The Divided (revised edition)

Chapter 2

The cold air bites at my face. The snow is taller than me in some spots - I stand a whole five feets and nine inches tall. I can barely make out our residence sign. They really should adjust the height of those.

15012 Brooks way. House of Albert and Mara Callahan. Children: Charlie Callahan-Paired, Sophi Callahan-Underaged.

We will have to get a new sign this year. Charlie will move out and I will be paired. I gather a ball of snow in my hand and saunter down the street. People on snowmobiles ride by quickly and snow gets kicked up and lands on me. I guess it doesn't matter. I'll be able to wear less layers and shorter clothes one day. I look down at my shoes and the thick ice that lays beneath them. The idea of slipping is not a problem around here. Our shoes have special grips on them that make it physically impossible to fall down. Days would be more comical around here if people fell I guess, well at least I'd laugh. I come up on Ricy's house, just as uniform as all the others. I knock on the frost bitten door and a little bit of the white cold dust is left on my knuckles. As the door opens I look down to have my eyes meet Phoebe's, Ricy's six year old sister. She is by far the cutest little girl I have ever met.

"Ricy! Your girlfriend is here!" She runs from the door giggling. She heads down the hall to where their living room is and I see Ricy run through and grab her and take her out of my vision. I hear him telling her to cut it out and her whining back at him. Her giggle resumes and she runs by again to head upstairs.

"Sorry about that." He smiles, rubbing the back of his neck. He quickly backs away realizing he was closer than he should have been. He has that look about him that makes you think he is going to say something. He continually parts his lips and closes them only to say nothing.

"I'm going to get Bronte and go to the Hop, want to come?" I roll the snowball around in my hands and water begins to drip down my sleeve. He hesitates to speak at first, as if he were caught in a trance.

"Uh--yeah. Sounds great." He stands tall in the doorway, on hand in the pocket of his sweatpants. "Oh, come in while I change." I step in. I have stood in this coat room many times, hardly ever going further inside. The deep red walls with gold accents around the wooden frames are familiar. The walls are lined with family photos. I always find myself looking at the same one. In the corner, in a little white frame, is a picture of Ricy and I when we were five. It was early June and it had just snowed that day. We have our arms wrapped around each other snow burrowed into our hair. Our noses were like little cherries, bright red and numb. I remember that day so well. Riding with my dad on a snowmobile and learning how to steer, racing Ricy to the bottom of hills by rolling on our sides, seeing who could throw a snowball higher, and not to mention building a humongous snow man.

"Why do you always look at that one?" His voice startles me. I am no longer on the carpet by the door. I am standing directly in front of the photo. I'm smiling.

"Life was just so easy then." I turn and face him. Six inches. I lurch back.

"Yeah. Just think, only a few more months." He is talking about pairing. He isn't wrong. Our 17th birthdays are approaching quickly, four months have never seemed so short. His, Bronte's and mine only days apart. Pairing day is in two months.The day when you sit down and go through your parent's list of suitors and pick one. All decisions must be made and paperwork submitted that day and that day only...or I fear what happens to those who try to escape. You may be of age, but for every regulation negated by your age is replaced with a new one. They try to escape all of the new laws that come with being paired. You must have your own house, one must have a steady job, and you must have at least one child. They expect us to be self sufficient people that keep Ciembre running. We are the power house sector and every family must have a child to contribute to the effort. Ricy pauses and raises his hands near his face and shakes them in the air. "Then we can 'touch' people all we want." We both laugh. It has never been a problem we have encountered. Bronte is the one waiting to age out of the law. Ricy and I have always know that we would be paired. Our parents have known each other since before The Settling and we have our suspicions that they planned out birthdays close together. It is what is expected of us...nothing around here is unexpected.