Unhappy

1. Irene

She stood staring out at the field, wondering. Her mind wandered the endless thoughts that came to her mind. All she wanted to know was one thing. Why were there juvey cops on the field, and were they coming for her.

"Are we gonna be okay?" One of the other teenagers mumbled. Irene looked to her, and put her hand on the girls shoulder.
"We'll be fine." She said. Though she still kept her eyes glued to the juvey cops.

Her whole life, Irene had been terrified of being unwound. And the fact that her parents were abusive and she was storked wasn't very helpful. It only kept her in that constant state of fear that she assumed all unwinds found themselves in.

To keep herself from being unwound, she made herself "perfect". She studied every hour of the day. She practiced cheerleading until she passed out. She turned in her homework on time. She treated people kindly. She became student council president. She stayed as skinny as possible. She wore makeup to stay as pretty as she possibly could be. She got perfect grades in every subject. She sung with perfect vocals. She was the girlfriend of the football captain, who she didn't even like. All of it, was to better her chances that she'd never be unwound.

She kept these attributes as close to herself as she could. It kept her scared and petrified. Any parent would probably hold her to the highest regards. Show her off to all of their coworkers, take her to all the expensive parties, that sort of thing. Her school would take her to be shown off at academies or juvenile detention centers. It was to show other students what they should be. The schools were basically saying that they should be more like them. They called it an "Angel Showcase". That's why students like Irene are called Showcase Angels.

At the age of fourteen, about maybe a month ago, she had been taken to a juvenile detention center. She wore a pretty dress, had perfect blonde hair, and wore makeup that made her look even more presentable than she already was. She was mostly nervous, but held her head up high. I'd you weren't prideful, everyone would have been suspicious.

After the showing that day, she took a moment to look around. She'd never been to a juvenile detention center. Looking around made her feel bad for all the people stuck there, but she couldn't do anything.

"Hey." Someone said. Irene quickly turned around, facing the person. It was a boy, maybe about a year older than her. He had short black hair and dark brown skin. He looked like he worked out a bit, but not as much as a professional wrestler. He had a smile on his face.
"H- hello?" Irene replied. She was sort of cautious, since she wasn't sure if she should be scared or calm. Either way she knew this guy must have done something to get into juvenile detention, so she stayed alert.
"You look very pretty. But I guess that's expected of an Angel." He complimented. She smirked a bit, but didn't reply. "I guess that makes sense, because you guys think that you're so much better than us." Her smile quickly turned into a frown. The guy seemed to be partly mocking her.
"I didn't want to come off that way. I only come here to do these showcases because I'm forced to. I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings." Irene replied. This partly shocked him. "What's your name?" He stared for a moment.
"My name is Philip Burton... what about you?" He asked. She gave him a warm and bright smile.
"I'm Irene Weber. Pleased to meet you." She responded. Philip only stared. Irene couldn't tell if he was shocked or just thinking.
"Philip Burton." A juvey cop said. Irene stared in shock, as she watched the two cops walk up to him. "You are being sent to be unwound. Resist, and we will have to tranquilize you." Irene felt everything begin to spin. Those dreadful words... even if they weren't addressed to her... were horrible.
"W- wait! Why would you send him to be unwound!? He's already in juvenile detention!" Irene interjected. The two cops stared at her. One seemed confused, while the other seemed stone faced.
"His parents signed the unwinding order. We're just doing our job." The stone faced cop said. The other nodded. Philip looked at Irene, seeming a bit surprised.
"Why should that decide his fate!?" Irene yelled, almost furious. She felt tears begin to well up in her eyes.
"We're not gonna listen to a Showcase Angel. Just scram." The cop said. Irene stood her ground.
"B- but it's so inhuman! What would you feel like if you were being sent to be unwound!?" She replied. The juvey cops just stared at her, before the stone faced one took out a walkie-talkie.
"We have a showcase Angel over at cell 12." The stone faced cop said. Irene looked to Philip, who was only staring at her at this point. He seemed like he was in awe, as the other cop put the handcuffs on him.
"Hey, you should just go. There's no point making a huge fuss like this." Philip said to her. Irene couldn't believe it. He wanted her to stop defending him from being unwound? It was something beyond her understanding, but she accepted it.
"Fine..." she replied, before walking away. She felt so guilty, even though it wasn't her fault. Philip was in the juvenile detention center, so that meant he was a bad person... right? Irene couldn't wrap her head around the concept, so she ignored it.

Thinking back to it now still haunts her. Even as she's standing, staring at the field, she can't stop that moment from haunting her. And now their were juvey cops standing on the field.

"Irene, are you okay?" A girl asked. She was a bit smaller than Irene, had brown hair and had freckles, but other than that they looked pretty similar.
"Yeah... I just..." Irene began. "What if someone gets taken to be unwound today?"
"Well it was probably just a bad kid then. They should have lived their life better, no biggie." Another girl replied. Irene hated that. She hated when people decided that was the reason. Like it wasn't the parents who signed the order, it was just some kid living life.
"That's our que." Another girl said. On that note, they all walked out onto the field, waving to the many people on the sidelines. Everyone was cheering, as they began to form their line. Irene, took a deep breath, and calmed herself down a bit.
"Irene Weber." Someone said, tapping on her shoulder. She looked at them, only now realizing that it was a juvey cop, who had a big bushy mustache and a bald head. She felt time slow down as she stared in shock. "Your legal guardians, Mr. and Mrs. Weber, have signed the unwind order. Please do not resist." She felt her heart beat faster and faster every second.

She heard those dreadful words again. The words that she tried so desperately to never hear. But it wasn't someone else they were talking to, it was directed towards her. She was the one being unwound. She was the one who was being sent off to have their organs harvested. She was the one who was going to go into a "divided state".

Before she realized it, she had tears running down her face. When she finally noticed, she couldn't take it anymore. All the pent up emotions she felt for her entire life, and had hidden from everyone, leaked out. She fell to the ground, weeping. She didn't have the strength to face it.

She could feel people staring at her. No, she could feel every single person watching her. She was crying, and everyone saw. But she didn't think that it was people being rude. It must have been people who were in shock. The Showcase Angel was being sent to be unwound. That was something worthy of a headline.

The cop pulled her back up, and put handcuffs on her hands. She didn't resist, only deciding to follow slowly behind, as she couldn't walk as fast as the cop intended on going. She felt so weak in that moment, as she let herself cry. And to think... her entire life was wasted... to try and avoid this very moment.