You + Me = a Perfect Match

chapter 1-Max

"Max" Rae whispered as I answered my phone and instantly knew something was wrong. I could here Mr. Carter screaming in the background and Rae lightly crying into the phone. "I don't know why he's so mad, he knows I have to take the test. I made it to my bedroom before he could hit me to much though." She said "I'm hiding under my bed."

"I'll be there as fast as I can Rae beam, I'll be back later Buddy" I said calling out to my dog and grabbing our skateboards as I ran out of my bedroom "I'm going out Mom!" I yelled before I ran out the front door. I heard Mr. Carter getting louder as he continued to pound on her bedroom door and her breaths got more ragged. "I'm out front Rae." I said hanging up the phone and taking a deep calming breath before knocking on the door.

Mr. Carter was a scary drunk but he liked to put on a front, he wanted people to think that he was the perfect dad and husband even though all of code 12 knew the truth. He was an evil evil man who beat his wife and child. Rae and I had been best friends since we were 4 years old we met our first day of preschool. One day in kindergarten she came to school with a black eye and I got suspicious but I was only 5 so when she told me she fell off her old bike I believed, I didn't know any better. When we were 7 Mr. Carter put Rae in the hospital and I've been protecting her every since. I learned early on that simply knocking on the door and asking if Rae could come out and play was usually enough it only backfired a few times. He broke my wrist once and Rae wouldn't talk to me for over a week she said that our friendship would just land me in the hospital one day and that she wasn't worth it. That made me really mad and I told her that she was worth so much more than a broken wrist but I promised I would be more careful; between you and me I haven't been but thankfully nothing worse has happened. I held my breath as I heard him stomping towards the door and cringed when the strong stench of alcohol hit me in the face.

"Hey Mr. Carter." I said "Can Rae come out and skateboard?" I asked holding up both of our boards with a small smile.

He grumbled before he stepped back into the house and looked behind him "Raelynn your friend is hear." He yelled with a slur into the house.

I watched as Rae quickly walked up with red eyes and I pulled her out the front door as her dad slammed it behind us.

"Thanks Max." She said as she hugged me "He was really mad and Mom wasn't home to help me."

"Let me see them." I said pulling back to look at her.

"It's nothing major." She said with a sigh. "I've had worse." First she showed me the new bruise in the shape of a handprint around her wrist and I sighed when she lifted her shirt and I saw the big purple bruise forming on her stomach. "Like I said, I've had worse."

I pulled her into a hug before I said "Are you ready for this?"

"No." She grumped out as we put on our helmets and started down the road towards the testing center.

"Stop being so dramatic." I said looking at her with a laugh "It's not that bad."

Rae was about to take the placement test that everyone has to take before they turn 18, she's such a drama queen that she waited until the last possible second she turns 18 tomorrow. I took mine two weeks ago but my bracelet was still off I filled out an extension form and asked them to postpone turning it on. I wanted to be able to protect Rae for as long as I could, they said they could wait until she turns 18 so it will go on tomorrow. I really hope she finds her match so she gets out of the hellhole she calls home.

I waited in the waiting room as Rae was led into the testing rooms at the testing center and thought about my test. Some people knew going into the test what placement they were going to be but I had absolutely no idea. I looked up in the corner of the room as a video that we had seen many times throughout our lives started playing. The film opened to a man walking out onto the screen. His name was William Velcons and he was our first leader. "Welcome to our new world." He said throwing his hands wide. "Nobody likes to have someone else control their lives. But in our changing world control is something we now need. I believe our ancestors called the government Uncle Sam I think we should call it Grandma Nelly." I chuckled as I thought about Rae in a testing room watching this video, she despised it and didn't pretend otherwise.