The Falling of Lauren Johnson

Chapter One

My internal clock rouses me from my sleep and my eyes flutter open. The early morning light seeps into my room from beyond the purple-colored curtains that add only a hint of color to a very white, uniform room. I bring my wrist up to my line of vision, and the clock on my chip reads 7:00 AM. I should've gone to bed sooner last night. Those stupid sketches could have waited. I force myself to get up and start getting ready for the day.

School starts promptly at 8:05 and I can't afford to be late. I swiftly move into the bathroom before my father can come harass me, still coming off of his drug-induced high and moving into his drug-induced hangover. He'd pester me for money if I ever gave him a glimmer of hope. He's the reason I'm always late.

I turn on the showerhead and quickly undress myself. The warm water feels good running over my dry, tanned skin. I wash away the sweat from last night's night terror and the memory slips away with the dirt and grime. I turn the water off and take a quick glance at my chip. 7:15. All right, that's not so bad, I can still make it on time. I wrap a towel around myself and quickly run back into my room, pulling the schools uniform out of my dresser. The white blouse still clings to my somewhat damp body and I pull the black hosiery onto my legs and up under my skirt. I manage to take another glance at my chip. 7:37. Okay, that's not so good, but you can still make it Lauren.

I pull the black heels onto my feet and cram my sketchpads and homework back into my school bag, trying to keep it organized, when I hear footsteps approaching from behind me. I whip my head around just as I'm pulling the bag onto my shoulder, and see my father standing there, twirling an empty pipe around his finger.

"Lauren," he begins, I can already see the hint of begging in his eyes, "Could I please borrow some money? Please? I'm going to DIE if I don't get another hit!"

I shake my head and push past him, making my way down the stairs as I call back to him. "Somehow I think you'll manage without, and besides, you already borrowed some last week."

I reach the end of the staircase and head to the front door when a beefy hand grips my wrist and whips me back around.

"Listen girl," my dad rages, anger fueled by his hangover, "I am your father and you must do as I say! No back talk, do you understand?"

I nod and try to pull my hand out of his grip. "Yes Pap, I understand. I've got to get going to school!" I reply. He releases his grip and I'm out the door in a flash. I chance a look at my chip one last time. It reads 7:48. Oh no, not again.

I reach my seat in my first class, gender studies, just as the bells toll, indicating school has begun. The classroom lights flick off and a projection of our principal appears on the far wall. She goes over the daily morning announcements, and the conversations of giggling girls continue on through the announcements. I pull out my sketchpad and idly doodle, waiting for class to begin.

The announcements end and Miss Lecher, the gender studies teacher, walks into the room, and an immediate hush falls over the group of girls.

"Now ladies, we are going to start our lesson today on the history of the gender separation and how it has evolved into the glory it is now." Miss Lecher pulls her wrist up toward her body and taps her chip a few times. A video hologram flicks onto the front wall, and a lady with a smooth calming voice begins speaking.

"In the very beginning times, there were no separation between males and females, which caused for vastly enormous amounts of pregnancy due to adultery. About 78% of all females submitted to the idea of intercourse before marriage, which resulted in pregnancy. The number of rape was also increasingly high, with 1 out of 3 women having been sexually assaulted. In 2076, our late glorious Emperor, Hector Hartwell, ended the war with the sea nations, which is when he turned his attention to the real problem, a domestic problem, that of young adults and the temptations of the human body. That is when he instructed a group of researchers to test possibility of creating a new human race that didn't mature sexually until the age of 18. This research, unfortunately, did not help with the problem, and only created a new one, one that we are still facing today; clones. However, beyond separating the clones from the actual human race, the glorious Emperor came up with the separation constitution which states that "Males and Females must remain separate from the other gender, excluding parents, until the age of 18 where they will graduate from school and be set free into the world of coexistence between male and female.'"