CELESTINA

Chapter 5: THE FINEST.

Monday’s classes started off the first full day of Coalesce Instruction. I was just happy that there would be no more loooooong boring lectures to lull me to sleep. I was indeed looking forward to the day, even if our first class was Personal Grooming for a Pleasing Presentation.

Thirty-seven students sat in the room and Trainer Beta stood in front of us. His grey suit with darker vertical pinstripes had a slight metallic sheen to it and his tailor had cut it perfectly to his trim, muscular build. His lapels were wide, his tie was thin, and his shoes were shiny (without a hint of a scuff on them). A small white flower adorned his suit. So, I thought, this must be a Pleasing Presentation.

Trainer Beta’s waxy hair was perfectly combed, not a hint of a stray. What had looked like a porcelain sheen, from my seat in the Main hall, actually had the appearance of a fine porcelain glaze, from my seat in the middle of the room. Up close, his skin looked even more artificial, too perfectly smooth, too perfectly colored, and too perfectly perfect.

“Young men and young women, we are here to discuss the importance of proper grooming and presenting yourself in the style that is befitting your station. Since we do not yet know what occupation or social standing you will be in by the time you have completed your training at the Career Education Centre, we will be looking at all facets of society. From Protectors to trainers to tailors to Council members; everyone must look their part and do it well. There is no excuse for slovenly attire or a disheveled appearance. Pride in oneself means pride in the tasks you have been destined to perform for Committee.

“A few months from now, you will no longer be expected to wear your hair a certain way or dress in the same uniform every day. You will suddenly be able to make your own choices and I expect them to be good ones. A first impression, once made, is hard to be undone. You have to do your best to make sure you come across in the right manner the first time,” Trainer Beta explained.

“How do we become a fine specimen, such as yourself?” Steven asked.

Trainer Beta smiled and walked around the podium in a slow circle, showing every angle of himself to every student in the room. “It takes diligence, young men and women. You must develop an eye for style, figure out the trends and stay ahead of them, and find the top people in the industry to keep you looking your finest. No, looking THE finest.”

Vivian raised her hand. “How do you look so, well, so young?”

Vivian had the kind of parents that looked like they’d barely dabbled in the whole beauty treatment thing. Her mom had flawless skin, but she had allowed the wrinkles to start to gather around her eyes. Vivian’s father was aging gracefully as well. But they were aging. It still seemed like such a silly question. It was not as if she had not seen the other parents on Visitation days.

“The same way everybody else does,” Beta replied. His tone implied that he agreed with my assessment. It was a silly question. “The youth serums can work wonders if you make sure you are obtaining the right ones. Quality, not price, that is the key. If you are looking for a bargain, your face will look like a bargain. But, young ones, they are not for the youth. They are to obtain youth.”

My eyebrows squished together as I tried to decipher his words. “I do not understand.”

Beta stood in front of the podium and scanned the room. “To quote from the Mandate on Reproductive Health… ‘Though the effects of these treatments are highly desired and envied by those who have yet to achieve them, they should not begin until the fertile have produced their offspring.’ You see, when the serums get into the blood stream, they adversely affect the reproductive system for both men and women. And if a skin serum is taken by a woman while she is pregnant, the unborn child has no chance. He or she will be infertile, forever marked as such. That practice is highly against The Chapter Mandates.

“If you have been marked infertile then it matters not. You will be able to indulge in all forms of beauty treatments whenever you wish. But no reputable physician will administer the serums without checking your Citizen Brand first. However, there is a black market for everything, and the desire to appear youthful wins out over the desire for a child in some cases. Do not let yourselves fall into that trap. If you are discovered, you will be reprimanded, fined, shamed, and maybe even cast out.”

Cast out of what? I wondered. Cast out to where?

We had barely been given a glimpse of the world outside of Grooming Tech. We exited the grounds so few times each year. Our twice yearly vacations to the beach cottages were the only times that we were able to freely observe people about their daily routines. Of course, they were fleeting moments, achieved in a blur of movement from a bus window as we traveled to and from Grooming Tech. Our Protectors were at our sides, trying to engage us in conversation, to keep us from longing for the world outside.

I had always managed to tune them out though. I tried to absorb and internalize every single snapshot that my eyes could take. Those moments that I observed through the bus window, those were real moments. I imagined that the personal exchanges were quite different from all the approved videos we had access to. I imagined that life outside Grooming Tech was not as picture perfect as we were led to believe. But then, maybe it was my job to create my own perfection, take my place in society, and fill in the slot that had been made for me… and do it in a proper and pleasing way.

I know that is what Gloriana expected of me… my father as well.

Vivian’s brother Nash, who was also good friends with Alanzo and Steven, raised his hand up high. He waved it back and forth until Beta pointed at him.

“What does it mean to be cast out?” Nash asked the question I had been thinking.

“Being a Citizen of the Committee is a privilege,” Beta explained. “If you do not agree with the Committee, then you do not belong in the Committee. The Chapter will cast you out and leave you to fend for yourself, far away from the structure and comfort of our society, never to return again. You would lose all contact with family, friends, and proper society. Only the worst possible offenders are cast out. That consequence is far worse than the termination of one’s life.”

“How awful,” Vivian breathed.

Beta nodded his head in agreement. “But we digress.” He clapped his hands together. “Our topic is one of Personal Grooming. Let me steer us back onto the correct path of discussion.” He switched on the wall screen and began a slide show of proper and improper fashion and grooming.

***

We sat at the long rectangular table during our lunch hour, again in boy-girl, boy-girl staggered fashion. It was apparent that we were all still wrapped up in the newness of Coalesce. Alanzo sat on my right, Steven on my left.

Vivian was on the other side of Alanzo, and Vivian on the other side of Steven.

Vivian’s twin brother Nash sat next to her. Across from us were Petra, Nile, Petricia, Ridge, Meg, and Cameron. Our table was the only one in the room that was filled to capacity with twelve students – six boys and six girls.

“All right… Ready. Set. Go,” Vivian said.

We all placed our left hand on the table, palm up, exposing our Citizen Brand.

A full minute of silence followed as each of us looked to our right, to our left, and across the table; craning our necks to look at the circle that had been permanently etched into the flesh of each and every one of us.

Petra and Petricia leaned in toward each other, making their arms touch, crowding Nile. He leaned back to give them more room.

“They look exactly the same,” they said in unison and sighed in relief.

“What did you expect?” Nile laughed. “You two are exactly the same.”

“But look,” Petricia said, moving her arm closer to Nile’s. “Yours is slightly larger.”

He nodded. “Yeah, I am a male. Male brands are larger than female brands.”

“Really?” Meg asked.

“Yes. Really,” Cameron answered. “The circumference of mine will measure exactly one-half inch more than yours. Does no one pay attention? They mentioned it in the film on Coalesce day!” “Celestina slept through that,” Vivian teased.

I raised my right hand. “Guilty!”

“His black does not look as dark as ours either,” Petra observed.

Cameron sighed. “That is because his skin tone is much darker than yours.”

“You’ll have to forgive our friend Cameron,” Steven said after he blew out the bubble of air he would been moving back and forth between his cheeks. “He has a brain built for small details and information, that he keeps neatly filed and organized up there… ready to supply an answer or an explanation at a moment’s notice. He does not quite understand why we do not all function in the same way.”

Alanzo gave a slight nod of his head in agreement. “We still let him hang out with us though.”

“Oh thanks, guys,” Cameron smirked. “You would not have passed a class without me.”

Ridge laughed. “Yeah, that might be the actual reason. He saved me from almost having to repeat Mathematical Practices in Year Ten.” “Me too,” Nash admitted.

“Might be mutually beneficial, our friendship,” Alanzo smiled.

Cameron laughed. “Might be.”

“Everyone lean forward and scootch in,” Vivian commanded. “I want to see them all close together.”

The four people on the ends of the table (Vivian, Nash, Petra, and Cameron) had to stand up and lean in, but we got all twelve of our arms lined up, skin touching, with all of our brands in a neat row across the table.

“That is exceedingly awe inspiringly wow!” Vivian exclaimed at the sight.

“They are arms.” Cameron shook his head.

“Hush up!” Meg commanded. “Just let her have her moment.” “In a few months, these will all look different,” Ridge remarked.

“An ‘F’ or an ‘I’?” Vivian wondered aloud.

“Well, statistically speaking, at this table, the count might be something like 2 males with an ‘F’ and 3 females with an ‘I’,” Cameron supplied an answer.

“I will surely have an ‘F’,” Nash stated.

“What makes you so sure?” I asked.

“All the men in my family do. We’re very virile.” He puffed his chest.

“You can’t know that. It just happens sometimes. Childhood illness, a genetic mutation, or even… I do not know… what if your mother took a serum while she was pregnant?” I countered, remembering what Beta had said that morning.

“Have you seen our mother?” Vivian asked. “There’s not a chance. We are safe. She just started them a couple of years ago.”

“If anyone has to worry about that It is you, Tina,” Meg blurted out.

I hung my head. “Oh, my goodness. You are right,” I breathed as the realization hit me.

Gloriana used them. That was obvious to anyone. She did not even care. She probably thought that the family category and the history of our Council standing would secure a Marriage Contract for me, even without fertility. She knew that no Golden family would ever be a Protector. The realization that my future Citizen Brand did not stand a chance against Gloriana’s vanity eighteen years ago, hit me in the chest; hard. I slumped in my seat.

Everyone withdrew their arms and returned to their original position, spreading out again.

“Sorry, Tina. It just kind of came out before I even knew I was saying it,” Meg apologized.

“No, it is fine” I attempted a small smile “You’re right, and we both know it. It is going to be 2 of us, so why should not I be one of the 2?”

“Even an ‘F’ does not guarantee anything,” Cameron said. “There could still be issues that hinder the successful production of offspring.” But he was just trying to make me feel better. I could see it in his eyes.

It was better if I did not try to defy the expectations. I was expected to be a good student. I was expected to never bring shame to the family of the Golden family. I was expected to Reign with the Committee. And I was expected to bear the brand of the infertile.

I am sure my mother and father would secure a respectable Marriage Contract for me with someone I liked. And I could adopt a child or use a surrogate mother if I had to.

I lift my head high and smile “I want a cookie. I am going back to the line to see if they have any spiced broccoli ones left. Does anybody else want one?” I am only asking because I am expected to, not that I do not want to.