Monica (18, schoolgirl)

Monica sat at the kitchen table, wearily eating her bowl of Cheerios. She was still dressed in her pyjamas, a pink Hello Kitty set that had been her favourite for some years. Her mother stood at the kitchen counter, preparing a pot of coffee, while her father sat opposite her in a full business suit reading the morning paper. With a sigh, Monica smoothed her raven hair out of her face and stared dejectedly out of the kitchen window.

All of this may seem relatively normal to you or I, but there was one key difference to the world that we know. The sky that Monica stared at was purple.

It was the town's barrier, covering the full radius of their tidy little Namish town and protecting it from the outside world and all it's sins. Monica stared at it, and noted that the weather looked like it was going to be nice today. A terrible day, then, to be stuck inside a classroom doing algebra.

"Are you up to anything special today, dear?" her mother asked as she placed a mug in front of her daughter.

"No mom. Just the usual."

"Well, it will be summer break in a few months. We can take the sub-train over to Australia and visit your grandmother's Namish town. That will be something to look forward to."

"I guess."

Just then the kitchen phone rang. Drying her hands on her apron, Monica's mother stepped over and picked up the receiver.

"Hello? Yes, this is Agnes. Yes. Yes. Oh no. No. Really? Oh that's terrible. What should we do in the meantime? Oh. Oh I see. Well, thank you for calling. Yes, yes. 6 o'clock? Yes, thank you."

Her mother hung up the phone and turned to the family.

"Well, that's a fine mess, and make no mistake!"

"What's happened, dear?" Monica's father asked.

"Well, they're not entirely sure how it happened, but apparently the town's high school has burned down."

Monica suddenly sat up straight in her chair. "Really?"

"Yes, really. School is cancelled for today-"

"YES!"

"-but they're having a meeting at 6 o'clock tonight to discuss alternative arrangements."

"Alternative arrangements?" Monica asked.

"Well yes. We can't go neglecting your education just because the school isn't there."

"I guess not. Still though, a day off! Yes. Do you mind if I call Tracy and ask her if she wants to go to the mall?"

"Sure thing dear, but try to be home before five."

The day of leisure passed uneventfully for Monica, and she arrived home before her parents went to the town hall to discuss the school's alternate arrangements. She chilled alone in the house, watching reruns of her favourite Friends episodes, although it certainly seemed strange to see the late President LeBlanc when he was an actor, particularly playing such a silly role as Joey. She shook her head. What a strange world we live in.

When her parents returned from the meeting, the expressions on their faces told Monica that the news was bad. Her father was red-faced and was clenching a piece of paper in a white-knuckled grip, while her mother was ashen-faced and looked a little disorientated.

"What happened?" Monica asked.

"The school can't fund a temporary school." her father answered. "They need whatever budget is remaining to them to re-build the school, and they can't afford to replace the textbooks."

Monica nodded, knowing that in a world so rich with technology that physical books were incredibly expensive to recreate. The Namish way of life would not allow the technology to interfere with their lives, either.

"We offered," her mother said "All the parents offered to put up funding for it, but it wasn't enough. They said they can afford books when they get next year's budget, and by then the school should be rebuilt, but..."

A surge of excitement ran through Monica. The school was gone, and they couldn't replace it! Summer vacation was suddenly coming early!

"So that's it then, no more school for a year?" Monica asked.

"No." her mother replied weakly. "Not... not quite."

Her father slammed the piece of paper he was holding onto the kitchen table, and strode off swearing into the back yard. The flicker of light suggested he was lighting a cigarette.

"Don't worry about him, dear." her mother said, trying to a smile. "It's just... he isn't taking the news very well."

Frowning with confusion, Monica reached over and picked up the piece of paper. She gave a gasp of shock. Written upon it was the words "Higher New York High School" - a school, she vaguely knew, was set outside of the Namish town. What shocked her, however, was the picture of a fully naked teen boy and girl standing underneath the words.

"Wh-wh-what I-is..." Monica stammered. A cold, heavy feeling was settling into her stomach.

"Your new school for the year."

Her mother began to explain that the displaced students from the Namish town would have to be spread amongst several non-Namish schools, and that Monica would be attending the Higher New York High School, but Monica could not comprehend the words.

"Mom, I can't go to school naked!" she blurted.

"You don't have to, dear. There's no set uniform, so you can wear your normal clothes. Well except for PE."

"I have to be nude for PE?!"

"Sort of. Hang on, turn over the paper."

Monica did as she was told. On the other side was a hologram, though not a futuristic sort; the basic type where you can see two images be moving the picture around. One of the images was of a naked girl, wearing nothing but a set of black bands around her ankles and wrists. The other image showed her wearing the same black bands but she was also wearing a full PE kit. Underneath it were written shop names and directions.

"What is this?" Monica demanded.

"Apparently your PE kit is hologramattic. Umm, you will technically have to be naked, but the black band things project an image of clothes onto your body. We'll have to head out of town and buy you a set before you start next week."

"But... but we can't do this! We're Namish! We're not supposed to mix with the outside world!"

"I know dear, I know." Her mother put a trembling hand on Monica's shoulder for comfort. This, combined with her father's outburst, revealed to Monica have upsetting they were finding this too. "We don't have any other choice."