Rated: 4.3 Moons Your Rating:

I stumbled into my new apartment. It felt weird to call this small, two-roomed place my own. The air was stuffy; I felt as though I were breathing through a straw. I just stood there, looking around. As I got used to the air, the straw became bigger and bigger. Then it evaporated, and at last I could breathe normally.

The apartment had two rooms: the kitchen and the bedroom that doubled as a living room. The kitchen had a stove, an oven, and an old wooden table and chair set. The living room/bedroom had a full-sized bed pushed against one wall covered with a white bedspread stained with dirt. A twin-sized bed was pushed against the opposite wall with a “My Cute Dolly” bedspread. I liked “My Cute Dolly” when I was five years old, but now I was fourteen, and I could not stand “My Cute Dolly”. In the middle of the two beds, there was a television and a computer. I could tell they were old and would have outdated technology. The wallpaper in both of the rooms had an ugly pinkish tint and was peeling.

“Well, this isn’t that bad, is it? I mean, at least we have a television and a computer. Being a Nobody won’t be so bad, Lexi, will it?” my mom said. I sighed. It was not so much that I dreaded being a Nobody because I had to live in a small apartment, but the main reason was that I had to go back to school tomorrow and be taunted and ridiculed just because I was in the Nobody caste.

In Lagenia, the country where I lived, there were five castes. The top caste was the Heroes, the people who worked for the government and the police. Next, the Still Importants were the doctors, lawyers, teachers, and scientists. Third, the Normals were the shop owners, actors, writers, and restaurant managers. Fourth, the Nobodies had very low-paying jobs, such as waitresses or waiters and maids. And finally, the Inhumans had no jobs, and everyone was encouraged to be mean to them. In the caste system, kids were the same caste as their parents until they turned fifteen. Then, their grades would determine what job they qualified for and what caste they would be in.

Until yesterday, I was a Normal, and I loved it. My parents managed a pizza parlor, and we lived in a nice-sized three-room apartment. At school, the Heroes and the Still Importants spread mean rumors and gossiped about me because I was in a lower caste than them, but it did not matter much. I still had my friends in the Normal caste, so I was happy.

However, yesterday, my parents’ pizza parlor went out of business, so Lisa Paige, the government executive in charge of caste placement, told my parents that we had to become Nobodies and move into a two-room apartment.

I wondered if my Normal friends would still be nice to me tomorrow. Somehow, I knew they wouldn’t. When my old friend Mara moved from being a Normal to a Nobody, we Normals no longer accepted her. We didn’t even think about it: it was completely natural for Normals to be mean to Nobodies and Inhumans.

It was getting late; it was almost ten o’clock at night. I changed into my night clothes and curled up in my bed—my small bed.

The next day at school, I immediately tried to hang out with my Normal friends, Alyssa and Selene.

“Hi guys! What’s on the flip side?” I greeted them, like I always did every morning before the bell rang. And every other morning, either Alyssa or Selene would reply with, “Hey! Not much, you?”, and we would start a conversation.

But not this morning. Instead, they gave me dirty looks, staring at me up and down, the way people stare at Nobodies and Inhumans—the way I used to stare at Nobodies and Inhumans.

“Why are you talking to us? You know as well as we do that you’re a Nobody and we’re Normals,” Alyssa said. I somehow knew that I would get this reaction, but I was still shocked. Everyone in the classroom was looking at me. I just stood there feeling embarrassment and shame, not knowing what else to do. Then the bell rang, and the slow, torturous process of classes began.

Most of the time during class, I just waited to see my friends at lunch or hang out with them after school. But today, I was forced to concentrate on my lack of friends. Sure, I could try to make friends with the other Nobodies, but I was better than they were, so none of them deserved to be my friend.

At lunch, I had to sit at the Nobody table, but I was determined not to talk to anyone. A girl who wore a T-shirt and green Maudies sat by me. She carried a notebook in her hand.

“Hey. I’m Abby, and I’m an Inhuman, but I’m friends with a lot of Nobodies. A lot of us are. We choose to stick together. But anyway, I heard you were new to the Nobodies. Do you want to hang out at my place this afternoon?” she asked. I was shocked that some Nobodies were friends with Inhumans. If people were nice to the lower castes, then there would be no one to be mean to or to blame things on.

Abby looked at me expectantly. I really did not want to see a small, air-tight, one-room Inhuman apartment. I wanted to say, “No, how could I be friends with you? Just look at what you’re wearing!” But as easy as that would be, I couldn’t. Something about Abby’s friendliness made me want to talk to her. She was not afraid to talk to me even though I was a caste above her. Even though it bothered me, I admired her that much more for it. She had such a friendly smile unlike anyone I’d ever met before.

“What are you writing in your notebook?” I asked, surprised at myself. I didn’t even know I was going to ask the question, but I found myself wondering.

She looked surprised, too. “Oh, just some science stuff. I have this awesome theory about mass and energy. Here, want to see?” She passed me her notebook. It was covered in scientific equations and formulas. I could tell she was a genius.

“Wow, that’s awesome! You’re really smart. So, when you get out of school you’ll be able to move up to the Hero caste?” I asked. Suddenly, being her friend didn’t seem like such a weird idea.

But she surprised me again. “No. I don’t want to be a Hero. I think the caste system is incredibly stupid,” she said. I was about to ask why she did not want a five-room apartment or any of the Hero Privileges, but the bell rang.

“So, tonight at my place?” she asked.

“Sure,” I answered. We both went our separate ways, off to class.

After dinner that night, I walked to Abby’s apartment. As she was about to open the door, I held my breath and squeezed my eyes shut. I expected the apartment to be filthy, infested with bugs, and have the smell of a dead, decaying rat.

She opened the door. I reluctantly walked in. I slowly opened my eyes and let myself breathe. The apartment was not anything like I expected it to be. It smelled like any kind of normal apartment, and everything was neat and organized. Two beds lay on one side, and a few lawn chairs were set up on the other side with a stack of books next to them. Off to one corner, there was a small oven and stove set. Even though Abby’s family did not have much, their apartment still looked livable.

“Well, now that you’ve seen my place, I want to show you something,” she said, smiling.

“What is it?”

“You’ll see. Just follow me.” She led me out of the apartment, down through the Nobody section of town, then through the Normal section, then the Still Important section, then through the Hero section.

I couldn’t help stopping to gaze at the beautiful five-room apartments in the Hero section. I could tell there were at least three parties going on in the Party Rooms with disco balls, chocolate fountains, and famous bands. It was all so enchanting. I was paralyzed.

Abby looked at me, exasperated. “Are you done yet?” she asked.

“Sorry,” I said. “But don’t you want to live here so much? You should take advantage of your intelligence and become a Hero when you turn fifteen. Look at me. I can’t memorize things at all, so I have no hope whatsoever of being a Hero. But you can memorize all these scientific formulas and stuff. You should take advantage of your great opportunities.”

“I know you’re still brainwashed by the government, but I’m not. I know that the caste system really is stupid. Think about it. Should people be judged differently than others just because of how well they know math facts or spelling or whatever the teachers want?” Abby spoke with such passionate anger about what the government was doing. I had never met anyone who spoke like that before. All my Normal friends agreed with everything the government did, and all of them had the dream of becoming a Hero one day. I wondered if people were even allowed to talk like Abby did about the government.

I decided that maybe it was not such a good idea to be friends with Abby. She sounded like someone that could lead to trouble. Maybe it would be best to just try to get accepted by the Normals again. I could keep telling them that I was different than the other Nobodies.

“Well, it’s getting late. I guess I should go home. It’s probably past the Nobody curfew, anyway,” I said.

“Why do you even care about the Nobody curfew? Why do you care about following all the rules of the government and trying to be a stupid Hero?” She paused. “Well, I guess it’s because you’re new. My friend Katie was like you when she first moved down to the Nobody caste. It’s just harder for me to understand because I’ve always been an Inhuman.”

“Look. I really need to get home. I thought it would be fun to go out here with you, but now I’m realizing that I’m just going to get into trouble,” I said. Abby smiled. It was that friendly, brave, outgoing smile that made me want to be friends with her. Now it was making me want to let her show me what she wanted to show me.

“Fine, I’ll come. But can we at least try to get back before it’s too much past the curfew?” She just smiled. We walked in silence for a few minutes longer.

I didn’t really pay attention to where we were going. It was only when Abby stopped that I realized that I had never been here before. It didn’t look very much like Lagenia. There were no apartments set up for castes, no schools, and no Party Rooms. Instead, we were standing in the middle of a huge, endless field of grass.

Soon I knew what Abby wanted to show me. A beautiful, shiny black horse stood in front of me. She was tall, and her head was held high.

“This is Lila, my horse. I just was running one time, and I found this place, and then I found her, so I guess I just called her mine, and she’s been mine ever since then,” Abby said, standing next to Lila and stroking her neck. “Here, why don’t I help you get on?”

I had never ridden before, and here Abby was, offering to let me ride without a bridle or saddle. I had always wanted to ride, but only under the supervision of a riding instructor who would make sure I was safe. Here, I could fall off and break my neck any minute. Was Abby mad at me for not agreeing with her about the caste system? Was this her plan of revenge? I regretted ever following Abby, ever being brainwashed by that smile.

Before I knew it, Abby was picking me up, placing me on Lila. I struggled in her arms, but she only held on tighter. Then, she let go. I was on top of Lila, without Abby holding me. I feared I could get seriously injured.

Abby smiled her mesmerizing smile again. But this time it made me sick.

“You look really scared. Don’t worry, though. Lila’s great with new riders.” With that, Lila took off cantering. To my surprise, it wasn’t scary at all. Somehow, I knew that I could depend on Lila and trust her to take care of me. I felt completely free riding through the open field. There were no houses or structured castes and rules.

All at once, I understood everything. Abby was a true friend who would accept people for who they were, unlike my old Normal friends, who accepted me just because of my caste. Memorizing facts or using all correct grammar was not important. This did not make one better than another. Unconditional friendship was what mattered.

I immediately lost all desire to ever be a Hero, or even to just fit in with the Normals again. Besides, this was better than any stupid five-room apartment or going to a Hero Party in the Hero Party Room. Here, I could completely be myself and not care about being in such a low caste because I was with such a great person. It didn’t matter that I was a Nobody or that she was an Inhuman. It didn’t matter that she was practically a genius who desired to remain an Inhuman for the rest of her life.

I could get in trouble later, but for now, it felt good to be breaking the rules. I wasn’t the coward who mindlessly followed what the government said.

I was also with an amazing horse. It was my first time riding, and I didn’t feel scared at all. I patted Lila. She really was great with new riders.

We were far along in the field now. I looked back at Abby, who was gazing at the moon, mesmerized by its beauty. I gazed at it too, wondering how something that tiny could have so much splendor. I yawned; it was many hours past the time I normally went to bed. I lay down on Lila’s back, right underneath the stars and the moon, surrounded by nature. A gentle breeze glided over me, as if to spread a blanket of peace over me. I closed my eyes and let myself enter the world of dreams. This was a perfect place to fall asleep.

Email to a friend:

Printer friendly: