Detached [h.s au]

Chapter 1: Preparations

One day. There is only one day left until my life changes completely.

I have only one day to say goodbye to my old life, my family, everything and everyone I know.

Tomorrow I will be just one of the many eighteen-year-olds waiting for The Bonding.

The Bonding is the most important event in our lifetime. At least, that is what they have been teaching us. The government enforced the rule that every eighteen-year-old boy and girl must be bonded together and the bond is to never be broken.

So, tomorrow I will be bonded with a boy I've never met and I will have to spend the rest of my life with him.

Everything in me is screaming how wrong that is, but there is nothing I can do; that is unfortunately the world we live in now.

I have once read that hundreds of years ago, people were doing this by their own free will. It was called the wedding. They were bonding together because they were in love.

Today, no one believes that ever existed, no one believes in love anymore. No one believes love like that could possibly be real. 

If that's so, my questions are: who wrote all those books about two people falling in love, sacrificing themselves for the wellbeing of other? Who wrote all those songs, singing about how they want to spend their lives with that one person that means the world to them? Where did the inspiration for those stories and songs come from?  

I refuse to believe love like that is a lie. I strongly believe each and every one of us could fall in love with that one special person and find happiness. I refuse to believe our main purpose is just reproduction. To think I'm supposed to carry a child for nine months and raise it so they can go through the same thing I'm going through sounds revolting to me. Not to mention I'm supposed to share a bed with a complete stranger.

"Beth?" My mother's voice comes from the other side of the door as she silently knocks. The door opens and her head peaks inside, blue eyes searching the room until they land on me. "All done?"

I nod, shifting my gaze at the mirror in front of me. I'm wearing a long, plain grey dress, my nose wrinkling in distaste at the sight of it. Every girl tomorrow will be wearing the same dress at the ceremony, and I'm glad I won't be standing out in any way.

My mum enters the room, releasing a small gasp as I turn to face her. Her palm covers her mouth as her eyes trail down my body. She has seen me in this dress a few times, yet she always reacts this way. "You look beautiful and you will be even more beautiful tomorrow once your hair is styled and..." she trails off and the next thing I know, her arms are wrapped around me thightly as she sniffles silently.

I tense because I don't really know how to handle crying people. It sounds incredulous, but it is actually rare to see someone feeling sad in our community, it's like most people don't really care about anything. They sleep, eat, work, and repeat the process. It has to be an adult thing because children seem to be very good at expressing their emotions and I don't know in which moment it stops. It never seemed to stop for me. My parents don't exactly fit the image of emotionless robots, either.

I pull away, placing my hands onto her shoulders, taking a few moments to take in her appearance, knowing it will be a long time until I see her again after The Bonding. Her hair is pulled in a neat ponytail, her slender body clad in perfectly fitting clothes. She's tall, her long legs only adding to her already gracious appearance. I've inherited her height, but there is nothing gracious about me, that's for sure.

"Mum, we've been through this already," I mumble softly while pulling myself out of her embrace. I gently place my hands on her shoulders, her eyes finding mine. "You were always the one telling me to be strong, always encouraging me and telling me that when the day comes, I will be confident and ready for what's ahead of me," I smile, swiping my thumb beneath her eyes. "Now, I'm asking you the same."