Casey Anderson isn't expecting much from her Mark - but when her soulmate turns out to be Prince August, the boy next in line for the throne, everything changes.
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In a world much like our own, Casey Anderson is trying to navigate her senior...
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"Do you think he's Registered?" Del asks, staring down at the Registration Certificate in my hand.
We're sitting in my room. She's stretched out on my beanbag chair and I'm perched on the edge of my bed, arms wrapped around my stomach.
I missed school today to go get my Mark registered. The Mark Registry isn't mandatory, but it's a good way to verify if someone's Mark is real.
Even though we're still sort of fighting, Mom took me. I'm glad I told her the truth, now - I don't know what my reason would have been for wanting to be Registered so bad if I hadn't. She isn't Registered. A lot of people aren't - or even if they are, they don't sign up for the Matching part of it. They think you should find your Soulmate the old-fashioned way, or at least that the government shouldn't be involved.
That's part of the reason why the laws around it change so often.
As you can imagine, it's going to be really useful in my situation. But Del's asked a question that I hadn't even thought about.
I pause. "If he is..."
"Well one, you would be able to tell," Del says, grabbing my laptop. "And two..."
"He could, as well." I take Sylvie back. "Better use yours. She's being stubborn." Then what I just said hits me. "Del. He could know already."
I'm panicking. Del can see it, because she's got a reassuring arm around me before I really start to spiral. "They take a while to process this stuff, Case, and he's not even in Canada. He probably doesn't know yet." She grabs Sylvie back and opens her up. I take a moment to be annoyed that apparently my laptop works perfectly fine for her.
"Look, I can't sign into your account yet. You'll get an email when it's all been uploaded to the database. I guess then you'll be able to see his profile, too," she mutters, trailing off.
"Oh, god," I say, putting my head in my hands. "Oh my god, Del."
"Is this good panic, or bad?" she asks, focusing her gaze back on me. "Also, I don't know what you're talking about. Sylvie works fine for me."
"Yeah, well, she likes you," I say petulantly. "And - I don't know. Good, maybe?"
"Really?" Del says, leaning forward. "I thought you didn't want anything with him."
"I don't," I say. "But - I was going to have to tell him eventually, right? It - it wouldn't be fair, otherwise. At least this way... I don't have to make the decision."
"Are you that against it?" Del asks gently.
"I don't know," I say. "I just - I'm scared, Del, and overwhelmed, and we're such different people, and - and - " I break off, embarrassingly close to tears.
"Case," she says, scooting closer. "Are you and your mom still...?"
I shrug. "I apologized, but..." I trail off. "What I said, Del, it was - it was bad. We're still not normal."
