[Sic] by Kelly Scott

Author:Kelly, Scott [Kelly, Scott]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: thriller, Young Adult, Mystery, Adventure, teen-fiction, Literary Fiction, Suspense, Crime, Contemporary
Amazon: B008ZFYVIE
Goodreads: 20502736
Published: 2012-08-17T07:00:00+00:00

24. Awakening

Now

“I had to do it,” I explain. “I signed up for this experiment—eagerly, too. I think it will enrich my time here. What Eureka does to you comes in two parts. The first part is changing your identity. Everyone gets put into a stereotype, something that can be packaged and easily understood. Guy with glasses is a nerd, muscular guy is a jock. Mr. Aschen, you look like an old college professor, and you’re a counselor. That’s your part. I grew up in a trailer park, and that’s mine. Shakespeare said life is a play, and I agree—the issue is, the casting sucks.

“But, Eureka makes you unpredictable. Helps you get away from those stereotypes holding you back. And when you are forced to act outside of your assigned role, you start to understand what bullshit the whole system of having roles is.” I lean back in my chair and stare at Mr. Aschen.

He looks up from his notepad. “What’s the second part of Eureka?”

“The second part actually changes you, the player. I loved the car while it was mine—but, not too much. The car was temporary, one way or another. Even if it didn’t get stolen or wrecked, I’d get tagged and have to let it go. So, I loved the car, but it didn’t tear me up to give it away. That’s how everything is. Everything you have, anything you own that you try to take pleasure from, is going to go away eventually. Better not to rely on material stuff. Eureka makes sure you don’t.”

Mr. Aschen is gray and drying; his skin is drawn tight over tall cheekbones. He cannot properly twirl the pen, but he can shuffle it back and forth between gnarled hands, and does so constantly. “Other than David, what do you think made you want to play Eureka in the first place?”

I study my socks so he can’t see me smiling. “It’s like we never had a fair chance. We grew up in this shithole, our parents failed at life, and even if we tried as hard as we could, made all the right decisions, worked two jobs and saved up money—we could never have half of what was given for free to everyone around us. So, the life in store for us was already a shitty deal. Even if I did everything right, my life was still going to be second-rate, at best.”

“But if you were building things…” Mr. Aschen raises his hands helplessly. “Careers, contacts, college—that’s how you escape the trailer park. How can you throw away every opportunity you get, and then be upset at life for not working out the way you want?”

“I don’t want it!” I lean forward; my voice rises. “I don’t want a manager position at Wal-Mart. I don’t want to be an accountant or a paralegal. I want…I don’t know what I want, but I don’t want any of that. There’s no option available to me that would make me happy, so I choose none of the above.

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