Phoenix's POV

I fell asleep after crying myself out. When I awoke in the morning to puffy, red eyes, I had an ominous feeling. I tried to shake it off, thinking it was just because today is the first day I am going to get put into that awful program where I'm going to be shuffled in a machine and randomly selected as if I was part of a deck of cards in one of the magic tricks that humans tried to do long ago, but only telepathic fae could truly master. When the feeling didn't pass after my shower I figured I was just being paranoid.

     When I got to school I met up with my friends, who I secretly gave names to in my head. There is the girl who I think of as a Nessa which my father told me once meant fierce and ambitious​ in Irish. She is the kind of girl who you don't want to get angry and she strives to be the best person she can be, I also believe that if she knew that fae weren't a fantasy she would try and improve our situation. She has beautiful, curly, dark almost black, brown hair, and bright, emerald green eyes.

        Then there is the girl I think of as a Alisanne, which at one point meant truthful in French, because she always tells you exactly what she thinks without sugar-coating anything, which sometimes gets her in trouble because she doesn't agree with everything she's told. She has blonde shoulder length hair with bangs and the kind of face that bangs look amazing on with ocean blue eyes.

      Then there is the boys of our group who I think of as Arlo, Hugo, and Kai. Arlo, which once meant strength and fortification in Italian, not just because of his lean, strong build, but because he is always the strong shoulder that is there if one of needs one to cry on, he is the rock of our group. He has short dirty blonde hair and warm hazel eyes.

     Then there is the boy that I think of as Hugo, which used to be mind or intellect in Spanish, because he is the most logical of the group, he plans everything, and his brain is always going a hundred miles a minute. He has longish black hair and light greyish blue eyes.

    Then there is Kai, which means sea in Hawaiian and in Japanese, because he can be calm and relaxed, but his mood can sometimes change to the angry waters that happen during a storm at sea, he also has the potential to be as destructive as a tsunami. He also is the one with the most "go with the flow" attitude out of us with medium length reddish brown hair and brown eyes.

    Nessa is the first one to see me and quickly says​, "Happy​ birthday, girl!"

      Followed by Alisanne saying, "Happy birthday, whoa girl you look like you had a bad night, is everything okay?"

     That is one of the things I love about Alisanne's character, she will tell you the truth, but is still kind. "Yeah, everything is fine now, I just got really upset last night when I found out that my dad can't get off early today, in fact he has to work a double shift because he asked to get off early. It just made me so mad that I couldn't spend time with my only parent on my sixteenth birthday. I know it's selfish, but I want my father to be with me on the one day that is supposed to be honoring my life!"

     As I say this an angry tear rolls down my face. Arlo grabs me into a hug as Kai tries to calm me down by saying that we'll have our own celebration just the six of us and that I'm not selfish for wanting to be with my dad on my birthday, since my mom​ died (no one knows what actually happened to my mother they all think it was a car accident).

       Everyone then starts telling me how we can celebrate after school today, I smile as the people I consider my family outside of my father plan a birthday celebration for me.

      "Thanks everyone, you guys have no idea how much this means to me." I tell my friends right before the bell rings and our group dispatches to our classes.
                              🔥
All throughout the day the ominous feeling didn't pass, in fact with each passing hour it intensified. When I met up with my friends for the evening they planned for me this morning​, I was almost sick with dread. When my friends took me to the best restaurant in town, the one that is only used by people who have saved up months in advance or by those who have just been matched, I tried to tell them that it was too expensive, but Hugo cut me off and said,

      "It's not too expensive if we spilt the bill five ways, and plus I have a bit of money saved up because I don't spend it right away, so I have money in case I find an important event or need arises."

     "Wait five ways, but there are six of us, are you saying that you're going to pay for me?" I ask, and they all nod their heads. "Guys, I can't let you do that."

     I was going to say more, but Alisanne cut me off by saying, "We want to do it, and don't you even think of saying or thinking that you aren't worth it because you are one of the kindest, most selfless people I know, and you deserve to be a little selfish on the day that is supposed to celebrate your life. So, in my opinion you are not only worth it, but you deserve it."

     She knows me so well that I didn't even try to finish my statement because it includes the exact thought that she said she didn't want to hear. When we walked in the restaurant the dread was a lead ball in my stomach. As we sat down and our waiter came the ominous feeling of dread turned into deep, instinctual, ice cold hatred.

    Our waiter was around our age with short, spiked, black hair was tall at least 6'3", in fact I only knew he was our age by the fact that only people within the matching program age limit can be wait staff in restaurants, before we are assigned our life time jobs when we are eighteen during our assigning ceremony.

     His frame was very heavy in muscle mass he might be considered hot if it weren't for his eyes, they were the eyes of a shark, so dark of a brown they appeared black, those eyes leered at me like I was his next meal. When he spoke his voice was like a siren, deadly, haunting, slightly creepy, and luring. As he gave his speech telling us the specials, his greedy eyes drifted from me to my female friends, never seeming to stay on our eyes, focusing more on our lips; if he even look at our faces at all. Every time his eyes landed on me, his slimy tongue would wet his lips, every time that happened I suppressed a shudder.

     In his siren voice he said, "So, what are you guys celebrating tonight?"

     Arlo pulled me closer to him and said in a slightly agitated voice,"We're celebrating her birthday."

    Our waiter finally looked at the boys with a slight look of disgust before it vanished and he returned his gaze to me, "Really, how old are you turning, beautiful?"

     Never before had the word beautiful made me feel, so exposed. I answered not even trying to hide my repulsion, "Sixteen."

     At first, he seemed surprised by my frigid tone, then he smiled and said, "Well sweet thing, that means you're​ now in the matching program, so you might want to work on that tone, a lot of​ guys won't like a match that speaks with such venom, you never know who'll be your match," then he leaned​ close to me and whispered, "But, I like girls to have a little venom, I've found those with the most venom are the softest to touch."

      As he said this he strokes my arm,and this time I don't hold back my shudder. He see this and laughs, then goes to put in our drink order. When I look to my friends I see different degrees of hatred and disgust all pointed towards our retreating waiter.

    That's when I say, "I've lost my appetite let's​just pay for our drinks​ and leave," the girls agree and Alisanne adds, "Yeah, that guy is such a slime ball!"

    The guys need no further persausion and form a protective cluster around the girls of our group. Somehow I know that this won't be the last time we see the slime ball, and I know we only saw the surface of his revolting personality.