U.T.O.P.I.A. | BOOK 1 of Death of the Future Series

NINE

OLIVIA

Neo was crazy.

That was the only thing I could describe him right now.

There was no way we weren't getting caught. This was a restricted area that we were trying to get to. What if the authorities caught us? We would be prosecuted for trespassing and possible treason for not following direct orders from World Government.

I should tell Neo the horrors I heard about people who got caught trespassing. That they were sentenced to imprisonment until their behaviour was no longer a 'danger for treason'.

Not that I was sure if that was true or not, judging by the fact that I hadn't actually seen someone getting caught. Yet, the rumours had to hold some truth for them to be used as a medium to scare people to submission, wouldn't they?

I shrugged that thought away; it would be a fruitless thing to think about.

But as I walked with him, and the silence of the night accompanied us, I couldn't bring myself to tell him that.

"This is nice, right?" Neo asked. We were currently walking on the sidelines of a highway. There were no cars though, so the quietness and coolness added with the glowing light coming from the streetlights gave the surrounding a peaceful atmosphere.

"It's calming." I nodded. "How long have we been walking?"

Neo glanced at his wristwatch, huffing out a breath.

"About twenty minutes," he said and then grinned, looking at me. "Are you tired?"

"No," I said as I hugged my scarf tighter around my neck. Our shoulders brushed once in a while making me feel a bit warmer than before. "I'm fine."

There was a knowing look on his face. He obviously thought a girl like me; a girl who grew up in South House wouldn't be able to handle long walks. Unfortunately for him, I was under a strict fitness regime until I turned eighteen.

'It's to keep your body in shape, dear,' Mum had said with a gentle laugh when I asked her if it was necessary for me to follow such a diet and exercise routine at age fourteen.

'You need to look beautiful so your Match loves you,' Dad had said, snorting when I told him I thought I looked fine.

Was appearance everything? Was I too fat? Wasn't I skinny enough? I thought my Match would love me the minute he laid his eyes on me? What do you mean I had to keep my body in shape and be beautiful for him to like me? What about the First Spark?

All those questions entered my mind throughout my entire teenage life and yet no one gave me a proper answer. Now that I met Neo I realised, or was beginning to realise, that Neo didn't look at me with piercing eyes filled with adoration and lust. He didn't even look at me past my face. In fact, he made no move to even touch me.

Not like how my parents said my Match would behave.

I frowned. This was obviously a topic I rather not think about right now.

"You don't have to push yourself, you know," Neo said. "If you need to rest, we'll stop for a while."

I frowned at him. "I said I'm fine. I can walk, Neo."

It was uncalled for, the way the words had tumbled out of my mouth in a loudness I didn't mean to exhibit. Neo's eyes widened and I felt my cheeks reddening. I bit my bottom lip. "Sorry," I said.

What was that? Ah, I could already feel my decorum slowly shedding the longer I lived with him. Would I be a brute by the same time next year? I shuddered at that thought. I hope not.

"No," he said. His voice was quiet and timid. "It's fine. I'm just worried, I guess."

I looked at him from the corner of my eyes. Indeed, he did look worried. His eyebrows were furrowed and there was a small frown on his lips. It made me feel better. I never had someone properly worry about me before. It was now even more embarrassing that I had thrown a minor tantrum.

"I'm fine," I said after a while. "I'll be fine. Sorry for snapping." He sighed but he didn't say anything else, which I appreciated. I wouldn't know what else to say to him, so I decided to change the subject. "How did you manage to go there anyway?"

He snorted under his breath before he laughed. His laugh was light and airy making my heart skip a beat. It almost made me smile. Curious at what face he was making, I looked at him to notice that his cheeks were flushed and his eyes were shining, but in a way that spoke of melancholy and pain.

"Michael brought me there," he said, absent-mindedly. He froze the minute the words fell out of his mouth, his eyes clearing from the melancholy to be replaced by shock. Neo looked paler as well, like he had done something wrong.

I didn't know how to comfort him. So I didn't, instead letting my mind wonder: Was Michael the friend who died?

After a few seconds, I said, "Is Michael the one..."

There was a pained look in his eyes that confirmed my theory. His eyebrows were furrowed and a frown was on his lips, unhappiness clear on his face. Guilt surged in me at that, holding my conscience in its tight grip.

I hated that look on his face.

"I'm sorry," I said, surprised at myself. "I didn't mean to..."

"No, it's fine, I, uhm," Neo said as he rubbed the back of his neck. I ignored the way his eyes looked wet. "I just haven't properly moved on from his death yet."

"I understand," I said as I took in a deep breath. "Losing someone you care about is always hard."

He made a sound at the back of his throat. "You do?"

I glanced at him before I glued my gaze to the ground. It was a lie. I didn't understand, not really. There was no one I found myself attached to so I wouldn't know what it would feel like to lose them. At the end, I shrugged. "I read about it somewhere."

Neo laughed and I couldn't help but smile at him. The mood between us lightened considerably after that and my heart squeezed in my chest, slight pride making itself known in me at the fact that I had managed to erase some of that sadness from his face.