Chapter Number Two

I walked as quickly as I could to get away from Jamie. I practically insulted her. I should have been more careful with my words.

But then she asked me to meet her at the playing fields. I'm so confused. I thought that she would have hated me.

I agreed to go so we could talk without breaking the rules. Maybe away from prying ears. But I wasn't going to let my hopes get up.

I pulled open the door to my house, feeling the warm air rushing out from inside, warming my skin from the cold of early winter. I was readily greeted by my younger sister, Alana.

"Zachie!" She said coming up to me. She wrapped her arms around my waist since she couldn't quite reach high enough to give me a proper hug. She only was ten, just starting first school, but she had already matured so much. She still hadn't given up on calling me Zachie though. I didn't mind.

I hugged her back for a few seconds before she pulled away. "Mom told me everything as soon as they called! I'm so happy for you," she smiled brightly at me. Her light blonde hair fell loosely around her shoulders in small waves. It made me think of how the color of my hair used to look before 6th School Year. Before I had it changed. I grinned a little. Alana had little freckles splashed along her nose, same as me. We almost looked like twins before I changed my hair, and she's never worn glasses. She's never needed them.

"When do you think your suitor will get to choose you?" She was wearing a bright blue dress to match her eyes. It went down to her knees and she had a skinny black belt loose around her waist. There was a silver chain around her neck. Just a simple one, no pendant. It was the one I bought her to congratulate her start of School. It was touching that she had thought to wear it.

"I don't know. Whenever they decide to have her choose," I smiled at her, "I hope she makes the right choice,"

"Anyone choosing you would be making a wonderful choice," I turned to the kitchen where my mom was standing, preparing our dinner. That was another thing our founders never changed. Almost all aspects of our lives are the same as the Before People. It's just that most don't know that. I found a interest in learning about the people that lived before we did.

"Thanks Mom," I walked to the kitchen and gave her a quick peck on the check. She looked much like Alana, or rather Alana looked much like her, except that her hair was slightly, just slightly darker, and cut at her shoulders while Alana's ended at her waist. Mom also didn't have freckles running across her nose like Alana or my dad.

I went to my room in the house and suddenly found myself bored. This is usually when I'd do extra studying to be sure I never failed, but it didn't look like I'd need to do that anymore. Instead I yelled for Mom to wake me for dinner and I laid silently in my bed.

***

"Zachariah! Dinner!" My eyes snapped open at the sound of my mom's call. I was a light sleeper. If someone so much as poked my nose, I'd be wide awake. Before getting out of bed though, I looked at my room. Most of it was blue. I didn't know why I liked that color so much.

My bed was pushed up against the wall just left of my door. There was bits of sunlight seeping though the microscopic holes in the bright blue curtains that hung over my one window above the head of my bed. To the right of me was my black dresser, it had only four drawers and the top was clean with nothing there. 

To the right of the dresser was a light wooden desk with a painted blue chair. It had room to work, my old textbooks, and a small stack of writing paper.

One the opposite side of the room I had an open closet filled with boxes of old books and all the clothes I refused to fold. With a groan I rolled off my bed and stood up. I fixed my blue checkered sheets. I patted down my hair and made sure all my clothes were all on straight before going to see my family for dinner.

"We're having your favorite to celebrate!" Mom told me. She seemed really excited. I thanked her and sat at the table.

***

I went to bed last night almost right after dinner. It was strange, but my favorite meal has always been turkey sandwiches with cheese. None of my family seemed to mind though. Even my dad, who looked just like me but with the freckles and pitch black hair, as dark as a night without stars. I woke up early, wanting to make sure I wouldn't be late to meet Jamie. After getting ready, I told my mom where I was going, and Alana asked if she could come with me. I didn't think Jamie would mind, and 1st School had the day off, so I told her she could tag along.

Right now we were walking to the playing fields. There were a few other boys and girls walking to the playing field. They must of all been in their 1st School Year. There was even more children when we arrived. Alana found one of her friends and ran off to play. I was sitting on a bench on a small hill, over looking all of the kids running and passing a small ball to each other as their own form of the old game of tag. It made me smile to think the games of the Before People were still being played, even if the rules had changed the slightest bit, they were still alive.

I continued to watch the running and laughing boys and girls until someone sat down next to me. I glanced over to see a splash of red hair in a high ponytail swishing back and forth as Jamie adjusted herself on the bench. She was crossing her legs just like she was at the Assignment office. I wondered if she always sat like that. She was wearing black leggings and a long-sleeved red dress that ended mid-thighs. Her feet were covered with the same black, winter, swede boots as the day before. The upper part of her dress was trapped beneath the hold of a light gray, slightly fuzzy vest. She looked nice. I was just wearing blue jeans, running shoes, and a plain, black shirt.

She grinned at me, "You showed up!"

"Of course I did, why wouldn't I?"

She laughed, "I don't know,"

"So what do you want to talk about now that we're here. We don't even have to whisper now," I glanced at the two officers on post on the other side of the fields. They could see everything from there, but, over the noise of most of the children in their First School Year, wouldn't be able to hear a thing.

Jamie smiled at me, "I never thought about it," she admitted. 

With perfect timing, Alana came running and practically jumped into my lap. I caught her and pulled her up all the way, "Zachie!" she announced loudly. She looked over at Jamie, "Who's this?"

"This is Jamie, the friend I was coming to meet,"

"Oh!" she hopped off my lap and sat between Jamie and me, "Hello, I'm Alana, Zachie's sister."

"Hello, how do you do? I'm Jamie," she put her hand out for Alana to shake and she quickly obliged. Jamie then leaned forward a bit so she could see me past Alana, "Zachie?"

I shrugged, "She never grew out of it I guess."

"I'm right here you know!" Alana told us. We laughed and Alana smiled brightly. She and I both enjoy making others laugh, or even just smile.

"So Alana," Jamie started, "how old are you?"

"I'm ten."

"Oh, so you're just starting your First School Year then, aren't you?"

"I am!"

"How do you like it so far?"

"It's great! Right now we're learning about our founders!"

"Oh, how exciting!"

They continued to talk for a while, Jamie asking Alana small questions about herself and Alana's answers getting longer and longer. Jamie didn't seem to mind, though. She sat through them all, listening to every one. 

I found myself starring at her golden eyes. I noticed how they reflected just the smallest bit of the sun that shone down on us. I noticed how they seemed to sparkle. I noticed the few strands of hair that had fallen from her ponytail. I noticed how her whole face seems to light up when she laughs. I noticed her head tilted the slightest bit when she was listening to Alana. I noticed how her round checks and nose were tinted pink from the chilly air. I noticed I thought she was beautiful. Perfect even.

She looked at me and we locked our eyes for a couple of seconds. She looked away, red rushing to her cheeks. I continued to smile, still starring even though I know I should look away. I couldn't help it.

Ruining the moment, a boy that looked our age ran up.

"Hey!" He shouted at us. I narrowed my eyes. I recognized him from somewhere. It took a minuted before it clicked in my mind.

"You were at the Assignment Office yesterday, too, weren't you?"

He grinned at me, "I was! I guess for the same reason as you guys since we're both outta school. I'm Dustin, by the way."

"I'm Jamie, pleased to meet you." They shook hands and my stomache clentched. Dustin looked over at me.

"I'm Zachariah." I didn't offer my hand, and he didn't offer his. I was trying my best not to glare at him. It'd be extremely rude of me.

I whispered to Alana to go play with her friends for a while and she hugged my neck and ran off.

I was about to move to the middle of the bench where Alana had been, when Dustin promptly sat down. Right between Jamie and me. I pushed down my anger, and continued to be nice.

"So the officer lady at the Assignment Office? We were talking, and she told me that we were lucky that there's 3 girls and 3 guys we'd all be able to get suitors. I mean, one of the girls wants to stay single, so you and that other girl will get all the choice. Although, you're pretty lucky since the other girl belongs to another section, and so does the other guy. So if she wants to be easy, she'll just choose him. That means you'd get the actual choice. Cool, huh?"

His speech was directed at Jamie the entire time. But the tone of his voice gave him away. He's letting me know he's my competition, so I choose to fight. The prize? Jamie to choose one of us.

***

(A/N Damn, this would've been a perfect place to end... but it's not long enough. Bruh.)

"That was... odd. I guess," Jamie and I were walking away from the playing fields. Alana was ahead by a bit, walking with the friend she'd been playing with at the fields. It had started to get dark and Jamie and I might have stayed out longer, but I had to get Alana home. Dustin had left earlier, saying he had some things to take care of. I didn't let it show, but I was relieved.

"He seemed OK. I guess," Jamie told me. I pushed down annoyance. I really didn't care much for if he felt the Dustin. I wondered if he felt the same way about me.

"Oh," was all I said. There was an awkward silence for a few seconds. I realized we hadn't made it too far away from the playing fields. It was as if we had this mutual idea to walk slow and savor our time.

I was really beautiful out. The stars were just starting to shine above our heads. I read that the Before People could never really see all of the stars. Only the strongest that could fight through the damaged atmosphere. That problem had been fixed now. Now we could probably see all of  the stars, both the  strong and the weak. And I absolutely loved it. Although, I must admit, even with the beauty of the billions of stars brightening the sky above us, I still found myself looking at Jamie.

I was snapped from my thoughts when I heard the loud sound of footsteps behind us. I flipped around quickly, in case it was a treat. Even though I knew it couldn't be. That was against the rules.

"I'm so glad I caught you guys!" I inwardly groaned. Dustin. Of course. "Jamie, I wanted to give you this. Now I gotta hurry home, We're breaking the rules talking out here, you know!" He gave Jamie some envelope type thing and ran off. He hadn't given either of us the chance to respond before he was gone. At least he was smart. Knowing we're breaking the rules. Speaking of which, Jamie and I shouldn't walk together much longer. Me walking with Alana is fine on the other hand. She's family.

"What's so important he had to run all the way to catch up with you?" I asked Jamie.

"I'm not sure... Should I open it now or-?" She looked to my for advice and it made me feel somewhat special that she'd want my opinion. I also felt slight dread, despite the primitiveness of the situation.

"I think- I think maybe you s-should. I-I think. Maybe," I mentally cringed at my shuddering response. The answer was so basic! How could I have messed that up? Although I questioned myself, deep down inside, I knew that I already knew the answer.

She smiled at me happily, "Alright, I will." She opened the top of the envelope and pulled out a small, decorated slip of white paper. It had simple baby pink swirled designs along the edges and the writing in the middle was an form of writing. I recognized it as something called cursive. No one ever used it anymore. In fact, most people didn't even write anything anymore. Not when the writing machines were so much easier. Every household came with at least one, depending on your status ranking. Like Officers, one of the highest ranks, have two, maybe even three, while normal families, like mine, will only have one.

Jamie looked at the paper in awe, then focused her attention on to the letters, "Does it... say something?"

I laughed, "Yes, it's a really old type of writing. It was used by the Before People."

"Oh. Can you... Can you read it?"

"I can. Would you like me to tell you what it says?"

Her checks flushed and she muttered, "Yes, please."

She handed me the delegate paper.

Please meet me at the same bench as earlier at noon for a surprise. Hope you'll come!

Oh, I thought. I could lie and tell her it says something else... but that really wouldn't be the right way to go. I'm playing this game fair and square. And I plan on winning.

I told Jamie what the letter said and she beamed. It almost sickened me.