Marked

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Scarlett

You could hear the crowd from a mile away. I still couldn't believe Chase was able to put all this together. All I had to do was give my speech.

As we approached I noticed police cruisers. Police officers leaned against their cruisers, in uniform, but not menacing.

Chase walked up on the stage and introduced me. The crowd cheered as I approached the podium. I waited until the cheers ceased to exist.

 I looked out at the crowd of faces around me. Some were young, only thirteen or fourteen. I swallowed hard. Start your speech Scarlett, you'll lose them... I cleared my throat. "For as long as I can remember, I was taught that babies are born with these Marks—tattoos as some call them. And I know I'm not alone.

"Every single one of you here—more likely than not—was born with a Mark on their dominant wrist."—I noticed some people glancing down at their wrist—"We are told that this... Mark... is a "sign", so to speak. A sign of who we are destined for. By law and rules of society, you have to marry the person who Matches you.

"Isn't that ridiculous? You have no say and no. Second. Chances. What happens if your Match dies? "Tough luck"? "That sucks, I guess you can't get married again,"? That's crazy!

"We are told that we have one Match, you marry that Match when you turn eighteen and move on with life. You're happily married and have kids, raise a family on your own. It works for a lot of people.

"Think about this; what if you're arch-enemies with your Match? Just suck it up and live with it? What if your Match beats you? If I'm correct, abuse to spouses is illegal. If it is illegal, how come people are living with it? They're living with it because that's society.

"Setting that aside, what about the people who fall in love with someone else? For example: Fiona knows who her Match is. She is scheduled to marry her Match in a month. Then comes along"—don't say Chase—"Simon. She falls in love with Simon. Then what's she supposed to do. She is going to marry her Match.

"Fiona is standing at the altar, her Match smiling at her, know she is the one he loves. He takes her hand to exchange the rings and—gasp—sees her Mark. It's changed. She no longer Matches him. Instead, it Matches Simon.

"What is she supposed to do? Everyone has known her as the girl with a butterfly when all of a sudden, she had rose. She Matches Simon.

"Listen, this happened to me. A week before my eighteenth birthday, I met Chase. I loved him. Then I accidently met my Match, Levi. My Mark started to itch like crazy. It itched so much I had to keep it wrapped so I wouldn't scratch out my skin. The day of my wedding arrives—the day of my birthday—and I'm at the altar with Levi, smiling at me. I took off the wrap before the wedding started and saw that instead of Riley, the girl with a bear Mark, I was Riley, the girl with an eagle. And eagle to Match Chase.

"Levi saw the eagle seconds before he put my wedding ring on my finger. I ran from my wedding, leaving my home town and moving to Palm Springs. Why did I run? I ran because of the danger that came with my Mark changing. People—before the wedding—called me "Unscripted". I denied it, but deep down, knowing it was true.

"I am Unscripted. And I would guess that half of the people here are Unscripted too.

"I have been told that being Unscripted is part genetic and part of your own mindset. My mom was Unscripted.

"People fear Unscripted. Why?" I paused. "Because we're independent."

With that cheers irrupted from the crowd.

I smiled. "The government fears independence! The government fears us!"

I let the cheers go on for another minute before speaking again. "So what are we going to do about this? I think, we should change our old habits of letting these—Marks—lead our lives. Instead, we should lead our own life! We can change it all!"