Turning Eighteen
“Just because you wouldn’t be living on each other’s doorstep? You really cared about each other.”
“And had Chosens waiting for us. We could have made the effort to see each other, but why?” He patted Mo’s shoulder. “You and Lesley will do the same thing. After the Military Academy, you’ll go your separate ways. You’ll see.”
Mo didn’t know what to say. To agree would be lying, but to disagree would be weak in the Way.
Lucy Benton planted herself in their path, forcing them to stop. “Neil, there you are. Do you want to dance?”
“Um . . .” He turned to Mo.
“Go ahead,” Mo said, relieved. “I don’t mind. I’ll be fine.”
“Well, let’s go, then.” Benton grabbed Neil’s arm and pulled him toward the dance floor. Neil looked back at Mo and pulled a face.
Any other night, Mo would have laughed, but she stood stone-faced until she couldn’t see them anymore and then continued on to the refreshment table. Several punch bowls and an assortment of dessert trays awaited her. She’d come for a drink, but now that she was here . . . She picked up a plate from the stack and added a chocolate cupcake to it.
“I’m surprised it ended so quickly,” Mo overheard a man say as she slid a piece of lemon cake onto her plate.
“I wasn’t surprised at all,” a woman said. “I would have been more surprised if she’d stood up there and gushed. Lesley’s not like other girls, you know.”
“Oh, I know. Very serious, that one.”
“Precisely. She’s very strong in the Way, and it was the Way she wanted to talk about.”
“That’s true. I . . .” The voice faded.
Mo resisted the urge to glance over her shoulder. Whoever it was had already moved away. A platter of cookies caught her eye. One or two wouldn’t hurt. She added four to her plate and decided she’d better find somewhere to sit before other goodies called out to her.
“Excuse me,” she murmured to a man next to her, one of Les’s great-uncles, she thought. Up ahead, two of her classmates watched the dance floor. Everyone knew Steven and Roberta had crushes on each other—maybe one of them would pluck up the courage to ask the other to dance before the party ended. Mo reversed direction and skirted around them. She’d only be in the way.
A couple of empty chairs stood at a nearby table. Mo nodded to the Johnsons, who lived several estates west of the Middleton and Thompson estates, and sat down.
Caroline Johnson’s eyes widened. “Are you sure you’ll be able to manage all that?”
“Do you want a cookie?” Mo asked, pushing her plate toward Caroline.
“At this hour? No, thank you.”
“I’ll have one,” said Sandra, one of the Johnson daughters.
“Go ahead,” Mo said.
Sandra smiled shyly and selected a cookie from the plate.
“What do you say?” Elaine Johnson asked.
“Thank you.”
Elaine nodded. “Good. Now, after you’ve finished that, it’s time to go.”
The three daughters groaned in unison. Caroline and Elaine had five, but two were at the Indoctrination Academy.
“Can’t we stay a bit longer?” Anna asked.
“No.”
Anna looked at her other mama. Caroline shook her head. “We said we’d stay until midnight. So come on, time to go.”
“We should say good-bye to Lesley,” Anna said.
“We already did that.” Caroline shifted her attention to Mo. “I hope you don’t think we’re running out on you. But I’d told them five more minutes just before you sat down.”
“No, no, don’t worry about it.” Mo didn’t need company to eat and feel sorry for herself.
“Well, good-bye, then. Say hello to your parents. Tell your mama I’ll pop around next week with the seeds I promised her.”
“I will.”
After they’d gone, Mo shoved a forkful of cake into her mouth and looked around the hall to see how many people were still there. Okay, who was she kidding? Where was Les, that’s what she wanted to know. Les wasn’t near the stage. Perhaps back at the head table? Mo leaned to her left to see if she could catch a glimpse. Nope, Les wasn’t there. Maybe on the dance floor? She couldn’t see it through the crowd. She sliced off another mouthful of cake, lifted it to her mouth, and froze. There was Les, walking right toward her! She smiled and lowered her fork.
Les abruptly stopped, then stepped forward, then pivoted to her right and darted between two groups of Rymellans. Mo stared after her in disbelief. So that’s the way it was going to be from now on, was it? If she had any sense, she’d break it off right now. After all, as of today, she was only the stand-in until the Chosen Council handed Les the real thing, the woman with whom Les would Join. So why bother?
Mo repeatedly jabbed her fork into the remaining cake, reducing it to a crushed mess. Forget the cake. She put the fork down and picked up a cookie. The problem, she thought as she took a bite, was that she’d already made the mistake of breaking up with Les when she hadn’t really wanted to. They were still young; there would be plenty of time for them to break up later. For now, they were together—or at least she hoped they were.
And now she knew what she wanted to happen on her eighteenth. She wanted to be a Chosen. Desperately. It was her and Les’s only chance. If she received a Solitary Notification, she would . . . their relationship . . . . their relationship wouldn’t survive past midnight. As much as she loved Les, she couldn’t stay with her, knowing they were doomed. How could they ever laugh with each other again?
Nope, the only solace a Solitary Notification would offer was that she wouldn’t be forced into a relationship with someone else. Because she didn’t think she could love anyone other than Les. Not even her Chosen. And that meant she was weak in the Way.