Match

1

ever since i was a young girl my mother told me about all the tests. she told me everyone takes them until the socials find a match for us. my necklace looked like an ear to me, but mother told me everyone's necklace was some sort of heart. i really never bothered to look for my match because i didn't care to have one, but the necklace gets hot when you are near them and cold when you aren't, thus helping you find them. the law says if you are not wed by 15, the socials will kill you. i have 11 months and 7 days until my 15th age. there is one boy in particular who is in my 14th class named Thomas who, whenever i am near my necklace gets extremely warm. the thing is, Thomas never wear his necklace. the law states that if you do not wear your necklace you get sentenced to death. thomas always finds a way around the system, he just puts it in his pocket and he always tells me he knows who his match is he just isn't ready to be wed.
"hey darlin'! how was school today?" my dad asks me.
"the same as always dad, going over the rules of society, the rules of the socials, rules of being wedded, rules of the necklaces, rules, rules, rules. the same ol' garbage they tell us every day at school."
"they jus' want you kids to remember it all when you come to older age and ain't got no school no more." my mom chimes in.
i sigh and pull out my homework, which is the same homework every night.
observe how you're parents act
- in love
list a rule of marriage
- you have to be 15 or younger to be wed
how old were your parents wed
- 13
how old are you
- 14 and 1 month 23 days.
when must you wear your necklace
- always
-
thats basically my homework. the only time its different is if they decide to go crazy and scramble the questions up.

the dinner sirens go off.

"alright kids you know what time it is." my mom says and places our food on the table.
we all stand around and close our eyes for exactly one minute. i don't really know why we have to do this but we do every single day.
the sirens go off every single day as well, they have sirens for everything to keep everyone on one schedule so the socials can monitor how everything is going. it gets quite annoying.
the siren for the silence goes off and we all sit. my mother on one end, my father on the other and me and my 3 brothers and sister in between.
the socials say you have to have at least 5 children, since our population is quite small and they don't want us going into some mass extinction as they call it.
i am the 2nd eldest of the children in my family. my brother, Jeb, is my twin and twins are 'disgusting creatures who are not normal and must be killed at once' according to the socials. Jeb and I are the only twins in our community but only Jeb and I, and our parents know. My parents work in the labor district and claim that Jeb is 9 months older making him have 2 months and 7 days until he has to find his match.
we sit and eat our dinner only having small talk because that is all that is aloud.
"i think i found my match today." my 11 year old sister Sara says.
everyone stops eating and looks at her.
i swallow hard, not knowing what it will be like not being able to speak to her after she is wed. thats another rule, you must forget your old family and focus on the new one ahead.
"Who is it Sara?" my mother asks quitely.
"Robert." she says continuing to eat her food.
"oh he's a nice boy Sara, well," my father starts. "congratulations." he says solemnly.
i don't finish my food, which is considered satanic here because there are people other places that don't have luxuries like us, but i dont believe it since i've never heard of them.
the end-of-dinner siren goes off and we all put our dishes in the sink and go to our room for pre-bed things.