Today is now the day we were set to leave Earth. To get onto the ships, to fly away for a better life. With green grass, blue skies and a world which would thrive for generations of humanity in the future. But today I am staying right where I am.

In this dying world, the sole option for humanity to not be extinct is to travel to space, where we can inhabit a planet light years away. To get there? You need priority to get onto the ships which take you, otherwise you may have to wait ages to escape the Earth - there are two ways to do that. You either have to be insanely rich, or you have to be part of the Adept - a group who are skilled enough to lead and develop our new planet.

Me and Giselle were part of the latter. Our tests, we had passed. Our classes, we were the top of. Three weeks ago, we were told - to our delights, we were part of the Adept program! Our ship would leave for the New Land on this very day. Sure, there were risks about being an Adept. Assassinations were common, people would kill the Adept so more places could be given and you could be part of the Priority. But the benefits outweighed the risks!

We had worked so hard for this moment - helping each other out. She was the brains of our pair, the super smart girl who could solve every problem you threw at her. Whereas, I was the fighter. I'd been learning martial arts from a young age - and I had learned to shoot and was even proficient with a knife now. Without each other, there was barely any chance we'd be in the program at all, if it wasn't for the other we would be nowhere close to leaving Earth.

Giselle was one of the only people I had now. Outside, the grass was more grey than green. We had never seen the sky as blue as it was in history books about the 2020s. Barely any flowers bloomed, barely any trees grew. But she brought colour. She brought light. She brought friendship. She would assist me with assessments, she'd compliment me, take walks with me and stay with me throughout almost the whole day. We were almost inseperable. And there was this one time. I blushed so much one time I saw her. And it just- it just happened. We kissed and it was the most perfect thing I'd ever felt, but as we did this the world caved in.

I heard the noise first. The sound of bombs and gunshots outside her house, that we were in then. People were trying to break in, all masked and armed. I pushed Giselle back, and she hid behind a sofa in the living room. However, they managed to get through. Someone I could not make out knocked me out.

The next thing I knew I was told she was gone. Just so people could get priority. No idea at all why I didn't die too, but it doesn't matter. I am dead inside already, and I'll stay where I am until Earth does the same. I am staying here for Giselle, and the better life we never had.