her credit doesn't make a face.

"You know, I was thinking." She taps on the cup. "We're all going to the press conference after the test. Secretary Sheer is speaking. You want to come?"

Evelyn Sheer is the Northern Coalition Secretary of Energy. She's technically our boss as interns at the EIA, but she's never spoken a direct word to me in my life. If only.

I smile but shake my head. "I've got a lot of work to do." A lie. I already plan on attending the conference. Any undergrad with aspirations in the energy field will be there. I'd just rather not have to go through the trouble of more small talk.