“Why is that?” Freya was a little surprised, since haircuts were something everyone required.
“Well, females don’t need their hair cut as often as males. When there is not a lot of demand, not as many workers are needed,” she answered with a shrug.
“Do only females cut hair?” Freya asked.
“Of course not, but I can’t be alone with a male, so they have their own area. Since men are required to have their hair cut every four weeks, there are a lot more male barbers to take care of them.”
“Four weeks!” Freya blurted in surprise. “I only get mine cut once or twice a year.”
“Which is exactly why there are less of us and more of them.” She winked at Freya. “That is why I feel lucky. I mean, I could have ended up working as a nurse or cleaning—or something even worse. I like this job because I get to know so many different people. The actual cutting is not that thrilling, since everyone gets it done the same way, but I do love working with my hands. I couldn’t imagine having a job that required me to sit all day. Here, I get to be on my feet and move around, make people feel better and chat with them. As a matter of fact, I actually wish haircuts took longer, so we could have longer conversations. Speaking of that, we’re all done.” She pulled the cape off Freya, shook it out, and began to fold it up.
Freya ran her fingers through her hair and sighed; it was nice to feel the ends blunt again. “Well, thank you. It was nice to meet you.”
“You’re welcome. Do enjoy the rest of your day.” She smiled and waved, then grabbed a broom to sweep up the hair from the floor.
***
Freya awoke the next morning to the blaring alarm, went through her usual morning routine, and walked to the Education Center. She sat through her usual history class, barely able to focus, then proceeded to agricultural studies. The instructor went over the theory portion, and then Freya was excused from class early once again.
As Freya was packing up her belongings and materials, she noticed that the instructor had called one of her classmates to her desk. This girl was one she had seen many times before, a little shorter and thicker than Freya in build, and stood out a little simply because she smiled often. Freya had always thought of her as kind and friendly, even though she had never spoken to her. She packed her things away slowly, hoping to overhear their discussion. The conversation didn’t last long before the girl turned around and went back to her desk to gather her own things. Freya walked slowly on purpose, hoping for a chance to speak to her classmate.
“Hi, Freya. Will you wait for me?” asked the other girl as they exited the building.
“Sure,” Freya said. “Are you on leave too then?”
“Yes,” she said, looking down and wearing a very somber expression.
“Oh. Well, I guess, um… We can walk together then,” Freya stuttered, not really sure what to say to the girl. She normally kept to herself, unless she was in the greenhouse. She had the feeling the girl was upset, but she wasn’t sure if she should ask her about it. It was then that it occurred to her that she didn’t even know who the girl was. “Um, I’m really sorry, but I don’t know your name,” she confessed, feeling a little awkward.
“Oh, it’s Gita. You’re Freya, right? I only know because you answer questions in class a lot. I guess we have never talked before, have we?”
“Well, it’s nice to meet you Gita,” Freya responded, feeling a little uneasy that the girl already knew her name. I hope she doesn’t take me for a snob or something, she worried.
“Hey, I don’t ever see you in the common rooms. What do you do with your free time?” Gita asked, her mood lightening as they made small talk.
“I like to take my meals in the apartment, and I prefer to read or do puzzles there. I’ve never really understood the purpose of the common rooms, to tell you the truth.” Freya had never really admitted that to anyone before, and she wondered what Gita might think of her because of it.
“The purpose? That’s simple, Freya. It’s so we can talk to males.” Gita stopped and looked at her with an expression of utter shock and disapproval. “Even if there isn’t one you fancy, it’s a lot more fun than sitting alone.”
“We need to keep walking,” Freya whispered, darting her eyes around. “Security will be alerted if we stop here.”
“Right. C’mon.”
They continued in silence for some time. Freya didn’t quite know how to respond to what Gita said. She knew it was far more popular to go to the common rooms than to sit alone like a hermit, but that was what she preferred to do, plain and simple, and she wasn’t ashamed of it.
“I’m sorry if that offended you. I am sure you have your reasons for wanting to eat alone,” Gita responded after a few moments.
Freya felt silly, realizing that Gita had taken her insistence to keep walking as a sign of irritation. “It’s okay. It’s fine, really. I know lots of people like those rooms. It’s just… Well, I don’t get it. As for the males, they seem to act like idiots most of the time, and most females act like idiots when the males are around.”
Gita giggled. “That’s probably true, Freya, but it’s still fun,” she said and shook her head. “I take it you’re one of those people who actually wants to be chosen for independent living.”
“Actually, yes, I do.” Freya had thought about that many times, but she’d never vocalized those wishes to anyone before, and it felt kind of good to say it out loud.
“Well, I don’t personally get that, but you just made me feel a lot better. I think about those people, and it scares me to death to think I might be forced into that kind of life. Knowing that some actually choose it… Well, I guess maybe some of those other independents wanted it too. I just hope it doesn’t happen to me.”
They neared a common room, and Gita slowed her pace considerably.
“So, you are stopping here?” Freya asked.
“Um, look, Freya, I know you don’t like the common rooms, but I really don’t wanna sit in there by myself right now, and there won’t be anyone around till later, since most are still in school. Will you come with me? You can leave when the males show up, if you want,” she said, never taking her eyes off her feet.
From the sheepish way Gita was asking, Freya supposed she was expecting her to refuse the invitation. It was not how she would have chosen to spend her afternoon, but then again, she was not tired and had nothing else to do. Not only that, but no one could make her stay when the room began to fill up; she could come and go as she pleased. “Sure. I guess I can try something different. We both have the time, after all.” She was almost proud of herself for being willing to try something new, and she was a bit excited, feeling a little daring.
“Are you telling me you’d seriously rather sit in that small, confined box they call an apartment?” Gita rolled her eyes. “I don’t get you, but like I said, you do make me feel better. Come on.”
Gita led the way into the common area. The room was above ground, nestled between two apartment buildings, one for females and the other for males. The common rooms could only be entered via the underground passages, as elevators and upper entries would only make it easier for people to sneak into places they were not authorized to go.
The common room was very large. The center of the ceiling was made of glass, and the whole room was built above what Freya’s history instructor had referred to as roads, constructed around the preexisting buildings. The ground floor of the two apartment buildings had been gutted, leaving nothing but open space and support pillars, and the glass dome was built to adjoin the two buildings. There were four counters, two on each end of the room, and a mass of tables set up in long rows in the center of the room.
Along the sides of the room were shelves full of puzzles and games. Freya much preferred the electronic games on her tablet to the old board games and puzzles in the room. Why would anyone want to take a picture and cut it into hundreds of pieces, just to put it back together? she wondered, shaking her head at a 500-piece jigsaw image
of a flowery field.
Gita walked over to one of the scanners on the outside wall and placed her hand against it. It had been so long since Freya had been to the common room that she had forgotten all about that requirement. She had always taken for granted that scanning in was not just to unlock doors; it was also how the State kept track of everyone’s whereabouts, and it let them know where they would take their meals. Freya scanned in, then looked at Gita, not quite sure what to do next.
Gita led the way over to one of the shelves at the side of the room and began to dig through the puzzles. “I figure since you don’t really like anything here, I’ll pick out something for us to do.”
For some reason, the fact that Gita so casually pointed that out amused Freya, and she simply shrugged. She was beginning to like Gita, and she hurried behind her as she walked over to one of the tables.
“So, why don’t you like these puzzles?” Gita said as they sat down.
“How do you know I don’t like them?” Freya asked, slightly intrigued by her observation.
“You made a face as soon as I started looking through them,” Gita said. “It wasn’t that hard to figure out.”
“I just don’t really see the point. Why take something apart, just to put it back together?”
“Well, what’s the point of Sudoku and word puzzles?” Gita shot back.
Freya thought about that retort for a moment and realized she made a good point. “I guess it’s really not that different,” she said with a shrug.
“Actually, there’s a big difference. For starters, these jigsaw puzzles can only be done in the common rooms. For another thing, more than one person can work on them at the same time. If you start working on one of these, someone else usually joins you. Preferably, that will be a male,” Gita explained.
Freya rolled her eyes. “Is that all you think about?”
“What on Earth do you think about, Freya? I mean, what else is there?” Gita said, in almost a yell. She stopped working on the puzzle and just stared at Freya with a confused look on her face.
“I don’t know. I guess I just—”
“Don’t see the point, right?” Gita finished with a half-smile.
“Right. It’s not like we can choose whether we’ll be coupled, and even if we are, we don’t get to choose the person they couple us with. So, what’s the point of talking to the males? Even if you like one, you can’t choose him.”
Freya could tell from the look on Gita’s face that she did not agree with her. They sat in silence for a few moments, as if Gita was trying to make sense of what Freya just said.
“Okay, I’ll give you that one, but I still think you’re a bit weird. Keep talking though.”
“Why?”
“Because every time we talk about males, I get a little less afraid that I’ll end up in independent living.” With that, Gita returned her gaze to the puzzle and started to push some of the pieces around.
Freya was a little uncomfortable. She could tell Gita was upset, but she did not understand why. “Gita, do you really like these puzzles, or is this just about males?” She didn’t feel it was the right thing to say but couldn’t really think of anything else.
“I do actually like them. I guess it’s just nice to revisit some small relics of the past.”
“Relics? I don’t understand,” Freya said, genuinely stumped.
“Yeah, relics. They don’t make these anymore. They are leftovers, from before the State took over. They only approve new games for our tablets. They say making more of these would just be a waste of resources,” Gita explained.
Freya had never thought about that before, but supposed Gita was correct. She’d never had such puzzles and games in her childhood home; in fact, she’d never seen them anywhere except in the common rooms.
“They made these in a time when people got to choose for themselves whether or not they would have children,” Gita said, sniffling as a few tears fell down her cheeks.
Freya looked up at Gita, and her stomach began to turn in a funny way. Personally, she was glad to find out she hadn’t been chosen for reproduction, but she realized why Gita brought her along, why she didn’t want to be alone. Still, Freya could in no way empathize, and she really didn’t know what to say to her new friend.
Just then, a woman walked in and saved Freya from the awkward silence by setting two trays of food in front of them.
Gita wiped away her tears but only stared down at the plate instead of picking up her utensils. “I’m sorry, Freya. I’m sure you don’t understand. You probably don’t even want children.”
“You’re right, I don’t…but I’m sorry you are sad.” She still wasn’t sure if it was the right thing to say, and she certainly didn’t know what to think of the situation. She assumed Gita was not a good genetic choice for reproduction, as her psychological testing would have obviously revealed her strong desire to have children. She thought it might also have something to do with population control, as they only had enough resources to support a certain number of civilians. Freya knew mentioning that would not make Gita feel any better, so she just kept that to herself and slowly ate her meal, while Gita just pushed some food around on her plate.
“You love working with plants. I can tell, just by watching you in class. You like reading about them and digging in the dirt. You probably sit in your apartment at night, happy as a clam, doing plant-themed word searches.”
Freya looked back down at her plate, speechless once again. What Gita said was true, all of it. Gita was obviously not as comfortable in her role as Freya was, but nothing could be done about it.
Suddenly, Gita pushed her plate forward and stood. “I’m gonna go. I just… I want to be alone now.” And with that, she turned and took her leave.
Freya was anxious to leave the common room, but she felt obligated to clean up the puzzle pieces before she left. She was so lost in her thoughts as she gathered she did not notice someone else coming into the room.
“Hey, Freya! I’m surprised to see you here,” Calix said, wearing that same cheesy grin on his face.
Freya let out an audible sigh, in no mood to talk to this clown again.
“Surely you’ll stay for a while.”
“Actually, I’m getting ready to leave. I need to rest.” She put the lid on the puzzle box and turned around to place it back on the shelf.
“Oh, that’s too bad. You could keep me company while I’m working,” he said as he gestured to his mop and bucket.
“I don’t think that’s allowed,” she said tersely, for Calix was really starting to bug her.
“We won’t get in trouble as long as you’re sitting at the table. There’s no rule against us talking while we carry on with normal activities.”
Frustrated he would simply not take the hint, Freya spat, “Like I said, I need my rest.” She grabbed her bag and left the room. She felt no need to be polite to him anymore, because it seemed to only encourage his persistent behavior.
As Freya walked to the apartment, she thought of Gita, and she felt a pang of uneasiness. The system the State had laid out worked quite well for her, even if she only recently realized it. How can it work so well for me and not for others? she wondered. Are there others like Gita, or is she an anomaly?
She scanned into the apartment, pulled out a tablet and began working on a crossword puzzle, an agricultural one, just as Gita had suggested. Even if Gita was not impressed with her solitary, supposedly humdrum life, Freya was very happy to be back home, because the common room simply was not for her.
The monitor on the wall lit up, which was odd since Freya knew she had no scheduled meetings. Thinking it might be the doctor, she knew it was best to answer promptly. She went to the wall and touched the button to activate the monitor, only to be surprised by the face she saw.
“Mom? What are you doing?” Freya asked, a little harshly. It wasn’t that she was unhappy to see her mother; she was just caught off guard. She was allowed one meeting with her parents per
month, during scheduled free time, and at this particular point in time, she would typically have been working in the greenhouse.
“Well, it’s nice to see you too,” her mother said, sounding more playful than angry. “I received notice that you’re on medical leave, and I’m permitted to have an extra meeting with you this month.”
“Oh, that’s nice,” Freya said, wondering why it was such a struggle to make conversation with her own mother. “So, uh… How are you?” was the best she could come up with.
“I’m well, thank you, but I called to find out how you’re doing,” she answered, looking at Freya affectionately, but with a little concern.
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