-Chi-Ya Zhou-

 

   "Hurry up and choose something from the programmer! What is with you?" Li-Chon shoved me in the elbow

lightly for the upteenth time today.

 

I clicked on a random salad, almost too tired to protest back. Not only did I fall asleep at 3 A.M. last night, I

also dreamed in color for the first time since... ever, I'm pretty sure. It was so confusing.

 

We meandered down the cafeteria tables and sat at our usual spot off to the right-hand side, on the table 

right next to the uber-popular girls. Yu-Lan does it to listen in to the popular girls' convos and laugh about it

with us afterwards. Yes, we're bored. Nope, we're not sorry.

 

I pop open the salad top and drizzle the seasoning on it. I realize I'm starving due to skipping breakfast in 

the morning  because I woke up way too late, and wish I was a little more awake to get something more filling

off the food programmer.

 

Li-Chon leaned forward, her eyes wide and gleaming, ignoring her noodles. "Okay, so Shi-

Kong is throwing a party next week at her boat house. I expect both of you to wear those

dresses that we bought last month..."

 

Usually, I'd laugh and nod, but today I'm too tired and confused. Last night was puzzling and led to staying up

thinking, and even after I drifted off to sleep, I thought in my dreams.

 

I stayed up thinking about the breach and whether to tell Dad, but for the most part... I thought about the 

escape. And....yeah, about Ky-Tsung. This terrified me, because I never think of guys late at night, or ever for

more than a couple of seconds, period.

 

Before I fell asleep, I realized that his sweatshirt smelled like something familiar. It was when I fell asleep

that I realized what it was.

 

It was the same dream, but in color this time. The school library came into a fuzzy focus. Almost no one was in

sight. A guy and I were talking, but when I looked up, I realized it was Ky-Tsung. We both had our Pods out

and was studying World History behind the bookshelves, hidden from view. Even in the back of my conscious, I

knew that studying with a boy was wrong.

 

Then, a different scene. It was a hot summer day in Hong Kong, and we were lazing around by the park pond,

laughing about something. I felt exposed in my tank top and shorts.

 

We stopped laughing and he looked at me, biting his lip. My heart raced but I didn't know what was going on, or

what was going to happen. I'm pretty sure he said "it's too hot", and then suddenly, he took off his sweatshirt

and there it was again, that scene from last night.

 

He must have seen me shivering last night. That was why he gave me his sweatshirt in the first place.

Yesterday when he took off his sweatshirt, the bottom of his shirt rode up his stomach, revealing a very

toned stomach.

 

I didn't know why I stared at him last night when he was taking off his sweatshirt to give to me, but 

afterwards, when I put it on, all I could smell was the familiar scent of pine and oak that clung to the 

sweatshirt. His arm muscles shone in the moonlight, moving like waves when he brought them down and handed

the sweatshirt to me. I just realized how big boys' muscles were, and I couldn't help but glance every so

often back at his arms. It didn't help that his sweaty T-shirt outlined his back muscles.

 

I forced myself to finally look away and close my eyes, but these images kept popping back into my head.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

In World History, it was presentation day. While I wasn't paired with my best friends, the three other girls

in my group were nice and hard-working, and we managed to finish the project a few days before the due date.

 

One of the girls opened up the presentation and began speaking. I was going to present our second part of our 

presentation on the Flexi-screen right after her. Although I was usually at ease talking with the class- 

everyone was just so chill when it came to public presentations- my hands were sweating today. I took a few 

deep breaths to calm myself and reviewed the notes on my Pod. Alright, colonization in the French Indies...

 

I took a deep breath, stepped up to the Flexi-screen, and gave a wide smile. "Colonization in the French Indies

began back in the early 1400s when...."

 

As usual, I kept my gaze focused on the girls' side of the room. While they tried to look interested, it was 

history so they couldn't really pretend.

 

But I felt one pair of eyes on the other side of the room. Boys almost never looked at girls, even during

speeches or presentations. They normally looked around the room or kept their eyes focused on the screen.

But the eyes of Ky-Tsung were focused on me.

 

I don't know how I finished my part of the presentation with my face burning and my mind pre-occupied. 

After I finished and the next girl stepped up to the screen, I gave a fleeting look at Ky-Tsung and realized 

his attention was back on the Flexi-screen as if nothing had happened.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Pop music pulsed in Yu-Lan's bedroom, but the same sound-proof walls that emanated the music were

sound-proof. In Yu-Lan's brother's room just down the hall, he was playing video games, not having the

slightest clue that his sisters and her friends were about to sneak off to a late-night party.

 

"No, eyeshadows that match dresses are tacky," Li-Chon declared with finality, wiping off her eye makeup 

again with a cotton ball dense with makeup remover.

 

"No, they compliment nicely if you pull them off. I'm just going to add some falsies and

I'm out," Yu-Lan said.

 

"It's going to be dark at the boat house though. No one will even be able to see each other," I returned, 

carefully lining my eyes. The party at Shi-Kang's boathouse was tonight. It was actually a small act of rebellion 

against my parents; they wanted me to stay home and study since midterms were coming up, but I told them I

was going to be over at my Yu-Lan's house studying late. It was partly true, anyway. Li-Chon and I were over

at Yu-Lan's house getting ready for Shi-Kong's party.

 

I finished getting ready and steeled myself in front of the vanity mirror. A small smile played on my lips. Half

an hour of good work. My eyes stood out with the black liner and my lips were a subtle coral color. The 

highlighting on my cheeks and under my eyebrows gave me a dewy glow. Simple party makeup. Our dresses 

looked nice, not too formal nor slacking in the pretty department.

 

Picking up my perfume, I spritzed it on my wrist and dabbed them together. "It smells like a fall pie. I

don't know, apples and caramel. Yum," Li-Chon said, looking over at me while spraying her own Hollister

perfume that would blend in nicely at the beach party.

 

"Thanks," I said back, smiling. "I can't wait to meet Yan-Hong's pair," I managed to get out. I grabbed my

small purse and slung it over a shoulder.

 

Li-Chon and Yu-Lan both stopped for a second. The air between all of all was charged with sorrow and

sadness as we remembered the news that shocked us about a year ago.

 

"Yeah..." Yu-Lan quickly grabbed her purse and opened the door. "Come on, the Flexi-Tube leaves in a few

minutes."

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

I got called down to the office during 1st hour last year, right before Chrsitmas. When I got there, I

realized that both Li-Chon and Yu-Lan were sitting there, looking tense and worried. They glanced up and

me, and almost simultaneously, we all said "where's Yan-Hong?" Something felt wrong. It wasn't just that

she was becoming more and more distant since school started and barely wanted to hang out with us over

the summer; she was missing from our group now, right when we needed her when we all got called down

here to the school's office.

 

The principal and both female counselors sat down in front of us. Their faces were full of pity. "Last night,

the officials found Yan-Hong and another boy in a hotel room after her parents called the police that she was

missing. Her procedure is scheduled later today."

 

None of us could understand how this happened. All we knew was that the empty space at the lunch table

and her empty desk at school for the next few days distracted us from everything. Why you? I would

wonder at night, the pillow absorbing the tears trickling down my face. Yan-Hong, you knew better. We just

had to wait until we turned 16 until the government could cure us and pair us up with a boy. Why did you

have to get amor deliria nervosa right before all this?

 

In my dreams, she was kicking and screaming on the way to the procedure, screaming his name and our

names.

 

A week later, she was paired with a Junior boy and was a Cured no longer hanging out with us. She hasn't

spoken a word to us since her procedure.