Beyond

ᑕᕼᗩᑭ丅ᗴᖇ ᖴᎥᐯᗴ

𝓓𝓮𝓬𝓲𝓼𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓼 ✶༄ ‧₊˚

Sophia breathed heavily, waiting for the woman to finish unfolding her paper. Finally, after the article was smoothened, the woman cleared her throat and started announcing names.

"Okay, we have Anaya Michaels, Gabriella Prives, Kiana Graves, Violet Hayes, Willow Anderson. . ."

Willow got called! Sophia spaced out as the woman kept listing names, one thought in mind. I hope I get called. She repeated it a few times before focusing back on the TV. She crossed her fingers as the woman finished listing the last names.

". . . Sylvia Goth, Claire Johnson, Rachel Frats, Emily Kingsley. . ." The woman trailed off. Sophia prayed in her head, squeezing her eyes shut. Hoping to be called, there was only one more name. It had to be hers. The woman looked closely at her paper before saying her last name. "Last but not least, Sophia Hester!"

Sophia was so surprised, thousands of thoughts running through her head, the sound of her heart beating in her ears as she stared at the wall blankly. Her parents looked distraughtly at each other before pulling Sophia into a hug.

"It's okay, sweetie," her mom whispered, rubbing her back. Sophia didn't even move from her frozen state. She continued staring with her arms stiff at her sides. After some time, she turned her head slowly and looked at her mom.

"Mom?"

Her mom looked at her with sorrowful eyes but was shocked when Sophia's expression changed. She looked happy, excited even.

"Sophia?" Her mom questioned as her face changed to a smile.

"I made it! I get to go to space! Don't you know how exciting this is?!"

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

Meanwhile, back in Arizona, a certain girl was reacting very differently.

"Okay, we have Anaya Michaels, Gabriella Prives, Kiana Graves, Violet Hayes, Willow Anderson. . ."

"No," Sylvia muttered unbelievably. She was going to lose her only friend; she couldn't believe it. Her mother heard her, reached over, and her fingers found Sylvia's. She squeezed her hand reassuringly. Sylvia looked toward the stairs, where they had put Vali to sleep only moments earlier. They focused back on the tv, and the name she said next would scar Sylvia for the rest of her life.

". . . Sylvia Goth. . ."

She paid no attention to the names announced after hers, just a hollow echo in her head as silent tears streamed down her face. She turned toward her mom.

"No, no, no, no, no, mom, this can't be happening. I don't wanna leave!" She sobbed and continued. "I'll run away and hide, I'll dig a hole and hide in it, and they can never find me! I won't leave. I'm not going, mom!"

Her mom silently pulled her in for a hug and rubbed her back.

"There's nothing you can do, sweetie,"

Sylvia kept crying and hugging her mom tightly.

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

Leo gripped his sister's hand as she shook with terror at announcing the girls' names.

"Okay, we have Anaya Michaels, Gabriella Prives, Kiana Graves, Violet Hayes, Willow Anderson. . ."

Leo noticed his sister was beginning to hyperventilate, so he leaned over and whispered.

"Listen, out of millions of girls in the United States. They will not pick you, okay?"

"Okay. . ." She muttered, somewhat unsure. Leo knew he had to cheer her up, so he made fun of her.

"Pff, as if your that special, you wish." He scoffed, and she loosened up and let a little smile slip through her closed lips.

". . . Sylvia Goth, Claire Johnson, Rachel Frats, Emily Kingsley. . ." The girl paused, and Leo held his breath. Waiting for the last name, he crossed his fingers. "Last but not least, Sophia Hester!"

The whole family let out a breath they didn't know they were holding. The girl on the screen paused before she pulled out another paper.

"Now for the boys, we have Sam Gretnor, Cammy Graves, Hunter Micheals. . ."

Lexi leaned over and whispered in Leo's ear.

"What if you get called?"

"I won't." Was his simple response. His sister raised her eyebrows at him but didn't say anything. He missed a few names but could tell none were his.

". . .Eddie Tuffin, Derek Eldson, Nick Sandler, Leo Grant, Bruce Tungsten. . ."

Leo zoned out for a moment before realization kicked in.

"Wait, did she say my name?"

His parents and sister looked at him sadly.

"Did she say my name?" Leo asked, more serious this time around, looking his dad dead in the eyes.

"Leo," His mom said sadly.

"What!? Of millions of people, aren't their other people with that name!?"

Before anyone could answer Leo, the woman on TV spoke again.

"Okay, we will send out holograms to all the parents of the children that will be sent out to maximize safety and training time. We will gather everyone tomorrow afternoon. Please do not resist. We have other methods."

With that, the tv switched back to regular and the emergency broadcast shut off.

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

Out of all the families, one girl was particularly excited, so while it was still daylight, she slipped her shoes on and ran down the street to meet her friend.

Sophia ran heavily up the steps of Willow's front porch. She pounded on the door hurriedly and caught her breath from running. Willow swung the door open, and as soon as she did, Sophia pulled her in for a tight hug.

"Can you believe it!? I get to go to space!"

Willow seemed upset, and Sophia pulled back and looked her in the eye.

"What's wrong?" She asked, raising her eyebrows. Willow's lip trembled.

"This might be exciting for you, but I don't think anyone else that was called actually wants to go. I don't want to leave my family or earth. I do not desire to experimentally go through a black hole without knowing if it's safe!"

She said all in one breath, gradually getting more and more upset.

"Well yeah," Sophia said, searching for the right words. "Well, at least you get to go to space with your all-time best friend since preschool! Isn't it good that you'll at least know someone?"

"I mean," She said. Sophia looked at her with disbelief before Willow's demeanor completely changed. "Good point. I'll have to enjoy the rest of my time here on earth before enjoying my time in space. We're just going up, sending word back if it's safe, then coming back. So it's not like we'll be gone forever."

"See!" Sophia said, happy she had changed her friend's mind. "It will be a fun experience, right?"

"Right."