“Mr. Gargen, what happens if you haven’t progressed with your Life Plan far enough for an evaluation?” wondered a girl with wavy, sandy blonde hair.
“If you haven’t compiled your Life Plan to that extent yet, I suggest you take the time to work on it now,” instructed their teacher.
The girl nodded, her cheeks blushing bright red in embarrassment as she took out several sheets of blank paper and a pen to start writing.
Garrett couldn’t help smirking and tapping Opal on the shoulder to get her attention. When she glanced back at him, he flexed his eyebrows at her. He wasn’t the only one waiting until the last minute to write his Life Plan.
Opal just shook her head and refocused her gaze on the papers before her. A girl with curly black hair cut short in a crown about her head had switched desks with the boy to her right and was addressing her.
“Hi, Opal, do you want to examine each other’s Life Plans?”
“Sure, Crystal.” Opal smiled at her as they switched papers. Besides Opal, Crystal was the biggest overachiever in class. She’d probably handed in her Life Plan for pre-approval already as well.
“I figured each of us would be at the same stage in writing our Life Plans, so we could give one another a fair examination,” reasoned Crystal.
“Good idea,” approved Opal, returning Crystal’s nod. “Have you sent yours for pre-approval yet?”
Crystal’s smile dimmed as she shook her head. “Not yet, I was waiting until after class today to go to City Hall and submit it. I wanted to have one last pair of eyes check it over for me.”
“Well, in that case, I’ll do my best to look for any problems for you.”
“I’ll do the same.” Crystal twisted in the chair to face the desk and began meticulously reviewing Opal’s Life Plan.
Opal noticed that Crystal hadn’t asked if she’d sent hers for pre-approval, but she decided not to offer the information herself. She and Crystal had always vied for the top spot in class, both continually striving for academic success. But instead of being bitter rivals, they often supported and helped one another. Each loved to help others and had planned for lives doing just that. Whereas Opal wanted to become a lawyer to help the underrepresented Undecided, Crystal planned on becoming a doctor. A heart surgeon to be exact.
As Opal read Crystal’s Life Plan, she became increasingly impressed. It was as meticulous and detailed as hers was. Of course, Crystal hadn’t specified dates where small events of her life were to occur, but she had created a realistic timeline for which her life could unfold. Crystal planned on completing her medical training by age thirty and getting married by the age of thirty-two. She planned on having two kids—a boy and a girl—and spending one day of their family weekends helping sick Undecideds. So far, Opal hadn’t noticed anything wrong with her plans. Nothing contradicted the list of nonacceptable plans. Opal was about to continue reading when a loud voice broke the silence.
“Garrett Gibbons! Stop staring out into space and start working on your Life Plan! I’ve noticed that you haven’t joined up with a partner or taken out a piece of paper to begin writing. You need to use this time wisely. The deadline is fast approaching.” Mr. Gargen’s piercing blue eyes the color of frost stared out across from his desk at the front of the class directly in Garrett’s direction.
Opal spun around to see Garrett literally staring out the window and toward the sky. “Garrett,” she whispered.
Garrett came to and looked from her to Mr. Gargen. Noticing the icy glare of their teacher, Garrett leaned forward and whispered to Opal, “What’s going on?”
Opal pursed her lips and looked down at the empty desktop and back to Garrett repeatedly.
Garrett held up his hands, not getting it. “What?”
“Your LIFE PLAN, Mr. Gibbons!” shouted the teacher loud enough to turn heads. Even the girl who had spoken earlier snapped her head up, although her hand kept furiously writing as she glanced up and then back down at her sheet.
“Oh, yeah, right.” Garrett fumbled with his backpack, accidentally knocking it over, causing the papers and pens to spill out. The clatter once again made people in the class stare in his direction. “Sorry.”
Opal decided to focus on Crystal’s Life Plan and ignored Garrett’s bumbling movements as he took his time pulling out a sheet of paper and pen.
Garrett bit the inside of his lip and wrote his name at the top of the paper. Then he stared at the blank sheet in confusion as what to write. The only things in life he wanted to plan were the things he couldn’t, like when he would die and who he would marry. He wanted to specify that under no circumstances would he marry Miranda Lavarr. If there was anything he was sure of in life, it was that.
Tapping the pen on his paper, he glanced up to see that his teacher’s stare had never left his position. Pursing his lips and looking back down at his paper, he decided to make a list of all the things he wished he could plan but knew he couldn’t. At least it would appear he was actively writing something instead of sitting there like an idiot.
The final beep of the day released the students, and particularly Garrett, from their misery. Garrett rose from his seat stuffing his long list of things he wished he could plan into his backpack before Mr. Gargen could inspect it. He rushed out the door, waiting patiently adjacent to it for Opal to stop gabbing with Crystal and exit the room.
“Thanks for the encouraging comments, Opal. I’m going to City Hall now to submit my Life Plan for
