Locked In

September 28, 3030 9:30 A.M.         I pack my bookbag, shoving in all the supplies needed for school today. As my mother calls for me downstairs, I quickly look at myself in the mirror to make sure I looked okay. I quickly adjust my grey t-shirt and brush off my jeans. Slipping on a red jacket, I comb through my frizzy brown hair with my fingers. I rush to my bathroom and rummage through my cabinets before I realized I was out of contacts. Silently cursing, I grab my glasses and begin lacing up my shoes.          "Scarlett, get your ass down here!" My father now yells from downstairs, his words slurring a bit.         "I'm coming!" I shout, already agitated with my parents. They constantly argue, and I wish the laws hadn’t changed to where you can no longer divorce.          I hurry downstairs with my bag slinging on my shoulder to see my father sitting on the couch with a beer in his hand and my mother sorting through the fridge. "I'll see you guys later."         My parents don't even seem to acknowledge me as I walk out the front door. I'm immediately surrounded by chaos as people swarm through the streets. The sound of car horns and people shouting fill the air around me. Security guards stand everywhere, with most of them in front of buildings and homes, standing beside scanners. I watch as a young woman, maybe in her mid-twenties, go through a security scanner before she can step into her own home.         Having security like this has saved a lot of lives. Crime rate has dropped to its lowest in history, with the least amount of occurrences in the past hundreds of years. I remember reading about school shootings in history books. A huge spike occurred in--I believe--2018. I've also read that America was a lot freer, but once we came into the thirty-first century, we lost all freedom. It's as if the Declaration of Independence went down in flames.         I flip my wrist and a hologram of the time pops up before me, reading 9:35 A.M. I swipe the three-dimensional image to the left. A new image appears, now showing me the current traffic conditions, along with an ETA of my school arrival. Only twenty minutes to get there, leaving only ten minutes to spare and I would still have to get through security. Great.  *** 9:55 A.M.         It took five minutes of walking through scanners and guards waving their metal detectors around me before I finally was able to walk into school. I rush to my first class, letting out a sigh of relief when I make it just in time.         "Scarlett, what took you so long?" Madison Eldridge, my best friend, whispers. She sits in the seat beside me on the right.         "I'm sorry," I apologize, adjusting my glasses on the bridge of my nose. "My alarm didn't go off and my parents didn't even try to wake me, because--well, I think you know why."         "Unfortunately." Madison shakes her head in disapproval of my parents. I don't blame her.          I set out the books I need for my history class, pausing when Bennett Hall turns around to face me. I immediately flush, nervousness flooding my body as my long-term crush makes eye contact. We used to be best friends, but then he found a new group of friends and got a girlfriend. Being ditched for a new group of people should've ended all feelings, but unfortunately . . . it hasn't.         He flashes a dazzling smile. "Do you have a pencil I can borrow?"          "Yeah. . ." I push my glasses up a bit, then pull out a pencil and quickly hand it to him, anxious for those beautiful hazel eyes to turn away.          "Thanks." And just like that, Bennett turns around to face the front of the room.         "All right, class," Mrs. Hurtado says as she steps in front of the projection screen. "Get out your homework assignments."         I miss looking at those beautiful eyes. *** 12:05 P.M.         "We should all hang out tonight," Luna Rivera, one of my other closest friends, suggests.         I sighed. "You know my parents will never agree.”         "Sneak out," Madison says as if it's no big deal, shrugging her shoulders.         "I can't sneak out!"         "Why not?" Ryker Cornish asks, sitting beside me.         The four of us are sitting in the cafeteria and eat our lunch, which is just a grey glob of gunk. It's like this school is a prison, the food is so disgusting.         "Because," I reply. "If my parents find out I snuck out, they would throw me into the dark basement." I shudder. "I'm not trying to go through that again."          When I was five, I had disobeyed my mother by not doing the dishes. She forced me into our pitch dark, spider-infested basement for nearly five hours. I never forgot to do the dishes again.         "I still can't believe that story," Madison grumbles, shaking her head. "You're parents are terrible."         "Yeah," Luna agrees. "I wish you could come live with me."         "I would love that," I admit, picking at my food. "But we all know that could never happen."         Ryker opens his mouth to say something, but someone exclaims:         "Yo, Bennett!"         I look over my shoulder to see Ashton Anaya clap Bennett on the shoulder with a huge grin. Then Karter Cohen practically jumps on Bennett, slinging his arm over the boy's shoulders.         "How you doin', man?" Karter asks him loudly.         I find myself staring at Bennett, watching the way his cheeks form dimples every time he smiles. We make eye contact, my heart skipping a beat because I know I've been caught staring, and I almost wave at him, but then . . . Penelope Driscoll walks in with a smirk on her face. She walks up to Bennett, who is still looking at me, her mouth forming words. When she kisses his cheek, he tears his eyes away from me and smiles at his girlfriend.         I sigh and turn back to my tray. I'm an idiot, and I have been for years, for thinking that I would ever have a chance with Bennett Hall.