Song to the Chapter- Low: By, Trace

"Just watch." Arius sits us down in the long grass, watching the field as if it was the most mesmerizing thing in the world.

I saw a field of grass, but he saw something else; something majestic and filled with hope, his eyes lit up and his smile grew wider with wonder.

"Just watch." He whispered again, pointing to the field.

I sigh and lay back on Arius's window shield. I have been watching.

We were parked in Marrow Fields, watching the stars shine in the black, inky, sky from the hood of his car.

Any other night I would have been ecstatic to spend all night, watching the stars with Arius. We never did cute things like this.

But tonight was different. It was wet and sprinkling, and he still hadn't asked me to prom. It was a few weeks from now, and I was getting antsy, and it was terrible to have the feeling that not even my boyfriend would ask me to prom.

But then I finally see what Arius was talking about, and I'm shocked out of my thoughts as little flames light up. Thousands of lights flutter up from the ground, making the grass look like water and the lightning bugs look like the reflections of the stars. I gasp as they float around like feathers, lighting up only themselves.

I face Arius, who's aqua eyes mirror the lightning bugs.

"Your eyes are almost the colors of lightning bugs." He smiles a white tooth smile and flips back his blonde hair, giving me a loving look.

I live in a society where our eyes, are based on our zodiac. I live in a society where our hair color is based on our zodiac. My world, is where decisions are hardly ever ours and our freedoms are hardly ever free.

Being a Gemini, my eyes are the color of a sunset orange, just like every other Gemini in the world.

My hair is the lightest shade of brown before it becomes blonde. Just like every other Gemini in the world.

My boyfriend, Arius, is only my boyfriend because he's one of two men in the world that I'm allowed to be with. Aquarius and Libra. That's all I'm ever allowed to be with.

But there are some good points to it all. Our jobs are set for us, making it so everyone has a job. Everyone has a purpose and nobody feels left out. There no... poverty. No divorce rates. The population is under control. There's been riots but... most are understanding of the decisions made hundreds of years ago.

"It's beautiful." I say, a grin gathering on my face as a lightning bug lands on my shoe.

It doesn't fly away as I shake my foot lightly, but just sits there. And I grin even larger.

"It is, isn't it?" He asks, facing the field. Arius claps his hands and all the lightning bugs go out at once, and the one on my foot flies away.

We wait a couple moments before they start to turn their lights back on.

We sit there, for what seems all night, until we finally climb back into Arius's car and drive back to our dorms.

****

I smile as Leona throws her bag down in the seat next to mine. "I'm so sick of being late to class." She grumbles, shaking her head.

"Then show up on time." Mr. Isaac slaps a detention slip on Leona's desk and gives her a warning glare. "And next time come in quieter."

"Or don't come in at all." Aria whispers under her breath.

Leona spins in her seat to face her. "What?" She snaps.

Aria shrugs. "If you're going to be late, just don't come to school. You'll skip a detention slip and classes." She winks at Leona, her deep burgundy eyes are bright for once instead the normal darkness I'm used to seeing them as.

Mr. Isaac shakes his head. "But then she'll get in trouble for ditching, Aria."

Aria laughs. "That's only if she gets caught."

Mr. Isaac chuckles and points his finger at Aria. "Touché."

Mr. Isaac pulls down the map from the top of the smart board and starts our history portion of the day.

Leona elbows my arm lightly and I face her. "Yeah?" I ask.

Her royal purple eyes stare back at me with a light only she could have. "I was wondering if you would go dress shopping with me after school. Prom is coming up and—" she looks over to Aris and then at Sage. "Well I don't have anything to wear."

I shrug, not really knowing what to say. "I mean, yeah. You know I don't really shop a whole lot. Plus Arius hasn't exactly asked me to go with him." I bite down on my lip, to keep myself from ranting.

She rolls her eyes. "Of course he'll ask you! How could he not?!"

"Are you kidding me?" Mr. Isaac faces us with a look that dared us to keep on our conversation.  "Leona, Gem, do I need to stop my lesson for you two to continue your conversation?"

"That'd be great, thanks." Leona smiles and faces me, reveling in the success of her back-talking.

I shake my head but a small laugh escapes me. She overreacts to much.

Mr. Isaac rolls his sunset-orange eyes and continues teaching, ignoring Leona's snide remark.

To say Mr. Isaac is lenient would be an understatement. He's grown so accustomed to us— we've had the same teacher for thirteen years so it's only natural for him to know us that well— that he has all of our attitudes pinned to the point.

Mr. Isaac continues on with the lesson, obviously irritated but not ready to fuel a fire the early in the morning. "I understand that we've gone over the Sagittarius zodiac many times, but it's Sagittarius season now. So... We'll be going over them again. As the season progresses, we will be getting closer and closer to the Sagittarius Elder."

Sage and Taria smirk to each other. This lesson is going to be a fly by for them.

"And as for the essay due next Friday, I'm sorry to inform you that if you went behind my back and started it before I gave out the requirements," He looks specifically at Virlon. "You will have to restart because it will now be over the Sagittarius Constellation." Multiple people groan.

They already started? This is the first I'm even hearing about it.

"No partners, no cheating." Mr. Isaac looks to Aris. "No plagiarism, Mister Everdeen." He raises his eyebrows, pointing a finger to Aris.

Aris smirks. "So everyone else can do it, just not me?"

We all attempt to laugh but the glare sent to us by Mr. Isaac cuts it short.

"No, Aris. Nobody can plagiarize." He confirms. "But I was specifically telling you because I know you have a history of doing so."

It's November 27th and we graduate in five months. April 17th.

I'm counting down the days.

I've been in class, unless I ditched or was sick, everyday for thirteen years, Tuesday through Friday. No summers, no breaks, no help from parents.

In fact, I haven't seen my parents since I was five. We've lived in dorms since kindergarten. Only the rare few kids, like Minley who's dad is our teacher, or Arius who's dad is the principal, get to see their parents throughout their life.

I'm not one of those lucky kids.

My dad's a doctor and I'm never at the hospital... except for that one accident.

"Okay, I'll leave you time to start your essay. I'm going to step out and come up with— I mean give— principal Anderson my excuse as to why I didn't turn in this weeks behavioral reports." We laugh as Mr. Isaac flushes and leaves the room.

"Gem!" Arius yells behind me.

I spin and Arius brings me into a hug.

"Hey babe, whatcha up to?" He asks casually.

I shrug, looking at my empty sheet of paper. I'll probably finish it next Friday morning. "Not my essay that's for sure."

He laughs lightheartedly and we walk over to some of his friends, the group I never really hung around.

Cance shakes her strawberry blonde head at Cora, slapping her knee softly. "Hey, don't be so mean." They must be in the middle of a conversation, as they all look up when they see me and Arius walk over.

Taria rolls her eyes. "I wouldn't have to be if she didn't mess up so much."

I ignore her and study the boy sitting across from me.

Cor Reynolds. The mysterious, silent, but smart boy who I've admired from a distance.

He's different in a good way.

His dark brown eyes never settle on one thing, they just wander aimlessly, like a tumbleweed in the wind.

And then his eyes land on me, giving me shivers that I should only feel around Arius.

And for a moment I feel a small glimmer light up inside me like a match. A glimmer that maybe if things were different, me and him could start something.

But things aren't different. Things have been this was for a long time. And nothing is going to change, why fix a system that's not broken?

A system where there is no poverty or inequality. I remember watching riots from before the Elders, all the deaths and screaming.

But that's gone now. And things are good this way. And that's what I've told myself since I realized that I hated the way things were, how limited we truly were.

The bell rings to go to lunch, leaving me to gather my stuff and follow Leona and Aris out the door.
~~~~~~
I'm so excited to begin a WHOLE new book!! I'm already excited to find out what happens throughout the book!!

So what do you think is going to happen? This book could go so many ways. SOOO many different ways.

I'm saying NOW it will not be a cliche. I don't write cliches.

So, question... I've done a lot of research on the signs, I basically remembered everything about my own sign, but I still need opinions from other signs. So feel free to drop some tips about your sign!

And apparently there's a 13th sign? What the heck?

Sorry about any grammar errors. Hope it's not too confusing, and...

as always, stay happy, stay gold
-Dani_Kail