It is just for fun, they said. It won’t be addicting, they said. It will make you look cooler, they said. That was all the lies I’ve heard 2 years ago, when my best friend offered me to use his e-cigarette. I took it after seeing everyone using them and I wanted to try it too. When I took my first hit, it got me lightheaded and coughed a bunch, but it wasn’t horrible. I began buying my own vapes and with the different varieties of flavors and brands, I did not get tired of it. After a year of vaping, I found out that I can’t survive a day without taking a hit. I thought it would be easy to quit, just control myself for a few days and soon enough I will forget that I even vaped before. However, that was not the case, I just craved it more and more until I couldn't handle it anymore and went to buy more. 

I did not want to enter college with this addiction, so I have decided to spend the whole summer in the Vertical Self-Management Center to get rid of this addiction. The interview was very awkward; the administration interviewer paused for a minute after every question and I didn’t like it, but I forced myself to be nice throughout the process in order to be a part of the program. After a few weeks, I got an email saying I have qualified for it and I can start right away. They also told me to bring one specific item I want with me while being inside the program, so I decided to bring my dog in with me since it won’t get boring with him around.

I woke up feeling very lightheaded and my dog licking my hand on the side. I looked around me and realized that I am a part of the vertical self-management center. I saw the number 48 on the wall and had no idea what that meant. I looked across the room and saw an old white man lying on his bed. I started walking to him, but I saw the huge hole in the middle of the room and I saw people on the floor beneath us. Then I looked up and saw people from the platform above looking down on us, I looked down again however I can’t seem to find the bottom. The white man saw that I was confused and snickered. I did not like his attitude and walked around the hole to him, but he stopped me and told me to stay on my side of the room if I didn't want trouble. I went back to my side of the room reluctantly. I figured if I have to stay in this room with someone, I might as well get to know them a little.

I asked “What’s your name man?” 

He replied irritatedly, “Why does it matter? We change platforms every month, but I’m Conner.”

I said, “Look man, if we have to be together for a month, we might as well help each other out. I’m Jake”

Conner said with a glare, “It’s every man for themselves in here, now stop asking questions.”

A stone platform from the top started coming down, it was filled with food. However, I took a closer look and all the food seemed to be leftovers and mixed together. I lost all my appetite and sat on my bed with my dog. I tried to do anything that kept me from thinking about vaping, but I just crave it way too much. Conner was eating like there won’t be any food tomorrow, using his bare hands, he picked up food after food stuffing them down his mouth. 

Conner finally realized that I’m not eating and said, “Are you crazy man? People on the lower platforms wish they have food to eat and ur not eating when ur close to the top.”

I asked, “Why didn’t they make enough food for everyone?”

Conner said, “Who knows, but I was at level 164 and there weren’t even any bones left.”

I questioned suspiciously, “How did you survive without eating for a whole month?”

He responded, “Well, there’s two people on every platform.”

At first, I did not understand what that had to do with anything, then it hit me: Conner ate his roommate. He realized that I finally understood what he meant when he saw the look of terror in my face. He started laughing hysterically. 

Conner said, “Don’t worry man, we’re on floor 48 right now, we get plenty of food. I won’t do anything to you unless you annoy me. Also, this is our only meal of the day so you should eat something.” 

I did not have any appetite after finding out Conner ate another human, but I looked through the food and found an apple so I put that in my pocket for later if I ever get hungry. The platform started moving to the next floor and I walked back to my bed. Suddenly, the temperature started to rise dramatically. I looked around confusingly.

Conner said, “Throw that apple back man, if you save anything from the platform, we will either burn to death or freeze to death. 

Quickly, I took the apple out of my pocket and threw it down to the next floor. The temperature quickly changed back to normal and I wiped the sweat off my face. I began to know more about Conner as I asked him more questions, and apparently he was not here voluntarily. He would not tell me why he is here, but he was shocked when I told him that I came here voluntarily. 

As the month progressed, I started eating food from the platform with Conner everyday, also feeding my dog some of the food too. I am getting used to this lifestyle and surprisingly slowly losing my nicotine addiction. Soon enough, the month is about to come to an end and Conner said he likes me and wishes we are roommates again next month. 

I woke up seeing the number 171 and I tried to get up but I was tied up with my dog, I looked to the right and saw Conner sitting on his bed.