The Rejects

Chapter Two - Jessica

Jessica Baritone sat up in bed. Her eyes were as wide as saucers. It was 6:05 a.m. She had slept in. At this rate she would never make it to the gym, take a workout selfie, and make it to the Alpha's meeting. Jessica stared at the beige ceiling of her small room. She decided if she got up now for a quick jog and used that as the workout selfie, then she would save time and return to schedule. After all, the Alpha meeting of Elites, the AE, had taught her that you could always get back on track if you concentrate on your end goal.

Jessica stepped out of bed and onto her pink, fur blanket. Faux fur of course. Real fur was so not cool. She opened her closet and picked out a turquoise tank top and matching shorts. Before leaving she threw on a pair of gold joggers and a lavender baseball jacket. Jessica looked in the reflector, and upon deciding she looked très chic, raced out the old door.

As Jessica broke out into a sprint on the chipped sidewalk of her ancient road, she felt a buzzing. She reached into her pocket and retrieved her glowing Gramex 10.0. Its creepily human voice read, "To Ms. Jessica Verna Baritone; According to the stats, you've over overslept today. I'd hate for you to wait in the lines at the communal gym. Please join us for breakfast and feel free to use our personal gym. From Mrs. Marissa Vigor" Jessica pondered for a moment how the interweb stats had gotten her sleep index so quickly, but then she realized what just happened.

Marissa Vigor had invited her, littlest ol' Jessica Baritone, daughter of two unpopular adults, to her mansion. Sure, Jessica got likes, but Marissa got likes. The most likes in a female life in all of known history. Jessica opened her Elite transport application, her legs slowing to a slow jog, and teleported back to her bedroom. She shoved an outfit into her bag.

Jessica was about to say goodbye to her parents as she ran through the tiny house to her door, but remembered they weren't there. Even though Jessica was popular, her parents, not so much. Being only slightly above Reject level, they had the hardest jobs, and the longest hours.

She touched her fingers to her Elite transport application, a small silver device she wore on her wrist, sort of like the ancient watches the Museum of Antiquery had in the back room and sort of like an old "phone" they had there too, whatever that was. It could transport her anywhere within a hundred-mile radius from her exact location. Her finger was wired to it so that only she could use her own device, and vice-versa for anyone else who had one. Her atoms vanished in the blink of an eye the moment she touched the screen, then reformed in front of an enormous light gray manor, on a newly-paved street.

Mrs. Vigor greeted Jessica at the oversized door, beginning to talk to her before Jessica had even had a chance to look at her. "Hello dear! You look wonderful, except for that outfit! Whatever are you wearing? You know, I might have some old clothes you could wear." Jessica smiled. Mrs. Vigor, however talkative she was, was so generous. "Oh, you must be freezing out there!" The woman continued. "I'm sorry! Do, come in." Jessica smiled again, entering the immense house, finally getting a glimpse of Mrs. Vigor through the shining light that had flooded through the door. She was wearing a gray floor-length gown. It shimmered in the light of a blue and white stained-glass window.

The house looked, if possible, even bigger on the inside, perhaps because it was mostly an open space. A white marble floor covered mostly in a furry black carpet; royal chandeliers hanging over multiple vast wooden dining tables; flower vases on glass stands against the sides of the house; large, bulky picture frames and painted masterpieces hanging on the white walls; a grand staircase leading to a second floor that looked just as heavily decorated as the first.

"Come, come!" Cooed Mrs. Vigor, urging Jessica to a grand marble staircase beneath the one that led to the second floor and down a long hallway lined with doors and carpeted in a soft faux fur. "Yes!" She exclaimed as they came to a white door near the end of the hall. "This shall fit you nicely!" Jessica looked around the room. It was a spacious bedroom, with a walk-in closet and en-suite. She frowned briefly in confusion.

"Well, this is nice and all, Mrs. Vigor, but I don't see why I need a whole bedroom," said Jessica, trying to be nice, as not to take advantage of Mrs. Vigor's generosity.

"Oh, please, dear, call me Marissa. And as you may know, my son, Augustus, is turning of age next month. Seeing as you're a nice girl, with plenty of likes and follows, nice enough stats, part of the Alphas, and, well, I thought you might like to stay here a while. Oh, and then! No, it's too much now. I better leave, but you should find some better clothes in that closet! Ta, ta!" Rambled Mrs. Vigor as she left the room.

Jessica had no intention of marrying off this early. But then again, Gus was hot, and could boost her likes and followers. She sent a quick text to her friend Danica Leamond using her Grammex, and told her she might be missing a few Alpha meetings.

The closet was huge. Unfortunately, Jessica found no workout clothes. Upon deciding to use steroids instead, because it was easier and looked more realistic, she put on a black lace romper and a pair of red high tops. She took a small package out of her bag. Wrapped in the white plastic was a syringe filled with green liquid.

She stabbed the eerily sharp needle into her arm. The liquid self-injected. Jessica winced at the pain, but soon enough she broke into a sweat. She stood in front of a reflector, and with her Gramex, took a "mirror selfie". At least, that's what they used to call it.

Within seconds of the post Jessica had billions of likes and hundreds of new followers. The syringe was thrown away in the trashcan next to the large bed. Before walking downstairs she went to the metal vanity. The silver frame was adorned with gold leaves, and placed on the glass top was a brush. She picked it up and smoothed some stubborn flyaways. Jessica flipped her shiny, chocolate hair back and forth, then got up.

Jessica had turned 19 last week and had begun her juice detox. Just juice for the rest of her life. Nothing else. Two days in she had decided it was thoroughly stupid. The males only had to do it one week a month, but Jessica was stuck with juice forever, stuck with taking it every day. Well, unless she became a Reject and was eligible for the purge. Then she would die and never eat again, period. But if she didn't take it, the interweb stats would show it, and people would think she was rebelling. And Jessica would never rebel, not if it meant losing her followers. Followers were everything on Earth. They were even more important than family. Jessica herself followed three and a half billion people, which was about a third of the population. And about seven billion people followed her. Mrs. Vigor, on the other hand, had 10.41 billion followers. There were 10.5 billion people on Earth. It was incredible . Every girl wanted to be like her, just like every boy aspired to be like Mr. West Spielmer, who had 10.45 billion followers.

As Jessica walked out of the room and down the hall even further, through a door marked Gym, she saw a tall boy with breathtakingly blond hair, wearing a black muscle shirt and knee shorts. Jessica sighed inwardly. She rarely saw Agustus, the son of Mrs. Vigor, because he never posted anything. It was kind of unnerving. Often, people would speculate that he had died a long time ago and that a hologram, which couldn't show up on the interweb, was being used in his place. But that didn't make any sense. No one died randomly anymore. Only fifty-one had done so in the past fifty years. The only way to die now was to kill yourself or be killed in the purge.

The boy was in a plank position on the black track, and from what Jessica saw, he was barely sweating. He must not have been in there for long. She watched him for a while, marveling. Why did Gus not post anything? He was really handsome. If he tried, he could gain more followers than his mother. Didn't he know what could happen to people who didn't use the interweb? Because everyone else did.

Death.