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Rose's Secret
There was a secret no one knew it was deep, dark, yet very true:
A boy sits there in spanish class staring at the clock wondering when his torture session will be over; then without warning the robotic teacher asks him something in Spanish. He looks up to it with confusion on his face and boredness in his eyes. As he starts to say something, I’m shoved into a door as it hits the wall hard, knocking a few books off a nearby shelf. The principal walks in with a big smile on his face, helping me up.
When I reject his hand and get up myself, he says, “Rose, say hi to your classmates.” I just stare at everyone in the room, knowing they're expecting me to say something. The teacher comes up to me, maybe a little too close, but I never liked things being close to me anyway. He says, “My name is Mr.D,” in that same monotone the principal did. Now I know the machine is a man... I guess. He sits me next to the boy I was watching through the window. The boy says, “Hi my name is Walker.” I think the name Walker suits him perfectly, he has dark brown hair and blue-gray eyes. He is the only one at our table that even cared to say hello. Nonetheless, I can’t trust anyone.
The teacher goes on and on, talking in spanish; no one wants to learn this stuff, let alone listen to it, including me, so I just block the manly-voiced machine out of my head. I can hear people whispering around me, but there is no need to eavesdrop, because I already know what they’re talking about. On planet Zero, there are 13 territories. The 13th one rules over the other 12 by sending machines everywhere. The only thing the robots don't do is harvest, that is the Activist’s job. Then there are the Claimers, they own the land and think they own the people too. The students are whispering about me because you aren’t allowed to leave your territory, but that didn't stop me!
Bling! The alarm sounds, telling us to get on our gravity belts that weigh us all down and go home. Too bad I can’t. While I am standing there waiting for someone to escort me to some obscure place, I go to the restroom to freshen up. My dirty-blond wavy/curly hair is tangled, my green-gray eyes have dirt in them, and I really just want to take a shower. When I go back to Mr. D’s room, a girl my age is standing there, she says to me, “My name is Rue, I’m Principal Steals daughter.” She has dark skin, blue eyes, and ringlets of midnight black hair. “I heard you don't talk much at all, but thats fine because I do.” Great, another person who likes to hear themselves talk, I think to myself. She leads me to a room in the back of the school, and tells me the blue bed is mine. As I lay on the bed I notice that her wallpaper is roses mixed in with mockingjays, the bird of rebellion.
As I awake, I see a figure at the end of my bed, it dawns on me that it is Walker, this side of the room must be his. He asks, “Did you know you talk in your sleep?”
Rue says, “What you talked about could save all of us.”
I say with an appalled voice, “Walker what are you doing here?”
“I thought I would ask the same thing to you,” he responds.
“Now explain to Walker your little secret,” Rue pursues.
Then I start clarifying, “It all started with all our ancestors, Primrose Everdeen, my mother and also the sister of Katniss Everdeen the Hunger Games Heroic.”
They both gasp, but I continue, “and you Rue, are the rightful niece of Rue, Katniss’s ally.” I look at Walker and I see avidity in his eyes; so then I quickly continue. “Walker you are the son of Gale, and no we are not related. He just said he was Katniss's cousin to keep a rebellion from happening, to keep families from getting killed.”
Walker says, “Well that worked out well.”
Rue finishes for me, “They all got together, and tried to bring up a rebellion, but went wrong somewhere; now District Thirteen thinks they are in charge.”
“That’s where we come in,” I justify while I stand up and start walking out the door when she says, “Where are you going?”
I reply, “To the library.”
She gets up, puts on her gravity belt, and hands me one, too. As we are walking down the street to the library, Walker takes my hand in his. When we get there, we split up and look in every section for the note Katniss left me. I found it in a book on rebellion-classic. The note says:
Rose,
Resent, Reown,
Rebel.
Rue and Walker come over, and we know that the rebellion started. All robots are called from their duties to come and settle down the riot. A cataract of people are coming in from all angles, fighting off the robots. I look up to see a massive wave of mockingjays fleeing from clouds. The message from Katniss is big enough that all of Zero can see. Rue goes up to the water tower in Territory Four and projects the note.
Walker takes a shuttle to Earth while I hold on to the rope bridging from my hand to his. Once he gets to earth, he pulls in planet Zero like its a feather. Everyone takes off their gravity belts. When I finally reach his arms we stand there holding each other looking at the shape of the planet we just configured, it is an infinity sign. Forever we will be and forever people will be free.
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