by S. L. Baum
“Alright. I understand. Really. I do. Can we at least walk in beside each other?”
My father and Aspen turned around. “Are you two coming?” he asked.
“Yes,” I called out and began to walk toward them. “Come on,” I said over my shoulder to Weaver. He took a few quick steps to catch up to me and put his hand on my elbow. I wiggled it away. “No physical contact,” I frowned.
“Sorry.”
“You’re a nice guy, Weaver. Can’t you just be my friend?”
He put his hands into his pants’ pockets. “I can do that.”
“Thank you,” I smiled at him, and we walked into the Gala.
My father and Aspen immediately veered off to the right, toward a group of their friends. Weaver stayed by my side as I snaked my way through the crowd, looking for any of mine. The stage in front of us was set up with two small couches in the middle, and two sets of high stools on either side. Petunia sat on one of the couches, and Petals sat on the other. To their right, on one set of the stools, Leaf and Blade were perched. To their left were Hunter and Reed. A spotlight shone down on the tops of each of their heads.
While all other guests were walking around, chatting, laughing, and enjoying themselves, up on the stage were six young Citizens on display. My friends looked nervous, more nervous than their male counterparts. The decision made by the Citizens of Concord and The Council would outweigh their own choice, and it would determine the path their lives would take.
Petals noticed me in the crowd and waved. I waved back and blew her a kiss. She pointed to my head and gave me a thumbs up. “Very nice,” she mouthed.
I touched the feather headpiece and smiled. “Thanks,” I mouthed back to her.
“Are they very good friends of yours?” Weaver asked.
“Yes. They are two of the best,” I answered. “And here is another.” I smiled as I saw Lily walking toward me. “Lil,” I called out to her and waved my arm in the air.
She walked toward me with Fisher by her side, their hands intertwined. “Blue!” She put her free arm around me and gave me a one-arm hug. “Who’s Mr. Matching?” she asked in my ear.
“Weaver, the guy I met in Two. He’s Aspen’s idea,” I told her. “Weaver, this is Lily and Fisher. Lily is my very best friend and Fisher is her very best everything.” I made the introductions. “Weaver just transferred back here from Two.”
Fisher extended his hand. “Good to meet you.”
“What do you two study?” Weaver asked.
Lily laughed. “Nice to meet you, too.”
Weaver gave her a confused look.
“Sorry, but I dislike being equated with my field of study. And when you lead off with that question, it seems to be your intent,” Lily explained.
“But what else are we, if not our chosen profession… our roles in Concord society?” Weaver scratched his temple as he asked the question.
“We are people.” Lily’s simple explanation was said with a smile. “I’m Lily. Blue and I have been friends since we were little girls, but we became inseparable after we were placed together in the Transition Hall while at Training Tech. I absolutely love to watch videos, although not always with Bluebell, because she tends to ruin the ending for me. I am learning to cook from my mother. I’m not very good at it, but I haven’t burned anything yet. I think I look fabulous this evening. This gown was refashioned from one of my mother’s old gowns; it is actually twenty years old. I have a knack for redesigning her old clothes, and I absolutely love to do it. See, now isn’t that more interesting than finding out what I study?”
“Lily, don’t give the man a hard time.” Fisher shook his head. “He just asked a question. She is in Armory, and I am in Architecture.”
I hugged Lily again. Her answer to Weaver made something spark in the back of my mind. I’d been hoping to be able to tell Lily some of the terrible things I’d discovered about Concord, but I wasn’t sure how well she would process the information. I was beginning to think I could include her soon. She was more willing to walk on the edge of our Concord given roles than most Citizens.
“A female in Armory,” Weaver noted. “That’s somewhat untraditional.”
Lily shrugged. “I’m special.”
“Yes, she is,” I confirmed. “Stone!” I exclaimed as I saw him coming up behind Fisher with Rosebud in tow. Behind them were Ash, Holly, and Willow. I screamed in delight and hugged everyone in sight. When I felt his arms slide around me from behind, my smile widened and I turned around to throw my arms around Thorn.
“Blue,” he whispered into my hair.
I squeezed him tight, as tight as I could, and I breathed in the scent of him.
The group was strangely quiet as the two of us pulled apart. Willow looked from Weaver to Thorn, her eyes bobbing between them. Stone stood quietly, with a bubble of air blowing up his left cheek and his arm around Rosebud, as he observed the scene.
I hooked my little finger with Thorn’s and leaned into him. “I hope you got my message.”
“I did.”
Weaver extended his arm toward Thorn. “I’m Weaver. I met Bluebell in Two and…”
Thorn shook Weaver’s hand. “I know who you are. You were a few years ahead of us at Training Tech. Do you see any of your old friends around?”
Weaver glanced around the room, his lips pursed together. “I spent quite a bit of my time studying while at Training Tech, and then transferred soon after Incorporation. I didn’t make all that many friends, I doubt anyone would remember me.”
“Well, that is just unfortunate,” Stone muttered.
Weaver shoved his hands back into his pockets. “I’m the top Medical student.”
“Were,” I reminded him. “You’re out now.”
“Medical Apprentice,” he noted.
Willow coughed loudly. “So, anyway, has anyone talked with Petunia or Petals today? I plan to change my vote to whichever set of brothers they prefer.”
Holly shook her head and looked at her brother, Ash. “I haven’t even voted yet, because I didn’t want to pick the wrong ones.”
Ash took Holly’s hand with his right one, and then he grabbed Willow’s with his left. “Why don’t we go ask?”
“Does it matter?” Weaver asked. “We could probably ascertain the best match from analyzing the statistics.”
Lily shook her head at him. “Of course it matters,” she scoffed.
The group of us advanced toward the stage and Willow waved her arms to get The Pets’ attention. She pointed first to the brothers on their left and then to the ones on their right. “Which ones?” she called out her question.
Petals shook her head, Petunia shrugged. “We can’t say,” they answered together.
But I noticed that Petunia’s gaze wandered over to where Leaf and Blade were perched on their stools, while Petals looked over at Hunter and Reed. It hadn’t even occurred to me that their interests would be divided. It seemed that one of them would have to resolve herself to the chosen pairing. When I was still in Training Tech, I had a decidedly un-romanticized vision of what Marriage would be like. But I’d come to realize that if I was going to spend the rest of my life with someone, I’d want it to be someone that I had an emotional attachment to… and not just a logical pairing.
“Oh, the poor Pets,” I whispered.
“They’ll be fine,” Lily reassured me. “They are good girls. They like both sets of brothers. I know they do.”
“I wish they could both choose the exact person they liked, whether or not it fit in with this game.”
Lily shrugged. “Sometimes it is better not to dwell on wishes.”
Willow looked at Lily. “That might be easy for you to say. You’ve got Fisher, and everybody is in agreement about it. What if you were told that you needed to switch to Stone?”
Lily scrunched her face at the suggestion.
“She’d be okay with it,” Holly concluded. “She gets along well with Stone too.”
Stone moved a li
ttle closer to Rosebud.
“Petals and Petunia agreed to this. They will be happy with either of them… in time,” Ash concluded.
Weaver nodded his head in agreement. The rest of us remained quiet.
As I looked around the room, I noticed that almost all of my Incorporation Class was in attendance, and many of the other guests had more than likely been official Branded Citizens of Concord for less than five years. It was a young crowd. It seemed that The Council realized the younger Citizens were the ones who would show the most enthusiasm over the twins being paired off. We were the ones with an emotional investment in their Matchmaking. Which was strange, considering how unemotional the process seemed. But I supposed that every other unattached Citizen in attendance was hoping for an advantageous pairing of their own.
I wondered what the most important attribute was for the majority of Citizens, when choosing a husband or wife. Did they look for family numbers, family wealth, or social standing? Would the other person’s Brand be a deal breaker? Maybe it was physical appearance… but then I wondered how many people were forthcoming with their medical records and truthful about the number of procedures their parents had signed off on when they were at Training Tech. The best time to change a troublesome physical attribute, after a student reached puberty, was while there was still no contact with the opposite sex. How many of my fellow Citizens were willing to take the time to find out who they had an emotional connection with, who they could comfortably converse with, whose company they enjoyed? I saw an actual connection happening with several people from my Incorporation Class. Lily and Fisher, Stone and Rosebud, Thorn and me… we made that connection, we liked the people we were spending our time with. But maybe we were in the minority.
Overall, things were changing in Concord. Citizens were trying to make their own matches, more than our parents’ generation did. We weren’t relying on our elders and The Council to help us choose our partners. We were choosing for ourselves. While I viewed that as a good thing… I wondered if The Council agreed. My guess was that they did not.
Chapter Six
The Perfect Match
“How long do they have to stay up there like that?” I asked my father. He’d left Aspen to seek me out, and had just finished telling me that I only had about an hour before I was due to give my speech.
He stood in front of my group of friends with his back to the stage. “Who?” he asked, and then pointed behind his back, toward the stage. “The twins, or the brothers?”
“All six of them.”
“Well, as soon as you deliver your speech, the winning set of brothers will be announced and then they can all join the Gala,” he explained.
I shook my head. “Until then, they just have to sit there on display?”
“Yes, I suppose they do. It’s part of the entertainment and mystery of – Who will the twins end up with?” He took my hand and pulled me a few steps away from the group. “I don’t think anybody told you yet… your grandfather will arrive just before you are announced. In fact, the entire Council is in attendance tonight and we will stand in a united front on the stage as you give your speech. We want all of Citizens to know that we are standing together to keep Concord strong.”
“Wow. That hasn’t happened in a long time. The Council has always been a behind closed doors thing.”
“It is necessary.” My father held onto both of my hands and stared at my face. It was almost an inspection. His eyes moved slowly over each of my features and lingered at the top of my head, at the feathery headpiece. His brow knitted together.
“What?” I smiled at him.
“Nothing, I guess. My mind has been a jumble lately.” He shook his head, as if in an attempt to clear it. “You look beautiful this evening. You really have grown into a lovely young woman, your mother would be proud. I mean, is proud. Your mother is so proud of you. We both are.” He kissed the top of my head and walked away.
I stood, frozen in place. Your mother would be proud. I replayed the words in my head, and I hoped. I hoped that the memory pills I’d been feeding him had finally started to kick in. I hoped that he was finally remembering the woman who had truly given birth to me, and what had happened when she disappeared. I hoped.
Thorn came over to where I stood and laced his fingers with mine. I looked up at him. “I think his memory is starting to return,” I whispered.
The corners of his mouth turned up into a small, hopeful smile. “I hope that is a good thing.”
“So do I.” I reached for his other hand and then leaned forward, resting my head against his chest. I let out a long slow breath in an attempt to keep my emotions under control. I couldn’t let that hope shine from my face; I couldn’t let anyone else see what I was feeling. “My father said I had an hour before I need to take to the stage. I’d really like to go outside and speak with Gill,” I said, looking up at him.
Thorn glanced over to where Weaver stood. “What are you going to do about your shadow?”
I wasn’t sure what I could do to rid myself of Weaver. He hadn’t left my side since we arrived at the Gala. As I stared at him it suddenly occurred to me that he was exactly what Aspen wanted, an extra set of eyes and ears to be with me at all times. But I didn’t think he was a willing participant. My eyes wandered to the tie that Aspen had sent to him earlier that day… and the elegant, black gemstone pin attached to it.
I stood up on my tiptoes and placed my lips near Thorn’s ear. “I think that black pin on his tie is a recording device. Aspen gave it to him today. But I don’t think he knows what it is,” I whispered.
Thorn lowered his head and whispered in my ear. “I’ll get it off of him.” He punctuated the sentence with a quick kiss on my cheek. “We should go fast dance,” he said to the group and then looked directly at Weaver. “You do fast dance, don’t you?”
“I didn’t really have the time to spend doing stuff like that, with how hard I’ve been studying the last few years. I know how to do the basic steps, you know, the ones we learned in Training Tech. But, no, nothing fast,” he said and took a step backward, removing himself from the proposed activity.
Thorn raised his eyebrows with a smile. “I’m sure you can handle it.”
Holly, who’d practically jumped with joy at the mention of the words fast dance, rushed forward and grabbed Weaver’s hand. “I know you can handle it! Come on!” She yanked on his arm and pulled him behind her as she walked to the corner of the room.
In the corner, behind a thick, clear, soundproof wall, was the fast dance area. It was where Citizens could listen to the louder, drum-driven, fast paced music without infringing upon the sophistication of the slower, serene music that was more widely enjoyed. The fast dance area was always kept separate from the slow dance area, and was usually enjoyed by the younger Citizens.
“Don’t expect me to be any good at this,” Weaver warned as Holly dragged him along.
Holly looked back at him, her eyes dancing with excitement. “The point isn’t to be good at it. The point is to let go.”
Willow hurried along behind Holly and Weaver, with Ash comfortably at her side, and the rest of us trailed along with them. Holly and Weaver, Willow and Ash, Me and Thorn, Fisher and Lily, Rosebud and Stone… we were walking in pairs. It made me smile.
“I’m so glad they have the soundproof area in place for this Gala. I’m still upset that your mother refused to let us have one at our Gala.” Lily frowned at me.
“I wasn’t all that upset about it,” Fisher said, with a shrug. “I think fast dancing is a girl thing.”
“Speak for yourself.” Stone clasped his friend’s shoulder. “I’m quite adept at it,” he said with a wink. “I could teach you some moves.”
“You could teach me,” Rosebud beamed. “I’ve actually never even tried to do it.”
“That is a travesty, my dear.” Stone shook his head. “That will be remedied tonight!”
We could see all the Citizens dancing inside. They jumped and smile
d, jerked their feet and arms, and clapped their hands with enthusiasm. It seemed almost comical without being able to hear the music. As we approached the room, only the slight thump of a drumbeat could barely be detected, the walls were so thick. The doorway was even designed to keep the loud noises at bay. We walked through the first door, which opened into an extremely small room. Once that door was securely closed behind us, another opened in front of us, which allowed entrance into the fast dance area.
“Weaver!” A tall girl yelled out as we entered the dance area. She waved her hands in the air and tossed back a mane of thick blonde hair. “Goodness, I haven’t seen you since Incorporation. You look great!”
Weaver’s face screwed itself into a nervous smile. “Thanks, um, sorry, I don’t remember your name,” he shouted to be heard above the music.
“Blossom. My name is Blossom. We sat next to each other in several classes,” she told him in an attempt to jog his memory.
His face brightened. “I do remember you. Your hair was brown, then.”
She put both her hands in her hair and shook it. “It was. You do remember,” she laughed. “Dance with me.”
The confident and talented Weaver was completely out of his Medical element. He shook his head at Blossom and backed away. But Holly took his hand and dragged him out onto the dance floor. “Come on, Weaver!”
We all followed them out and immediately began to stomp our feet to the beat of the music. We were a jumble of bodies, close as we could get to each other without crashing into one another. No one wanted to risk ruining his or her outfit. We all wanted to keep our perfectly pleasing appearance for the Gala, something that had been ingrained in each of us from our times spent in Incorporation.
Holly held onto one of Weaver’s hands and swung their arms back and forth. Thorn grabbed onto my hand and moved us closer to them. As we danced, Holly laughed; she was having more fun than I think I’d ever seen her having. Thorn lurched forward, pulling me with him, and we fell against Holly and Weaver. He pushed himself away from them and then began to jump up and down. Thorn bumped into Stone, and then Stone followed along: jumping, stomping, and smashing their feet on the ground. Fisher followed the lead of his friend, and then Ash started to bounce up and down as well. Weaver, Thorn, Stone, Fisher, and Ash moved into a close circle, having released their partners’ hands, and all the boys were pouncing around the dance floor.
