I look at my reflection in the mirror. My long auburn hair cascades down my back as I let it out of curlers. I stand there looking at myself, all I see are

freakishly big green eyes and sharp angles staring back at me. I turn around in my new long green satin dress, it's beautiful, but I just don't do it any justice.

I am too worried about whether or not I have been matched with my long time boyfriend, Max, or with a stranger. The odds are against any 16 year old

getting matched, but  who else could I be compatible with? I start getting lost in thought and star to to remember all the tests to ensure we are physically

and mentally capable to be married, but at least they are over. I do not think I could be more ready for this day. I walk out of my room for what could be for

the last time. It hasn't looked like my room for months as my mom and I packed it, just in case I did get matched with someone. I look behind me staring out

of the little window of my small room. I always lived in one of the smallest houses of our city, Gimhae, because my mother's  match died. Almost everyone

here has only one parent.When I was little I would want to be matched with someone from one of the rich cities like Seoul, the capital, and home to all the

wealthy. Now all I want is to be with Max. I close my door for what could be the last time and walk into the kitchen and see my mom pouring over an old

photo album I didn't recognize.

    "What's that?" I say as I casually stroll into the kitchen.

Her old  overworked  face looks up at me in surprise.

    "Oh Courtney,  Look at you " she says with astonishment.

    I smile "Let's not make a big deal of me."

    " Well, this might be the last time I see you for a while, so this is my last chance to make a fuss over my baby."

She smiles and I hug her. "I'm going to miss you."

    " I'm going to miss you too. " I say holding back tears.

I break the hug and turn away from  her as I hear Max

drive up outside.

    " I hope that you are happy with whoever you get, I’ll be watching for you." My mom says with glassy eyes.

I hug her one last time and grab my  black mary jane heels, the government standard issue dress shoes, and turn to leave. I walk down the short walkway

from my front door to the old sputtering truck, and Max. He stares at me until I get to the door. Every other day  he would lean over and unlatch the door for

me, but today he gets out of the truck and scoops me up.

    " You look beautiful." He whispers into my ear. I stare up at  him and wrap my arms around his neck.

    " Thanks, not looking too bad yourself " I say as I look up as he kisses my forehead and opens the door. As he puts me down on the seat using  caution

to get all of my dress inside his car. He gets in the car and just starts staring at me.

    " What?" I say in mock annoyance

    " I was just thinking about what if's. " He looks me in

the eye

    "I want to make sure I remember everything about today, especially the way you look right now."

    " Max, you know we will be together, no one else has what we have, we have an advantage, we have known each other for years now." I ramble out

trying to make everything sound okay.

    He senses the urgency in my voice "Is that what you really think?"

     "Yes, that is what I have to think."

Max just shakes his head and drives silently to school. When we get to the parking lot the silence remains. I go to unlatch the door, but Max grabs my arm.

    "I love you Courtney." He now meets my eyes.

   " I know" I say, while opening my door.

   " Wait." He says as he turns off the engine and jumps out of the car.

    " I just want to get the ceremony over with" I say

    "I know that you are scared about this, Court, but like you said before, we have to think that we will be together." I nod my head and Max pulls me to him

and kisses the top of my head.

   "I'm scared." I say,"even though I had tried so hard not to be, I am."  Max takes my hand and we walk into the big room. Every high school in our country,

Korea, has one of these rooms. A long table sits in the middle, hundreds of name cards have been placed and a woman standing near the doorway yells

"boys to the right girls to the left" Max pauses before letting go of my hand. I go to the middle of the table and  find the place card with Courtney Marie

Moore scrawled on it. I sit at my spot and turn my face towards the back wall that usually is empty, but today there is a giant wall-screen. I also notice that

the room itself has been cleaned and decorated in an attempt to make our overpopulated, dilapidated school look less like what it is. I am surrounded by

two 18 year old girls I look at them and then down at myself, there is no comparison. I am reminded that I am nothing special, there is no way I will even be

matched, Max deserves better. Just as this thought passes through my head, our principal takes the the stage.

"Good morning students, today is the day that lives change!" She says with an attempt to make her old gravely voice sound peppy. "For all the 16 year olds

in the room, this is more of a practice run for you. Every one of you was still put in the pool, but as most of you know, you will not paired today, that said,

still know that it is a possibility.

To everyone else the majority of you will no longer be single tomorrow morning, I hope you have emotionally prepared for that prospect. We will begin

promptly at nine, you have five minutes. We go alphabetically through every boy your age in the country, one of their names will be called, the live camera

in every ceremony room will put them on the  screen in the back along with age,hometown, their class and your compatibility score of over 51% will be

displayed. Then the girl they are paired with will pop up on the screen with the same information. She then will move in with the boy, who may still live with

his parents or have a house of his own. If the match does not work out then no matter your age you will be forced to live in the outcasts, and I think we all

know that  that is not really a viable option" She gives an oversweet smile and leaves the stage.

The first names go by in a blur, just shots of nervous and shocked boys and girls coming to a realization that they are together and that's that. Once the

names get close to Max's I tense up. The names go right past. I look up trying to find him, I hadn't thought to look at him until now. When I do his eyes are

downcast and it hits me, if we weren't paired now, the chance we will be paired later is miniscule. I tune out letters E-N, when O starts people start

 whispering, the president's son, something Oh, is about to be called, he's 18 and it's now or never. The robotic voice calls out Oh Se Hun. A gorgeous

young man pops up on the screen, he stares right at the camera then I hear Courtney Marie Moore. I freeze, not because I was called, but because of the

100% flashing under my face. That has never happened before, ever, not only the compatibility score, but the and the class difference. I glance

into his piercing blue eyes. They're stone cold.