ste: ch. 1 (early release???)

Instructions

shad0w this era ch.1 (Amaranth POV) I looked outside my dorm window. it was a little smoky, but a bright and sunny day. and my walls were bright as well. but us spoppers? not so much. it had been ten months since it happened. we were all happy before that. I can still retrieve the faint memories of the lights flashing of walking in the dark, scre4ms, and the light flashing on again. we were told to get on our knees by a person dressed in all black with a distorted voice. all the doors were l0cked. then something...i cant remember what, and no one else remembers as well. ever since, spop was under control. but who would do this and why? i made myself a breakfast of a single waffle, two strawberries, and some maple syrup. I got dressed into a casual but elegant blue dress, black cargos, and combat boots. i fixed up my long, frizzy wavy hair, put on some neat waterline eyeliner, lipgloss, and headed out. as I walked out of my room and went towards the elevator, i could hear bella's voice from three floors above. too perfect. hika and thea were rehearsing next door. I went downstairs to the main lobby. Bella's voice was polished, hika and thea were harmonizing their melodies through the concrete walls, danielle had just dropped a new single that seems engineered in a lab, and yoona? she hadn't slept in three days, but kept smiling like the cameras were watching. they always are. something definitely feels different than what it used to be. izumi says it's pollution. aera thinks it's the g0vernm3nt. elaine shrugs and writes another verse about her frustration. we all cope differently. i never stopped writing. sometime i'd write songs at 3 am about literally anything i was thinking about. I went to the cafeteria and sat at a table. I wasn't here to eat, but to work instead. my laptop was open with five lines written on a document. bella later came to the cafeteria and sat with me. "amaranth, you'll NEVER guess what happened." she exclaimed, tapping her tyrian purple almond nails onto the table. "yoona went down on the spop charts this week, that rarely happens!" "actually, it can happen, especially because of the situation we're in." I told bella. I opened inst4gr4m and the first thing on my fyp was a post from yoona. "friday nights mean celebrating my career". there were pictures of her holding a glass of something, and taking selfies in a long maroon dress detailed with little jewels and embroided patterns. i've always wondered how she was always so happy. never seemed to frown or let any emotions kick in. her life was perfect. and mine? miser4ble. yuzu, koh, elena, and miri walked in and waved at me while they were having a full on conservation about yoona's new song "flaws." and then ena walked in. she gave me a dirty look, rolled her eyes, and sat with shuyu and giselle. she glanced at me and whispered to them. there was always something off about her. i had gotten some dm's from her around two weeks ago. they said "you were never meant to be here" and "the songs you wrote will never come back". I don't know why she sent me this stuff. why didn't she like me? "i'll go now. see you later." i smiled at bella and left the cafeteria. as i was going outside and walking to the the grocery store (i needed more groceries-- i barely had anything in the fridge), i heard a buzzing sound from my phone. i took it out of my pocket to see who was calling. it was ena.