September 2, 2025
Street

"Hear what happened?" A familiar voice asked as Street sidled up to his table. Chemistry was his least favorite time of the day... it only left him wishing he had taken Physics.

"What happened?" He answered, feeding into his acquaintance's curiosity.

"They're getting rid of books." The boy, properly titled William groaned, joining Street at his table. Street cocked an eyebrow as if inquiring for more information. "Paper, books, authors... the like." He elaborated. "Their reason? People become absorbed in fantasy worlds." He brushed his curly blonde hair  out of his eyes and filled a beaker with bleach.

"Hm." Street grunted in response, turning to the chemicals in front of him.

"It's awful. I mean, in 2022 they got rid of newspapers because of fake news, and now three years later, books because of fake worlds? Seems a little overdone if you ask me." Will snorted.

"I'm sure they had a good reason." Street tried to sound reassuring, but he found himself not at all convinced by his own words.

"Mhm." William muttered, suddenly focused as he mixed two chemicals in a second beaker.

"When do you think they will start? It will probably be a long time before they are able to get all paper related items out of circulation." Street tried to turn the subject. William's eyes brightened.

"That's the interesting thing. Every branch of government is working insanely hard to get this done as soon as possible. It could even start tomorrow. Heck, maybe even today." His eyebrows wiggled. Street's throat suddenly felt dry.

"So soon?" He bit his lip. William shrugged.

"They were pretty serious." He answered, sliding on a pair of goggles and dumping a teaspoon of baking soda into an almost full beaker. Suddenly it shot towards the ceiling, turning into some sort of mush.

"Mr. Cast. Today's lesson was about different chemicals, not combined." The teacher snapped.

"Sorry." William apologized, but he didn't sound sincere.

"Don't let it happen again." She scolded, turning to help some other students.

"I could make a makeshift bomb if I wanted to. All you have to do is this..." William whispered, a flash of evil glint flickering in his eyes. Street raised an eyebrow and shook his head.

"When would I ever need that?"
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Nick

Nick ducked his head as he entered his second period classroom. He searched for Beth, but her usual seat was empty. He approached his own assigned seat and froze. A kid he didn't recognize peered back up at him.

"Hello." He smiled.

"Hi...?"

"I'm Zach." He reached out a hand and shook Nick's.

"Nick. I'll cut you some slack this time, but I'll have you know this is my seat." Nick replied, trying to keep his voice even.

"Oh, nice." Zach turned his attention to the board in front of the class as some of the students turned to watch.

"This is my seat." Nick clarified.

"I heard you the first time, Nick." He replied smoothly, unblinking. Nick shifted his weight from one foot to the other as the entire class watched.

"In another words, leave." Nick tried again. Zach peered back up at him.

"If you thought I was going to give in so easily, you are sorely mistaken."  He replied. The teacher suddenly looked up from her desk and noticed them.

"Nick, find a seat."

"But-"

"Find a seat." She repeated with more firmness behind her command. Nick begrudgingly collapsed into one of the nearby desks and crossed his arms, shooting daggers towards the new kid. He kept his eyes either forward or on the teacher, avoiding Nick's gaze.
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The lunch bell snapped Nick out of his dazed slumber. Kids thundered past, heaving their lunchboxes and backpacks and scurrying into the lunch room. Nick quickly followed suite, almost stumbling into the doorframe. He rubbed his eyes and jumped into the lunch line. He held out his tray as each section was filled with food. He found a seat at an empty table and slowly began eating, starting from the top corner, and moving towards the bottom. Just as he reached for his finishing scoop, the doors to the cafeteria burst open. The principal, flanked by five police officers, entered, pausing near the front of the room. All eyes averted to them as the principal stepped forward to speak. Full of curiosity, the students quieted.

"Students, these officers are here for your papers. Don't hesitate to give them all your books, papers, study guides, books... the like. And don't worry... they provided us with tablets that have included e-books to replace our school books. Don't hesitate to give all you have. Thank you." He nodded as the police officers stepped forward with trash bags. Nick immediately stopped chewing, and the fork he held fell to the plate.

"Holy-"

"Your papers, please." An officer asked, striding up to him with an open bag.

"I-er... give me a minute. I have a lot to gather." Nick stalled. The cop nodded and moved on to the next table. Nick knelt down, unzipped his backpack, and stared at all the papers that were stuffed inside. Stories... dozens of them. Some were not as good as others, but he had fallen in love with the characters he had made in each and every one. Tucked even deeper was his favorite book, The Land of Elyon. He couldn't even think of parting with it. He glanced around the room as a thought lurched into his head with a surprising force. Run. He scooped his backpack onto his back and started for the double doors with an exit sign hung overtop.

"Hey!" A voice called behind him. He quickened his steps and forced himself not to look. He heard the crackle of a police officer's radio just as he slammed the doors open.

"Send backup. We have a runner." For some reason the way the cop said 'runner', it gave Nick chills. The door opened behind him loudly, causing him to break into a run. "We're in pursuit." A voice announced behind him. As his legs pumped towards the street, it occurred to him that he had no idea why he should be running. Couldn't he simply ask them if he could keep his papers? That thought caused him to hesitate, and suddenly he felt himself falling. He landed with a thud on his back, and it took him several seconds to regain some sense of sight. He took deep, shallow breaths as he tried to grab ahold of so much air at once. The fastest officer, and perhaps the youngest, lay atop of him, pinning him to the grass. He, too, was breathing heavily.

"You have the right to remain silent-" he began, but Nick cut him off.

"What the heck is happening?" He blurted. The cop looked mildly confused.

"You have-"

"I'm not getting arrested, am I? What did I do wrong?!" Nick shifted, trying to get into a more comfortable position.

"You ran." The officers pointed out. "And you were carrying a backpack."

"That's enough for an arrest?" Nick pressed.

"All books and paper are banned." He continued as his two companions stepped up beside them.

"But-"

"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say..."
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Samantha

Samantha led one of her friends to an empty table and collapsed into one of the seats.

"I hate lunch time. To be honest, it always makes me realize how little friends I have. Oh goodness, that sounded rude..." Possibly Samantha's closest friend, Sarah, stuttered. Sam smiled.

"It's okay. I get what you mean." She assured her, digging into her meal. She pulled a page of her story from her backpack and retrieved her pencil from her pocket. She wrote a line and took a bite of her sandwich.

"More of that story?" Sarah peered at her page.

"Yeah. I'm not sure where I should go with it, though." Sam shrugged, chewing on the end of her pencil.

"Well... maybe she could find something the killer left behind." Her friend suggested.

"Too simple. I need something... complex. Hard to figure out." Samantha mused, a thought suddenly flashing through her head. She quickly jotted it down and sat back in satisfaction. "I think I got it."

"Good. I promise you, if Elizabeth..." Sarah trailed off, her eyes widening.

"You read my story?!" Sam stiffened, her pencil frozen over the page.

"I'm so sorry! You left it on your desk the other day. I went to give it to you but got caught up in the story. I'm sorry." She repeated, shrinking back into her seat. Samantha huffed.

"It's okay. I just feel... scared when someone reads my stories."

"Why?"

"I'm just afraid people won't like them, I guess." She shrugged, sliding her story back into her bag.

"But it was amazing!" Sarah's eyes lit up. "Patrick was my favorite. There was definitely an aura of mystery about it." She nodded vigorously, her eyes still wide.

"Thanks." Sam felt herself blush.

"Aaaaatention high schoolers! As some of you may know, the government has proposed completely getting rid of all books, paper, and anything related. Early this morning, the government chose to act immediately... starting with every library, school, and finally, home. We ask that you kindly hand over those items to the officers that will be throughout the lunchroom to gather those things. Don't hesitate to hand them over... all school books have been replaced with tablets that will provide you with the necessary information to continue the school year. Have a great day!" The intercom beeped into silence. Sarah's eyes got even wider.

"What?!" Samantha felt the blood drain out of her face. "So soon? They literally published the article about it yesterday!" She gaped. Sarah looked just as surprised.

"Sam... they'll take your book." She pointed out quickly as several officers streamed into the room. "You can't let them take it." She pleaded. Samantha's eyes darted around, looking for any sort of hiding place.

"Under your tray." Sarah suggested quickly as one of the cops headed for their table. Sam quickly stuffed the five pages of her story under her cafeteria tray just as the officer walked up.

"Papers please." He told them, holding out a bag. Sam reluctantly released any paper and books from her backpack into the bag. Sarah followed suit, trying to look unsuspicious. "Now remember, if you are hiding any, we will be back." He assured them, moving to the next table.

"I've never disobeyed the law like that. Let alone school rules!" Sam hissed. Sarah nodded vigorously.

"My heart was hammering so bad I thought I would die." She agreed. Sam glanced down and adjusted the papers.

"I just pray they never find out."
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