Young Writers Society

(My ending is SERIOUSLY rushed, and I want to fix the romantic scene. It's just so blaze. Help?!)

The morning sun escaped through the trees, awakening Ward Four from their slumber. A gentle breeze played with the leaves, scraping them together soft and gently while carrying the scent of pine and morning dew through the air. I rested my back against a tree and closed my eyes, trying to banish the memories of the Central from my mind.

After all jobs got outsourced and caused a huge recession, the Central took over the country once known as Canada when it was on its knees and divided it up into four wards. Each ward had their own weather conditions to prevent a reoccurrence of the 2012 Global Warming Disaster; Ward One: rain, Ward Two: sun, Ward Three: snow, and Ward Four: wind.

They renamed Canada Serenity for its equilibrium amongst the four wards, but Serenity was far from serene. I’m not sure if it was because they liked to watch us struggle to survive, but Serenity’s recession never really ended. Families lived in extreme poverty and usually consisted of two parental figures and two children. Children were taught in very unrefined schools, but most spent their time hunting for their family rather than concentrating on school. I managed to even things out quite equally.

But everything changes when you turn fourteen.

At the age of fourteen, children begin to prepare themselves for the Battles – a Darwinistic battle on live television. You go through vigorous training until you turn sixteen, where your life gets altered once again.

At age sixteen, if you’re lucky, you can start to live a normal life. You can finally live without the concern of being chosen into the Battles. Maybe you’ll meet a spouse and have children, though most people don’t think Serenity is the type of world they’d like to bring a child into.

But if you’re unlucky – like me – your name gets chosen from the other sixteen year olds to participate in the Battles. If you survive the Battles, you win six million dollars and a place in the Central.

The Central was very different from the wards. The Central, previously the United States of America, was the strangest world of them all. It had no controlled weather; their weather changed at its own free will. It was strange and too foreign from the lush forests and breezes of Ward Four.

Plus, there were the crazy people that inhabited the Central. The bizarre people with their pants made of denim in bright colors, vivid hair, and strange language. They all spoke in slang and vernacular dialect; “That’s sick,” or “She’s the bomb.” The people were enough to scare you; the atmosphere was quite another thing. I shuddered at the memory of my afternoon.

An evil woman, Soleil, from the Central did extraordinary things with me. She washed my hair with a fruity scented liquid that bubbled up when she lathered, and then washed it out. After that, she scorched me with a cylindrical object that shot out hot air. She didn’t even apologize when she burned me.

Following the evil ‘hair dryer’, Soleil called it, she put strange make-up on my face. She ordered me around; “Look up, look down, left, right.” While I looked this way and that, she applied eccentric colors to my eyes. She corrected my scars with a little tube, evened my skin tone with a powdery substance, and plucked my eye brows with a mini pair of tongs. She didn’t apologize when I screamed, either.

Nothing made sense in the Central.

I glanced into the stream to my right and watched the fish flutter about; swim one way, then change their mind and abruptly swim back. The wind drew pictures as the sun danced off the surface like a thousand crystals. I smiled, and my rippled reflection in the water did the same.

I could hardly recognize myself. I was wearing a tight fitting blue shirt and my skinny legs were outlined by black denim. I looked into my green eyes, the only thing I could identify, and thought of my mother. She always told me they looked like emeralds. They neither glittered nor shined like emeralds should; to me they looked like a dull pile of pine needles. They just watched attentively, hunted expertly, and spotted skilfully. I wondered if word had gotten to her about my escape.

I didn’t like the braids in my snow white hair; they made me feel vulnerable and exposed. It couldn’t move with the wind and the leaves when it was tied back. I pulled the elastics out, wincing when it yanked a few strands with it, and let my straight hair fall down to the middle of my back.

Just then I heard the snap of a twig, and instinct took over. I pushed up the tight denim of my jeans, snatched the knife I had stashed away, and faced the attacker in lithe movements.

He stood about ten feet from me, his arms outstretched and palms up innocently. He chuckled and dropped his hands.

“You’re paranoid, Hendal, I swear,” Tobias said playfully.

“Tobias…you look…”

I couldn’t even finish my sentence. I couldn’t even recognize Tobias. His shaggy, ink black hair was tousled and cut handsomely, and his scars had also been covered up. He was also wearing black jeans and a blue shirt, but his fit him appropriately.

“You too, Hendal,” he replied with a smile.

There was a moment of silence between us that neither one of us could fill. What could we say? ‘It was nice knowing you, but now I might have to kill you’? I hated the Central.

“You know you can team up at the Battles,” Tobias said quietly, echoing my thoughts.

“And then what?” I demanded.

Tobias didn’t respond.

“It’s the Battles, Tobias. In the end, there can only be one winner. You know that. Survival of the fittest.”

Tobias sighed heavily then plopped down on the grass. I hid my knife back in my sock and resumed my spot against the tree.

“This isn’t fair,” Tobias complained.

“I know. The Central sixteen-year-olds get big parties. What do we get? A fight to the death on live T.V,” I muttered.

A dark grin leaked across his face. “Happy sweet-sixteen, Hick-up.”

Our old nicknames brought tears to my eyes. “Happy sweet-sixteen, Toby.”

I pressed the palms of my hands to my eyes, as if they could erase everything that happened. I was pressing so hard that I could see dark specks. Suddenly a pair of warm hands was prying them off, and when my vision cleared, Tobias was mere inches away from me.

“Toby,” I said quietly. “Toby, I don’t want to fight. I don’t want to –”

“Hick-up,” he interrupted gently. His giant hands were like shackles around my wrists. “No matter what happens, we’ll be friends forever. I promise.”

“But what if you get killed? What if I get killed? What if I kill you?” I ranted hysterically.

“Don’t cry, Hendal,” Tobias murmured. I didn’t even know I was crying until he mentioned it. But as soon as he did, a warm tear rolled down my cheek. He let go of my left hand to wipe the tear.

I looked into Tobias’s blue eyes and started sobbing. He had what you call a pair of gems; they glittered and shined like sapphires without the assistance of the Central make-up artists. Tobias wrapped his muscular arms around me.

“Don’t cry,” He repeated. “You’re ruining your pretty make-up.”

“Good. I don’t care. I hate it and I still look ugly,” I snapped miserably.

Tobias let go of me like I had electrocuted him, which shocked me. I stopped crying and looked into the appalled expression on his face.

“I don’t ever want to hear you say that again.”

“Why? We both know it’s true.”

“It’s not the slightest bit true. You’re beautiful, Hendal,” he whispered tenderly.

I wiped the tears from my face with the back of my hand, but was disappointed to see no black smudges. Soleil must’ve used water-proof make-up.

“Friends forever?” I enquired in a quavering voice.

“Friends forever,” he assured me.

He reached over and pulled the leg of my jean up, removing the concealed knife from it’s hiding place. Then he put the blade of it at the bottom of his palm and sliced. Blood trickled down his palm.

“Tobias!” I screeched. “What the heck are you doing?!”

He grinned impishly and held out his hand. “Give me your hand.”

I was so stunned that I could have gone aphonic, so Tobias sighed and grabbed my hand. He curled my fingers around the handle and pressed the tip lightly to my palm. I mashed my eyelids shut.

“Ready?” he asked.

“Not even the slightest bit.”

“Set?”

I squeaked as he pushed the blade harder.

“Go!” he yelled.

He guided my hand as he made the cut, and there was a moment of hot stinging that subsided quickly. Being a hunter hadn’t made me immune to pain.

“Now, was it that bad?” he asked peacefully.

I opened my eyes and glanced down at the cut. It wasn’t more than two inches long, but it was bleeding hot blood rapidly.

“Yes, but I’ll live. Now what?”

He let go of the knife and let it clatter to the ground. Still holding my hand, he pressed my cut against his cut.

“Now it’s our blood. Your blood shed is my blood shed. Same thing goes for the other way around. We’re a team.”

I twined my fingers with his and squeezed his hands. “Forever.”

“And always,” he amended.

* * *

When the train let us off and we arrived back in the Central, Soleil was waiting for us at the doors.

“What do you two kids think you’re doing?! Look at you! All my hard work, gone. Gone!” she wailed.

“Relax, Sunny. We’re absolutely fine,” said Tobias.

“Yeah. Totally unscathed,” I amended.

Tobias glanced at me through the corner of his eye and whispered, “Well, not totally unscathed.”

I stifled a laugh with a cough.

“Come on, you rebels. Opening ceremonies are in half an hour and you will not be late. I will not allow you to further embarrass me.”

Soleil dragged us out of the train station and into the Central. The sun escaped the clouds and beamed down, looking ready to abduct someone into the sky. Busy people talking on strange phones were walking around the sidewalks. They were all dressed in fancy clothing, like they had just spent the afternoon locked in a room with Soleil. Thousands of buildings glittered in the sunlight, staring down at me with windows like eyes.

There were millions of bright yellow cars labelled TAXI weaving around cars and busses on their way to work. Shop windows were filled with mannequins in strange but beautiful clothing, all extremely expensive.

A sleek black vehicle was waiting, so Soleil shoved us into the extended back seat. It started driving alongside the rest of the busy vehicles and taking us further into Central. I sighed, watching the carpet of gray beneath the patches of metallic vehicles through the dark tinted windows.

No one talked. The ride was rather bumpy and slow; I must’ve gotten whiplash at least twice from jerking to a stop so suddenly. We eventually made it to the building that was holding the opening ceremonies and stepped out of the vehicle.

“Now, if I catch you two sneaking off again, you’re going to be in some serious trouble.”

“Yes ma’am,” Tobias answered. He was such a gentleman.

I didn’t answer. My fists were jammed in my pockets and I was staring at the ground.

“You there… Handle is it?” Soleil said, snapping her scrawny fingers.

“Hendal,” I corrected sourly.

“Whatever. Don’t run off, ‘kay?”

“Fine.”

Soleil led us into the lobby of a beautiful hotel. A brilliant gold chandelier hung from the high ceiling, surrounded by exquisite paintings. There was a crowd of other people packed further into the hall. Soleil’s high-heels snapped against the tiled floor loudly.

“Soleil, darling!” a women called out.

“Oh, Aurelia!” Soleil chimed cheerfully.

The two women approached each other and kissed each others’ cheeks. I turned to Tobias who was whistling and staring at the ceiling and sighed.

The women named Aurelia launched into a conversation which I had a hard time keeping up with.

“Soleil,” I interrupted. “Tobias and I are going over to the refreshment table. Would you like us to bring you something back?”

Tobias gave me a confused look, but Soleil saved me by answering. “Oh, yes! Appletini, m’dear.”

Though I had no idea what an appletini was, I sauntered away with Tobias by my side. We passed the stage on the way to the table, and I could almost feel the silky red fabric brush against my arms. They danced as people dashed about from behind.

“One appletini and a glass of water, please,” I ordered the man behind the counter.

“What exactly are we doing here?” Tobias asked.

“I just saved us from having to listen to a long and extremely boring conversation.”

The bartender fixed our order promptly, and I was surprised to see Soleil’s drink was florescent green. I brought it up to sniff, and it smelled exactly like a crunchy green apple. The scent reminded me of Ward Four.

I missed everyone so much. How would my mother cope if I died?

“Something wrong?” Tobias asked kindly.

I shrugged. “I wish I were home. I feel so…”

“Out of place?” he finished.

I nodded my head.

“I know. So do I.”

I delivered Soleil’s appletini and left her alone to talk. I sipped my water slowly; it was even different from Ward Four’s water. I set it down after sipping half of it.

All of the sudden, Tobias’s eyes lit up. A wicked grin spread across his face, and I could almost see him shaking in eagerness.

“What is it?” I asked.

“I have an idea,” he replied.

“An idea?” I questioned.

“A plan. A brilliant one at that,” he explained.

Just then Tobias placed his arms around my waist to pulled me into his chest. His sudden proximity sent my heart into an irregular song. It was a strange reaction. I had been close to Tobias many times before, but somehow this felt different.

“Tobias! What are you –”

“Listen to me, Hendal. I want you to run your fingers through your hair and look to the right,” Tobias commanded under his breath.

Confused, I did as commanded and ran my fingers through my hair. I glanced discreetly to the right and spotted a security camera.

“What do you see?” he asked.

“A camera,” I answered.

My heart was thumping hard against my chest as Tobias leaned in to put his lips to my ear. “Right. And that means –”

“They’re watching us,” I interjected.

“Every single move we make.” I shivered as his lips brushed my skin.

“So what are you thinking, and why does it involve such close body contact?” I whispered.

“We need to pretend we are in love.”

“What?” I demanded, jerking back from our embrace.

“Just imagine you are a silly teenage girl in love with a boy.”

“And this is part of your brilliant plan?”

“Hendal,” he answered passionately in a tone that sent butterflies to my stomach. I spotted the people watching us in my peripherals and tried to act natural as I leaned back into Tobias’s arms.

“Explain. Now,” I whispered in his ear, trying to sound alluring.

“You’re an amazing actress,” he answered, sounding charmed. “Keep it up just a little while longer and follow me to somewhere a little more private.”

“I thought we were acting.”

“We are,” he whispered, and then grabbed my hand. I tried to put on my best sappy romance façade.

“Come on,” he said with a mischievous smile. I attempted to look like an excited teenage girl about to sneak off with an extremely attractive boy, and it worked surprisingly well.

Tobias lugged me out of the hall to the lobby that we came into. He looked back when I giggled and winked, which made me giggle more. The scary part was that it was seriously easy to act. Almost natural.

He threw me against a half concealed wall for lack of better privacy, and my heart started up in its uneven beat. He pressed his hands against the wall on either side of my head, forcing me to squash back. He leaned forward, and I was trapped by his face and overwhelmed by the beauty in his smirk.

“I think we’re out of sight here, but I just want to be safe,” he murmured.

“Is this your plan? To unfairly smother me before the Battles even begin?”

He chuckled, and his breath roused my eyelashes. “Of course not. I could never hurt you, Hendal.”

“Alright, then what is your plan?” I murmured, tracing my fingers across the features of his face. His imperfection made him more appealing; almost dangerous.

He closed his eyes as I drew invisible lines over his lids. “We’re going to steal the prize money.”

My hand dropped from his face. “Have you been drinking any alcoholic beverages tonight?”

Tobias opened his eyes and chuckled. “Nope. I’m stone sober.”

“Good. We’re too young, anyways.”

“The bartender doesn’t seem to think so,” he pointed out.

“Don’t distract me,” I purred as a young couple passed by.

“Hmm?”

“Go on,” I beckoned.

“Now you’re the one creating the distractions,” he whispered in my ear.

“Just tell me the plan, Toby.”

“I already did. We’re stealing the prize and running away.”

“And you’re serious about this?” I enquired.

“Drop dead.”

I sighed and Tobias took a few steps back. “You know the alternative.”

I grabbed his shirt and pulled him back. “I’ll do it.”

“Excellent,” he grinned naughtily.” We’re going to sneak behind the stage where there are no cameras. As soon as we get behind the curtains, I’ll go for the announcer and you watch my back.”

“There’s one little flaw in your plan. We can’t just lumber out of here with six million dollars in bills. We need a bag.”

Tobias’s grin was dazzling. “All the bills in the glass container are useless. After the opening ceremonies, they’re being shipped to a burning plant. The only person with a key to the suitcase is the announcer.”

“They burn money?” I asked, shocked.

“We’re not in Ward Four anymore, Hendal.”

“This is crazy. They have everything here.”

“The people here never appreciate what they have.” His face turned serious and his voice grew hard. “This’ll show them. Maybe after we’re gone, they’ll see how good they have it.”

For a minute, Tobias looked dangerous. The bands of muscles on his arms seemed to bulge out of his blue shirt and emphasize the dark look in his usually cheery eyes.

“What do we do after we get the money?” I asked.

His face relaxed. “We have to dissapear. Do not say a word to anyone and stay away from cameras or credit cards. Credit cards will track our transactions and immediately blow our cover. We need to stay under the radar, Hendal. Can you do that?”

I nodded once. “Piece of cake.”

He continued. “After we get the money, we have to stay in the Central for a night. I’ll book us a plane ticket somewhere and we’re going to get out of here as fast as we can. When we’re out of Central, we can… figure things out.”

His words swirled around in my head, and I tried to wake myself up from the nightmare of trying to picture life without Tobias. The thought sent pure agony through my veins; Tobias was my other half, I couldn’t live without him.

“We should have different identities if we’re going to buy tickets. Even using cash, they’ll most likely track us down by our names.”

His congratulatory grin made me feel intelligent. “Good idea. Have any ideas for a new name?”

“Aarek,” I suggested at random.

He smiled and wiggled his eyebrows. “I always thought I looked like an Aarek.”

I shoved his shoulder playfully. “My turn.”

“Surina,” he recommended.

“It’s beautiful,” I breathed.

“Are you ready to become federal criminals, Surina?”

I smiled an eager grin that hurt my cheeks. “Our names will be all over posters. They won’t know what hit them! We’ll be the biggest criminals in the history of the Battles, the Central, and Serenity. We’ll be wanted –”

“dead or alive,” we finished together.

We chuckled at our simultaneousness. Tobias has always finished my sentences for me. We were two parts of a whole, he and I. I took his hand and dashed into the hall.

Nothing had changed while we were gone. If anything, the party had gotten drier. Most of the teenagers looked drunk, but the adults were too busy chatting animatedly with each other to notice. The curtains no longer fluttered, which was a fairly good sign. Tobias sped up, pulling me along with him. We were almost at the staircase that led up to the stage when an amazing scene exploded in my mind.

“Tobias – I mean, Aarek – wait,” I called.

“What?”

“I have a good idea. Try to keep up,” I said mysteriously with a wink. I hope he wouldn’t mind if I took the lead; I was never one to stand on the sidelines.

“I hate you, Aarek! Don’t talk to me again!” I shouted, wheeling around on my heel to get behind the curtains. I thought about slapping him across the face, but that would only draw in more unnecessary attention.

“Wait, Surina! Don’t leave me!” Tobias cried with the perfect amount of distress.

“Forget it, Aarek. I told you if you drank again we would be through. Now get out of my sight!”

“Please, Surina, just give me one more chance!” he pleaded. I could almost see his lip trembling.

“You had your chances,” I replied. “Goodbye, Aarek.”

I flew behind the curtains with my hands in my face, hoping my hardest the plan would work. Just like I imagined, I ran into a body and was supported by a pair of arms.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Where are you going?” the announcer asked.

I pretended to sob. “I’m s-s-sorry!”

“What’s wrong?” he asked tenderly.

And that was my cue. I slyly slid my right foot behind his ankle and pretended to thrust myself into his arms for a comforting hug. In a synchronized movement, I yanked my leg and pushed his shoulder, catching him by surprise. He landed on his back with a thud, and I could see from the shocked expression on his face that I had knocked the wind out of him. I grinned impishly, and as I reached to pinch the pressure point on his neck, I noticed the key that was chained around his neck.

Tobias came running up behind me, noticing the body on the floor. “Nice work.”

“You too,” I said, noting the suitcase he firmly clutched. I yanked the chain off the announcer’s neck and fastened it around mine.

We sprinted towards the vivid red EXIT sign before anyone else took in the scene we created. I kicked open the door and Tobias followed behind.

* * *

After searching half the city and getting soaked from spontaneous torrential downpour, we finally found our accommodations. A rickety sign welcomed us to a motel. Compared to the sky-scrapers that conquered the city, the motel looked microscopic.

There was an obese man behind the front desk, watching and hollering to a sports program on TV. The graying wreath of hair that sat on his head was the same color as the holey shirt that barely concealed his stomach.

Tobias cleared his throat and the man turned around.

“Do you have a room, mate?” the man slurred, taking another swig at his bottle of beer. Judging by the way he spoke I could tell it wasn’t his first.

“Umm… no. This is kind of spur-of-the moment,” Tobias answered.

“Ahh…” he realized, his eyebrows rising. “Got ‘cya. Your name?”

“Mr. Aarek… Price,” Tobias answered, covering his hesitation with a charming grin.

“And you are?” the intoxicated man asked, trying to sound enchanting.

I opened my mouth to speak, but Tobias beat me to it. “This is Mrs. Price.” I could almost pick up the hint of jealousy in his tone as he stretched his arm round my shoulders. Testosterone filled the silence.

“Here’s your key. Check out’s at noon.”

Tobias snatched the key and led us out of the room.

As soon as the man was out of sight, I snorted. “Mrs. Price? What, we’re married federal criminals now?”

“But of course,” he replied playfully, bowing like a gentleman.

I snorted as I fumbled with the stubborn lock. Before I could open the door, Tobias scooped me up and clutched me to his chest. “Welcome to your honeymoon suite, Mrs. Price.”

I laughed as he carried me through the threshold like a good husband should. He kicked the door shut with his foot, leaving a muddy boot stain on the off-white paint. It was surprisingly quiet in the room.

That’s when it finally hit me. “Tobias, we did it! We stole the six million!”

“Dang, Hendal, you’re a twig. Ever hear of food?” he asked sarcastically.

I was still to joyful to answer. He dropped me gingerly, along with the briefcase, onto the tiny bed and started laughing exhilaratingly.

I opened the briefcase and pulled out a stack of hundreds, fanning myself with the paper. It was the most money I had ever held in my life.

Tobias pulled out three stacks, tore the money bands off and threw it into the air. “We’re rich!”

We continued to play with money until we were truly exhausted. We threw it, swam in it, stuck it in our clothing, waved it around… I didn’t think there was so many ways to have fun with money. The sky eventually grew dark and the rain started to drizzle again.

“I’m exhausted,” I said in a yawn.

Tobias, who was lying in a puddle of money on the floor, grinned lazily. “We really did it, Hendal.”

I rolled over to throw another stack at him, but overshot my turn. I fell off the bed and onto the floor next to Tobias with a loud thud. We glanced at each other before cracking up.

When we calmed down, Tobias propped himself up with an elbow. A few drops of rain still lingered in his disheveled hair and his eyes glittered. His beautiful face was so close that if I elevated my head the slightest bit, our lips could touch.

“Toby?” I murmured. “Can I tell you something?”

“Of course you can, Mrs. Price,” he answered, staring deep into my eyes.

I smiled softly. “I…” I chickened out. “I had a lot of fun being a criminal with you.”

“Likewise, Hick-up. Now can I tell you something?” he whispered.

“Of course you can, Mr. Price.” I couldn’t quite imitate his tone of voice.

“I may be a good actor, but every word I said to you was the truth. I wasn’t acting for a minute. I’ve loved you since we first met, Hendal, and that’s been the inspiration for my plan all along,” he confessed.

That’s when my heart went wild and my stomach dropped. I tried to breathe, but it got caught somewhere in the tangle of my chest.

He tried to kiss me softly, I could tell, but things changed when our lips met. Everything else disappeared. It was only Tobias and I, so close that we hardly counted as two.

Tobias wrapped his arms around me and turned us over so fast that it scared me. Our lips remained unbroken, uninterrupted. Lying across his chest, I could feel the stone contours of his muscular abdomen.

He started the kiss, and he had to end it. My breathing came in uncontrollable gasps, making my head spin even faster. There were numerous things that could’ve brought on the dizziness; Tobias, my exhaustion, lack of oxygen.

“It’s going to be a longer day tomorrow. You need some sleep, Hendal,” he whispered.

I felt my lip push out into a pout.

He chuckled at my frown. “It’ll just be you and me soon, Hick-up. We won’t have to worry about a thing.”

I was ninety-nine point nine percent sure I smiled, but I was too tired to be certain. “’Kay.”

Tobias lifted me up and tucked me gently into bed. “Goodnight, Mrs. Price.”

“Goodnight, Toby,” I garbled.

* * *

I awoke to a light knocking at the door. Toby was already awake, or maybe he hadn’t fallen asleep in the first place. I walked with him to open it.

“Who are you?” we asked in chorus.

“I am Mayor Sage, and you are under arrest for robbery, escaping an obligatory federal event, and disorderly conduct.”

“You might want to add murder to that list,” Tobias stated.

At that moment, Tobias swung the briefcase at the mayor’s head. They collided with a crack, and he crumpled to the floor. He stared at us with glassy eyes before whatever light that was on in his head went out.

Tobias turned to me and smiled, giving me a quick kiss on the lips. “Ready to run, Mrs. Price?”

He grabbed my hand and squeezed it reassuringly, and that’s when I knew it would all be okay. I would never have to worry about anything again; I was alive, rich, and had the most amazing partner in crime a girl could ever ask for. And this time I knew we wouldn’t be acting, so it’d be that much harder to track us down.

“Not even the slightest bit, Mr. Price,” I mocked, reaching up to press my lips to his again.