I couldn’t believe what he was saying. What was so important? I picked up my hover board and glanced back at him.

“6:00 sharp at the library next to Frederick’s Auto Shop. Don’t be late.”

Frederick’s Auto Shop was where I worked, and I got off at 5:45, just enough time to get across the freshly tarred street to the library.

The library was the only place I ever went other than my house. I had read practically all of the books there, and I know that place like the back of my hand. If you turn right at the horror section and a slight right past the Magazines and DVDs you would reach the rows of Fantasy/ Science Fiction books (where I loved to hang out).

“6:00. See you there.” He called to me. I dipped down, stuck my feet into the footpaths, and took off to the curbside behind school.

This is where the hyperloop stop was, and a man with an impatient expression on his face was waiting there for me. Oh god, I thought. I’m late.

The man, who had a nametag saying Darrel Staller, held out his hand for the money. I handed him the brass coins. He took one look at me and grimaced.

I stepped off my board and shoved it in the trunk. Darrel sighed. He pressed a small key into a slot in the steering system and the whole car shuddered. My legs started to slowly float upwards and I pushed them down with all my might, but it was no use.

I could feel the blood rushing to my head. Since there was nothing I could really do, I stared aimlessly out the window. The trees flew past and I could hear the sound of the motor mixed with birdcalls.

When you go into a hyperloop, time seems to accelerate. It seems to only take you three minutes to travel 10 miles. This usually gave me a strange burning sensation that passed through my whole body and made my heart thump extremely hard and incredibly fast.

We were starting to get into my neighborhood. I saw the crazy barking dog on the corner of Hilstrom Street and the chirping of Mimi Lappet’s failing security helper. Suddenly we stopped, and we weren’t at my house yet.

“Here you go. I don’t go past that there bridge.” He grumbled pointing at a bridge bobbing up and down with the breeze.

“Oh. Well, I better grab my hover-”

“You will leave my loop now. I don’t care about your stupid hovercraft.” He got up and threw my board out his window.

“Hey, Mister! This thing that you threw cost just about 300 gold. Are you planning to pay for damages ?” He glared at me, and then sped off.

“I knew it. These people are horrid.” I walked over to my broken board. The whole side was ripped off and the electromagnetic field shuttered on and off. It was useless now. I would take it to Frederick’s on my daily shift.

I’ll just walk to Auto now to spare me the yelling of Mother. These boards cost a fortune. I thought. Mom would be so angry with me. I picked up the board, and felt an engraving in the metal.

It read:

“ See you at the library, freak. –L”

Freak. Freak. Freak. The word ran through my head. My face was hot like burning fire. Who else knew about the library? Who was tracking me down? Who is L?