Set Fire to the Rain

I stared up at my ceiling as my sister yelled for me to come down the stairs ‘immediately’. Yes, my older sister was in charge of me. My parents were gone and I didn’t know why or even if they were alive. My sister knew but she would never tell me; she just said I was too young for that discussion and that I shouldn’t worry about it. I eventually stopped asking.

I didn’t want to get out of bed that day because it was the start of the big Annual Decisions Festivals or the ADFs. During this time the people of our great City of Eden are paraded around like prized cattle. Everyone wondering who’s going to be put into what caste, who’s marrying who, who’s going to be a breeder and who’s going to be living their last year. And that year the government was choosing what caste I belonged in.

There were three main casts in our fine government. Uppers, who were people who didn’t have to work but got everything they desired. Governmentals, people who worked for the government and got paid the big bucks. And then there were the workers, who did the lowly jobs that nobody wanted and got paid practically nothing for their services. They were seen as filth in the eyes of the Uppers and Governmentals so they were frequently called Rats. My sister was a worker so there was a 100% chance that I would be one.

“Lexi if you don’t get down here this instance I will make you attend the festival in your underwear.” I could hear her marching up the stairs even though she wanted me to go down stairs.

“Oh what a shame that will be. Maybe then the government will give me a job as a Men’s Entertainer.” I said sarcastically as I sat up and swung my legs to the side of the bed.

“Don’t say such things!” Ariel said entering the one room in our house. “You have great potential and the Government would be dumb not to see that.”

I rolled my eyes and stood up. “Nobody ever said the Governmentals were smart.” My sister slapped her hand over my mouth to shut me up.

“Don’t you ever talk like that; the Governmentals could have ears on us.” She said in a scared tone.

I pulled her hand off my mouth. “I could care less.”

“You won’t be saying that when the Government tries you for treason and cuts out your tongue.” She retorted angrily. She took a deep breath, composing herself. “I got you your dress for the festival.” She turned to her closet and pulled out a white eye-let laced, strapless sundress. “I figured white would make your red hair more vibrant and your blue eyes seem really blue.” She shrugged handing it over to me.

I took it from her and examined it. It was a very nice dress and seemed very expensive. “How did you pay for this?” I asked feeling guilty for all of the times I fought with her.

“It doesn’t matter how. All that matters is that you look nice today while the Government is evaluating you. I don’t want you stuck in the same caste, Lexi. You deserve so much more.”

I nodded and hugged the dress to my chest. “Thank you Ariel.”

She smiled and nodded, “Okay now let’s get you ready.”

***
I hated the evaluation festival. It was basically a bunch of 17 year olds parading around in their best outfits waiting for some Governmentals to call their names over a loud speaker for their interview. The rest of the time the Governmentals watched us like hawks, seeing how we interact with others. Then the next day we are assigned to our caste during a big grand ceremony. Men are put into theirs and women are forced into marriage for theirs. So within the week I will be married off to a man that I may not even know. It’s not like the Government cares.

The plaza was crowded by the time I got there. People stared at me as I navigated through the crowd but I just ignored them. They weren’t used to seeing me in a dress or with my hair down. I usually had to work and dresses definitely weren’t the right attire.

At the center of the crowd was a fountain left over from way before Zachariah was ruler. It didn’t work anymore and the marble was cracked and tinted green in some places. Most people saw it as an eye sore and wanted it removed but I loved it because it symbolized a time before everything went to hell. Before people had their tongues taken out for speaking against the government. And even before we were forced to marry someone we didn’t know let alone love.

I sat down on the edge of the fountain hoping that no one would notice me and try to initiate a conversation. A couple of minutes later the first round of names were called, which was about ten names. I wasn’t one of them, thank God. I didn’t even know how I should answer the questions they were going to be asking me. Should I tell them what I really thought or what they wanted to hear?

“Can I sit here?” A male voice asked me and I looked up to see who it was. I recognized him from the market. He was fairly tall with a tan complexion from working out in the sun for many hours. He had dark brown hair and green eyes and his features were edgy and chiseled. A good prospect for a husband.

I nodded, “Of course you can sit down, I don’t own this fountain.” I answered.

He chuckled and sat down. “Well you sure are sitting upon it like you do.” He joked.

I looked down at my feet and made patterns in the dirt with the tip of my shoes. “What are you doing here? I know for a fact that you’ve already been placed.” I asked trying to get away from the topic of me.

“Well I’m eyeing up the girls…not in a creepy way.” He chuckled at his choice of words and I looked at him. “I meant that I wanted to see what girls would be my potential wife. I’m Xander by the way if you wanted to know. People usually ask strangers what their names are before they start interrogating them.”

“Oh really?” I smirked at him.

“And the usual response is, ‘Oh, my name is…’ and then I would answer that’s a pretty name and say some comment along the lines of how extremely hot I think you are.”

I laughed at his boldness and possibly out of embarrassment. No guy that I know of had every tried to flirt with me. “Well, I’m Lexi.” I answered. “And how would I respond to your debonair words, Xander? You know since you know so much about boy/girl social interactions.”

He smiled, probably because I was reciprocating his flirting. “Well you would either say ‘thank you’ or show me how thankful you were in some physical way. Which I might add I would much more prefer.”

Right after he said that my name was called along with nine others. “Well looks like my number’s up.” I commented and stood up. “Nice talking to you Xander.” I called over my shoulder as I headed toward the court building where the evaluations were held.