Rebel Rebel

Aria’s seat squeaked as she fidgeted. The girl next to her gave her a dirty look, then primly turned back to the stage. Aria sat on an end seat right next to the separating screen. It was translucent so she could see the silhouettes of the boys on the other side. The auditorium felt stuffy. There were only a few occasions when the whole town gathered for an assembly. The yearly matching ceremony was the most nerve-wracking for both the adolescents and their parents. A good match could mean moving up in society. A bad one usually meant the elders had found out something scandalous about the teen or their family.

The town elders were the ones who decided on the matches and no one else was privy to that information. Aria’s parents wanted a lateral match. They didn’t expect to move up and they didn’t have any reason to believe a bad match would be made. But, Aria had a couple of secrets that could ruin everything. Although one secret made her more nervous than the other. She and Katia had been careful, almost absurdly so. The other secret was far more dangerous.

It was this secret that made her nervous now. The plan had been in the works for six months, twelve girls and twelve boys had come together to overthrow the elders. Not all were gay like she was but all were sick of the rules and the absolute control the elders had over everyone’s lives. If the plan didn’t work, she would soon leave her parents’ house to live with her husband. She would leave the school she had been attending her whole life to run a household where her skills would be tested. More importantly, she wasn’t sure how she would ever see Katia again. It was one thing when they attended school together. But, housewives barely left their homes. How would they see each other? She couldn’t even imagine what would happen if they were caught.

 “All rise.” Father Mahon intoned from the lectern. The other elders stood up from their seats on the stage. There were six women and six men. Although there was no official leader, Father Mahon was the mouthpiece of the group.

Since no one knew who would be matched with whom, the plan went as follows. The six boys and six girls from the matching year would go about their business as usual. The six boys and girls who were younger would sneak out, take out the guards, and position themselves behind the curtain on the stage. Once the cue was given, the first of the twelve matching year rebels match getting announced, they would jump out and take the elders hostage. The twelve older rebels would join them on stage and declare an uprising. They were confident that this display of defiance would encourage the town to take their side and join them against the elders.

The only sound in the auditorium was clothing rustling as the whole city stood in prayer. Everyone bowed their heads as Father Mahon blessed them and the following proceedings. Aria, taller than average, craned her neck to get a look at Katia. Her position was several rows ahead of Aria’s. She stood with her head bowed like everyone else. Her wild curls were piled on top of her head, tamed for the time being.

Had it only been two nights ago when Aria had unpinned them and let them cascade down in all their glory? Had it only been two nights ago when Aria had run her fingers through them and luxuriated in their softness?

Aria wondered who Katia would be matched with. If the plan failed, the matching would go on as usual. The younger kids would take the fall as it was assumed they would get a less severe punishment, most likely hard labor in the fields. There had never been uprising before so they could only guess at what the punishments could be. The older rebels feared time in the tower if they were caught. The rebels would have to regroup later. This meant they would have to live their matched lives for a bit.

Aria hoped Katia’s match would be kind. She hoped he would appreciate Katia the way she had. But also, a small part of her hope he wouldn’t. It was selfish and a bit cruel but she didn’t want Katia to feel about anyone else the way she felt about Aria.

They had promised each other that their relationships with their husbands could never compare to what they had. Aria had been secure in this notion. Katia was not part of the plan to overthrow the elders. If anything went wrong and the matching year’s rebels were caught, Aria didn’t want Katia to be punished. Aria had faith that the plan would work and the matching wouldn’t happen. But if the plan failed how could they be sure they wouldn’t develop connections with their husbands? What if the rebels regrouped and overthrew the elders and Aria found out Katia wanted to stay with her husband?

“So be it.” The congregation said in one voice and everyone sat back down. This broke Aria out of her thoughts. She had to focus. It was time for the ceremony to begin.

One by one a male elder would call a young man’s name and a female elder would answer with his match. The crowd politely applauded after each took the stage, clasped hands, and bowed to them. There were no titterings although some matches would be sure to elicit gossip later. But the ceremony was sacred and treated with the utmost respect by all. If it went well, there would be a celebration after. But one person could ruin it for everyone else, one hysterical teen or parent trying to rebel or protest. It had always been known that it was best to accept the fate the elders passed down.

The newly matched couple would then leave the auditorium for the great hall where there would be a celebration. The rest of the matches were shown on a big screen so that the matched couples could see the rest of the ceremony.

Aria found herself straining her ears, hyper-focused. The adrenaline coursing through her veins had her feeling twitchy. She was ready to jump up and rush the stage as every name was called. She knew it was unlikely that she would be first but it was impossible to tell.

“Bradley and Rita.” Father Mahon’s voice boomed. Nothing else happened and Aria knew something was wrong, Bradley was the first of the group to be called. This should have been the cue.

Bradley’s eyes bounced around like pinballs looking for his comrades and any clues that he should continue with the plan. There were none so he clasped Rita’s hand and bowed looking forlorn.

Aria kept some hope alive that the rebels had run into a delay but when the second and third of the group was called she felt her heart sink. She found it hard to focus after this as her mind raced to try to think of what could have gone wrong. She desperately hoped the younger rebels would keep their word and not snitch on the older ones.

Because of all these thoughts running through her head, Aria missed who Katia’s match was. She heard Katia’s name called and saw her meet her match in the center of the stage.

“Jerrod and Katia.” Father Mahon said as the couple bowed.

Aria didn’t know Jerrod. She didn’t know many of the boys as they went to different schools and she had little interest in them. The only ones she did know were her brother and the rebels she was working with. Many nights she had wished that she and her brother had been twins and that Katia would be matched with him. That way they would be able to see each other for family gatherings.

Jerrod stood tall, taller than Aria even and for some reason, she felt threatened by this. He had red hair cut close to his scalp. It was clear to see why the elders matched them. Being redheaded was a rare trait and it was one the elders were trying to keep alive. Jerrod and Katia exited into the great hall.

Aria barely had any time to process this. Before she knew it, her name was being called. She had zoned out again and had missed the name of her match. She looked at him as they approached each other on the stage. Dark hair, dark eyes, a few inches taller than she was. He was conventionally attractive and more importantly, Aria knew him. He was one of the rebels. They clasped hands and faced the crowd.

“Ethan and Aria.” Father Mahon announced. They bowed and exited.

As soon as they entered the great hall, security guards grabbed them by their arms. They led them out another door. Katia followed this procession with questions in her eyes. Aria tried to offer her a reassuring smile but it came out weak.

They were led down a long hallway. The sounds of the ceremony grew fainter and fainter until they could hear them no longer. They were deposited into a room with a cement floor and walls to match. There were no windows and only one door. All the rebels from the matching class that had been called were there but there was no sign of the twelve younger ones. There was no television in here as in the great hall so they had no idea how far along the ceremony was.

When all twelve rebels from the matching class were present, the guards started taking them in groups of two. Ethan and Aria were the last to be led out of the room. After a march down another long corridor, they were deposited in a courtyard. High walls enclosed the space but Aria could see the sky overhead. It looked like rain. Clouds of smoke hung in the air. The acrid smell made Aria’s stomach twist.

“Normally we would question you first but your comrades gave us all the information we needed. You’ll soon be joining them.” One of the guards said. He was short and stout, thick through his chest and neck.

Two others pushed Aria and Ethan to their knees, facing each other. Something hard was pressed against Aria’s head and her brain floundered for the word. Gun, she finally came up with. There was a gun pressed against her head. She saw the guard behind Ethan press a gun to his head as well.

“Mercy!” Ethan cried. “Please show us mercy. There has never been a rebel attempt before. You don’t have to go this far. Send us to the tower! Send us anywhere! Make an example us of but please don’t kill us.” He begged.

“You think there has never been a rebel attempt before?” The short guard threw back his head and laughed like a bad imitation of a villain in a movie. When he composed himself, he continued, “You just never heard about them like the people will never hear about you.” He nodded to the two guards with guns.

Aria heard a click and closed her eyes. Loud shots rang out through the courtyard, more than two, and Aria found she wasn’t one of the people shot. She opened her eyes to chaos. People from her matching class were engaged in a shootout with the guards and they were winning. It took them no longer than five minutes to down all of the guards.

During the whole scene, Ethan and Aria had stayed in their positions too shocked to try and help. A familiar face knelt down and took Aria’s face in her hands.

“Are you alright?” Katia asked, looking for signs of injury.

“I’m fine. But what…”Aria wasn’t sure how to finish her question.

“You think you’re the only one who can rebel,” Katia smirked. “I suspected you had something planned for today. I knew if something went wrong you would need backup.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“For safety reasons, we thought it best to keep the two groups separate. We were more of a backup plan anyways. The only one who knew about us was Bradley.” A dark look crossed Katia’s face. “I only wish we could have saved more of you. But the elders' defenses were tougher than we imagined.”

“We should go.” Another boy said. Katia nodded in agreement and helped Aria up.

“Where are we going?” Aria asked.

“We found a safe place.”

“They’ll come for us,” Ethan said.

“Let them.” Katia cocked her gun.

The plan hadn’t worked out the way Aria had hoped but all that mattered at this moment was that she and Katia were together for whatever happened next.