Overgrown

Chapter 1

The morning sunlight creeped it's way into my bedroom window. It's warm shimmer gently touched my face and tickled my skin. I smiled and rose out of bed, squinting at the sun. I clicked the crystal button on my clock. An electrical, monotone, women's voice spoke.

"Good morning, today is July 3rd, 2376. It is currently 78 degrees Fahrenheit and sunny. The time is 8:07 a.m."

The crystal button glowed green which meant it was summer time. The color changed with the seasons: green for summer, orange for fall, blue for winter and pink for spring.

I went across the hall to my older brother, Nox's room. He was up, listening to his techno music as he got dressed. Nox was three years older than me. Because of this, he was much taller than me: about 6'1". His hair was long and jet black, he wore it down and straight with a bit covering his left eye. He covered it because it was glass and pupil-less, "an eyesore" he called it.

"Nox?" I said quietly as I walked in. The music was too loud for him to hear me. "Nox!" I shouted. He turned the volume knob down.

"What's up, Celder?" He mumbled through the fabric of a grey v-neck that he pulled over his head.

"Is Aria up yet?" I asked. He thought for a moment.

"Probably not, can you wake her up before you leave? I'm a little busy right now."

I nodded. I always meet up with Raelyn in the mornings, especially now that the school is closed until they can build another one. The school has been overgrown along with many of the other commercial buildings in Prydell. Here's the catch, though: the king is too lazy to build another one. How do I know this? The school has been closed for a year now and no building projects have been announced. The guy doesn't care about the future of the society, he only cares about himself.

"Aria, It's me, Celder. Can I come in?" I called, knocking on the closed door. No response. I went inside; she was asleep, as I thought. Aria was my younger sister. She was the only kid in our family that wasn't concieved naturally. Our parents were very traditional and old-fashioned so Aria's birth was very out of the ordinary. She was an experimental child, forged in a laboratory. It was very new to our parents, especially our mother, who was a huge technophobe. At the time, genetically-engineered children were pretty common so dad suggested we gave it a try. So there came Aria, A literal hand-picked combination of perfect genes, the perfect kid. The whole process of genetic engineering was a mystery to me but at the same time, natural conception was a shaky concept too.

I hopped onto her bed and tickled her side. She laughed and awoke instantly.

"Celder! Stop! I'm up... I said I'm up! Stop!" She managed to say inbetween her cute, childish laughter. Her laughter made me laugh, but I stopped tickling her obetiently after that. Aria was ten years old, five years younger than me. She was about 4'6". Her face exuded innocence and youthful beauty and was dotted with light, faded freckles. She had long, light chocolate brown hair. Her eyes, a gorgeous blue green. "You know you don't have to tickle me to wake me up." she complained groggily

"Oh, I know that. But its no fun without it." I joked, and pet her head on my way out. I gave Nox my classic "see ya" salute. He'd nod and I'd leave with my knapsack for Raelyn's place, which was on the other side of town.

Raelyn was a close friend of mine since the beginning. I've known her since we were 7. She was a genetically engineered kid, like Aria and most of the other people in Prydell. She was truly something beautiful. Tall and skinny, like a model. Light caramel-colored skin. Perfect silver eyes with long, black lashes. And then, of course, there's her gorgeous curly black and purple hair. It was ombre, Black fading into purple like a cascading waterfall. She was the true example of perfect genetics. A perfect girl, with a perfect body. I guess you could say I'm kinda into her. I'll admit that she's hot as hell, but I'm not quite sure I could have a serious relationship with her. I knocked on the door.

"Hey Celder!" she cheered and gave me a hug. Her hair smelled like cherries, the same old 'Sakura Blossom' shampoo she used since we were kids; nothing's changed there, but she usually doesn't greet me with a hug, nor this cheerfully for that matter. Don't get me wrong, Raelyn is a very cheery person, the happiest person I know, but she would never greet me or anyone with a hug. I'll let it slide, but it sure is suspicious. I'm not complaining though, what fifteen year old guy doesn't want a beautiful girl to hug him first thing in the morning?

"Someone's happy." I smirked, pulling myself out of her warm embrace.

"Yes! Remember when I said I was going to go for a walk yesterday?" She was awfully jumpy, but I did remember, so I let her keep talking. "Well, after I dropped you off back home, I went for a walk in town square and wound up in the school. There seemed to be a bunch of strange people on the old football field but I just ignored them and I went inside and I found something really cool, you just have to let me show you!"

She grabbed me by my wrist and dragged me up into her room, the door of which she then proceeded to lock behind us. Raelyn rarely locks her door so I knew something was up. What on earth did this girl find and why was I actually nervous to find out?