Last Thursday, my best friend Matt killed himself. I never saw any of the signs they warned us about. Signs like lack of sleep, not paying attention in class, or not eating. Whenever I was with Matt, he always seemed happy and would always make jokes about Ms. Lopez and her crazy caterpillar unibrow. But who knows, maybe he was living a double life. Maybe we all live double lives.
45 years ago, there was an epidemic of suicide. Everyone started feeling like they weren’t good enough to be in this world. They believed the best way to escape was to take their own life. This became the “trend” throughout Pandora. Soon the population became dangerously low. As a solution to this problem, the country of Pandora established the law of happiness. This meant it was a crime to feel any other feeling other than happiness. If you disobeyed this law, or if someone saw the symptoms, you would be taken to the Repair Ward. No one knows exactly what they do to you in there, but I’ve seen people who go in one person and come out completely different. I’ve heard many rumors of brainwashing or even electroshock therapy. But in some rare cases, if a trip to the repair ward doesn’t “fix” you, then you will be terminated. Over the course of my 18 years of life, I’ve seen many people disappear, and no one ever talks about them again.
The feeling of never seeing Matt again was overwhelming. It’s almost been a week since he passed, and there’s still this indescribable feeling that I can’t contain. I’ve never felt anything like it before. As I was getting ready for school I turned to look at the poster that hung on my wall. It read in bold letters: Life Is Happiness. Underneath it began to list the symptoms of the “disease”. Lack of sleep. Unaware of surroundings. Lack of appetite. I haven’t slept since the incident and I haven’t been hungry. Could I have the disease? I shook my head at the thought and ran downstairs for breakfast.
“Good morning,” my parents yelled with excitement as I sat down at the table. I didn’t pay much attention and started fidgeting with my hands.
“Are you hungry? I made pancakes, your favorite,” my mom cheered.
“Oh no I’m okay,” I said with a sigh. My parents both looked at each other with a concerned look. My mom reached out to touch my arm.
“Are you feeling okay? Are you infected? Please tell us if you need help,” she said.
“No! What the heck! Why would you ask me that?” I yelled.
“William, you haven't been acting like yourself ever since Matt passed,” exclaimed my dad.
“I’m fine,” I said getting up from my seat, “I just don’t want to be late for school.”
I ran out the door before they could ask me anymore questions. They knew I was infected and so did I.
When I got to school I couldn’t focus on anything. My mind was spinning. All I could think was, he’s gone. Matt was like a brother to me and now he’s gone. My eyes started to water, when I heard my name being called.
“William, I’ve been calling on you. What’s the answer for number 4?” asked Ms. Lopez.
“Oh um, I don’t know.”
“This is an easy question, I just explained it in the lesson. Weren’t you paying attention?”
She made a concerned face almost as if she knew I was infected. No one could find out. I can’t go to the Repair Ward, I can’t.
I faked a huge smile and said, “Sorry.”
“It’s okay, but make sure you pay attention.”
I sighed in relief that she didn’t suspect anything. But as soon as our conversation ended, I heard the phone ring.
“William, go to the office, the dean wants to talk to you,” Ms. Lopez said.
My heart sank. They know. They know I’ve been infected. They’re going to take me to the Repair Ward. My heart started beating a million miles a minute.
I got all my stuff together and walked out of the classroom. I walked into the office and went straight into the dean’s room.
“Hello William. How have you been?” asked the dean in his deep voice.
“I’m great,” I said in excitement.
“Are you sure?”
My palms started getting sweaty. He knows, he knows, he knows.
“Yes,” I said sternly.
“We’ve been monitoring you since last week when Matt passed, and we’ve noticed some unusual behavior.”
I froze. What was I going to say? What was I going to do? I quickly got up from my chair and ran out of the office. I ran past the senior quad and past the football field and soon I disappeared from campus.
I raced home to go get my bike and grab a few things from my room. I knew they were coming after me. I had to run and get as far away from here as possible.
But as soon as I got home I found my house surrounded by police and my parents were outside waiting for me to come home. I couldn’t let them see me so I snuck into the garage through the back gate and quietly got my bike out. But as I was leaving the garage my bike hit the garage door. They all turned and started chasing me.
“Hey kid come back, we are just going to take you to the Repair Ward to get you fixed!” a policeman yelled.
I couldn’t let them catch me, I rode my bike as fast as I could. But I could still feel the tires of the police cars coming closer and closer to my ankles. I was running out of breath when suddenly the police car hit my bike and my body flew and hit the curb. Then everything went dark.
When I woke up I was surrounded with white walls and bright lights. My wrists and ankles were secured in the chair and my head was also strapped down. A man in a white lab coat sat next to me and asked,
“What’s your name?”
“William.”
“Do you know why you’re here William?”
“No.”
“How do you feel?”
“Happy. Life is happiness.”