Thaddeus

I took one last look in the mirror that was bolted to the wall in my bedroom, heaving a sigh as I adjusted the starched collar of my mandated formal wear for today's Soul Mate Service Ceremony.

Today was the day. 

And I looked fine as fuck.

I smirked at my reflection, flexing my arms slightly so that the fabric hugged my muscles in a way that I knew would make all of the ladies at the ceremony stop and stare. I was a great example of superior genetic engineering in The Society, I mean who could resist this face? 

"Thad! Thaddeus, are you done yet?! We have to go!" I rolled my eyes at my mom's excited screeches, and chuckled to myself when I heard her heckling my father to hurry up as well. You'd think it was her Soul Mate Society Ceremony with the way she was acting. 

I took a few more moments to ruffle my short hair, allowing a few curly strands to fall loose onto my forehead as if I didn't spend upwards of two hours working it into a perfect disaster on top of my head. With a final smirk, I turned to grab my travel tablet and sneak one last grin to myself in the mirror. 

Damn, I really couldn't get enough.

"Thaddeus Axton! Do not make me come up there and get you myself!" I winced at my mother's voice as she continued to screech. That woman was like an alarm clock: unwanted, and too way damn loud. 

"I'm coming mother! Fuck!" I yelled toward my open door, tapping the control panel on my wall to shut off the digi-windows and lights in my room. 

Sliding my travel tablet into the pocket of my slacks, I slipped out of the room and tapped a panel to slide the door closed behind me. A few plastic bins containing my clothes and few belongings were lined up in the hallway, filling the small area as they awaited pickup by the Moving Transport Service. They would be sent to my assigned living pod which I would begin sharing with the woman I Soul-Bonded to immediately after the ceremony. Meanwhile, my mom would move into a smaller Housing Pod so that this one could be used for a size of family that needed it. 

It was a tradition for the Soul-Bonded mates to move in with each other immediately in order to become accustomed to their significant other as soon as possible. According to the Elders it made the transition a lot easier while we also started our occupation training. 

My mother stood by the open front door, her formal wear neat and tidy and travel tablet in hand. Through the open front door, I could see throngs of people in identical formal wear walking past from their living pods as they headed for the Gathering Auditorium of The Society, the area where the Soul Mate Society Ceremony would take place. 

"Well you took long enough!" my mother huffed, grabbing my arm to drag me out and into the densely packed flow of bodies as the door automatically slid shut behind us. I blinked to gather my bearings as we walked down the hallway that led to all of the living pods in The Society, towards the Main Quad. The stark white hall was filled with chatter regarding the upcoming ceremony. With it being the most important time of the year besides Founders Day, I wasn't surprised with the amount of excitement that sizzled in the air.

"Ay, if it isn't my man Thad!" 

My head snapped over in the direction of the sound of my name, only for a smirk to spread across my face at the sight of my best friend, Mitty. The guy was pretty large, almost as tall as me despite the soft sound of his name. Everyone called him Mit, and if you were caught dead making fun of his name, well they say most don't live to tell the tale.

That's what I liked most about the guy, he didn't take shit from anybody.

"Mit, dude! What up?!" I cooly replied, slinging an arm over the guy's shoulder before pulling him into a masculine side-hug, taking this opportunity to lose my parents in the steadily moving crowd. "Ready to meet your lucky lady?" 

Mit shrugged and dusted his hands off on his slacks. "I mean yeah, but I'm more excited for you, man!" he grinned at me, pounding a fist into my bicep as if to reinforce his words. "You've been waiting for this shit ever since you were running around in diapers! Remember when you used to draw faces on balloons, name 'em and act like you were Soul-Bonded to the damn things?" Mit laughed aloud, holding his stomach like it was the most hilarious shit he'd ever heard. 

I just rolled my eyes and grinned, shaking my head at the ridiculous memory.

"Yeah man, but this time it's real. I hope the Soul Mate Service assigns me a girl who is sexy as hell, with nice hips, long hair, kissable lips..." I trailed off, finding myself drifting into another daydream of the hot babe of my dreams until Mit tugged my arm and I snapped back to reality, realizing we'd already made it to the Main Quad.

The Main Quad was the most Surface-like part of The Society: faux grass and trees lined the ground while the sky was emulated through electronic holograms of clouds. It was in the very middle of the Society layout, like the junction point to get to all of the other areas. It emulated the look of a park, with benches for those that chose to hang around during their Free Period. Personally, it was one of my favorite places to be when I wasn't stuck in Instructional or at a party drunk off my ass. 

"Dude, you're spacing the fuck out." I looked over at him with a smirk, throwing an arm around his broad shoulders to pull him down a flight of glass stairs which led to the Gathering Auditorium. 

"I'm fine, man. Just... Hard to focus." Shaking my head, I walked into the auditorium only to be assaulted by an onslaught of excited chatter. Thousands of rows of chairs made up the modern, white amphitheater, and for this occasion almost all of them were filled. 

Mit and I pushed our way through the constantly thickening crowd to get down to the designated seats for those participating in the Soul Mate Society Ceremony, and I pulled out my travel tablet in order to find the area I was assigned to.

"Where are you at, bro?" Mit asked, lifting his head from his own tablet, just as I strained my neck and squinted my eyes to see over all of the heads of people.

Damn, it pays to be tall.

"I'm at 1A, what about you?" I leaned back down to look at his tablet, only to huff at the "1D" displayed on the transparent surface. Mit pounded my back in a masculine gesture, although his sigh of annoyance showed that he was pissed that we weren't at least semi-close for such a monumental occasion.

"I'll find you after, alright? We can introduce each other to our sexy ladies then." Mit grinned, sending a wink my way before dissolving back into the crowd in pursuit of his seat. I couldn't help but grin back after him, making my way towards my own seat before settling in and spreading my legs open carelessly as I waited for the ceremony to begin. 

The crowd of Society members began to slow to a trickle, and sooner than later almost every seat in the auditorium was filled. The Society Anthem began to drift through the air, the familiar, patriotic sound signaling the beginning of the ceremony. I shifted my eyes through the crowd, trying to find Mit's face among the vast sea of section 1D, but the lights dimmed just as I caught sight of his unruly hair. 

I'd find him later. 

"Welcome, members of the North American Society, to the annual Soul Mate Ceremony, made possible by our wonderful Soul Mate Service!" Our Head Elder - Portia Laancaster - exclaimed, walking onto the raised, circular platform in the middle of the theater just before the entire room erupted into a round of applause. 

Fuck, could they get any louder?

I winced at the sound, covering my ears as I waited for it to all die down. I scowled at those around me, sinking leisurely in my seat and crossing my arms tightly as I waited. Honestly, I couldn't care less about these people around me, I just wanted to get what belonged to me and proceed to my honeymoon with the gorgeous lady.

"In the coming hours, we will be commemorating the newest additions to our Adult Sector. They will be rewarded for reaching their eighteenth year in our beloved Society by graduation from Instructional, the assignment of Occupational Training, and among the most anticipated..." she paused, taking a deep breath as a wide smile took over her features. "the assignment of a Soul Mate, made by the most knowledgeable of our Elders!" 

I flinched again when the room erupted again, although it didn't last half as long as the original when the Elder cleared her throat in order to quiet everyone. 

"Without further ado, we shall begin!" With a smile, Portia turned to the side to grab a tablet which contained all of the match information made by the Elders of the Soul Mate Service. Sliding my hands into my pockets, I prepared for the droning on and on of this woman's voice as she read off of the transparent surface. Faces of those I'd briefly seen in the hallways flashed up on large screens situated throughout the Auditorium along with their Mating, rooming, and Occupational assignments. 

It seemed to drag forever, and hundreds of faces blended together as they walked across the stage with their new partners. Around number four hundred I began dozing off, only to be jolted awake at the mention of the one person I actually gave a fuck about other than myself.

"Mitty Scomiche and Andrea Gardener." I grinned, watching my best friend walk up to the stage with a cocky swagger, only to be met with a blushing - but incredibly beautiful in the chest area - girl. He shot her one of his signature smirks, and I could tell that she immediately went weak in the knees with the way she stumbled on her way to him. 

"Mitty's Occupation skills were analyzed, and he has been assigned to Construction Training." I grinned even wider at that. Mit and I both wanted to be part of the Construction Unit. They're the ones that do the heavy lifting - expansive construction of the Society - and it was practically considered the epitome of masculinity to be placed in it. 

"Congratulations to Couple 393!" Mit locked eyes with me as he took his Soul Mate's hand, sending me a grin and pointing to their interlocked hands exaggeratively. 

I sent back a universal - albeit immature - hand gesture, with my index finger penetrating a hold made with the fingers of my opposite hand. It was an old school allusion to sex, back when they used to do it for fun all the time on the Surface.

After Mit and his blushing bride left the stage, I once again receded into the confines of my mind - waiting for the signal of my own name being called. 

Time passed, hundreds more names were called, and pictures flashed up on the screens in rapid succession, but none of them were mine. 

What the fuck? They couldn't have forgotten about me.

I mean, for fucks sake. 

I'm the hottest guy in this goddamn place, who could forget me?

Part 2 in next episode