Six

Back and forth, back and forth, the swing set in the hospital playground sooths me with its motion as I sit and rock on it. The boy on the swing next to me leaves my heart beating a mile a minute. The sky is growing dim and that’s what made Theo choose this spot. He was sure the lack of light and late hour would ensure there were no children still at play.

“So why did you ask me to come here?” I ask innocently, but with a small smile.

“I…well, the truth?” He bushes

“No, lie…” I wink.

“Well then sassy! The truth is…I just wanted to spend some time with you. I kind of can’t stop thinking of you. Like yesterday, a man came in with a head laceration and I thought about you…”

“A man with a cut on his head reminds you of me? Why Theo, you charming little...” He cuts me off.

“I just mean because you came in with a head injury… I guess I want to get to know you…”

So we talk, we talk until the sun is gone; our conversation mostly consists of me asking questions and him answering. I don’t mind, god knows his voice is nicer than mine. Just as he finishes telling me about his family (only child) he starts in on me with the hard questions.

“When did your mark turn black?” he asks, unaware of the affect the topic has on me.

“A little over a year ago…” I take in the fresh scent of the nearby trees that fills the air as I wait for the inevitable next question.

“Oh?” He smirks a bit, the little s**t.

“It’s okay, you can ask…” I smile back.

“I wasn’t sure if it would be rude to ask. I would have assumed it would have turned recently.”

“Why’s that?” raising an eyebrow in his direction, I watch the dark haired boy blush.

“Aren’t girls eager? You know, to find their match, their boy, their one true love?” I know he is teasing but it still offends me a little.

“Not me. The whole system repulses me.” I snark. Okay, I realize I am being a little blunt but hey, I’m ticked at his assumptions.

“Me too…”

“But you’re mat…” He cuts me off mid-sentence again; I’m starting to see a pattern.

“I know; there used to be a time when I was just blindly following orders, signing up for matching when my mark turned to make my daddy proud. But not anymore, now I see the imperfection and the perfection in other systems…other things.” Theo looks at me, squinted eyes, and head tilted a little to the side, he looks at me like a math equation. He looks at me like I look at a mark at work, desperately searching for that one small thing that makes everything make sense. That one detail that makes all the pieces slide into place makes everything right. That’s what I see now in his gaze. I wish I had the courage to look away from that gaze, or to tell him to stop looking, because that piece isn’t there.

 

I somehow summon the courage and look away. His smile melts off his face as he continues to stare at me.

“This place is so quiet…” I observe stupidly as I grasp at a topic change.

“Yes I love it here at night, no distractions no obligations. This is where I come when something goes wrong at work, or when me and Cleabelle fight. It’s my escape I…”

“Fight?” I interrupt.

“Ya, but maybe don’t tell her I told you that.” He chuckles.

“I have never heard of a Match fighting…”

“Really, didn’t your parents fight?” Theo looks genuinely concerned about my lack of knowledge about relationships.

“No, the whole point of Matching is to create perfect couples, no fights, no ends until death. Hell it’s basically our slogan ‘Creating Harmony’ “

“Nothing is perfect, Teran.” He argues; his voice rising to a tone I previously wouldn’t have believed possible.

“Matches are!” I argue right back.

“Listen to yourself. You sound like one of them…’Matches are perfect’” He mocks. “I thought the whole system repulsed you? But if that’s not true then what are you doing out here with me? Why did you agree to hang out with me if I have a ‘perfect’ marriage?”

I freeze; I freeze because I have nothing to say to that. I have no idea what comes next. He actually makes a good point...

 

-Fourteen years ago-

 

“TERAN!” Turner races after me in our backyard as I hold his hat just out of his short-four-year-old reach.

“Jump, jump for it!” I giggle as he grasps for it.

“Teran give your brother back his hat and come help me with these.” My dad says as he calls us to come for our food servings. We sit down to our meal at which I throw bits of food at Turner and he tries and fails to do the same before our parents silence us. A knock on the door interrupts our meal and my father gets up to answer it. I wish I had paid more attention to what was happening at the door instead of my childish games. But I didn’t so I don’t remember quite what happens next. I know the Generals that came to the door took my father into the other room and then Turner went on and on about how he would be a General someday. That’s one of the memories I can’t explain…

 

-Current day-

 

Theo and I spend every day after work together now. I abandon my daily routine of climbing for the much more enjoyable activity of exploring the city from his point of view.  He shows me how to see the beauty outside of my routine and eventually abandon it all together. Today, at work I have my forehead pressed against my glass desktop, tapping my fingers against the surface. The marks in front of me on the screen has had me stumped for days, it appears to be exactly the same as the other two I have to compare it to. I am thinking about sending it off to one of the other analysts when a knock on the door interrupts my slacking. Lukas smiling face peers back at me through my office door. I wave him in as he pries open the glass door and greets me.

“We on for lunch today?” He smiles, he’s always smiling.

“No actually I think I’m gonna cut out early today.” I admit, placing my head back on the table.

“Cut out, as in leave?” He asks confused. “Can…can you do that?”

“I don’t know; I’m going to try.”

“But what if they…”

“What if they what, Luka? Take my job away? The only way that happens is if you become a demerit. And I hardly think leaving work one day a few hours early is going to get me re-categorized.” I stand as I speak, grabbing my coat but leaving myself logged into the computer. That way if they check the system record it will look like I’m here.

“Teran...” Luka grabs my arm as I go to leave. “Do you know what you are doing?”

“I do…” We stare at each other for a while, his blue eyes boring into me. I notice his blond hair is not as slicked back as usual, it’s more relaxed and falling over his eyes in a boyish way. He reaches up to brush it away as he lets go of my arm.

“Okay…”