The Azuli by Cassidy Shay (best beach reads of all time TXT) 📕

day forward until death do you part?”
“I do,” I said, but I wasn’t looking at Carl. Instead, my eyes were locked with Collin’s. I slipped the ring on Carl’s finger and more tears spilled out onto my cheeks.
“By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife.” He looked at Carl with a smile. “You may now kiss the bride.” With my eyes closed, I leaned in towards Carl, and he leaned in towards me. The kiss was nothing special. It was just like the countless kisses we’d shared in the hallways, with nothing significant to remember it by. When we came apart, I heard cheering. I tried to find Collin, but I didn’t see him anywhere.
A big group of Vipero came in to clear out all the chairs, and then another group came in to clear out all the children. The only people under the age of twelve that were allowed to stay were a few of the brothers and sisters of some of the brides and grooms. Music began playing, something that we don’t hear often at the Azuli Academy. It sounded strange to my ears, until I got used to it, and then it became a sweet, wonderful sound. While everyone started cheering and dancing, I broke away from the crowd and began my search for Collin.
I eventually found him serving punch to the people. When he saw me, he put the ladle down and wrapped his arms around me. “Congrats,” he said sarcastically after releasing me, but he wasn’t bitter. “I have something for you.” He reached into his pocket and took out a small box with a bow on the top. “I ordered this a few days ago, and it came in last night. It isn’t much, but I hope you like it.”
I opened the box and found a silver necklace. The chain was small and intricate, and at the end, there was a simple charm. It was a pencil attached to a square, which I assumed was supposed to be a piece of paper.
“Collin, it’s beautiful.” I turned the charm over and saw two words engraved on the back. “Love, Collin,” I read quietly. “Will you put it on me?” I took it out of the box and handed it to him, then turned around so he could clasp it in the back. A couple seconds after he was done, Carl walked over.
“Hey, there, sweetheart,” he said sarcastically. I couldn’t tell if he was trying to bug me or act like he was on my side, so I didn’t say anything. “They are going to take pictures, and they want us together.” He rolled his eyes. “I haven’t seen my reflection in twelve years, and they’re going to be showing these pictures all over the internet and TV. It’s wonderful, right? Oh, wow. Did you get that for her, Collin?” he asked, noticing my necklace. Collin nodded. “It’s beautiful.” He touched my arm, bringing the attention away from the necklace. “Mind if I steal her for a moment?”
“Take your time. She’s your wife, not mine. Besides, I’ve got to get back to work.” He waved the ladle around and turned his back to us. Although he sounded sincere, Collin’s eyes had shown the hatred and loathing that he truly felt toward Carl.
Carl and I made our way to the corner of the room, where all the brides and grooms stood next to a photographer. We took pictures of the individual couples, all of us together, all the brides, and all the grooms. We were also told that, after a little while, we would need to report back for pictures with the parents.
I tried to find Collin again, but he had moved. I mingled with some other people for a while until a voice was heard over the intercom. “It’s time for the father-daughter dance. Will the brides and fathers please move to the center of the room, and everyone else please move to the sides?”
“I’m very proud of you, Penny,” said my dad when we found each other. “I’m very happy that you’ve found someone that you love and that you want to spend the rest of your life with.”
“Me too,” I said, flashing him a smile. I felt a pang of guilt when I said this. I didn’t feel bad because I was lying, because I was telling the truth. The guilt came because I was lying about who that person was. As we were dancing, he noticed my necklace.
“Where did you get that?” he asked me. “I don’t think it was there before. Either way, it’s beautiful.” I told him that Collin had gotten it for me, and I commented on how beautiful I thought it was. “He likes you,” he stated. “I can see it in the way he looks at you. He also wouldn’t watch you kiss Carl. He turned away as you two came together. I hope that everything’s been resolved between the two of them. They’re both good boys, and they shouldn’t be fighting over a girl, even one as kind and beautiful as you.”
The music ended then, and he pulled me into a hug. A new song came on, and people started coming out to the dance floor. “I think we need to be over by the photographer now,” he said. He led me back to the photographer, where I saw Carl standing next to a girl about my age. When he saw me, he headed over to me with the girl in tow.
“Penny, this is my sister Christina. She’s only a couple months younger than you.” Christina immediately wrapped her arms around my neck.
“You’re so beautiful!” she said, pulling away. “You better take care of my brother, okay?” I nodded, and she giggled. Turning to Carl, she asked, “Is she always this quiet?”
“No, she’s actually never this quiet,” he answered her. “She’s probably just tired. After weeks of talking about nothing but the wedding, it’s finally here and, I don’t know about her, but I’m not having as much fun as I thought I would.” He interlaced one hand with mine and with the other he latched on to his sister, and led us to the front of the line, where his parents were waiting.
We took many pictures. Carl and his parents, Carl and I, Carl, his parents, Christina, and I. They also took one of the whole family without me. Finally, Carl asked for one last picture. “My two favorite girls,” he said, and grabbed Christina and I. Carl stood in the middle, his arms around our shoulders, as we leaned our heads on his shoulders. Despite my feelings about the whole thing, I had to admit that it was nice to pretend that we really were one big happy family with nothing to worry about.
After we were done with Carl’s family, we had to wait in line again with me parents, Jack, and Mary. When it was our turn, there were even more pictures than before, because there were two couples instead of just one.
Finally, we were done with pictures. Well, sort of. There were other photographers walking around, snapping photos of unsuspecting prisoners who had one night to forget all their troubles.
I found Collin, and we talked as he served people their drinks. A slow song came through the speakers, and he nodded to his friend, letting him know that he was leaving. He grabbed my hand and led me to the dance floor, where other couples were already dancing.
“This is my one and only chance to dance with you, Penny. I’m going to take it. I don’t care who sees us.” With my arms around his neck and his arms around my waist, we twirled around the floor. Everything fell away, and the only thing I knew was Collin. After a couple turns, I rested my head on his chest and he pulled me closer, tighter.
When the music started to fade, Collin looked into my eyes and talking in his low, rough voice that I had fallen in love with. “In a little bit, I’ll have to let go of you. But I promise you that no matter where I am or who I’m with, I will never let you go. I’ll fight for as long as I can against this society that’s been chosen for us, this world with no freedom. I will fight to free you, Penny. I’ll fight until the day I die.” I cringed, not wanting to think about the day when Collin would die.
Will the world go dark? Will the planet stop spinning? Will the sun’s flames be extinguished? Will I know in my heart that somewhere, the one person that I love unconditionally is no longer able to love me?

I spent the rest of the night in a sort of trance. I danced with whoever wanted to dance with me, and I sat with people who invited me to sit with them. Finally, when the night turned to morning and morning began to transform into day, it was time to go back to our cells or converted DarkRooms. I started heading for my old cell with Macy, but Carl stopped me. “This way, Penny,” he said, and guided me into a new cell, one I’d never been in before.
“Oh yeah,” I said, standing in the doorway. I let out a sigh. “I guess we’re married now.” Right away, I noticed things that were different about this cell. There was only one bed, and it was a little bigger than the ones in other cells. The bedside table had an extra drawer on the top, and there was a small table with two chairs.
On the bed, I saw a note and two jumpsuits. One was dark blue, the other was light blue.
I picked up the note and read it out loud. “Here are your clothes for the night. Leave the dress and tux outside in the hallway, and someone will be sent to retrieve them.” I gave a sarcastic sigh. “Too bad I don’t get to keep my dress as a reminder of this night, the happiest one in my life.”
Carl ignored my and picked up the dark blue jumpsuit. He began stripping down, but I hesitated. Even though we were married, I didn’t want to undress in front of Carl.
“Can you… can you umm… turn around?” He rolled his eyes.
“Really, Penny. You’ll have to get over this sooner or later. It’s going to take twice as long to get anything done if you insist on acting like strangers.” Even though he was annoyed, he turned around as he said this. I hurriedly pulled my dress off and the jumpsuit on, and then told him that he could turn around.
I went to sit on the bed, and instantly curled up in a ball, pulling the covers over myself. After a few seconds, I felt Carl get onto the bed with me. I moved away from him, as close to the wall as I could get, but he still put his arm over me. I had nowhere to move, nowhere to go to escape him. Even if I could have gone somewhere, I don’t think my tired body would have allowed me to.
“Just allow me this one night, Penny. This one night to treat you as a wife. I promise we will do nothing but sleep. But let us sleep as a couple does: intertwined in each other’s embrace.”
I couldn’t say anything, but wouldn’t have even if I could. I loathed Carl more than anyone on the planet, but even that didn’t give me enough energy to move away from him.