Continue Conversation

I decided to continue the conversation we’d been having before the food arrived. Maybe I was a glutton for punishment since this was the perfect opportunity to switch to a less heart-wrenching conversation topic.

“Still planning to do a local college?” I asked at an appropriate time.

“That’s the plan. Mom wants to send me to one of those fancy Ivy League schools, but I already know those aren’t for me.”

Memories from earlier in the year came back to me. “That’s right. Didn’t you visit a few of them?”

She gave me a few nods. “Extremely nice campus filled with prissy and stuck up people.” She shrugged. “Maybe I didn’t give them a fair chance or just ran into a small minority of people, but there was just something about the place. I wasn’t liking the vibes the schools were giving off.” An expression flickered over her face. “Not to mention the sex ratio was horrendous. There were hardly any guys. Probably why the mood of the place was so heavy. Lots of horny ladies walking around with no release in sight.”

My head shook automatically as I processed her words. “What I’m hearing is that you are basing your future education not off of the quality, but availability of potential partners?”

Kaylee paused to muse over my words. “When you put it that way… Yes?”

“Unbelievable.”

“I was raised in a two-parent household,” she said with a shrug. “I want my future kids to have that experience too.”

“You know that you don’t have to find someone right now.”

She pointed the fry at me that had been on its way to her mouth. “I’ll have you know that ninety percent of marriages happen between people who met in high school or college.”

I frowned. “Where did you hear that?”

“Official statistic from the Population and Propagation Department.” When I still didn’t look convinced, she continued. “It makes sense if you think about it. Most guys who get married are D or below. Maybe you have some C-ranked who are connected enough to get strings pulled for exemptions and stuff. Once those guys are locked down, there really isn’t much choice available. Most of the guys you meet outside the education system are going to be C and above, and you can’t marry them without jumping through all sorts of hoops. Plus, even if you do, it’s terrible because the PPD might move them at any time. You’d never know when your life would be uprooted.” She bit off the top of the fry she’d been holding, wrinkling her nose. “Plus, I don’t like the idea of my future husband being a member of the breeding class.”

“You want him all to yourself.” Kaylee’s smile was all I needed to know I was correct. “What about you?”

Her head tilted slightly. “What?”

“I mean, are you going to stop seeing other guys when you’re married?”

She gave a light laugh, giving me a funny look at the same time. “Of course not. Why would I?”

There was a tug at my lips as I resisted the urge to frown. “Don’t you think that’s a little hypocritical?”

“How so?” she asked, smile fading.

“I mean, you expect him to stay at home and wait around for you while you go off playing with other guys? That doesn’t seem fair.”

It wasn’t often I saw Kaylee upset. Today was one of them. “Okay, you are taking things way out of context.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. First off, of course I am going to be with other guys. It’s not like I’m going to get pregnant from my husband—he wouldn’t be my husband if he could. Two, you make it sound like I’m going to be some cold tyrant who leaves her husband high and dry while I play around and have fun. Do you really think I’m the kind of girl who would do something like that to the man I love?”

“I never said you were—”

“But you implied it.” She sighed. “Look, Scott, that’s how things work in a marriage. No one is forcing the guy to get married. He is agreeing to give up some sexual freedoms for stability and the chance to raise children. Most guys who are able to get married do, and are happy with their choice.” She crossed her arms. “Your parents are married, right? None of this should be a shock to you.”

It was true. My parents were married. Only they weren’t in a typical marriage. My father was a firm believer in monogamy. My mom, for the most part, followed along even if she mostly eye-rolled whenever Dad started talking about it. The thing that really set my family apart from other families is the greatest secret of all. My father was actually my father. Biologically. Not only that, both my sisters were as well. Our mother didn’t need to sleep around with fertile men to get pregnant. She had one at home. One of the greatest societal taboos that would bring the government down on us like a tsunami if it were discovered. Like, imprisonment level offenses.

I quickly wet my lips, shifting in my seat as I thought of how to frame my next question. “Okay then. Hypothetically speaking.” Kaylee’s eyebrow quirked as she set down the fry she had been nibbling on, giving me her full attention. She always liked my hypothetical questions. Said they, ‘made her think.’ I didn’t give them that much credit, but if she liked them…

“Let’s say you were married to a guy who ranked C or above.”

She instantly frowned. “That wouldn’t happen. The government—”

“This is all hypothetical.” She sighed and gestured for me to continue. “Say you were married to a guy who could father children, would you still have other partners?”

Her frown deepened as she retreated in thought. I let the silence hang, taking the opportunity to drink some water and finish the last few bites on my plate.

Kaylee looked up, having made her decision. “Yes,” she said with surprising resolution. Her answer surprised me, along with the zeal in her voice.

“Why? There isn’t any need for anyone else if your husband can give you children.”

“Because it’s unnatural. And weird. I mean, sleeping with only one guy?” She gave an overly dramatic shiver. “I couldn’t imagine that. No,” she said with a shake of her head. “A guy’s duty in a marriage is to defer to the needs of his wife and raise children. The wife’s duty is to ensure her husband is able to accomplish that. It’s been like that for hundreds of years. It works. Why mess with it?”

Her answer really hit me hard. Kaylee was an open-minded individual at heart, but even she had a traditional view towards marriage. I couldn’t blame her. What my parents had was radical and more than a few shades illegal. But I had hoped that she wouldn’t have dismissed it outright. That there would have been a little room to work with. A little place for me to hope.

Ridiculous considering I wasn’t even a position where marriage was a possibility.

The conversation ended with that. Tom came around with the bill and Kaylee grabbed it before I could even reach for it. I could pay for my meal, but she wouldn’t have it. It wasn’t because her mom was loaded either. It was yet another tradition passed down from the generations before us. It was typical that a girl paid, especially if it was just her and a guy—even if that guy was just a friend.