Cursive

By Laura Schiller

Based on: Matched/Crossed

Copyright: Ally Condie

Avoidance

"Sorry, Em. I've got hiking today, remember? Another time, maybe?"

Birthday

Like the poem, Ky's rebirth began with the water: the sting of chlorine, the silence at the bottom of the pool, and the sunlight reflected in the smiling eyes of a redheaded stranger.

Color

Cassia never tires of watching the colors of Ky's eyes.

Daylight

Xander is like the sun: warm and golden and reassuring, but stand too long in the intensity of his light and it just might burn you.

Earnest

Ky's messages to Cassia are the best and truest things he's ever put to paper.

Free

"Everything is free in the Society," Official Standler remarks, "As long as you do what you're told."

Green

If Cassia were ever to take the green pill, it would be on the morning after Ky's disappearance; it has never been so difficult to be strong.

Hard

Nobody suspects how hard it is for Em to be so delighted with a Match who could be Xander's twin.

Ironic

How ironic is it, Xander wonders, that Cassia chose to rebel by loving Ky, when he himself was in the Rising all along?

Jade

According to Ky, Cassia's eyes are like jade: a calming, almost luminescent green.

Kiss

Their first kiss may have been sweet, but if Xander were to kiss Cassia now, his secret bitterness (why not me?) might very well spoil the flavor for them both.

Lace

Cassia once dreamed of whispering bedtime poetry about Queen Anne's lace flowers to the daughter she would raise with her Match – one of many possible futures she's given up.

Music

Cassia didn't understand Song no. 37 (My Heart Will Go On) until she knew Ky.

Nighttime

Ky is the night to Xander's day: a keeper of secrets, dark and protective, but breathtaking in his occasional glimmers of light.

Ocean

Vick survives being a decoy villager by remembering the ocean: sunlight on the waves, the lonely cry of seagulls, and the salt wind tangling his Laney's soft black curls.

Pie

Cassia will never see or smell a raspberry pie again without thinking about Grandfather's death.

Question

"Could you have loved me if you'd never seen his face on that microcard?"

Rain

Ky once hated thunderstorms, remembering the black drops of death that fell from the sky – but watching Cassia dance in the rain for the first time is enough to counter any nightmares he might have.

Smoke

Ky and Indie put out the campfire with a frown, explaining that too much smoke would make them too easy to track; meanwhile Cassia and Eli, making do with raw fish and nuts, feel embarrassed for not even knowing thngs like that.

Train

Ky rides on the air train every day the way he lives: silently, with perfect balance, and always blending in.

Unknown

Vick observes Ky from the corner of his eye: is he just another decoy, a special agent sent to guard General Roberts' wayward son, or is he the Pilot, come at last to lead him to his calling?

Variable

Finding Ky Markham in the Matching pool is an unexpected variable for Official Standler; startling, yet intriguing, and a promise of some fascinating data to come.

Wonder

Would Grandfather still have said "it's all right to wonder" if he had known that too much wondering would lead his little girl through illness, hunger, loss and the abandonment of (almost) all she holds dear?

Xenophobia

"Fear of the unknown," says Ky, "Is only one of many problems in this Society."

Youth

With every rule that little Bram learns to slow his steps and curb his exuberant spirit, even as she convinces him it's only part of growing up, his older sister dies a little inside.

Zenith

Cassia and Ky alone in the cave, dancing cheek to cheek just like the painted couples, both thinking: Can it possibly get any better than this?