Intravenous

It was sweltering hot and the shade that the building offered was doing so little to alleviate the searing heat of the summer season. It was registration day and there was a long queue of students, with envelopes and folders containing their papers for the year.

It was something Asia expected on the day of sophomore registration. Despite the inconvenience, she was thrilled that she passed the rigorous process of acceptance in the prestigious University and survived her freshman year. Even the thousands of people in line had very little effect on her already soaring mood.

Like her, these students were hoping to be registered in the University which was government sponsored and has inexpensive tuition. Downside is, there is a limit of students that they can accept--which means tougher competition.

"Asia!" she heard, interrupting her musings.

She knew the voice. It’s her friend Aya, her classmate since high school who’s always been punctual and dedicated to her studies. Asia looked at her. Aya was wearing a button down top and a black denim shorts. To complete the ensemble, she sported gray sneakers and wearing her signature hat.

Compared to Aya's signature style, Asia was wearing an ordinary blue metal neck embellishment as a top and a white medium length skirt with ordinary sandals.

"As usual, you are early again," she commented, assuming that Aya’s already done with the registration.

"And you are late as usual," Aya interjected referring to the fact that Asia’s still at the middle of the queue, despite it being mid-day. “It's best if you don't register today. There are strange people at the front line,” she whispered.

Asia cocked her head and smiled. There is no way she would ever leave the queue. She already waited for hours.

“You do know that today’s the only day for registration?”

“I heard they will open up another registration tomorrow.”

Asia shook her head. She won’t do it. There was no need to risk her education. And besides, she wanted to go back to Epsilon Zone the next day for the summer.

“Come on, Asia. Come with me, okay? I promise there will be another one tomorrow,” she insisted.

“I can’t. I have tickets back home tomorrow. I don’t really have extra money to waste and no more slots for the train ride.”

“Then spend the summer with me, in Beta, please?” When she did not respond, Aya added, “Beta is close to the Gamma Zone. We can spend a few weeks with Ellis and Frieda.”

Asia’s smile widened. When all the countries are unified, the countries names were scrapped and now called as different zones. Aya was from the Beta zone which tells someone that her family was one of the wealthy ones.

Aya continued. “Frieda’s been giving invitations for us to spend the summer in their place, right? Her cousin will be there too. You’d be alone in the summer if you don't accept.”

Asia’s smile vanished. Yes, she no longer has parents. However, her parents left her a house and enough money to continue surviving until she graduates from college.

“I’ll spend most of my summer with Zane’s family.”

Aya took a deep breath and sighed, “If that is what you wish. But maybe Zane already vouched for you?”

"What do you mean?" she asked as Aya referred to her neighbor and close friend, Zane.

Being neighbors, Zane was her childhood friend. He even studied hard to enter the same elementary school as her, despite not being the studious type. However, those first few days since his transfer, he was bullied because of his lanky build and his effeminate qualities. When he finally fought back, it was to help Asia. Since then, they have been inseparable.

“He didn't? He didn't tell you?” Aya blurted. She firmly held on to Asia's hand when something caught her eye. Asia was about to turn to look at what took Aya’s attention when she let go, turned back and hurriedly left the area.

Asia was about to catch her but she was too fast. Instead, she sighed and wished that it was nothing to be worried about.

As the day was almost over and Asia was getting closer to the registration booth, she saw huge men in army uniform, fully armed with weapons. She scrunched up her eyebrows. She didn’t know that the army guards the sophomore registration and besides, what will be the use of all those weapons? To make sure students were not cutting into line? Or discourage pickpockets to try to steal from the students? To whoever it was designed for, it was going a little overboard.

Another hour passed and she noticed that students in the queue were getting nervous. She felt the same as well. The Delta University was known to teach the students the ability to think for themselves and not to agree to everything the government said. That was why most of the alumni were leaders, but was that also the reason why there were soldiers today? To put a rein to these budding Zone leaders?

An hour passed again and she noticed that there were some students that were ushered from the registration booth to a trailer truck adjacent to it. Incidentally, the trailer truck was more heavily guarded than the queue of students. Most of the students ushered into the room never came back and some students who did emerge from the trailer truck had a lost expression on their faces.

Some of the students at the back started to disperse. Some successfully left the line while a lot more were taken forcibly by the guards. However, there were very few students who volunteered to enter the trailer room in exchange for cutting into the line.

Asia started to get worried. She looked around for Zane but he was nowhere to be found. She started to wish that he overslept again. It was just like him to sleep through the whole ordeal. Maybe after all this, she would narrate to him what happened and they would laugh it off like usual, only Zane would need to look for another University to study at.

Asia's attention turned back to the trailer truck, her thoughts wandered and she shivered at all the possibilities that might be happening inside the truck.

“They said it was a gang of rebels,” a student behind her whispered.

“Seriously? Is that why there’s an army?”

“No, the army was there for the Selection, my brother said that yearly it happens for freshmen, but only at other universities, not here.”

“So it’s a government run process?”

“Yes, that’s why I want to study here, to avoid ‘that’.”

“But is it true? One of my friends said that her colleague entered that room and never came back.”

“So we can do nothing but hope that we are not chosen to enter that room?”

“I heard from an upperclassman that if you are an officer in your organization, you can vouch for one person to never be included in the Selection.”

“How I wished I befriended someone like that.”

Asia heaved a sigh of relief. Zane was an officer of his organization. Is that why he’s not here? Had he already vouched for her? Because even if he already had a girlfriend, she knew that Zane treasured her more than his current girlfriend. They had been friends all her life. But how could she be sure before she leaves the queue? Can she really leave the queue unnoticed by anyone, especially by the soldiers? She groaned, how could it be such a hurdle for her to escape? Was it really scary to turn the guards attention to her?

Then Asia saw as another guy casually left the line and went in front. Like her, he might be curious as well. Upon closer inspection, she realized it was Angus, the top student from the previous year. An overconfident but very smart classmate of hers. He had dark brown skin, black hair with a tinge of brown, deep set eyes and apparently, an animosity for Asia.

She could clearly remember how he would smirk and glare at her every chance he gets. She returned it by ignoring him and escaping him every chance she gets. Asia never wanted to have any connection with a person like him.

She watched him as he strode confidently to the front and she thought how much of a fool he was, yet brave at the same time. She kept an eye on him as he approached the soldiers and asked something. A moment later, he was taken by the guards and was forced to enter the trailer room. He never came out again.

Asia felt more nervous. She looked around and thought of ways on how to escape but as she drew closer to the registration, the more soldiers were guarding the queue.

The queue painfully moved on as she watched only a handful of students coming out of the trailer truck but they looked dispirited and out of this world. Going into that trailer might have changed them in ways she did not even want to imagine.

When Asia was almost at the front of the line, she was relieved when she saw her closest girl friend at the front table, Ellis. It was the table for those vouched and saved from going into the trailer. Asia may be a coward but seeing someone she cared for safe and unharmed, took some of the burden in her heart. She remembered that Ellis' sister, Frieda, was one of the officers in her Sorority. Ellis saw her and she smiled automatically to tell her that she was fine.

Just thirty more students and Asia would soon learn whether she would enter the trailer or not. A man who walked in a distinguished manner went out from the trailer and started to look at each of the students in the line. He was wearing a black top hat worn by men during the 19th century. In his hands was a black walking cane which was evidently used only for fashion. He seemed to be scrutinizing each student for something she was unsure and terrified of.

Another handful of students went inside the trailer and the queue became shorter. Then she saw Zane at the front table, his lanky figure sitting rigidly on the chair, his cute, youthful face staring at the hand that was enveloped around his. Beside him was his current girlfriend and the hand he was staring at was hers. The girl whose name Asia didn't even know. Her shoulders dropped as she stared at the two of them safely behind the table. She had been too confident of her place in Zane's list of most important people. He met her gaze and she stared back at him. His eyes were apologizing or was it her imagination? Just like her delusions of being the most important person in his life because he definitely was in hers--and even more.

Being an orphan, Zane was her first friend. The first person who took notice of her and never grew tired of her. Back then, she cared too much of what people will say to her. She stuttered every time someone was kind enough to converse with her. She was shy and insecure of how she looked. She hated her plain, brownish hair. She hated her skin and always made an effort to hide it away. She especially hated her hazel eyes, the feature that is unmistakably her mother's. In summary, she hated everything she got from her mother who left them when they needed her most. Maybe she got her cowardice from her mother too.

But Zane laughs it all off with her. Because of him, she met Ellis as well as all her other friends. Asia met his parents who became her guardians when her father died of a disease. He opened the opportunity for her to meet other people. And she thought for the longest time, that the two of them were the most connected humans there ever lived. Such fantasy.

“This,” a deep voice said with his hand on her shoulders. “...is of some wonderful quality.”

Asia faintly heard the deep voice. But she was frozen by both the ruined trust and her fear. Not until powerful arms took her and lifted her up that she realized she was selected. She flailed helplessly on air. In front of her was the man wearing a top hat staring at her. But she was looking beyond him, to the most important person in her life, to Zane, the person she believed she was in love with.

Asia was carried into the trailer but her eyes never left Zane's and his to hers. Their eyes never wavered from each other but his was that of apology and hers was the look of betrayal.

Asia was thrown into the floor of the trailer and as the door shut in her face, she could vaguely see the black cane used by the man who chose her.

To be continued....