F.S.'s Blog Fiction

I was born into the covered clan. We refuse to let ourselves or anyone else look at the soulmate timer that is implanted onto our wrists at birth. Most 'Covs' as people call us, have a dedicated Cov midwife that's present at birth to put the special sticky seal that covers the timer after it has been implanted. It has the Cov crest on it and if you ever get curious and take it off, the seal will be ruined forever. Which means you're out. Out of the Covs forever. Curiosity killed the cat. And I'm not ready to die yet. 

   I have to be honest. The curiosity has been eating me alive since I was 17 years old. I've always been curious..but now it's an ache. Because I'm 19 and in college and something has to be wrong with me. I can't quite get any Cov to like me and no Open person would ever date me. 

   I managed to get into a Sorority at my college- Covs only of course. Not that any other girls would ever want to join a sorority with Covs anyway. The whole world thinks we're trash. I got in because I actually have a great knack at computers. I'm part of the committee, in charge of all things tech. 

   I walk into the sorority house. It's 10.30pm and I've just come from the library. There's a huge commotion in the lounge. My soror sisters and about 10 guys- other Covs and Opens too are playing some kind of game- a sexual dare, drinking, card game hybrid that's all too typical of college. I plan to go upstairs to my room and usually they let me but today someone stops me. An Open boy. I know because his arm doesn't have that black and white signature seal and I can see the little numbers ticking away from here. I walk over to him.

   "Yeah?"

   "Why don't you play with us? I always see you around but you never join in." He is a deep tanned color, probably mixed, with a strong jaw and light brown eyes. Actually very attractive. But I had learned a long time ago to never look at an Open guy that way. It was dangerous. They would never love you back because well, they thought that we would never love them back either. 

   "Erm I'm kinda tired I think I'll just-"

   "Ahem". Kim, the Sorority vice president, widens her eyes at me as if to say "Dont be embarrassing"

    I sigh and sit next to the guy. He holds out his hand to me and I look down at his wrist.

    "I'm Vic" Vic has thirty-two months left on his clock. I sighed inwardly. Those were the worst. The ones with more time liked to 'experiment' and 'play around' until their time ran out. Then leave you out in the cold. Opens with 5,10,15, 30 years were the worst, but more because they just walked around acting depressed.

   "August,  I said,pointing at his wrist , "Summer love then" 

   He nodded. "Yeah, I'm excited. Worried though. I have to be in Alabama for my dad's side's family reunion around then" 

   "Alabama? Rough."

   "I guess she'll be perfect for me anywhere. Even if she is country folk"

   "I guess you've got yourself a southern belle."

   "We'll see. Well I'll see." Vic motions at my wrist. 

   I try to feign a smile. 

   "It's got to be hard", he says quietly. It's only now that I realize that he is leaning into me talking in almost a whisper, whilst the other shout and jeer, in their own world. 

   "It can be. I was born into the Clan. I didn't choose this life"

   Kim walks over to us and waves a card in our faces. "Suck and blow guys."

   I cover my face half in shame. I hate this game.

   "You start." She says, adding insult to injury. 

   I hold the card in my hand and stare at it for a second. I look up at Vic and he's staring at me and smirking slightly, like he knows that I'm so nervous that I want to pee a little. I pucker my lips. The room hoots. I hold the card to it and I move my face upwards towards Vics face. I thought he would close his eyes as I came towards him, but no, he's still looking at me, his lids low and heavy and the browns of his eyes glowing. I hesitate and he takes his hand and puts it on the back of my neck and pulls me gently towards him.He sucks the card off my lips and when he lets me go I gasp a little and the whole room hoots and howls and teases me- laughing at how flustered a game like this is making a 19 year old. He quickly dispatches the card onto the next persons lips and then looks back at me laughing. My stomach is clenching and the whole of my body is hot and the heat goes from my chest to my stomach to my belly button and then lower...

  I look down at my wrist. I'm desperate to peel off my seal and know if that was it. That was me meeting my soulmate. Because if the feeling of meeting The One was any stronger than this I think I would die. For a minute I'm tempted to go to the bathroom and peek. But what if my timer is already at zero but not because of Vic? And where does that leave me with my clan? And then I look down at his wrist and I see the numbers still ticking and I remember. There's no way this could be it. It feels like I've belly flopped into an icy cold pool. My eyes are wide with sadness and shame and disappointment because he can see the longing in my face as he rubs his wrist distractedly.

   "Yeah,It would have been nice if- you know"

      Kay walked through the automatic doors and a herd of lithe and lively teens with ponytails came bounding towards him laughing loudly. This was definitely not his kind of place. He walked into the foyer of the dance studio and entered the lift. As he waited to get to his floor he juggled his work bag and a large duffle in one hand. He had to change out of his suit into something a little more sensible in the cafe next door. You couldn't wear a suit to a salsa class.

  Kay felt nervous but together. He was used to being in places where he stood out. He was 23 and black and alot of people at the company he worked for were the former but not the latter. His coworkers were nice enough, so he got over it. He was sure he would get over this. It was worth it if he was going to impress Andrea.

  Kay walked out of the lift and towards a room with a sign that read 'Salsa: Beginners'. Entering the room, he observed the large room with hard wood floors and the stereotypical floor to ceiling mirrors. The studio was filled with about 20 or so people of varying ages but mostly older. A man and a woman, who he presumed to be the dance instructors stood at the front of the room.

   "So, sorry I'm late. Delays on the undergound." Kay held is hand up apologetically and smiled. 

   "No problem. I know how rush hour in London can be...Your name?", the man asked smiling. 

   "Kay." 

   "Alberto. And this is my lovely dance partner Stephanie."

   He waved and smiled at them both and then stood in a semi-circle the other class members seemed to have formed. 

   "Alberto has told you my name so let me tell you a little bit more about me. I started dancing salsa when I was 8. And I've been dancing ever since. I'm also quite competant in Tango and Samba. When my mum clocked on to the fact that I could dance salsa she entered me into every competition. I've won and lost my fair share. Alberto here, he's from Argentina. His tango is better than his Salsa but he is still very good. You'll be in good hands with us. I hope you enjoy these classes as much as we do."

    Damn, Kaye thought. Cute and talented. Alberto was quite old but he wasn't too bad looking himself. He knew they would look pretty impressive dancing together. His mind started to wander, thinking how sexy he would look  if he could salsa. He started to imagine Andrea with one hand in his and another on his shoulder, him holding on to her waist, maybe lingering down to her curvy hips...

   He was roused from his daydream when people started pairing off. He was partnered with a woman in her late thirties. She seemed friendly but a bit shy. She was probably a bit intimidated by dancing with such a young male, he thought. 

   There were two young women left who hadn't been paired. They stood looking awkwardly around the room and then looked at each other and exchanged a friendly smile.

   Alberto waved at them. "You two ladies don't mind dancing together do you?"

  The younger looking girl smiled and said, "Not at all!", grinning cheekily and took the other girl's  hand. The younger one was black, as well, a dark bronze colour. Her hair was in a long brown  bob and she had Bambi-like eyes and a smiley face.  The other girl was taller and Hispanic looking and she would have been terribly attractive to Kay, if he wasn't already focused on Andrea.

 The class finally began. The dance instructors taught them basic steps that they followed and copied. The salsa music they played was nice and Kay felt himself getting into it even though he struggled with the steps. His partner seemed to be struggling too. She tripped several times and he had to catch her, holding her waist up. 

    "Well, aren't you a dashing lad?", she said, only half jokingly. "How do you find the time to go to the gym and these classes?"

    "How'd you know I go to the gym."

    "It's quite obvious", the woman said, glancing quickly at his exposed biceps. He blushed slightly."Thanks"

    "Look at you getting attention from the MILFs". Kay turned to see the two girls dancing near him and laughing. It was the black girl who had said it and she winked at the woman conspiratorially. 

     "Listen kids, I'm a happily married woman. I was just admiring his hard work"

    "Riiight.", the girl laughed and continued dancing with the Hispanic girl. They were pretty good already and seemed to be having fun, adding some hip swing into their steps and a little speed.

     "You two are good. You need to give me tips. What are your names?"

     "I'm Aiyana", said the girl with the bambi eyes. "This is Lorena. We already know you're Kay, so you don't have to say."

     "Oh and I'm Tina", his partner said. He wasn't sure how we was going to remember all of these names. He knew he should try. It was the polite thing to do and he would be seeing them weekly for the foreseeable future. At least until he was good enough to show Andrea his moves.

     Andrea was one of his colleagues at work. She was gorgeous. Colombian. 5 foot 6. Long brown hair that she put in a high bun most days. She was a year older than her at 24 years old. She made him weak at the knees whenever she walked into the office wearing one of her suits. Her desk was the row in front of hers and he watched her sneakily sometimes. He could stare at her legs underneath the computer table for ages or her slender arm draped over the desk. 

    One day he saw her watching salsa dance videos.

    "You like salsa?", he asked, trying to look neutral, as nervous and excited as he was.

    "I love salsa. It's such a beautiful dance. It's so sexy you know. A man who can salsa well...", she stopped, obviously embarrassed at how much she had been gushing. 

    "Yeah, salsa is a sexy dance." He didn't have much interest in it, but the idea of her doing it made it seems so much more sexy.

    "You like salsa too?"

    "Erm,  yeah!"

    "One of these days, I'll show you these cool salsa places in London that I go to sometimes. They're a little unknown but that's how I like it."  

    It was that day that he knew he had to sign up for these classes. Classes. Shit. He broke himself out of his trance again.

    "Where were you?", Tina said giggling girlishly.

     "Hmm. I was far far away."