Exile

Chapter 2 - Date

I have two months to find a mate. That's not going to be an easy task especially given the circumstance. I don't have a pretty face, nor a pretty body, I'm not genius smart, and I'm not in any way, shape, or form famous. I don't see any type of hope for me. How am I going to find somebody that actually wants to have a kid with me. Personality doesn't matter anymore. The people who want to have a child want to have their blood line to at least have a chance of making it to the next generation. They want their kid to look good instead of having a good personality.

I don't want to have a kid. I don't want to die knowing I doomed another child to this. At the same time I don't want to die so early. 18? It's to early for me. What am I going to do. Should I try to go out and see how long I can survive? Should I at least try to find somebody? I don't know. I think I'm going to try and see how it turns out. If it turns out that somebody actually find a genuine interest in me, okay. If not, then I'll accept my fate.

I have no idea who I want. Honestly I'm almost willing to get anybody I can find. Well. Lets go.

Outside. Not a very pleasant place. As I step outside the door immediately the foul air hits me hard. Everyday it's like that. I walk around looking for somebody to see if they glance at me more than once. I see one girl do it. She looks about my age. That's a good sign. I walk over and sit down. Other people bustle to get to their work places. I look over at her. She looks over at me. We make eye contact. I get up to go sit closer to her and she just gets up and runs away. Great. My first day and already they're running away from me. That's not good. Walking out I decide that I may as well get to work early. Surprisingly, one of the few things that survived is the fact that some people have to work to live. I work at the child care center. It's not nearly as fun as it sounds. I have to make sure the kids don't die of a lung disease and that they get enough exposure to get used to the air but not so much that they can't handle it. It's stressful.

After about 6 hours of stressful child care, I get my daily payment which is $2, might not seem like much, but since all the banks went down and all out money is digital, cash is all the money we have. There's not that much of it. On my way back home I see that girl again. I wonder what her name is... I decide that if I don't want to go to exile (I don't) I kind of have to make this go quick. After a minute of silent self pep-talk, I go over and ask for her name. The reply was simple, "Belle". It was a pretty name. Short, sweet, and simple. I really thought it was a pretty name. Then I introduced myself, "Hey, I'm, uh, I'm Luke. You saw me at the coffee shop earlier."

"Oh yeah, I remember you."

"Sorry if I spooked you... I didn't mean to I promise."

"You didn't spook me, I just... How old are you?"

"Two months from 18. Not a very good place to be with my social status."

"Really? Awesome! I'm almost 18 also. I have three months to go though."

"That's neat! Do you by any chance..."

"Have a boyfriend? Nope. Single pringle over here."

"Huh, me too. Uh, where do you live? About?"

"About two to three blocks from here. You?"

"Same! Which direction?"

"The way you just came actually. I'm assuming you're forward?"

"That's right. So. Your name is Belle and you live on the way to my work. That's pretty cool. Do you want to meet at the coffee shop at 8 tomorrow?"

"Sure! See you there."

What just happened. Did I just actually get myself a date. Maybe that's why I'm here. Did my dad have mad game? I don't know. Belle had already started walking home so I did also. On the way home, I realized that the Ritual was about to start. I ran to the gate. Daily, one person is sent to exile. This time it was somebody I knew. I've knew her in kindergarten. Wow. Everyday everybody that can walk except the children come over to see it. It's basically sending somebody to their death. They say their last goodbyes, get their gifts to make the chance of them going to another Wall just a little higher, then they're sent on their way.

I hope there was something going on between me and Belle.