Prompt: A girl's top five suitable matches have to buy her a ring they think represents her the most. On her eighteenth birthday she is presented with the box and told to choose a ring. She must marry the man who bought that ring.

Charlie didn't care about rings, not really, or at least that's what she told herself.

But she found herself gravitating towards her mom as her eighteenth birthday approached, staring at the single ring on her finger, a thin band with a clear heart-shaped diamond set in the gold, twinkling like a winking star. Mom wasn't stupid, she knew what Charlie was thinking about, and one night before bed she sat down on the edge of Charlie's bed and smoothed back the blankets.

"Are you worried about the rings?" She asked, and Charlie forced her eyes away from her mother's single band.

"Um... No." She didn't know why she was lying, maybe because it was a stupid thing to worry about. Still, what if some complete douchebag bought the ring she chose, and she had to marry him? She shuddered, feeling goosebumps run up and down her arms.

"I know it's scary." Mom said, and Charlie tried to ignore her condescending tone.

"Yeah, but what if I have to marry a total loser? Or someone I hate? A ring, what kind of dumb choice is that?"

Mom cocked her head to the side, her chestnut curls spilling over her shoulder. "Some people choose to marry someone else, besides the whole ring business. Would you prefer that?"

No way, Charlie thought. To be the only person in college without a ring would be an utter embarrassment, she'd be a social outcast. Besides, no one married without the 'whole ring business.' It was a way of life, just the way things were. She couldn't escape that.

Why, though?

"Is there anyone you have in mind? Some couples tell each other the rings they'll choose. Of course, it's illegal, but you're so pretty, surely you have a few boys chasing after you."

Charlie rolled her eyes. Like every mom ever hadn't told their daughters how nice they looked. No points for originality there. She had seen couples describing their rings to each other, though, and some bought purposefully gaudy ones to stick out in the selection. You'd have to wear that ring for the rest of your life, and high school flings surely wouldn't last much longer than a few years, so Charlie thought the whole idea was kind of stupid.

"No, Mom. I don't have anyone in mind."

Her mother sighed and smoothed the blankets again. "When I chose your father's ring, we didn't have any of the new-fangled platinum bands or anything like you do now. Just a simple ring with a heart. The other rings were clustered with huge stones shaped like flowers or my initials, loud and flashy, but when I saw that one ring I knew the one I wanted."

Of course Mom has the simple choice. With my luck I'll have five rings that look exactly the same.

The stories at school were running rampant, of course, since a lot of the students had early winter birthdays.

"Did you hear Tallulah got a homeless man for her match? Poor girl just about fainted."

"I saw this shop where you can get your ring engraved so you know your match! There's a protein in the gold that shields the engraving from suspicion."

"Gold doesn't have proteins, idiot!"

"And then when she saw the ring she knew she would forevermore be bonded to the young prince."

"What if this guy has been raised in complete isolation, how do they know who his match will be?"

"The match-making people will figure it out. Don't ask me."

Girls were writing out lists for their potential matches, and the bolder ones would approach the boys and ask them what ring they were buying. Pictures of rings were slipped into hands and passed around during class.

Like this ring? Y/N

No way! So uglyyyy <3

How about this one?

soo cuuuute! Luv u babe

Charlie couldn't think of anyone who would ask her. She had a few guy friends, but none of them were romantically attached or anything, she just liked playing video games with them and cheering them on at football games.

"Hey, girl! Getting ready for the big day?"

Charlie grinned as Ilsa walked up, swaying her hips and dangling her purse over her arm. It was so ridiculous Charlie had to laugh, because if anyone was going to be a catwalk model, Ilsa would be the last possible choice. She was barely five feet tall but made up for it with her sassy-sweet personality, and she had been Charlie's best friend since fourth grade.

"All dressed up and nowhere to go."

Ilsa peered at Charlie over the rims of her fake Coach sunglasses she had bought at a theme park last year and pursed her lips. "No, I'm hunting for my date. If they like it they should put a ring on it!" She pranced over to where Charlie sat and sat down with a flounce.

"You know who's going to give you a ring?"

"Obviously Nathan - he's been stalking me since pre-k." It was true - Ilsa's shadow Nathan had always been following her around since Charlie could remember. One time Charlie had gone to the counselor's to get her schedule fixed when she saw Nathan changing into Ilsa's classes.

"Who else?" Ilsa was one of Charlie's only friends who she could have girl talk with. Mom didn't count.

"There's this uber-cute guy in my history class who had better ask me or I'll die! And then the one in my science class, and my math class, and my English class..."

Charlie laughed. Ilsa could fall in love with a random person on the street. She would have twenty dozen rings offered to her if she could.

"Who even chooses the suitable matches for us, anyways? Because if I end up with creepo Nathan I will die. In a hole. But what about you, girl? Who's the lucky guy?"

"You know as well as I do, I'm going to be the first person in history without a ring even offered to them."

Ilsa studied her nails and then glanced up at Charlie, smirking.

'What is that look supposed to mean?"

"Oh, nothing..." Was the airy reply.

"Ilsa, do you know someone is going to get a ring for me?"

Ilsa studied her nails again, but Charlie knew without looking at them that they were impeccable. Besides, Ilsa's sly smile gave everything away.

"Ilsa!" She shouted, and her friend squealed and jumped out of her seat. "Who is it?"

"Let me just tell you this," Ilsa taunted as she hurried away, "You'll know who it is when you see it."

-0-

"Do you think she'll like it?" Wes tugged as his shirt sleeves nervously, pacing in the jewelry store. The place was packed with other guys shopping for their sweethearts, and the clerk behind the counter looked fed-up and tired, and Wes wasn't helping.

"Yes, yes, she like very much. Now, you buy?"

Wes turned the ring over in his hand. It was the simplest he could find, two thin bands of gold spiraling and intertwining, and a single blue diamond set into the metal, so small it was almost invisible except for when it caught the light. That's what Charlie was to him - always beautiful, always simple, and when she caught the light she would shine like a diamond.

There were other rings, of course, terrible ones and nice ones. The reasonable guys were by the rings that were more substantial, with smaller diamonds and simple designs. Most, however, were clustered around racks of rings bedazzled with chunky semi-precious stones or so thoroughly coated with glam that they looked like disco balls. Charlie would laugh endlessly about them, saying that they were more like bracelets than rings, or that she would rather have a toy ring from the vending machines at Nickelmania than a god-awful thing like that.

And every time they had gone to Nickelmania together he had bought a ring and counted the days until he would buy her a real one.

"Do you have any other recommendations?" Wes stammered, and the clerk glared at him before pulling a few rings from the display.

"If she like flowers - rose quartz carved into the shape of a rose! If she like singing - a lovely bird! If she like makeup - big ring covers her finger, look like lipstick! You like?"

Wes shook his head and held the simple ring closer. "Um, no thanks. I'll keep looking."

He passed by a few jocks who were arguing with another clerk about prices.

"Whaddaya mean this costs two grand?"

"Well, sir, you did buy a ring that is encrusted with diamonds with a platinum base, and you can understand..."

"You know what I don't understand? Why we're still having this conversation."

The simplest rings were in a small display on the top of the counter, and Wes spun the rack for the millionth time, imagining each ring on Charlie's finger.

Would she still wear when they played video games together, or when she baked a batch of cookies? Could he possibly buy a ring that she would never want to take off?

He wondered if they would kiss when she took the ring. If she took the ring. Charlie was beautiful, there were plenty of guys who would be ready and willing to snatch her up. But they didn't know when she was the most stunning, when it was just the two of them at home and she was wearing a sweatshirt and her hair was a mess and she was laughing hysterically at him when he did something stupid, and he was laughing too, because when Charlie laughed you couldn't help but laugh along. She was incredible. Could a ring prove that to her?

"Wes, my man!" Xavier, the best linebacker on varsity, came and clapped a hand on Wes' shoulder, and he had to grip the table to keep from falling down. "You gettin' a ring for your babe?"

"Yeah. What about you?"

"You think she'll like it?" Xavier showed off a clunky ring with a diamond the size of a cat-eye marble, engraved with kissy lips.

"Great..." Wes lied, wondering how on earth any girl in the world would find something like that a turn-on. Not Charlie, that's who.

"What about you, man? Who's the lucky girl?"

"Umm..."

"Hey, Xavier! Reed says he got a ring for Gloria too!"

"That lil' son of a...." Xavier barrelled off, and Wes breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, the linebacker was easily distracted, otherwise he would have had to show his small ring and face the embarrassment and humiliation from his teammate.

Was he cheating Charlie by giving her a lame ring? Would she like it? The rings were supposed to represent the girl, and this was Charlie. He knew it, and hopefully she did too. This was her ring, this was them.

The clerk nearly fainted with shock when Wes said he was finally going to buy the ring, and he had to fill out a form for the matchmaking program for the ring's recipient. Some guys were buying a bunch of rings, hoping to get lucky, but the program sorted out the top five most eligible matches for the girl in question. Wes had known Charlie for years and was fairly confident he was going to be on that list. Confident enough to take a huge chunk out of his savings for college, too. But Charlie was worth it.

He scrawled his signature on the last line and the ring was boxed up and taken away. Wes watched it go with a sad sort of satisfaction, knowing he had done all he could. For a moment he wondered who else would send rings to Charlie. You could send in your ring anonymously and the program would sort out your personal file and see who you matched best with, which was certainly more stress-free than buying for a girl. Charlie always joked about her best friend Ilsa's stalker, Nathan, and what would happen if she chose Nathan's ring, and Wes felt a flutter of worry run through him. Did Charlie have admirers like that he didn't know about? What if he was bumped off of the list by other people who were better for her, who loved her more?

The drive home was a stressful one, partly because he kept checking his phone every two seconds to see if Charlie had texted, even though his ringer was on full volume so there would be no doubt if she had messaged him. Worst-case scenarios kept running through his head.

What if she didn't see him as anything more than a friend? They had never kissed or anything, just bonded over online games and study sessions. She had other friends who she did that with too, though. In fact, they kind of had a group. What if she wasn't into him and liked Harris or Lee instead, and got their ring? How awkward would that be? He could never get up the courage to ask her out, and it was senior year. Now it was too late - asking a married girl out would be totally wrong.

And if she picks your ring, she marries you. How bizarre is that? You and Charlie, married.

That part of the choosing of the rings was always a little off. Most kids chose their high school sweethearts and after being married for a few days broke the whole thing off. There were more divorce lawyers than parsons in town. But Charlie was smart, and he liked to think he was too. Marriage was so otherworldly, though - he was only eighteen! Of course, you didn't have to get married at once, but still.

He had been sitting at the computer, typing up an English essay, trying and failing to keep his mind off of Charlie, when the sound of car tires pulled him from his work. The doorbell rang loudly and he shuffled over to the door, expecting his parents or younger brother to be home from some errands.

And there she stood on the porch, with her hair in a loose ponytail and wearing a sweatshirt, eyes as bright as the diamond that was set in the ring on her finger, and she crushed her lips against his.