I smiled at myself in the mirror. My hazelnut colored hair was actually cooperating with me today. It's usually bushy and pops every hair tie I try to put around it. Today the hair tie stayed together, though I’m sure later it’ll pop at the most random time. The clock on my desk starting beeping loudly. I rolled my eyes. My mother must’ve set the alarm last night. Walking to my desk, I yanked the cord out of the wall before throwing the alarm in my drawer. My mother scolds me for not setting my alarm. There was honestly no point. Usually, by time the thing went off, I was already dressed and ready to go.
I looked into the mirror once more to make sure I looked presentable. I frowned, noticing that a few curls came out of my ponytail and rested on my cheeks. Shrugging, I decided that it was decent enough and grabbed an extra hair tie.
Someone banged on my bedroom door, making me jump. "Winter! Hurry the hell up!" My best friend, Elizabeth called through my door. "If you find your Soulmate he can't judge you on how hideous you are! If he does, I’ll kick him in the face because that’s my job!"
I yanked open my door. "How'd you get in my house?" I demanded.
Liz was leaning against the doorway in her school clothes. "Your father let me in before he left for work."
"I need to tell him to keep the dogs outside,” I said. Then jumped back as she tried to punch me. “Let's go. I hope you didn’t track dirt on your way in."
Liz sneered at me before racing down the stairs. I chuckled as I followed her. Liz was my best friend, has been ever since birth. I love Liz to death but sometimes she's too reckless. She always wears her hair down, even though we aren't supposed to, unless it’s an important event. Then there's the things she does. Like talk about how all the rules are stupid and she's tired of following them. If an Enforcer heard her, they would take her outside the Border where the Unregistered live.
When I walked into the living room my mother was putting pigtails in my ten year old little sister, Caroline's honey blonde hair.
"Mommy, can you put my pigtails in braids?" Caroline asked, kicking her feet back and forth. She was wearing her pale blue school clothes, which had crumbs all over it.
Mother sighed. "No, Caroline. You’re getting too big for those."
Caroline looked at Liz and me, then pouted. "But Elizabeth gets to wear her hair down! How come I can't have pigtail braids?"
"Elizabeth is a teenager not a twelve year old," Mother said, brushing the pigtails down.
Liz stepped next to my mom and leaned over the couch to look Caroline in the eye. "And Elizabeth isn't a little brat like you."
Caroline stuck her tongue out at Liz before hopping off the couch to grab her school bag off the table. Liz, who was very immature, stuck her tongue out at Caroline in retaliation.
I laughed. "Yeah. Elizabeth is a big brat."
Liz threw a pillow at me. "Screw you!"
"Elizabeth!” My mother scolded.
"Hmm?” Liz asked, smiling innocently.
My mother shook her head and handed me my school bag, then started adjusting my dress.
I pulled away, quickly. "Mother stop! We're going to be late."
Mother sighed. She touched my Birthmark under my right eye. I tried not cringe away. "Be careful."
Liz grabbed my arm and pulled me to the door. "Goodbye, Mrs. Logan." Liz pushed me out of the door and shut it behind her. “Phew! We could not have gotten out of there any quicker! I cannot stand that woman!”
I smirked and started walking in the direction of the school. "Liz put your hair up. You know, there are Enforcers everywhere," I said, pulling out a hair tie.
Liz snorted. "No, thanks. Why do we need to wear our hair up anyway?"
"You know why. So our Birthmarks show as we walk around. Just in case we run into our Soulmate," I said, kicking the dirt.
"But I've found my Soulmate," Liz complained. Liz is kinda lucky. She found her Soulmate, when we were eleven. It was really hot one day, so our families went out for ice cream. Jesse, Liz's Soulmate, was running around and spilled his ice cream all over her day clothes. Liz was about to beat him into a pulp then froze when she saw his Birthmark. It was the same as hers. But she was only frozen for only a little while because she tackled him a few seconds later.
"You hate your Soulmate. I’m actually surprised you claim him.” I said, bumping my shoulder with hers.
"I still have one," Liz mumbled.
"At least you found yours already. My grandmother is taking me to the village closest to the Border to find mine," I said.
"Closest to the Border? So, you might see an Unregistered?" Liz asked, excitedly. Liz had an odd obsession with the Unregistered. They were different from us and didn’t follow any of the rules we had. They were right up her league.”
I looked at her, startled. "No! My grandmother is crazy but not crazy enough to go by the Unregistered!"
Liz put an arm around me. "I hope you see one.” Liz wiggles her eyebrows as we pass an Enforcer. All Enforcer wear bright yellow, so we can tell the difference between them and regular working people. "Those Unregistered are so damned lucky.”
I put a hand over Liz's mouth, knowing the Enforcer is gonna give her hell about saying that. "Shush!"
The Enforcer turned abruptly and glared at us. "What did you say?"
Liz turned us both around and put her hands on her hips. Uh oh. When she does that it means trouble.
"Well? Answer me!" The Enforcer demanded after neither of us said anything.
"I said, those Unregistered are so damned…loco." Liz said. “I mean, that riot last month was for no reason! They are clearly crazy.”
The Enforcer glared at Liz for a few moments. "Get to school," He growled before marching off.
Liz turned around and we continued our way towards school. "I can't believe you’re actually scared of Enforcers," Liz said as we turned a corner.
"I was not!" I demanded. It was a total lie. I'm terrified of them. I mean, they had guns on them, that they didn’t exactly hide.
"Oh please! You were shaking the whole time," Liz said, rolling her eyes.
"So? They can send us to live with the Unregistered." I whispered. “And have you seen those guns?”
Liz shrugged. "It wouldn't be so bad."
I looked at Liz wide eyed. "What do you mean? They're wild!"
"We've never seen them." Liz said.
"They do whatever they want! They have sex with whoever they want! It's disgusting!" I said as the school came to sight.
We passed some giggling kids as we headed toward the doors. Everyone in school wear four different shades of blue depending on your age because we're in classes with people our age and our age only. Five through ten year olds wear pale blue. Eleven through thirteen year olds wear sky blue. Fourteen through sixteen year olds, like me and Liz wear navy blue. And seventeen year olds wear royal blue.
Colors represent what we do. Working people wear purple. Retired people wear green. On holidays and important events we can wear whatever color we want. Well, besides red.
"You’re just seeing it wrong! They get to wear whatever they want! Love who they want! It’s not disgusting. It’s the life everyone should have!" Liz said, quietly.
"Liz-" I started but she doesn't let me finish.
"Winter, listen!" Liz insisted. "The only time we get to pick what we want to wear is on holidays and stupid events like Birthmark Completion. Nobody likes wearing these stupid color coded outfits. We can't be stuck living like this forever!"
"You’re talking as if you can change anything," I hissed at Liz.
Before Liz could reply, Jesse came up and wrapped an arm around her waist.
"Hey, sweet thing," Jesse said. Liz tried to pull away but Jesse didn't let go so she looked at me for help.
"Enforcers say no public displays of affection, even if you've found your Soulmate," I pointed out.
Jesse rolled his eyes but moved his arm away. "So, do you have your dress for our Birthmark Completion?"
A Birthmark Completion is a ceremony for when you find your Soulmate. When you're born you get half of a Birthmark. Your Soulmate gets the other half. After you've found your Soulmate you get your Birthmark completed so it shows you've found your other half.
Yes, I know Liz and Jesse met four years ago but Liz's parents refused to let they're eleven year old daughter to get her Birthmark filled. So Jesse's parents suggested they should do it when they're fifteen. So they're getting their Birthmarks completed at the end of the month. And Liz was not happy about it.
Liz shook her head. "My mother planned to go shopping on Saturday. You're coming too right, Winter?"
"I can't. That's the day my grandmother is taking me to that village, remember?" I told her, as we climbed the steps of the school.
"All day?" Liz asked.
"Most of the day." I replied, as Jesse wandered off. "My grandmother is meeting with friend so, I'm going to hike while she's mingling."
"And how is she going to contact you after she's done?" Liz asked.
"My father bought me a cell phone last night," I said, shrugging.
"But you're fifteen! We're not allowed to get phones until we're seventeen!" Liz said.
"Enforcers made sure it's extra protected. I can only use it for two hours a day and everything I do on it is monitored," I said, looking for my name on the lockers.
The morning bell rang. Liz jumped. "I have to find my locker. See you at lunchtime."
I waved goodbye to Liz as I looked for my name. I found my name on an end locker, right next to a classroom. I opened the locker to find it full of mandatory school books. My schedule was taped on the inside of the locker. I groaned on the inside. Great. All advanced classes. I reached for the book that I needed for my first class.
"Hi," An unfamiliar voice said. I jumped and dropped my book. A boy with golden hair reached down and picked it up. "You dropped this," The boy said, handing me my book.
I bit my lip to keep from making a rude comment. I kept my eyes down as I plucked the book from his fingers. "Thank you."
"I'm Christian," He said, opening the locker next to mine.
"I'm Winter." I muttered, grabbing a pen from my bag. I looked up shyly and examined the boy in front of me. His forest green eyes sparkled as they looked at me. His golden hair was cut short like all Birthmarked boys' hair. When he smiled his perfect white teeth showed.
And his Birthmark was....exactly like mine. My eyes widened at the same time the hair tie popped, making my curly hair fall around me.
Christian must have noticed my Birthmark because he ran a finger over his. "You’re my Soulmate."
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