Borderlines

Chapter Twelve

Fawn's jaw dropped as the room broke out in protests. Angry shouts came from all over.
"Please, everyone, just calm down." Clay said above the noise. Fawn watched, the noise finally settled, but angry glares were pinned on Clay as well as cameras.
"I know this announcement is very sudden and I do not blame you for your protests, but let me explain." Fawn looked at him closely, he definitely needed to explain.
"The war between the East and West is getting worse, this was seen in the tragic shooting of Trent. The best thing to unite this country is to pair an Easterner and a Westerner together. It will help settle things on both sides, and subside the protests." Fawn understood the reasoning behind this decision, but why now? Why hadn't they announced this at the beginning of the choosing?
"What if we don't want to marry a Westerner?" Leah asked from behind Fawn.
"I'm afraid you don't have much of a choice." Clay remarked. Fawn glanced at Willow, noticing her friends downcast face. Fawn's heart sank, this meant that Willow and Garrett had no chance now. She glared at Clay, this wasn't fair. Opening her mouth to protest, Fawn was stopped as Travis pushed his way through the crowd.
"Who gave you that authority?" He glared up at Clay. Clay straightened, trying to intimidate the young overseer.
"We were given this power when our king and queen were murdered." Clay said back to Travis. Fawn saw his underlying words, "when our king and queen were murdered by your Section." Travis must have sensed it too.
"You little weasel." He hissed, but didn't move to hurt Clay. He must have known he would only get a few punches in before security jumped on him. Clay turned his eyes away from Travis.
"Again, I am so sorry for this sudden announcement, but I'm sure you will all come to realize the importance of this change." He glanced at Travis when he stated the last part. With that, Clay quickly exited the room, followed by multiple camera crews. The whole room broke into protests again, everyone discussed the new rule. Fawn didn't like the new ruling, something about Clay struck her as odd, something that wasn't good. Garth made his way over to her.
"Let's get out of here." He said to her, grabbing her hand. Fawn followed him silently, she didn't want to stick around either. Leading her up the stairs, Garth turned to her.
"That wasn't right, what Clay did." He said to her. Fawn nodded.
"I don't like the feelings I get from him." Fawn told him when they reached the top of the stairs.
"Me either." Garth walked with her and Fawn noticed their fingers were still intertwined.
"I think we need to figure out what is going on with this guy." Garth stopped walking.
"How do you suppose we do that?" Fawn asked. It wasn't like Clay would just gladly tell them.
"All important government officials have a book written about them in the Palace Library, if we could get ahold of the book we might learn things about him and his past." Fawn contemplated the idea. It wouldn't hurt to do a little investigating.
"It could be helpful." She said finally.
"We could meet at the library an hour and a half before interview time." Fawn groaned. She had forgotten they had interviews tomorrow. The press was dieing to get new information from the overseers, and they would be even more eager with this new announcement.
"That sounds good." Garth looked a bit saddened at having to say goodbye to her. He glanced at their interlocked fingers.
"I waited for you." Garth looked at her, his eyes reflecting her face. Fawn nodded.
"I'm glad you did." She moved closer to him, so that their faces were inches apart. Garth did not resist her invitation. He closed what little space was between he and Fawn, kissing her softly. He was so gentle Fawn wasn't sure if he had kissed her, but he did again, this one more firm. Fawn kissed him back, slowly, tentatively. She had never actually kissed anyone in her lifetime, but the growing warmth in her chest confirmed that it was a good thing. Garth was the one who broke the kiss when he pulled back.
"Fawn I was wondering-"
"I will be your girl." Fawn said, cutting him off. Garth eyes widened in surprise as he interpreted her answer. A smiled began to spread over his face and he took a step back.
"Goodnight Fawn."
"Goodnight Garth." Fawn ducked her head as she turned and entered her room. For some reason her heartbeat decided to pick up then. She had gotten her first kiss, and it didn't end in disaster! Maybe this whole thing was possible, maybe she could fall in love with Garth in this coming week. The underlying issue gnawed at her though, when she laid down to sleep. Something was up with Clay, and she needed to find out.