Dark World: The Surface Girl Read Free Page B

the backs of his fingers brushed against mine I would bite down on my lower lip to contain a gasp. Dimples appeared on his cheeks when he smiled, and when he moved his hand to his forehead and absentmindedly brushed back thick strands of longish chocolate brown hair, it was like watching an artist stroke a paintbrush across a canvas. Reese was a work of art, the embodiment of everything that was perfect in this world. Watching even the tiniest of his movements was like watching a ballet. Everything about him was graceful and mesmerizing.
                  I would never be gifted the opportunity to dance with Reese. I would never know the all-consuming internal fire of his fingertips grazing across my skin nor the explosion of his warm, moist lips pressing against my own. I would spend my whole life with nothing but daydreams that faded and an imagination that was constantly betraying me. Would the only way I could force myself to tolerate Connor's touch be to close my eyes and imagine he was Reese instead?
              The back of my hand rose to the slightly darkened circle under my eye and wiped away a few tears.
                  Stop it. You can't cry today. You have to hold it together.
                  Commanding myself to accept my fate was as useful as boobs on a man. All I could do was wipe my eyes one more time, straighten my shoulders and force myself to begin this dreadful day.
                  Sure enough, the moment I stepped out of my chambers I was crushed against my mothers chest. “Happy Birthday, Ruby!” She squealed happily into my ear. We were polar opposites right now. I knew why she was happy. I knew my resistance to accept my duties in life made her fear that I would be sent to the transitional containers, but once I met Connor tonight my marriage two years down the road would seem officially underway and that would help calm her uneasiness. I was obviously not a mother myself but I could still understand her basic point of view. I would never forget how I felt when I watched the flatfoots drag Grandpa Logan away. I would never forgive them. I was the only person my parents had and I knew that losing me would break them beyond repair and make them feel like failures.
                  Crap.
              I had to figure out some way to get through this. If not for myself, then for my parents.
                  “Thanks Mom,” I finally replied as she loosened her grip. She raised her hands and brushed back a few straying strands of my hair, catching my gaze with her own.
              “You look beautiful, Ruby. You really do. You've grown up so much.” I shifted my eyes. My mother's barely audible sigh had not been lost on me. “Someone special is here to see you.”
                  It was actually amazing to me how one single, simple sentence could manage to send me through three different extreme emotional moments in about two seconds flat.
                  WHAT IF ITS CONNOR OH MY GOD NO I'M NOT READY I'M NOT READY FOR THIS I DONT WANT THIS
                  No, it couldn't be Connor. Our “date” was not scheduled until six o'clock in the evening. I would be formally escorted to our meeting room because the “date” was to take place in Connor's home division Connecticut, which I would then be forced to transfer to after our wedding. I didn't even have the option to pick which division I wanted to live in. I would be forcibly wed to Connor and then I would only be allowed to see my own parents on designated visiting days once every six months. Unauthorized, unescorted and/or frequent traveling between divisions was not permitted. Connor could not be here this morning because that would not be in accordance with Doctrine. This was the first moment in my life that I was thankful for something dictated in that stupid law