My body goes rigid. There is someone outside my window. The figure leans forward and pulls the window open. I sit statue still on my bed, pen in hand, homework unfinished next to me. I see the swishing of a long black skirt.
“Falon is that you?”
“Shhh, Elsie! Do you want me to get caught?” Falon steps awkwardly through the window, and I giggle, the scene now seems strangely funny.
“Why’d you even sneak in anyway? You could’ve just gone around front, my parents would have let you in!”
“Maybe, but you're grounded right?”
I laugh again, sure I must sound hysterical. “I haven’t been grounded for a week!”
Falon’s face falls. “Oh, ummm, I should probably tell your parents I’m sleeping over then.”
“Fine,” I reply. “But, you might want to go back outside and knock. I’d rather not explain to my parents that you climbed through the window.” Falon laughs her high little chuckle.
“Yeah, that might not go over well!”
Falon climbs back out through the window, and a moment later I hear my dad call from the other room; “Elsie, Falon’s  here!”
“Coming!” I call down the long hallway and try not to laugh when I see Falon standing in the doorway, her long black skirt dirty from sneaking around our yard. “Hey Falon. What’s up?” I ask, not able to think of anything to say that actually sounds sane.
“Not much. Is it okay if I sleep over, Mrs. Harlow? My parents are out of town.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem. You might have to leave pretty early tomorrow though, we have company coming over to celebrate Elsie’s Letter Ceremony on Thursday.” We all got a bit quiet at the mention of the Letter Ceremony. The Ceremony is when we find out nearly everything about our future lives. We each receive a piece of paper that says who we marry, how many kids we’re allowed to have, where we’re going to work, and where we’re allowed to live. I’ve heard that in the past, people decided these things for themselves, people chose wrong sometimes, made fatal mistakes. People weren’t forgiven for mistakes, as they lived in a world where only the brightest and best stars could shine.
Now decisions are made easy, after the Letter Ceremony there’s nothing left to decide. When we’re young, we choose smaller things, our friendships is one of them. After my Ceremony, I likely won’t be allowed to talk to Falon anymore. The thought makes me sad.
“Do you want to go to my room?” I ask Falon, I can’t think about the bad things. The good always outweighs the bad in this world. Falon nods, and we go into my room to talk about the best way things could work out for each of us.
“I have an idea!” Falon yells suddenly and I laugh. “Let’s try to match each other with the ideal life! After the Ceremony we can see how many we get right.”
If we’re even allowed to talk to each other after the Ceremony. I think. It’s incredibly unlikely that we would. Friends are matched based on personality traits, and while Falon and I get along really well, we’re like the sun and the moon, utterly and completely different.
“Sure that sounds fun!” I smile as I take a piece of paper and fill it out with Falon’s future life.
Partner: Ronan Vale
Amount of Children: 1
Work: Newspaper Editor
Home: Mapletree Colony
Close Friends: Elsie Harlow, Chandler White, and Jazmin Braden
As soon as I finish writing, I hand her the paper.
           “This all looks good except the part about Chandler being one of my close friends. That girl is just mean!”
“Okay, let me see mine.” I’m a bit anxious to see what Falon thinks my life will be like.
Partner: Emerson Dillon
            Amount of Children: 4
            Work: Elementary Teacher
            Home: Mapletree Colony
            Close Friends: Falon Shaw, Jazmin Braden, Anastasia Quinn
“I find it strange that you think I’m going to be a teacher and have four children.”
“You’ve told me you like kids!”
“Not that much!”
“I suppose no one likes kids that much. Anyway, I’m exhausted. I’m going to sleep. Goodnight!”
“Goodnight.” And in just an instant more, I’m taken away by sleep.
A few days later, when I wake up to the sound of a Ceremony bell, I know immediately that I won’t ever see Falon again. The morning goes by in a blur of getting ready, my parents crying, and me trying not to cry. The second I’m ready, I hop into the car with my father at the wheel. It isn’t a long drive, and when we finally get to the large arena where all major ceremonies are held, it’s time to say goodbye to my parents too. My mother whispers her congratulations in my ear and my father smiles sadly at me. And when we enter, I am forced to sit away from them, up on the stage where I will wait for the rest of my class to show up. Almost everyone is already there, I see Falon far away from me at the other and of the table, and Ronan Vale, the boy I matched her with not far away from her. I don’t know what my future holds, but I do know this, Falon is ready to shine and so am I, and someday we will make a difference in the world. The sun and the moon will light the sky together.