Howard Fullerton. The names went on and on like my own memorial wall built inside my head. “I had forgotten all about the folding of proteins.” Mallory went on as if I was even listening. Like proteins mattered or our lives mattered. “I mean, we covered those four years ago.” I smiled to acknowledge I did indeed see her mouth moving, but I was busy scanning my comrades for Charles.
My intentions were to coax him somewhere (alone) and ask him what the hell was going on with him trying to be my hero today. I kept thinking, maybe he was a dissenter. But Charles Stone? A dissenter? What a joke. I’d known him for as long as I could remember. He was the poster boy for the pride of Mother Country. He saluted with grace, he sang the Mother Country …show more content…
He walked by, his salute firm and direct. His eyes telling me to meet him with a squint. Whatever was on his mind was important and required the most immediate attention. I nodded with my returning salute, and kept walking forward with Mallory still at my side blabbering on about the exam. Once we were in the diner hall, I left Mallory, walking towards the bathroom to throw her off my agenda. When she wasn’t looking, I made a beeline for the exit.
The hall, packed with students, made it easy to blend in as I went to the elevator, towards the Nursing department. To our closet. The elevator opened and I stepped out, strolling down the main hall. I made a right turn and tried to keep a walking pace. Three boys passed me. I saluted and the one, wearing a fitted blue striped shirt, in the middle, winked seductively. Yeah, like he had a chance. I smiled back as if I was the tiniest, cutest thing in the world and he just made my day with that wink. …show more content…
I managed to step back and his lips curved downward. “The thing with Ella frightened me.” I could see the gravity of his fear because his eyes squinted again, like in the hall, something he only did when he was downright serious. “I don’t want to be with Betty. I want you.”
“Tell that to the Mother Country.” Bitterness and resentment rolled off my tongue. Not because I desired to marry William. I wasn’t even sure I did. Did I love him? I certainly liked him. And his lips. And his abs. Not to mention, those beautiful gray eyes. He was attractive, funny, and super charming. He was my best friend. All the things a girl wanted in a partner and hoped to get at the matching. But I didn’t love him. Not yet, anyway.
I resented the betrothed system. The forced marriages. Free people chose their destinies, their partners, and their life. The matching was just another program to control us. Control the path of our lives, because somehow, the Mother Country believed we were incapable of determining that for ourselves. We build them nukes, cure diseases, morph our bodies into perfect specimens, but somehow, we had an inability to choose our right path. Or was the Mother Country just worried the path we would choose would not be aligned with their collective salvation? I was pretty sure it was the
My intentions were to coax him somewhere (alone) and ask him what the hell was going on with him trying to be my hero today. I kept thinking, maybe he was a dissenter. But Charles Stone? A dissenter? What a joke. I’d known him for as long as I could remember. He was the poster boy for the pride of Mother Country. He saluted with grace, he sang the Mother Country …show more content…
He walked by, his salute firm and direct. His eyes telling me to meet him with a squint. Whatever was on his mind was important and required the most immediate attention. I nodded with my returning salute, and kept walking forward with Mallory still at my side blabbering on about the exam. Once we were in the diner hall, I left Mallory, walking towards the bathroom to throw her off my agenda. When she wasn’t looking, I made a beeline for the exit.
The hall, packed with students, made it easy to blend in as I went to the elevator, towards the Nursing department. To our closet. The elevator opened and I stepped out, strolling down the main hall. I made a right turn and tried to keep a walking pace. Three boys passed me. I saluted and the one, wearing a fitted blue striped shirt, in the middle, winked seductively. Yeah, like he had a chance. I smiled back as if I was the tiniest, cutest thing in the world and he just made my day with that wink. …show more content…
I managed to step back and his lips curved downward. “The thing with Ella frightened me.” I could see the gravity of his fear because his eyes squinted again, like in the hall, something he only did when he was downright serious. “I don’t want to be with Betty. I want you.”
“Tell that to the Mother Country.” Bitterness and resentment rolled off my tongue. Not because I desired to marry William. I wasn’t even sure I did. Did I love him? I certainly liked him. And his lips. And his abs. Not to mention, those beautiful gray eyes. He was attractive, funny, and super charming. He was my best friend. All the things a girl wanted in a partner and hoped to get at the matching. But I didn’t love him. Not yet, anyway.
I resented the betrothed system. The forced marriages. Free people chose their destinies, their partners, and their life. The matching was just another program to control us. Control the path of our lives, because somehow, the Mother Country believed we were incapable of determining that for ourselves. We build them nukes, cure diseases, morph our bodies into perfect specimens, but somehow, we had an inability to choose our right path. Or was the Mother Country just worried the path we would choose would not be aligned with their collective salvation? I was pretty sure it was the