Among Us by Tevar Stephens
“EEUAHHHHhh,’’ Tracy yawned while looking into space, once he came to his senses. He got up and brushed his teeth, and took his shower. He took his blue pill every morning like everyone else does in his community. He doesn’t know why, but he does it because he doesn’t wanna get in trouble with his parents. Before going to school everyone has to get poked in their finger and insert blood into a machine to find out whether you took the pill or not. My best friend tested negative for the pill last year and since then I never saw him again. I sometimes have these things my mom calls “dreams’’ about her. She says it’s because she was becoming a negative thing to this society and I should forget about her, but it’s never that easy after all the time we spent together. I made it to class and today was test day, everyone in school has to lay down in this machine with electrical head bands on our head. I never really know what happens during this test. It all just seems like a blur to me, like I fell asleep or something. The principal calls me to his office later on that day, which rarely happens to anyone. I sat down in the chair on the other side of the table. “Good afternoon Tracy, how have you been doing?” he says. “I’ve been great! Just a little nervous, I don’t know if I did something wrong or not.” The principal responded, “No, you did nothing wrong. Unless you have something to tell me,” he says with a sketchy smirk then continues. “You’re here because we believe you’re worthy enough to work with the SG (Secret Government).” I always heard about a secret government from stories my friends used to tell me, I never really believed but now I was shocked to hear about it from my principal who continues to say, “Don’t you ever want to live in the mountains with the wealthy people with big houses?” I shook my head. “Exactly why you should join and sign these papers.” He slides a huge thick packet across the table. I started to get nervous because it felt like I had no choice. 159
