The next morning, Rae left home with a breakfast pill, her laptop and a kiss from her mother that she grudgingly accepted. The day was bright and clear as she paced on the sidewalk, waiting for her ride. Roads were always noisy in the morning. Population had reached its limit— especially of children, and cars were long-gone, replaced completely by public transport.

First, large moving platforms with no frame had stuck to the roads, but they needed more and didn't have enough space to add them. So more platforms were created to float above the previous, and before they knew it, three levels of transportation cluttered the streets, all humming away on their non-exhaustible engines.

Finally, after 15 minutes of waiting, Rae spotted a platform on the third level from where her friend Asha was waving. A ladder dropped down and she starting climbing, joining the enormous crowd of teenagers as the platform started moving again with a giant lurch.

"Hey Jones." Rea smiled, shoving her shoulders so she lurched forward.

"What be up, Casey?", Asha said, returning the favour, but harder. Asha had always been too strong for her own good. 

"Careful! I be almost dead meat." Rae said looking down at the 3 story drop. She had no idea why the government thought it was safe to have children transported on nothing but a sheet of moving metal. Then again, she thought, there were more important things for them to think about.

Asha and Rae always loved pretending to push the other off, but Rae always found it sort of scary. Not that she would ever suggest going to the middle— facing the sweaty crowd would be much worse.

Asha's dark skin and brown eyes gleamed in the sunlight, "Why do they stuff so many in one ride? Do they be stupid?"

"Don't know. I hope it be changing after elections."

She shook her head, letting her beaded braids fall free, "Don't we all?"
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Rae stared at her laptop, watching the screen highlight the words it wanted her to read. This lesson was especially tedious (history of politics), and the sentences weren't even moderately complete. She was trying to pay attention, but the abnormal quiet and the summer heat was turning the words into mush. 

She looked up and eyed the substitute teacher. Usually, her homeroom teacher barely cared what they were doing, as long as it looked like you were reading what she assigned, you could pretty much get away with anything. The sub looked pretty laid back, so Rae decided to take a risk.

Asha!, she whispered. As if reading her mind, the computer screen typed out the words in the chat.

What be this time?, was the response she received. What chapter you on?

Even though they were in separate classes, every grade was taught by the same software. And since no one talked much in class anyways, Asha and Rae had remained friends despite it.

22., Rae whispered, I'm be falling asleep

It not that bad, Asha texted back, This leader be funny, at least. Looks like an orange and be wanting to build a wall? People in the past be crazy.

He really did look orange. Asha Jones could make any class seem interesting. In fact, she could make anything seem interesting. Rae had to bite her lip to keep from laughing, but she let a small giggle escape. The substitute looked up and narrowed her eyes. Rae pretended to go back to work as the teacher walked up to her.

"Can I be seeing your screen?"

Feeling proud of herself, Rae turned the screen around, showing the passage they were supposed to be reading, hoping Asha not text again.

She did.

What was his name again? Something with a D, let me check...

Rae cursed under her breath as the substitute's eyes landed on the text immediately. "As suspected. You be texting in class. You and girl here be staying in after school."

Rae nodded solemnly, not wanting to get in more trouble, although she thought the punishment was quite extreme for simply texting. Little did she know, it would get worse.

"And," the teacher continued, smirking slightly, "your homeroom teacher and parents be notified of this."
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A.N: Sorry this chapter was short! I hope you enjoyed. Just wanted to give you a feel of what school was like in this story.

Thank you so much for reading, make sure to leave feedback if you have some!

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