Chapter 15
7 Months After The Choosing
Parker
I don’t know how he did it, but Reid pulled it off. He actually pulled it off.
Everyone agreed to his absolutely unhinged plan to help Imani and I stay together for good. They all declared their pairings to the government, leaving us for last, and by doing so, made it impossible for the government to intervene and force us to choose partners from other zones as per the mandates.
I have never felt so light and free and so nervous at the same time. When the final caravan of supplies was delivered and the last few couples all declared at once, the governor in charge of the caravan immediately realized what we had done and advised us to hold our celebrations until the ruling zone had their say.
The ruling zone. Our zone. Kedua.
My nerves are shot as I continuously run scenarios in my mind, contemplating what decisions might be made.
They could punish us in so many ways. Separating us, imprisoning us for our defiance, sending one of us back here for the next Choosing.
Sweat runs down my back and dampens my shirt in patches. Imani is thrilled, looking on the bright side, in her usual way. But I just cannot breathe easily yet.
My parents are going to either be furious or thrilled with our choice. Selfishly, I hope they are thrilled and plead our case. Their pull in our zone as former Chosen might be the last thing that can tip the scales in our favor.
I don’t know our governor all that well, even with the increased exposure from being my parents’ child, but I sincerely hope she shows us mercy in light of our tragic, forbidden love story. I mean, we couldn’t be more star-crossed if we tried.