"The rules are very simple, hiders hide and seekers seek. Very easy to remember if you think about it." The principal announced as the rest of the juniors took their seats in the auditorium. "Don't take this summer for granted, it is your last one without your designated mark, or for some of you, your injection." He continued.
Skylar and her friends showed up in the back of the noisy crowds, barely hearing anything Principal Harrison was saying. They took their seats in the very back of the auditorium, making sure they had room to put their feet up. "Today, we will be learning about the roles of hiders and seekers. Let's first start with hiders. The hiders who are selected will be escorted to a safe haven somewhere outside the borders of Clepsydra. They will be getting a red mark on their cheek, designating their category. Another thing about hiders is that they get a tracker imported in their dominant arm.
"If the hider is tagged, they will be shocked and killed on contact. Make sure to avoid any seekers if possible. This year, we have some rebellious teenagers who are not afraid to get dirty. Be cautious at all times. Remember, the safe haven is, well, your safe haven point. Stay there as long as possible, for your own safety." Principal Harrison went on about the hiders and some jobs they take at the safe point. Skylar and her friends paid no attention to their superior, and just talked in the back.
Chris and Skylar were playing tic-tac-toe on his soft purple folder. "Cheater, you can't go twice in a row!" Chris told her as he took the pen from her hand. "I'm done playing if you are going to cheat." He smiled, putting the folder in his light felt backpack. "Fine, ooo, he's getting to seekers! Guys, pay attention. We need to know this. We are going to be the funniest seeker group in history!"
"Now for seekers, this group of people live their best life. They will be given the opportunity to move to Clepsydra, which I highly advise. The big city is a very beautiful place, believe me. When I was a seeker, I moved there. I stayed in a magnificent apartment complex in the center, right next to the Tempo fountain, with my best friends!
"The seekers will get a blue mark on their cheek, keeping them apart from the hiders. When you get your mark, you cannot see the other group, it is very dangerous. You may want to if you get different marks, but trust me. Seekers will have more riches and opportunities than the seekers. They also can leave and enter the city as they please. If a hider goes inside Clepsydra, they will be spotted and tagged immediately."
Chris and Skylar looked across the line of seats, making eye contact with their other friends. They all looked super confident in their fate. A question ran through Skylar's mind, 'What if we do get separated? We are all so close.' Her mind raced with the thought, she began to doze off from the principal's words.
Principal Harrison kept talking about hiders and seekers, and told multiple stories. One story that stuck out to her was when principal Harrison's girlfriend became a hider while the rest of the friends became seekers. He saw her get tagged, and it apparently did not phase him. "In a couple of weeks, you will all be able to practice taking the test. It will take up the majority of the day, and once everyone is finished, you will be released. Start studying, because this test determines your future."
He then began to dismiss the students in sections, telling them to go to their fourth period classrooms. The group of friends walked to their honor seeking class, talking the entire way about the assembly. The hallways erupted into conversations left and right about how dangerous we would be as seekers. The bell rang and the group made it into their assigned seats, everyone except Thomas.
"Class, please take your seats. We need to take the role as quickly as possible, so we can begin our simulation." Mrs. Moore announced as she walked up to her desk to take the role. "Thomas, please sit down." She said as she looked up, fixing the position of her glasses.
"I refuse! These are the actions of a seeker, and that is the group I am going to get!" He exclaimed, raising his fist into the air. "Thomas, that is the wrong attitude about being a seeker. The test determines who will become a seeker and a hider. You need to pass in all the core class requirements, which include Language Arts, Math, Science, Seeking, and Hiding."
The class began to quiet down as Thomas took his seat, slightly embarrassed. "Today, we will be doing a hide-and-seek simulation. Is there a volunteer to be the seeker?" Everybody's hands shot up simultaneously, everyone except Skylar. "Liam, you will be our seeker, and our hider will be," Mrs. Moore took a long pause before she selected her student. "Skylar."
She and Liam rose from their seats and took to the front of the classroom. They stood at the front while Mrs. Moore handed out papers to the rest of the class. "For this simulation, we need to test and observe each side. First, we need to see what your lives will become in a little over a year. Let us move this class session outside, we will need a wider space."
Everybody grabbed their things and we all headed outside, just past the doors, near the field. "Okay students, we are going to quietly observe the game. Liam, turn around and count to twenty. Once you find Skylar, tag her and say 'found you.' Skylar, find a hiding place, and make sure not to get caught by Liam. You will need to hold this tracker for the test. Ready, begin."
Skylar ran to find a spot, contemplating on which spot to hide in. There were boundaries, so the game would not last too long. Liam began counting, and was already over half way done. Skylar was finally in her spot, and made sure she had room to run away if she was found. "Seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty! Ready or not, here I come!" Liam exclaimed in such excitement.
Everyone was watching from the side of the school, giving them room to run. Liam proused around the grass, looking in possible hiding spots. Skylar could hear his footsteps getting closer and closer until he finally found her. "Found you!" He yelled as he tried to tag Skylar. She hurried and rose to her feet, and bolted in the opposite direction. Liam was always faster than Skylar, so he caught up quickly.
His hand caught her arm with the tracker, and accidentally tackled her. Mrs. Moore saw the contact and pushed her bright blue pin on her vest. Electric shocks blew through Skylar, causing her to wail. Liam caught his bearings and got to his feet, looking terrified at the sight of Skylar in pain. Some of their friends began to move forward to help, but they were signaled not to intervene. Mrs. Moore held the pin for a few seconds then released, stopping the shock.
Skylar put her hand on her chest, trying to catch her breath, but just inhaled uncontrollably. Liam fell to his knees to help hold Skylar upright. "As you can see, this will be your new life. Everyday, you will be burdened with the thought of killing others, or not being able to save them. This experiment was to show you that, even though you all want to be seekers, what will the cost be? You will be killing innocent people your age.
"This is a serious matter that should not be taken lightly. Take the test with your best ability, your life will be shaped around it. No matter what side you are on, you are going to hurt someone you love." Mrs. Moore paced back and forth in front of the students. "You will not know what category you get until you graduate senior year, take that in mind. Studying is your priority, do not let anything intervene."
She kept walking back and forth between students, then froze in the middle, pulling out a handful of trackers. "Next experiment, everyone grab one tracker. Half of these are dead and will not harm you, while the other half will be activated by my pin. Pretend this is the testing system, only around half of you will pass, so half of you will not get shocked. Pick your poison."
One by one, the students began to make their way towards Mrs. Moore, grabbing one of the trackers. "Mrs. Bates, feel free to grab a new one." Skylar made her way towards the crowd, and gave away her activated tracker, grabbing a rusted looking one instead. "Alright everyone, make sure you are not touching another student, or else this will fail. I will push the pin when no one expects so you cannot fake it. Ready?"
The students spread out of reach, and held their pins in front of them. "Oh and one thing, hold the metal to your chest. It will feel as though your heart stopped when really it hasn't. Gives more meaning to the hiders." Everyone looked around at each other with confused and dazed looks. They all began to put the tracker on their chest, some students even closed their eyes as tight as possible.
Skylar and Chris looked at each other, smiling more than usual. "How unfortunate would it be if you got shocked twice in the span of five minutes?" Chris jokingly said, looking at her tracker. "Very." Mrs. Moore looked at everyone, making sure they followed directions. "Okay, here we go. It will sting but it is for research purposes."
Everyone waited for the shock, but it did not come when expected. Some lightened up and began to think it was all a game. Right as some loosened up and lost fear, she struck the pin. Screams fell between half of the students as they fell to the grass. The students who were not shocked backed away from those who were, disliking the sight of the agony of their friends. Chris, Liam, and Skylar trembled as the shock went through their veins. Jessika and Kylan watched as their friends got electrocuted, feeling as though they could not do anything.
Mrs. Moore turned off the shock as quickly as it turned on, feeling sympathy for the students. "Observe the students who have fallen in pain, this will be half of you. My only advice, pass your test. In three weeks, you will be able to see where you will be placed. If you do not like the outcome, study more, work harder.
"Now, the ones who were not shocked, join me on the right side while the others on the left. You will see, being a hider and a seeker does not have anything to do with looks or strength, but skill with your mind and observation. If you looked at your tracker, some were rusted while some looked brand new, and everything in between. Skylar, come forward. If you look at her pin, it is rusted and looks old. I am assuming you picked this one on purpose? Thinking you would not get shocked?"
"Yes, the rustic look and green rims made it look like a dud." Skylar replied as she held her chip up. "As shown, looks can be deceiving. Any of you could look like seekers and hiders, but can get the complete opposite role. Never trust something you cannot prove. Thank you Sky, and sorry to shock you twice." Mrs. Moore smiled as she motioned Skylar to go back to her side.
"Thank you class, let us resume the rest of class inside. We will be writing our hypothesis and observations that we have seen today. They should all be different because we all felt different during this experiment. You will have the remaining forty minutes, they will be due at the end of class. Another thing, if I happened to shock you, feel free to write down your favorite candy bar on the left hand side of your paper. They will be delivered the next time we meet which will be on Tuesday. Skylar, feel free to write two."
Skylar and Jessika decided to walk home together since they lived so close, they were practically neighbors, even sisters at heart. "What did you think of the lesson in Mrs. Moore's class? Kind of brutal against you, don't you think?" Jessika asked Skylar as they passed through the school gates. "Ah, yes. I did not enjoy getting shocked twice. Kind of seems like a weird lesson, is she even allowed to do that?" They began walking through the track next to the football field, seeing some cute, shirtless junior boys.
"If the government can, I do not see why she would not be able to. This whole hider and seeker thing is so dumb! If they wanted to kill off half the population, they should just do it. This stupid game makes us part of their game, and it is horrifying. We will not be the innocent teenagers, instead we will be the cold hearted killers." Jessika had some valid points that Skylar agreed with, which made her think, 'Why would they make us play games when they could kill us?'
"I bet this dumb test doesn't actually do anything. They probably put us in categories with our 'threat level' which is awful. I cannot tell anyone but you that, I feel if they thought I thought that way, I would become a hider on the spot. How else could they get almost fifty percent every time? Half of our grade is not dumb, and would pass without even trying!" Jessika exclaimed, immediately regretted it. "Mrs. Taylor, what was that about the selection? Are you questioning the government's method of over population?" Principal Harrison stood right behind Jessika and Skylar, giving a disappointing look, yet curious expression.
Jessika fell silent, not knowing what to say, anything she says could cost her. "No, we were discussing our paper from Mrs. Moore's class, about the observations we took while half of us got shocked. Quite a lesson I would say." Skylar stepped in, looking right at Principal Harrison's eyes. "Some even got shocked twice, it was very intense." Principal Harrison looked back at Jessika, then nodded. "Alrighty, have a great weekend girls. Remember, study study study!"
As principal Harrison walked away, the girls made wide eye contact and walked away. "Oh my gosh! Thank you so much! I probably should not have shouted that so loud at the end. You saved my life!" Skylar bowed jokingly, and they both laughed. "Who knows the system, and honestly who cares. We will all get seekers, and we will have the best parties. What are the chances we are all split up? Our principal only lost one friend out of, what, ten?" Skylar began as they kept making their way home.
"Our chances of staying together are 50/50, unless this thing is really rigged.' Jessika became unsure of herself and her wording, rubbing her palm. "Hey, you will do great, believe me. You are one of the smartest people I know!" Skylar grabbed Jessika's back to reassure her, also to walk faster from the school. "My question is, what are the chances there was a teacher or someone of importance behind us. Their housing is the other way." Skylar began to look behind her, wondering why. "So you are saying they were following us, on purpose?" Jessika asked as she turned back as well.
Skylar looked all across the field, and saw multiple teachers talking to students. "Maybe they are just getting to know the students a bit better, before we are all killed." She said jokingly as she looked back at Jessika. Her friend just gave her a blank, not impressed look. "Not funny. What if we are hiders? We could die!" Jessika got very worried and turned away from the field, pacing her way home. "I am just going to go. I have to study anyway. Catch up later?" She asked as she looked back, pausing mid step. "Yeah, we will catch up after dinner." They said their farewells and Jessika went on her way.
"What are the chances?" Skylar whispered to herself, looking at Principal Harrison as he walked away. He stopped and turned slightly, seeing Skylar across the long and now filled field. He gave a thumbs up, then turned back to finish walking towards the school. Skylar's face looked shocked, she just kept thinking of that one question, 'what are the chances?'