#dytopia

Summer began to wake up long before the sun rose.  The sound of her dad noisily moving around his room to get ready for their morning workout could be heard from the next room.  She laid there for a minute, just listening to her dad’s movements, before she pushed herself out of her warm bed and walked over to her vanity to get ready too.  Her dark brown hair was tangled and sticking up in random directions, she had drool dried all over her left cheek, and her eyes were full of sleepies and bright red.  She sighed heavily and got to work. She untangled her hair, put it up, and then she went to the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth. Finally she got dressed in some shorts and an old t-shirt.

Once she finished, she headed to the kitchen.  Her dad was already in there getting breakfast started for the two of them.  Summer quickly jumped into action, preventing the eggs from becoming the charred mess her dad called food, but an edible omelet.  They moved around each other with comfortable familiarity, her dad doing most of the prep work, chopping vegetables and cracking the eggs, while Summer porred in the egg mix and the vegetables so that they all cooked evenly.  Once finished they quickly ate and headed out for their morning run and workout.  They didn’t talk much, only occasionally asking each other what they would like to do next.  

Summer loved her morning workouts with her dad.  She had never gotten to know her mom, since she had died shortly after giving birth to Summer, which caused her dad to take on more shifts to make enough money to care for Summer the way him and his wife had wanted to.  Although her dad had been heartbroken after the sudden loss of his wife, he did his best to focus on figuring out how to raise his new daughter with the help of his parents.  He was grateful for the help, but he hated leaving Summer with his parents when he had to work.  They treated Summer the same way they had treated him growing up,like he was a soldier in boot camp, not their son, and he had hated it.  His wife had grown up in a similar way, though to a lesser degree, and the two of them had decided they didn’t want that life for their daughter.  They wanted her to grow up with more possibilities in her future, not be destined and forced into the life of the local militia, carrying on the family ‘tradition’.  As soon as Summer was old enough he had sent her to daycare, but he still had to leave his daughter with her grandparents most nights.  When Summer was 6, he had finally made enough for him to retire and maintain the families social status.  By then daily workout routines were a part of Summer’s life, ingrained into her by her grandparents same as it had been I ingrained into her dad, so the two of them began working out together every morning.  However, unlike the workouts Summer would do with her grandparents, the workouts she did with her dad were less like strict, challenging exercises but more like games, with fun obstacle courses and silly races and competitions.  Summer loved it and she and her dad made up for lost moments, quickly becoming very close.  Now that she was older their work out time consisted of a light jog to the park, some simple exercises, and then a relaxing walk home.

Today on their walk home, Summer’s dad was walking slower than they usually did.  Summer noticed and slowed to matched his pace.  

“So... how is school going?” he asked awkwardly looking around at anything that wasn’t Summer.

“School is good, still at the top of my class,” Summer responded.

Her dad nodded slowly, still taking in the scenery as though he had never seen it before.  It was clear to Summer that he wanted to say more, he had always been bad with words, preferring action.  She would wait, knowing he would eventually say what was on his mind, even if it didn’t happen today.  

Several moments passed before he spoke again, “Have you thought about what you want to do after school? You know, there are a lot of cool things you could do, maybe you wanna try and be a doctor like that one friend of yours.  The one with the eyes… or something else fun like that…..”

Summer smiled sadly, realizing where the conversation was going.  True to his promise to his wife, Summer’s dad had always tried to show her that she could do anything she wanted.  That even though her grandparents had always told her she was meant to be a high ranking officer and carry on the family tradition, she could choose a different path.  “All my friends have eyes Dad,” she joked halfheartedly, “and you know I have been looking into joining the military force.  I have the grades and skills to do it easily,”  Summer answered.

“Ya... well you don’t have to do it just ‘cause grandma and grandpa told you to.  You know it's not exactly the most glamorous job like they always seemed to believe, and I feel bad for not being able to help you get the job even though I used to be an officer.  I’ve just have been out of the game for too long…, and left not expecting to return…”  he said sounding tired and lost in thought.  “Not to mention it’s not one of the best paying job out there, and the girls don't get treated right all the time…”  He added, voice dripping with concern.

Summer stopped walking completely, her dad noticed and turned towards her, confused.  She made sure to look him in the eyes as she said, “I know, I am not doing it for them, but because I want this.”  Her dad relaxed a little and she continued talking, “Money and glam don’t matter to me, we have been happy this long without it. I like the way we live, and if any one tries to mess with me I'll show them a thing or two about respect.”  

Her dad gave a small smile and nodded, and they started walking again.  After a few moments of silence her dad started talking while looking up at the sun raise with a sad smile.  “I know you could sweetheart, you're just as strong as your mother, I know she would be so proud of the woman you have become, and I can’t wait to see the amazing things you will do with your life.”

Summer smiled at her dad sadly.  These were some of the moments she loved most.  Just her and her dad being open and themselves, no teenage drama that school had, and none of the cold words of praise or ridicule she often heard from her grandparents.  She loved these peaceful, pure moments in life.  The military force may sound like the opposite of a peaceful life, but they were rarely called into action.  Most the time they simply patrolled and guarded places like the District 1 wall and District 6 wall.  Occasionally being called in to help put out fires, or breakup riots at the District 6 wall.  And while the work may not be the most peaceful when doing those parts of the job, it helped bring peace of others and that was what Summer wanted to do.

The rest of the walk home was fairly quiet, only a few random comments here and there.  Once they got home, Summer called first dibs on the shower.  She used a bit more of the hot water than was necessary, but it shouldn’t matter since her dad always took cold showers, because of his parents’ strict military habits.  Once she was finished, she started to get ready for school.  She quickly blow dried her hair and got dressed in a pair of jeans and one of her favorite sweatshirts.  Finally she tossed her hair into her classic messy bun and yelled a goodbye to her dad as she left the house.

School was only a block away from her house, so, as always, she was the first of her friends to arrive at their favorite meeting spot.  It was under one of the dozens of young trees in front of the school.  She sat down in the tree’s minimal shade, laying back on her backpack for a back rest.  She stared up at the sky watching the clouds pass over at their own slow pace.  She let her mind wonder, thinking of what her dad had said this morning, and how she should visit the recruiter’s office soon to apply.  Come to think of it, Molly needed to start applying to clinics too.  The last day of school seemed to be approaching at a frightening speed.  Thinking of Molly reminded her of how her best friend had ran off yesterday acting almost as strangely as her brother.  She wanted to ask Molly about it, but she didn’t want to force her friend to talk before she wanted to.  

She was so lost in thought, that she almost didn’t notice the sound of someone running towards her, almost.  Summer rolled away from her spot right before someone dived head first into the ground just below where her head had been moments ago.  She sprung up and turned towards the attacker, Wally, who was now rolling around on the floor, holding his face, and cursing about grass looking softer than it is and super hearing ruining his life.  Molly walked up soon after, quickly kneeling next to Wally to tend to her brother, who had blood dripping from his nose and a small cut on his forehead.  

“I told you not to do anything stupid,” Molly half shouted as she pulled tissues and bandages from her bag.  

“Ya, what the hell Wally! You shouldn’t dive at someone head first without a plan to catch yourself.  Are you okay or did you break it again?” Summer said, talking much too quickly from a rush adrenaline.

Wally swatted Molly’s away as he tried to stand, swaying momentarily.  “First of all, that wasn’t stupid! Didn’t you see?! I almost got her this time.  Second, it is definitely broken again but it’s all good”  he said triumphantly, putting an arm around Summer and pulling her close.  “You know what I think?  I think you’re losing your edge Summer, next time Imma getcha for sure,” he continued giving no one else a chance to speak.  

Summer looked at Wally’s hand on her shoulder, his hand that was covered in the blood from his nose, and was now staining one of her favorite sweatshirts.  She sighed in annoyance, causing Wally to tense up and whip his head to look at her.  The action caused some more of the blood, still streaming down his face, to fall from his chin onto the front of Summer’s sweatshirt.  Summer looked down at the new drops of blood then back at Wally, irritation radiating of her in waves.  Wally jumped away from her as fast as he could.  

“Would you like to test that theory Wally?” she growled at him.

Wally backed toward his sister for safety.  “Nah, I’ve never been good with science and stuff, I’m sure we know how it would end anyway,” he said putting his hands up in surrender.  “Could I borrow some tissue sis?” he asked, turning to Molly.

Molly shook her head and rolled her eyes, “You need more than some tissue, come ’ere dufus” she said tugging Wally down to sit beside her.  Then she got to work cleaning her twin’s face.  “There is some stain remover in the front pocket of my bag if you want to try and get the blood off your jacket Summer” Molly said, gesturing towards her bag.

Summer let go off here fake anger, watching Molly smiled sweetly as she pressed an alcohol wipe onto the cut on her brother’s forehead.  Wally yelped and tried to pull back, only to be stopped by Molly grabbing the back of his head.  Summer smirked at the sight, then turned her attention to her staining sweatshirt.  She sighed, wishing she had worn a shirt or tank underneath today.  The spot on the front was easy enough to reach, but she was not looking forward to struggling with cleaning the shoulder, or walking around in a wet sweatshirt.  

“Ooooh Summer and Wally are all bloody, what did I miss? what did you do?  Are you all good love”  Puck asked Wally with mild concern, as he approached the group.  He quickly looked over Wally’s face, focusing on his nose.  “Summer, you big brute, you broke his nose, honey.  Don't you think that is going too far?” he said smiling growing the more he saw.

“Haha Puck, very funny.  You know I would never hurt him like that,” Summer said emotionlessly, as she got the stain remover from Molly’s bag.

“I know right I’m a riot,” Puck laughed.  “So Wally how many times is it now, that you have broken that poor nose?”

“It’s only like the third time this year!” Wally shouted defensively.

“Ya, and a dozen times before that,” Molly added.

Puck laughed under is breath then turned his attention to Summer, trying to dab at the blood on her shoulder and back, unsuccessfully.  “Would you like some help with that?” he asked.

“Please” Summer answered.

Puck and Summer spent the next few minutes aggressively dabbing off all the blood on her.  Laughing when they heard Wally yelp in pain from Molly resetting his broken nose, causing Molly to shoot them an angry look that shut the two up immediately.  Satisfied with her clean up of Wally’s face she began yelling at him about how many more times he planned on breaking his nose this year.  How he was making harder for people to see the resemblance between the two, by ruining his nose.  Wally sat there pouting, but listened to his sister scold him.  

When Molly walked away to throw away all the bloodied tissues, Wally turned to the other two and excitedly asked, “Hey y'all wanna sleepover at our house this Friday, like old times?” voice sounding funny from the tissues in his nose.

“Wally you know I have to work late on Fridays, that’s why we stopped those sleepovers,” Puck said sadly.

“I know, I know, but I have to tell you guys some big news and Molly said I shouldn’t talk about it at school and that it would be best when we were all alone like during a sleepover,”  Wally whined.

Summer watched Puck run his hand through his hair looking conflicted.  Then turned to look at Wally, who was attempting his best puppy dog look.  It wasn’t working very well, since he had tissues shoved into his nose and large bandaids on his nose and forehead.  Summer laughed at the scene, shaking her head.  “Well then it doesn’t have to be exactly like old times, does it?  Puck you can come by after work can’t you? It’s not like we ever sleep during those sleepovers anyways,” she suggested.

“I wouldn’t be able to get there until like 3 in the morning, but ya I could go, I guess,” Puck answered slowly.

Wally’s eyes lit up instantly, “Yes!  This is so great.  It will just be the four of us, mom and dad will be going to work early Saturday morning.  I can’t wait for Friday night, I have sooooooooo much to tell you guys!”

“Well Saturday morning for me,” Puck laughed.

Molly came back from here trash run just then, “What’s happening Saturday morning?” she asked.

“You will be hosting one of our old sleepovers Friday night, but Puck won’t get there until early Saturday morning,” Summer answered.

“Oh, cool, okay, we can definitely do that,” Molly said, sounding a little panicked.

Summer looked at Molly questioningly, but didn’t get to push the subject, as the bell for class went off.

The rest of the week passed by in a blur for the group, lunch became less tense, and more like things had been before Sky showed up.  Although Sky continued to eat with them and Puck did little more than stare at Sky, Wally seemed to be less bothered by it.  He would chat excitedly with Summer and Molly about things he wanted to do Friday, before Puck came over.  Summer assumed the change must be thanks to whatever the boys had done yesterday after Wally ran off.  One thing that didn’t change however was Molly, she continued to ditch Summer after school with little to no explanation.  Summer was tempted to ask what was going on, but something in the way Molly looked at her every time she left kept Summer from asking.