The Pairings

1. Uncovering the Veil.

My home is very colorful. The door is red, which compliments the blue siding surprisingly well. There are flowers in the garden, apples on the trees. You can't help but look at this place and feel happy. I hate it here. I hate the red shingles. I hate the bright yellow curtains that hang bedside the windows. I hate the ugly purple color of my walls in my bedroom. The bright colors that used to make me smile the biggest smiles, now just make me... gloomy.
Ever since I was a child, I watched as all of the grey, dull houses in my neighborhood turned to beautiful homes full of life. I remember, on my 18th birthday, my mother sat me down on my ugly navy blue bed and told me about The Pairings. I was confused. How could my country of Monam choose who I love who I spend my life with? How is this fair?

"So, you and dad don't love each other?"

"Of course we do, Bonna. It just took us some time to get that way."

Those words stuck. Now, my 20th birthday has passed, and The Pairings are today. I still have so many unanswered questions.
  I know that at 18, the boys become men. They build their own house for their future family to live in. However, there is one rule. You do not paint your house. When you meet your bride, the first thing to be done is paint your house together using every color of the rainbow. I guess Monam thinks that will make us happier. Mom says it was a "bonding" time experience for her and dad.
  The girls, however, are stuck with their parents until the day of The Pairings. They are allowed to pack up their lives in two suitcases and carry them to the ceremony, leaving everything else behind.