We were taught not to love. We were taught that all pairings were made based on necessity. The council of love makes all pairings based on genetics and who works together. Once a year, there is a ceremony when the council makes pairings based on a test taken earlier in the day. I’ve been waiting for this moment my whole life. When you turn 20, you receive your pairing and for the years before turning 20, the council is taking notes and tracking to make sure they can make the perfect pairings.
Today is the ceremony. “The Ceremony of Choosing will begin now. Make your way to the Community Center and wait for further instructions,” the intercom speaks in a stern tone. As I walk, I ponder who my partner might be as I have never really thought about who it could be. I had been excited to receive my paring, but I had never really thought about who. Once at the center, we were told to find our seats that had been labeled with our names. As I search for my name on a chair, I realize that I have never seen most of these people in my life. In our community, we are divided into neighborhoods of 4-6 families that learn, play, eat, and spend the most time together. As children that is who you grow up with, who you spend your afternoons playing outside with, and once you start working at the age of 17, these are the people that work with you wherever they decide to put you.
I find my seat and sit down. I look around nervously and excitedly at all the people in the center. I think to myself that this is the most people I have ever seen in my life. Once everyone finds their seats, the ceremony begins. As I look next to me, I see this person completely out of the blue. I can’t stop looking at them. My breath is taken from my lungs, this funny feeling, I don’t know what it is. I can’t stop thinking about them; instantly I want to know everything about this person. I realized that this could be love. We were taught that love was that of a fictional world. That it didn’t exist. But at this moment, all I feel is this strong infatuation with this person. I realize that maybe they were right about love, that maybe it still exists. Just as I have this thought, the council leader starts to speak. “Welcome everyone to the 127th Ceremony of the Choosing, let us begin.” And with that, I look back at the person next to me. My name gets called and I snap out of this intense moment. As I step up to the stage, I wish and hope that this mystery person is now made my match. My match is called and it’s not them. I feel a brief amount of disappointment, then I walk off to meet my match, having thoughts of what could have been.
