• “Izzy! Izzy, are you listening?” Lenne asked as I stared off into space at the boys, why weren’t we allowed to look at them? What was so terrible about being two different genders?

    “Izzy, you better stop staring, one of the Elders will see you.” She whispered. “Let them see. I don’t care. I don’t see the point of it anyway.” I said, looking over at Lenne and then down at my food as I mumbled the last part.

    I hadn’t touched my food at all; I was too wrapped up in my own thoughts. “Izzy…” Lenne gave me a pleading look. I sighed, “Fine, fine! I’ll stop… For now…” I told her, grabbing my plastic fork and stabbed into the chicken they were served today.

    I had only taken a few bites when the Elder watching over them said, “Lunch is through, girls and boys, follow your respective Elders in two lines to your classrooms. Boys in one line, girls in the other, no less than three inches apart.”

    Lenne and I got up and walked to our Elder and got in line behind another girl. I looked over at the boy I was next to who wasn’t standing straight like the rest of us. He looked like a rebellious boy for his uniform jacket wasn’t buttoned up and his shirt wasn’t tucked in. His hair was much longer than the other boys, reaching the end of his ears, and he didn’t seem like he was intending to cut it either.

    “Isadora Watson! Stop looking at Ares!” The old female Elder snapped, “And Ares, tuck in your shirt and button your jacket, you look like a wreck.” She scoffed, straightening her own jacket.

    I blushed as I was pointed out and looked away quickly and down at my feet. I could feel Lenne’s accusing stare and it made me wriggle in my skin. I wanted to do anything to avoid that gaze. “Alright, class, let’s go!” The Elder said finally and that gave Lenne a reason to look away immediately.

    As we entered the classroom, the boys went to their respective seats on the left which were facing our respective seats on the right. Lenne sat to my right in the middle of our sitting area and the Elder that taught us stood in the middle of the room.

    I felt eyes probing me as I dug in my desk for my notebook and pen to write notes with before looking up to see the teacher. But occasionally, I would let my eyes wonder to the boys to find who was looking at me, but each time, I couldn’t find the eyes that bore into me like a bullet.

    It wasn’t long before the bell rang for us to go to our dormitories. And as always, I was the last one to start packing. “Come on, Izzy, let’s go!” She said eagerly, ready to leave. I shook my head, “You go on; I’ll meet you back at the room.” I told her knowing I was far from finishing my packing and watched her nod and leave and I scanned the room, noting that the Elder had already left for a meeting.

    But as I scanned it further I laid eyes on Ares who was staring directly at me, still not bothered to tuck in his shirt and button up his jacket. A shiver went down my spine as I stopped everything and turned towards him.

    I was nervous; none of the girls had ever been in a room alone with a boy. My hands shook a bit and there was some sort of eagerness in my step as I slowly walked forward.

    He watched me as I stepped to the edge of my half of the room and stopped, wondering if the elder had set up the boundary stopping them from crossing. There was no way in telling, it was invisible; so, I put my hand up and touched the line and a swirl of purple, blue, pink and a hint of green surrounded where I had touched it, telling me it was activated and if I stepped through, I would receive severe punishment.

    Therefore, I dropped my hand, turned and continued to pack the last of my things, ignoring his stare and walking out of the classroom through the door on the right side where there were cameras watching our every move. And I left; I didn’t wait to see how long it would take Ares to leave and if he would even come out and look to see if I was there. I just left.