U.T.O.P.I.A. | BOOK 1 of Death of the Future Series

THREE

OLIVIA

Neo looked nervous was the first thing that came to my mind when I saw him. His dirty blond hair was a mess and his blue-grey eyes screamed panic. He was nothing like I had imagined my Match to be.

If anything, he came across as pathetic.

Weak.

But even I knew that saying such words out loud would have us start on the wrong foot.

Was he really that nervous to meet me?

Why would he be so nervous? He should've known this was going to happen. There was no logical explanation as to why he would've been a wreck. But that wasn't it, either. It didn't take a genius to know that he wasn't as excited as anyone should be when meeting their Match.

No glowing eyes or a bright smile.

Just a lump of awkwardness.

I decided not to enquire him about it. It wasn't any of my business. We would learn to get along slowly. What was more interesting to me at this moment was to identify if what others had been raving about was true or false.

My parents told me I would feel the 'First Spark' when I met him. It would be a feeling unlike anything else I had felt before the very minute I locked eyes with him. It would make me feel wanted. Happy.

But I questioned it now that I was here.

There had been no Spark.

Nothing.

It was odd. And slightly terrifying at the absence of the Spark.

No. Maybe it would take some time, probably. That was the only reasoning I had.

Neo walked next to me, his gaze firmly planted on the ground. He was skinny, taller but not much, only an inch taller than me, and he was pale. Not the type of paleness as someone with fair skin, no. It was a type of paleness that spoke of an illness. A paleness that could only be when someone was in fear or panic.

Neo just looked dead, if I were to be blunt.

He didn't object to me keeping my last name and he looked relieved when I didn't ask for him to take my name either.

Something was going on here.

I shrugged the thoughts away as we walked out of the building, heading to the car park. Scanning the place, I spotted my small car that was gifted to me when I had turned sixteen. It wasn't as if I liked driving though. I only ever drove once after getting my license, and that was when my parents thought it would be nice to celebrate that event by taking a drive in our neighbourhood.

It honestly had been an annoying task.

"You brought your car?" I asked as I walked to a small blue vehicle. Fishing out my keys from my dress pockets, I unlocked the automobile.

"No," Neo said. "I don't have one."

Not that I expected him to have a car, so I wasn't surprised. He didn't look like someone who could afford one. I unlocked the car, waving a hand at Neo. "Get in."

Neo hesitated before he nodded. "All right."

Once Neo was settled in, I started the engine and backed out of the parking lot. Neither of us spoke a word to each other. Again with this awkward silence.

"Where do you live?" I asked once I drove to the main highway.

"West House," Neo said as he pointed to the left. "You?"

West House was quite far from where I lived. It was one of the largest Houses in World Population and one where majority of Population fell into the lower class in wealth. So, my Match wasn't a rich man. He was below average now that I knew which House he was from. It definitely confirmed my suspicions that he didn't seem the type to be able to own anything as extravagant as a car.

Though, I didn't care much about it. Not like my parents or their friends, who prayed and hoped that their sons and daughters got Matched with another South House member. It would definitely steer up some gossip when I brought him home, but that would be something I could worry about on a later date.

I glanced at Neo.

"South House," I said, absent-mindedly. He whistled in amazement and then huffed.

"You're a rich girl, huh?" he asked.

"My parents are rich," I said. "Not necessarily me."

"Technically you are," Neo said. "Law and all. You inherit their money."

Odd. There was a certain weirdness in the tone he used. Perhaps bitterness, if I were to make a guess. Did he know he was projecting that out loud? For a moment, I considered letting him know just that and then I decided to opt for a subtler approach.

Baby steps.

"You sound envious," I said and he took in a sharp breath, shoulders stiff.

"Well, I got myself married to a rich girl. I don't see why I have to be envious," he said but his tone was still off.

Clearly, that didn't go according to plan.

Deciding to not reply, I quietly entered West House area and drove by small, box-shaped houses until Neo pointed to one at the end of the street. It was just as I thought the place to be. Congested and hard to differentiate between which home belonged to whom with how identical they all looked. Nothing was extravagant either with no proper front yards or gold gates. In fact, some lots didn't even have one.

It was no different at Neo's house either.

I stopped my car close to where he pointed at.

"This is my house. Wait for a sec," he said as he got out of the vehicle. I leaned against my seat and watched him from the windows. He didn't move for a moment and then he walked up to the front door.

Neo knocked on it and a few seconds later, the door opened, revealing an old married couple. I narrowed my eyes a bit, leaning closer to look at them properly, realising a minute later that they looked too old to be his parents.

The elderly man had a bald head, with deep-set wrinkles on his face while the woman had full grey hair, shorter than him by a few inches, her skin aged.

Grandparents?

They dragged Neo into the house after their eyes landed on me, twin frowns on their faces. I looked away to the steering wheel, drumming my fingers on it as I waited for Neo to come back with his things.

That was weird.

Staring at my fingers, my thoughts wandered.

I hadn't felt whatever my parents felt when they met. Was there something wrong with me? I wondered if Neo had felt something. But he didn't act like anything like that had happened.

Would he even tell me if he did?

A soft sigh escaped my lips.

I paused my thoughts when Neo knocked on the window with one hand while he held two boxes and a backpack with the other.

That was quick.

Punching the booth button, I saw Neo disappearing from my view before I heard a slam from the back. He then got back in and huffed a breath.

"Let's go," he said, his blue-grey eyes dimmer than they had been before if that was even possible.

Interesting.

I looked over his shoulders to notice the old couple were watching us from the doorway. I raised my hand and waved at them and they waved back, though it was clearly half-hearted with the way they barely swung their hands. They looked unhappy with the frowns still on their faces.

"Go on, let's go," Neo said, voice tight and a certain sharpness in his words when we hadn't moved.

I raised my eyebrows but didn't comment on the sudden change of behaviour.

I drove away.