The Arrangement

[Medusa72]

Introduction

The System was created to balance the people. In the old world, the divorce rate was 96%. Approximately 72% of the divorcee's were on an old kind of medication, called anti-depressants. All emotions were out of balance. The System was a program that arranged everyone's marriage and made divorce illegal. Clara Bracken grew up knowing about The System. Her parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and all manner of family and friends were part of the arrangement; but she doesn't discover how it makes her feel until her day comes. At year sixteen, each person is allowed to discover who The System has arranged them to, but at year eighteen, marriage is required.

Chapters:
One / Two / Three / Four / Five / Six / Seven / Eight / Nine / Ten / Eleven / Twelve / Thirteen / Fourteen / Fifteen / Sixteen / Seventeen / Eighteen / Nineteen

[Medusa72]

Chapter One

"You have to go to the Arrangement Hall soon or you'll be marrying a stranger!" Irene, Clara's best friend, insisted.
Clara was seventeen, it was somewhat unusual for most people not to rush to the Arrangement Hall-a big and plain gray building-the day they turn sixteen.
No arrangement had an age difference of more than 11 months and all arrangements are in the same year of their separate year. If one of the arranged was older they had to wait until their arranged partner was also sixteen to request contact. Since, in our history, over 95% of relationships under the age of sixteen are failures, The System deemed that individuals were not mature enough to face their arranged partner.
Clara had imagined what it would be like all the time. She imagined herself in the most popular cases, such as the lower-class boy and upper-class girl who were arranged, or the couple that waited until their scheduled wedding day to meet each other. Clara was middle-class, so she knew the first case wouldn't happen, but she gave serious thought to waiting until her wedding day. Irene thought that was stupid, but then again, Irene lived and breathed her arrangement and went to the Arrangement Hall the day she turned sixteen. Irene's arranged partner was named Roger, he was witty and always made Irene laugh. They were also seventeen and had been dating for a year.
"Now you only have a year to get to know your partner rather than two!"
"You do realize we'll be married for the rest of our lives right?" Clara said to Irene.
"Sure, but then you'll be tied down to him, you only have two years to get to know him without responsibility."
Clara rolled her light blue eyes, "Being in any relationship has responsibilities. I'm just not ready for it."
Irene dramatically flipped her thick dark hair over her shoulder, "Well when are you going to be ready?"
"Soon, I think."
"I hope so," Irene responded while getting up from the table they were sitting at.
"Me to," Clara whispered under her breath, "me to."

[Medusa72]

Chapter Two

"I'm sorry it took me so long," Clara's partner whispered in her ear. He was tall and very handsome. Somehow, Clara knew he was also kind, caring, and smart.
"It was worth the wait," Clara whispered back.
They immediately kissed each other when Clara sprung awake from her bed, her heart racing.
It was just a dream.
Clara closed her eyes and drifted back to sleep, her frazzled red hair splayed out on her pillow.

"Today's the day!" Clara told Irene at their usual table.
"What day is it?" Roger said as he sat down giving Irene a kiss.
Clara averted her eyes to some nearby flowers until their quick kiss ended. Although they had been kissing in front of her for a year now, she was still getting used to it. But she had decided that she was ready for what Irene and Roger had. She was ready to face her arrangement.
"I'm going to the Arrangement Hall today."
Irene gasped, "Really! I mean, it's about time, but that's so exciting!"
"Yeah, but..."
"But what? What's wrong?"
"Well, don't you think it's a little strange that he hasn't requested contact for me yet?"
"Maybe he's shy?"
"But what if I'm..."
"You're not a single," Irene interrupted fiercely.
Sometimes, the number of babies born in one year are not even, meaning there are sometimes those fated to being a single their entire lives.
"But what if I am?"
"Nothing will change."
"Exactly, that's the problem, nothing would ever change!"
"It's okay," Roger said with a smirk, "you can grow old in our basement."
Clara glared as the arranged couple looked lovingly at each other before kissing again.
"Sorry," Irene blushed when she saw Clara's reaction, "you're still going to the Arrangement Hall though, right?"
Clara took a deep breath, "yes, I think it's time that I find out the truth.

Clara's mother walked up the large steps of the Arrangement Hall, holding Clara's hand.
Inside the Hall there was a dark blue lush carpet, a true sign of riches. Past the main foyer, there were two main office rooms, Girls and Boys.
"Now honey," Clara's mother said, "when you go into the room there's a ticket roll, you'll pull a ticket from the roll and wait for what ever number you get to be called out. You'll give your attendant your name and she'll take you to a private room to show you your arranged partners files."
Clara swallowed and nodded.
"I'm so proud of you."
"Thanks mom," the two smiled at each other.
Clara's mother started walking away when Clara called out, "mom?"
She stopped and turned around to face Clara, "yes sweetie?"
"What if I'm a single?"
"What if you are?"
"I..."
"It won't change who you are will it?"
"No, I guess not."
"Okay then."
"Mom?"
She turned once again.
"I'm scared."
"It's okay to be afraid sometimes."
Clara didn't understand what that meant, but she turned around and walked into the girls office room.

[Medusa72]

Chapter Three

Clara pulled her ticket from the roll. Her number was 31, she clutched the ticket hard, crumpling it. Clara went and sat with the other girls.
"Hi," the girl she sat next to said with a smile, "I'm Patricia."
"Clara," she responded with a nervous smile.
"I turned sixteen about a month ago, what about you?"
"Uh, it was about a year ago."
"What?" Patricia said incredulously, "why haven't you requested contact yet?"
"I didn't think I was ready," Clara said with a shrug.
"Well hasn't he requested contact with you?"
"No."
There was a silent pause.
"Oh."
"Yeah."
"Maybe he's shy?"
Clara laughed at this, "that's what my friend Irene said."
"Thirty!" an attendant called out.
"Oh! That's me!" Patricia said excitedly, "See you later Clara, good luck!"
"See you."
Clara was now alone in the office, all the other girls had been called by attendants.
Her knee was bouncing up and down when an attendant called out, "Thirty-one!"
She looked up and made eye contact with a short woman with dark skin.
Clara got up from her seat and followed the woman to a small room with a simple brown table in it.
"My name is Naomi, I'm your assigned attendant. I'll be answering any questions you might have."
Clara nodded her understanding.
"Can I have your full name please?"
"Clarissa Bracken."
Naomi wrote her name down, "I'll be right back with your arranged partners file."
"So I'm not a single?"
"Oh no. We, at the Arrangement Hall however, were wondering if either you or your arranged partner would ever come in and request contact."
"Oh, well why hasn't he requested contact with me?"
"Probably for the same reasons you haven't requested contact with him," Naomi said with a smirk. She walked out of the small room, leaving Clara alone with her thoughts.
What if I don't like him?
What if he doesn't like me?
I hope he's handsome.
I hope he thinks I'm pretty.
Is that shallow?
Will he think I'm shallow?
Clara was startled when the door suddenly opened again. Naomi walked in with a thick file, full of papers, "Here is his file, I'll leave it with you. Also, he's here looking at your file if you'd like to meet him when you're done."
"Oh my gosh, he's here?"
Naomi nodded sharply, "I can have him wait for you to finish up, if you want."
"Uh, yeah... Yeah, I'll do that."
"Alright, I'll check in on you in a little bit."
"Ok."
Naomi left.
This was all happening so fast, Clara wasn't sure if she ready anymore. She gulped and opened the large file, it was jam packed with school award sheets. Strait A report cards, awards for volunteer work, outstanding recommendation letters, and each one had his name on it. Clara knew for a fact she didn't have even half as many documents in her file.
Finally, Clara found what she was looking for, his birth certificate. She had never seen her own, but an arranged pair were allowed to keep their files after their visit to the Arrangement Hall. She noticed right away that her name was on it.
Arranged to: Clarissa Bracken
Each birth certificate is edited after a person turns twelve, with the name of their arranged partner.
His name though, that was on all the other documents, is Peter Jennings.

[busterb00]

Very intriguing! I love the idea of futuristic arranged marriages! Keep it coming!

[Medusa72]

Very intriguing! I love the idea of futuristic arranged marriages! Keep it coming!

Thank you! I'll try.

[Medusa72]

Chapter Four

Name: Peter Jennings
Birth Date: March 24, 2133
Arranged to: Clarissa Bracken

His birthday was just a little less than a month before Clara's. There were other things on his birth certificate, such as his parents' names. But all Clara could think about was that in one year, she would be called Clara Jennings.
Jennings.

After Clara finished reading her arranged partner's files, Naomi retrieved her from the small room.
"He's very anxious to meet you and it's very convenient that you both happened to come in to request contact on the same day!"
Naomi was talking, but Clara kept trying to swallow. Her mouth was dry, she felt dizzy, was this even a good idea?
"Nevertheless," Naomi continued, "here is his address and contact information."
Clara mumbled her thanks and took the piece of paper with the contact information on it, she then added it to her file of her arranged partner's files.
Somehow, Clara found herself walking into the foyer. Naomi led her to the sitting area and then immediately left. Clara didn't acknowledge the hunched glum looking boy in one of the seats, instead she found a bottle of water on a small table and gulped it down.
"Hi," the boy said timidly. He had facial hair on his upper lip, which Clara thought was very unprofessional. The boy also had a gap between his two front teeth. Clara didn't acknowledge him, in fact, she did her best to ignore him and waited until her arranged partner met her here. Not two seconds later a boy walked out of the office room, Clara jumped up and met him half way.
"Peter?"
"Um," the boy started to side-step her, "no, sorry."
What? Was that right? Surely not.
Clara sat back down.
The boy sitting with her nervously rubbed his thumbs along their index fingers, "Clarissa?"
Clara looked up sharply, "How do you know my name?"
The boy held up a thin file that Clara hadn't noticed sitting in his lap earlier.
Clara's mouth hung open, "You're Peter Jennings?"
"Everyone calls me Petey, you are Clarissa Bracken, right?"
Petey? How embarrassing.
"Just Clara."
"Nice to meet you." Petey stood, his shoulders and neck were hunched, he extended his right hand towards her. Clara hesitantly shook it.
"I've seen you at school," Peter immediately looked as though he regretted saying this.
"Makes sense."
"Ha-have you ever seen me?"
"No," Clara suddenly decided that she was just dreaming again and so she got up from her chair and started towards the door.
Petey tripped before shuffling his feet to follow her in pants that were too small.
They both walked out the door, Petey on Clara's heels. He stayed by the door watching her walk away, "So I'll see you at school?" He called out to her.
"Yeah yeah..." She muttered, not loud enough for him to hear.
Where was she going?
Away.

[nnightmare]

I love it! Keep them coming!

[Medusa72]

I love it! Keep them coming!

I'm glad! Hopefully I'll have the next chapter done by tonight.

[Medusa72]

Chapter Five

When Clara woke up the next day to ready herself for school, she remembered everything from the previous day and instantly got a headache. Petey's file still occupied the top of her night stand.
Why couldn't I have been a single?
Clara dressed and quickly left her home for the schoolhouse. Halfway there, Clara noticed a hunched figure shuffling towards her. She ducked into a narrow alley, a shortcut she used when she was much younger.
Clara knew from Petey's file that all of the classes he was in were advanced, that means the only time she might see him was at lunch.

When lunch did come, she joined Irene and Roger at their usual table where Irene pounced on her immediately.
"Well? What happened yesterday at the Arrangement Hall?"
"Uh, I got a file."
"And?"
"And I met him."
"On the same day?"
"Yeah."
"What's his name?"
Before Clara could answer, she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Hello Clarissa," Petey said with a small smile, "Mind if I sit with you and your friends?" He then abruptly sat down and smiled at Irene and Roger.
After an awkward hesitation Clara introduced them all to each other, "Guys, this is Peter; Peter, these are my friends, Irene and Roger."
"Petey," he corrected before shaking their hands.
"Jennings?" Roger asked.
"Yes, we have advanced mathematics together."
"I remember," Roger said with a smile.
"How do you two know each other?" Irene asked Clara and Petey.
"We're arranged partners," Petey said with a smile putting his arm around Clara's shoulders.
Clara couldn't stand it any longer, she jumped up from her seat and rushed to the restroom. She was splashing cold water on her face when Irene walked through the door, "What was that about?"
Clara didn't answer, she didn't even meet Irene's eye's.
"Petey was being perfectly nice, even cracked a joke after you stormed out!"
"Did you see how hideous he looks?"
"Clara!"
"What?"
"I'm appalled! I would think you'd have the decency to get to know him before completely abandoning him!"
Clara huffed, she knew Irene was right, but she didn't want to admit it.
"You do have to marry him in a year," continued Irene, "So I suggest you throw personal preferences out the window and get to know him." Irene then left the bathroom and Clara soon followed, but before she could make it back to her table, Petey met her half-way.
"I'm sorry I called you Clarissa," he began, "I know you prefer Clara. Also, I'm sorry for just jumping in like that, I'm just really nervous about this whole thing. And I'm sorry I put my arm around your shoulders, I just wanted to seem cool."
Maybe he's just shy. The words echoed in Clara's mind.
"It's okay," Clara said, now regretting her behavior, "I'm sorry I haven't been exactly been nice to you, I guess I'm nervous to."
Petey gave a visible sigh of relief and then a smile, "Would you maybe... want to go on a date with me?"
Clara chuckled, "Sure Petey, there's a movie playing tomorrow, if you want to go to that."
"I'd love to," he said quietly.

((Ah, this chapter was hard. I had to make Clara seem really mean. These characters are actually based off of real people, Petey is based off of a boy who actually doesn't have a mustache, but a full beard, which he has been able to grow since the 8th grade. Clara is based off of a girl who actually didn't judge him by his looks and actually liked him right away because real life Petey is a very nice person. And I based Clara's mom off of my mom who is both feisty and timid at the same time.
Did you notice that even though Petey was the one who asked Clara out, Clara was the one who kind of took the lead? Because, I did that on purpose.))