Chapter One

"Unique." It's a word I'm used to hearing. 'Unique' because I'm short. 'Unique' because I'm heterochromatic. 'Unique' because I'm dyslexic. But the main reason I'm considered 'Unique' is because of my hair. Every child born does so with a streak of a single color in their hair. Based off of that color, you are matched with another person with the same color streak when you turn 18. Well, lucky me. I got that 'Unique' card once again. I was born with a red streak in my hair. My mother had always told me the doctor gaped when they saw me. "It's unheard of," they said. There had never been any other person ever recorded to have a red streak. I was deemed 'Unmatchable.' So, while every other 18 year old, including my best friend Jess, goes to a matching ceramony, I'm stuck at home, in my apartment, alone. 'Unique,' as I found out, means I'm different. Strange. Unnatural. Unwanted.

Artemis, my Russian Blue cat, rubs against me while I sit on the barren floor of my apartment. It was new, I had just rented it recently because I finally saved up enough money from work and had a higher salary at my part time job at a fast food place. I scratch behind Artemis' ears and she purrs softly. I sigh softly.

"At least I have you, Artemis.." I mumble. "At least I won't fully be alone." I mentally slap myself. So this is what it's come to Rhea. The stage of loneliness called, 'talking to your cat because there's no one else to make a conversation with.' Artemis meows once and looks at me with her bright green eyes.

"Are you hungry?" I ask. She doesn't respond. Well of course she didn't respond. I think. She's a cat. I get up from the floor and start walking toward the kitchen.

"Let's see.." I mumble, opening cabinets. "Where did I put the cat food again..?" I rummage through canned foods until I find her favorite brand of food. I opened the can with a can opener I grabbed from the counter, and got a bowl from another cabinet. Once I had prepared the cat food, I placed it on the floor. She mewed happily and ate the food as soon as it touched the floor.

"Guess you were." I say, reaching down to pet her. It's not like I have really anything else to do anyway. I had a day off. Everyone my age did today. I usually spend days off with Jess ,going shopping and eating out and what not.. But she was gone for the ceramonies, and I was stuck here. So that puts that option out of consideration.

I look around my empty apartment, and then at my phone's time. "2 in the afternoon.." I mumble to myself. "I should probably go to a furniture store at some point today and get some kind of mattress or something.." I say. "Unless I want to sleep on the floor again." I give Artemis one more scratch on her back, and say, "I'll be back soon," before grabbing a sweatshirt and shoes, and heading outside of my apartment, locking the door behind me. As I walk out of the apartment, the cool fall air prickles my skin, and I get a slight shiver. It's pretty cloudy today, and the wind is blowing ever so slightly. I walk down the street of the small town of Gandyu Hills, which is well known for it's prestigious college, Gandyu University.

Orange and red leaves crunch underfoot as I trudge along the sidewalk, no one is really out today, which makes sense. Only people who are alone or family-less were outside today, and as far as I was concerned, I was both of those things. Family and friends visited those who were getting matched. After all, the matching only happened once a year, on August 15th, so it's almost like Christmas, or Halloween. I never really understood why we had to be matched, and for the color of a streak in our hair. People who married outside of their own streak color were shunned from society, and any children they had would become unmatchable like myself, because their streak would be 'tainted.' When I asked why we do this, the answer is always the same. "Because of tradition." More like the government trying to control us.. I thought darkly. There were only 6 natural colors that children were born with. Pink, purple, blue, yellow, white, and green. All pastel mind you.

I sigh for what seems like the millionth time today. It's going to be a long day..