Gray

Chapter One

I look at the Timer nervously. 1:42, same as it was three days ago. At this rate, I'll never be Matched. All of my friends have already met the person they're destined to be with, some of them even married. But, here I am, seventeen years old, still goodness knows how far away from meeting him.

"Bye, Kamilah! Have a good day at University!" Mother shouts her typical response as I walk out the door. I give her my typical friendly wave as I step onto the bus.

All around me, I see the typical people, wearing typical gray clothes, sitting in the typical gray Vaporbus. I float through the croud, carefully graceful. I sit in my normal seat, and peek out the window.

I gasp. The sky is all kinds of beautiful colors; pink, red, orange, every color we otherwise are not allowed to see.

The Vaporbus turns, and I lose sight of the sunrise. I tear my eyes away from where the colors used to be, and stare out the window to my right. The beautiful colors are gone. For the rest of the day, all I will see is gray.

The only bright thing today is gone.

The Vaporbus stops, and the people around me leave the bus. I stand up, painstakingly normal. I glide out of the Vaporbus and into University. I shouldn't be here. I'm seventeen years old. I should have a Match, I should be Bonded, I should be a mother.

But, I'm not. It's my fault that I'm still here, too. If I were normal, like I pretend to be, then I'd be happy now. I'm not normal, and I can't blame that on anyone but myself.

"Hey, Kamilah!" Amia says cheerfully as I enter the classroom.

"Hey, Amia," I respond, not too excited, not too sad.

"Guess what?" she asks, barely containing her excitement.

"Um, you found the fountain of youth," I joke.

"Kamilah! No time for jokes"

No time... "Your-your Timer?" I guess.

"Yes!" she shows me the ticking Timer on her wrist. 2:31. "Only two and a half minutes until I meet... him."

"Amia! That's fantastic!" I smile sincerely, and she returns a nervous grin.

"I'm so nervous, but happy at the same time, if that makes sense," she says, wringing her hands. She looks back down to the Timer.

The bell rings, and we both go to our seats. The Educator begins today's lesson, and Amia leans over to me. "Thirty seconds."

The Educator pauses, asking the class for questions. Nobody raises their hand, so he continues. Amia's eyes grow wide, and she taps me on the shoulder. Interrupting a class is forbidden, and I'm surprised Amia would break the rules.

"My- my Timer," she whispers, "five seconds."

I don't know what to do. Do I tell the Educator? Do I stand up? Do I just sit here?

Before I know it, her time is up. One boy on the other side of the room stands, eyes wide and scared. Amia gets on her feet as well, and the boy walks over to her and pulls her into his arms.

"What are you doing out of your seats?" the Educator asks angrily.

"My- my Timer went off," Amia says gently, "and, if I'm correct, his did, too."

He smiles and brushes her hair behind her ear. "That's right," he whispers it like it's a secret, but since he's so close I can hear him. They smile, and he pulls her into a kiss. It's a beautiful moment, and for a second, I let myself imagine that I am Amia, that I'm the one in someone's arms...

No. This is Amia's moment. For one second I need to learn to stop wanting, to stop feeling, and let someone else have the spotlight for a second.

They pull away from the kiss. "That was... wonderful," Amia says. The boy smiles.

"My name is Christopher," the boy says.

"Amia." she smiles and grabs his hand.

The Educator clears his throat. "You may be excused from University. Report to the Grand Hall immediatly." He presses a button, and two burly men appear in the doorway.

Amia nods, and they walk out the door. The Educator types something into his keypad and resumes the lesson.

I glance down at my Timer. 1:42, the same as it was this morning. I sigh and listen to the lesson.

"Now, pull out your transcribers and do the new lesson."

I grab the small electronic device and begin to type in the new assignment. I wasn't paying attention for most of his lesson, but I've listened to that lesson three times now.

I was supposed to be out of school two years ago. But, you can't leave University until you're Matched, and that hasn't happened to me yet.

The day continues like that until we are let out at three. We all leave in a single-file line, everyone silent, everyone perfect.

Except for me.

We all step onto our assigned Vaporbuses and go home without a sound. This is normal. This is good.

The Vaporbus takes five minutes to get us to the next stop. I exit the Vaporbus and walk up my driveway. I open the front door and enter the house.

Nobody is inside, but I expected that. Mom and Dad's work doesn't end until five. I pull out my transcriber. I only have ten minutes to myself until my own work activity starts.

I open up a book on there, flipping through the pages but reading nothing. No book has anything of interest; only history and facts about our society. It's normal to read in during this time, so that's what I do.

After ten minutes, another Vaporbus comes to the stop in front of my house. I leave my house and step onto the bus.

Another five minutes.

I stare out the window, hoping to see a glimpse of the sun that only I can see. It's no use; the sun is hidden behind a gray cloud. Instead, I look in the bus for color; even a blue eye or red hair would do.

But there's nothing.

I even look at my own hair; you'd think since I can see color, my hair and my skin would have color, but I'm just as gray as everyone else. I'm the same shades of black and white and nothing.