by Mary Smith
I hung my head as the memories flooded me.
“When Rebecca started growing up, I did a lot to protect her, but it didn’t seem to be enough. We were never really close, but I would listen for her at night. Sometimes,” I swallowed back the lump in my throat.
Could I say it?
I had to.
“Sometimes, I would hear Dad walking around and he would go into Rebecca’s room.”
Oliver’s eyes grew wide.
“I would pretend to have a nightmare or start screaming, something, anything that would make him come to my room, so he would leave her alone.”
I swiped the tears away.
“Rebecca and I came up with a plan to convince Mom and Dad to turn her room into a workout room, and she could move in with me. It worked.”
“How can you say you’re not close? You saved her.” Oliver’s voice was hard, and I was sure he was angry.
“I tried, but she took several blows, too, especially if I was with Xaviera, or at school. I couldn’t always be there.”
“She loves you. She misses you. She told me,” Oliver whispered.
I rubbed my temples, trying to figure out everything else I needed to tell him.
“Oliver, my first favor is that you look out for Rebecca. I know that she’s eighteen, but she loves Unit and I know that she’s waiting to be Matched. Would you please keep an eye on her after I’m banished?” I sobbed.
“You’re not-”
“Oliver!” I cut him off. “Please.”
He closed his mouth and nodded. “You have my word.”
I took another deep breath and was ready to continue on.
“You’ve asked me why I’m worthless, and I’m going to tell you. It’s something Mom and Dad told me all the time, and it’s the one thing that they’re right about.”
Oliver opened his mouth, but I put my hand up, stopping him.
“Let me finish.”
He closed it.
“I can’t even remember the first time they told me. It’s something that was just known around our house. If my grades were lower than they thought they should be, or if I wasn’t fast enough for training, or whatever else they could think of, they would tell me I was worthless.”
I scoffed. “I sometimes wondered if they thought that was my name. Anyway, the day I told Xaviera about Thaddeus and me was one of the worst nights at home.”
“What happened?”
“I told Xaviera, and she raced out of her house. I knew that she was heading to Thaddeus’ house, and I knew I had to get out of Unit.”
“You were going to run away?” Oliver’s voice sounded hurt.
“Yes,” I told him truthfully. “I made it home and was packing my bag when I heard the King and Thaddeus’ dad downstairs. I knew that it was too late for me to leave.”
“Then we all showed up.”
“Yep. Then the Queen started drilling questions at me, and,” I stopped.
“You didn’t say a word to us,” Oliver reminded me.
I shook my head. “I couldn’t say anything.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.” The truth was I really didn’t know. The Queen and King yelled at me, but I stood like a statue in my living room.
“What happened when we all left?” Oliver muttered, but I think he knew already.
“After you all left, Mom grabbed a bottle of gin, and then Dad got another bottle. They sat on the couch and drank.”
“They didn’t…” he trailed off.
“Oh, they did.” I shuddered at the memory. “I told Rebecca to lock herself in the closet and not to come out. Mom finished her bottle first and pounced. She kicked me so hard in my shoulder, I thought she’d torn my rotator cuff and dislocated my shoulder.”
I mindlessly rubbed my shoulder.
“Dad jumped in next and grabbed me by the throat. He wouldn’t let up. The whole time he was screaming at me about how I ruin everything and how worthless I was.’’
I placed my head in my hands.
“I couldn’t breathe and I did my best to break his grip, but I wasn’t able to.”
“What happened?”
“I passed out.” I dropped my hands. “I came to about an hour later. My parents had passed out, and I crawled up to the bedroom. I was still going to leave, but Rebecca thought that I should stay. She didn’t think that Xaviera would banish me.” I rolled my eyes because she was wrong, but I’d listened to her.
“My parents never really left marks on our faces or necks. They knew where to hit to keep them hidden,” I further explained.
“Amaya, why didn’t you tell someone?”
“Because if I did, I would have been killed. They would have beaten me to death,” I declared.
“Unit would have protected you.”
I shook my head. “No. My job was to protect Xaviera and Unit. Not the other way around.”
“Amaya,” Oliver huffed in frustration, but he didn’t say anything. “What’s your other favor?”
“I want you to tell my story to the King and Queen and let them know that I would have protected Xaviera to the end.” I looked deep into his eyes. “Once I’m banished, I know that my parents can’t hurt me, but I don’t want the Royals to think that I wasn’t loyal to my duties. I know that I’m a Rule breaker, and I know that I hurt Xaviera, but I didn’t do it intentionally. I had always thought Thaddeus was my Matched.”
Oliver stared at me for a moment. “You won’t be banished, but if for some reason you are, I will tell them.”
“Thank you. I know this isn’t how you figured your Matched and decision period would go, huh?” I gave him a sad smile.
“No, but at least it hasn’t been boring. However,” he reached across and took my hand. “I wish I could go back and fix it. I never saw the signs, and I know Mom didn’t, because she wouldn’t have stood around and let that happen.”
“Oliver, no one knew. My parents are very good at covering up and being deceptive.”
He nodded. He released my hand and began to clear the table. He needed to process all the information that I’d just thrown at him.
“You can read them,” I blurted out.
“Huh?”
“The journals. You can read them. That way you know that I’m not lying.”
Oliver sat the plates on the counter and stalked over to me. “I know that you’re telling the truth. You’ve told me everything I needed to know. I trust you.” He kissed my cheek.
“May I ask another favor?”
He nodded.
“Dance with me?”
A small smile appeared. “I would be honored.”
Oliver walked over to the speakers and turned on his iPod. I didn’t know the song that was playing, but the soft beat was perfect for the moment.
I stepped up to him and wrapped my arms around his neck, laying my head on his chest. His heart was beating fast, and it was comforting for me.
He was my Matched.
I knew that I had only one month left here, but I wanted to spend as much time as I could with him. I wanted to hold the memories of these few precious moments in my memory forever. I didn’t know what the world would be like once I was banished. I knew I would never find anyone as kind, sweet, and loyal as Oliver. There was no one else like that. Mother Nature had created only one, and right now, he was holding me.
We swayed to the song and I couldn’t explain how wonderfully safe I felt at that moment. I looked up at Oliver. He gave me a soft smile, and his green eyes were bright. I stopped moving. My heart was beating hard, and I knew that he could feel it.
I pulled his lips closer to mine and gently touched them. When I moved away, Oliver was the one that stopped me. He kissed me harder, making me moan. He pushed his tongue into my mouth and I savored his taste.
“Amaya,” Oliver laid his forehead against mine.
“Yes?”
“It’s my turn to ask a favor.”
I furrowed my eyebrows at him. “Anything.�
�
“I want us to pretend to be a happy Matched couple. I want one hour of no telling secrets, or yelling, or anything like that.”
I gasped. “Oliver, I’m happy. I wouldn’t have told you all of that if I wasn’t.” It was the truth. Having Oliver by my side was exactly what I needed. He was my Matched. “I know that you can’t be that happy.”
He cut me off, by kissing me again. “I never imagined that I would be this happy with my Matched.”
“I’m a Rule breaker. I yell at you. I ignore you. I’m constantly getting on your last nerve. How could you possibly be happy?”
Oliver smiled. “Because I never wanted an easy Matched. I love the challenge that you are, and I wouldn’t change a single thing about us.”
He caressed my cheeks, and it sent a shiver through me.
“Will you grant me this favor?” he whispered.
“Yes. Yes, whatever you want.”
“Okay then.” He took my head and led me up the stairs, to my room.
When we reached the door, he didn’t say anything as he walked in, and pulled me into his arms.
“Oliver?” I wasn’t sure what was happening, and I didn’t know what to expect.
“Don’t,” he put one finger on my lips, indicating that he didn’t want me to say anything. “I’m very happy with you Amaya, and I want to spend that night with you.”
“You want to have sex?”
“I didn’t say that.” He dropped his hand. “Don’t get me wrong, I’ve thought about it. A lot. However, right now, I want to forget everything that’s happening outside this cabin. No parents. No siblings. No Royals. No Unit. Nothing, only you and me.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re worried about being banished, and I want you to have one good memory. Although, I’m not exactly sure…” he trailed off, pushing his hand through his hair.
“You’re nervous.” The realization hit me. It was all over his face.
Oliver looked down and stepped back.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you like this.” I held onto his shoulders, making him stay in place. “It’s different.”
“Yeah,” he rolled his eyes, “it is.”
“Hey,” I grasped his head in my hands. “It’s okay. You’re the strongest person I know. Well, besides me.” I winked at him, trying to get him to smile.
It worked; he smiled.
“There’s a smile.” I gave his lips a quick peck.
“Thank you.”
“For what? Kissing you?”
“Yes and for this date. I think it’s the best date I’ve ever been on.” He wrapped his arms around my waist.
I nodded.
“Are you okay, Amaya? If you don’t want to be up here, we don’t have to be.”
I shook my head. “It’s not that.”
Oliver stepped back, took my hand, and led me to the bed. My heart was pounding against my chest as he gently pushed me down to sit on the edge of the bed. He bent down and slipped off my flats, and then he took off his shoes. He climbed onto the bed, leaning his back against the headboard.
“Come here,” he softly ordered.
My body moved of its own accord, and I curled up against his side. It was strange, but I seemed to fit there perfectly. He was like a piece of a puzzle and I was the connecting piece.
“Talk to me,” he whispered against my hair, kissing my temple.
“Haven’t I talked enough?” I giggled slightly.
“Yes you have, but now I want to know that you’re okay. Technically, this is our second date, so what do those girly magazines say that should happen.”
I laughed. I couldn’t help thinking about Oliver sitting around reading Cosmo or Glamour. “How do you even know about them?”
“I see girls in Unit reading that stupid stuff all the time.”
“Hey,” I sit up a bit. “Don’t make fun; that is the closest thing we have to learning about you boys. You guys have Maxim and Playboy.”
It was Oliver’s turn to laugh, and his cheeks turned a light pink. “I can honestly say I’ve never read a Playboy.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Have you looked at the pictures?”
Oliver shook his head. “I won’t lie and say I wasn’t tempted, but no. The only time I saw a female body, without clothing, was in biology classes.”
I groaned. Sexual reproduction class and sciences classes in Unit high school were our first true look at the male naked forms. It was uncomfortable and embarrassing. Teachers had drilled into our heads all our lives that sex and ‘baby-making’ would only be with our Matched and no one else unless we left Unit. Only our Matched would see us naked.
“Were those as fun for you boys as it was for us girls?”
Oliver rolled his eyes. “I’m sure it was, but I had Graham in my class, and he snickers at everything,”
I smiled because I could picture that in my head. I curled into him more, letting the quiet wrap itself around us. This was how I always pictured my Matched to be.
“Oliver?”
“Hmm.”
“I don’t know that much about you.” I turned to look at him.
“What do you want to know?”
I wanted to know it all. I had already told him everything about me.
“What your favorite color?”
“Yellow.”
I furrowed my forehead. “Really?”
“Yes, it reminds me of a sunrise.”
Of course, Oliver would say something sweet like that.
“Do you have hobbies?”
He shrugged. “Not really. I mean, I like to hike, and ride mountain bikes, but nothing cooler than that.”
“Are you and Oscar close?”
“Yes. He’s my brother. Besides Thaddeus and Graham, he’s my best friend.”
I nodded. I could see that.
“Favorite movie?”
Oliver dropped his head and turned away from me.
“Oh, this is going to be good.” I teased him. “Tell me.”
He cleared his throat. “Any Marvel movie.”
I threw my head back and laughed. “You’re so lying, Oliver Thomas. Now, tell me the truth.”
He groaned. “Okay, it’s Ace Ventura.”
I grabbed my side and fell over laughing. Never in a million years would have I thought that Oliver was sitting around enjoy anything that related to Jim Carrey.
“It’s not that funny,” Oliver grumbled.
“Alrighty then.” I tried my best impression, but it failed because I was still laughing.
“I’ll give you something to laugh about.”
Before I could comprehend what he’d said, he flipped me onto my back, and began to tickle me. I used to tickle Rebecca when she was feeling down, but no one had ever really done it to me. I could hardly breathe as Oliver attacked me. He had my hips pinned as he straddled me. I tried to fight him off, but I was laughing too hard.
Oliver had restrained my arms above my head. “Are you going to make fun of me anymore?”
“Maybe,” I giggled.
He leaned in closer to my neck and kissed me below my ear. Instantly, I stilled.
“Well, that got your attention,” Oliver whispered against my skin, setting me on fire.
“When did you become so flirty?” my voice was raspy.
“You bring out the best in me.” He brushed his lips against my cheek.
My breathing was becoming more erratic as he trailed his lips down my neck. Once he reached the base of my neck, he came back up toward my chin until he touched my lips. It was a soft and gentle kiss. He released my hands, and I fisted them in his hair, holding him against my lips. I didn’t want him to move. I wanted more.
I wanted Oliver.
I opened my mouth, and his tongue danced with mine. My hands seemed to have a mind of their own as they left his hair and tenderly dragged down his back. He moaned in my mouth and stretched his legs out, so that he was full weight rested against me. We’d never been this close
before, and it felt right.
When I had been with Thaddeus, it had felt wrong, and I didn’t have those same feelings with Oliver. Oliver made me feel so much more than I thought I would have ever felt had I been Matched with Thaddeus.
I was meant for Oliver.
I tugged on his T-shirt, pulling it up, and touching his bare skin. Oliver gasped against my mouth and gripped the sheets tighter.
I positioned my legs on either side on his thighs, and I pushed my hips up. Oliver broke our kiss and was breathing heavier.
“Are you okay?” I asked him the same question he had asked me.
He nodded, but his eyes were still closed.
“Too much?”
He shook his head.
I felt a little braver with him, and I toyed with the top of his jeans. He bit down on his lip and I couldn’t help the smile, seeing how he was responding to me. Thaddeus had never acted this way when we did anything like this. Looking back on it now, the whole thing had felt cold.
Oliver moved his grip from the sheet and touched my hip. He was becoming braver. He rolled us onto our sides. Our eyes locked and Oliver’s bright green eyes were filled with love. I could see that love.
I lightly touched his chest. Even though he was a Controller, he was built like a Protector. He was solid and muscular. He pulled his hand away from my hip and softly lifted the hem of my shirt. When his fingers touched my skin, I shivered. Oliver’s hand was trembling as he climbed a little higher.
He closed his eyes again as if basking in my skin. He didn’t seem to be in pain, but he wasn’t saying anything.
I grasped his cheek. “Look at me,” I commanded him.
Oliver opened his eyes, and it was like I was being set ablaze. He pierced me with that gaze.
“Don’t be nervous; I’m your Matched,” I whispered to him.
I guided his hand a little higher. Oliver gasped as his fingertips reached the bottom of my bra. I knew that he’d never gone this far before, ever. I stopped, letting him soak it in for a second and seeing if he wanted me to continue or not.
I studied his face. His Adam’s apple was bobbing up and down, and he was breathing heavily. He kept licking his lips, and I knew that his mouth was dry.
