Free Exceptional by Jess Petosa Page A

interested, but she didn’t want to be tied down to any relationship.  Her mother’s previous relationship had done more harm than good, and Ally wasn’t sure she wanted to risk a similar fate.              But now that she was in the City, Luke had to come along and make her rethink her relationship expectations.  When he was near her, she felt electricity buzzing between them.  The way he looked at her and spoke to her was nothing like what she expected an Exceptional to be.  At least, until he was around his friends.  Then the cocky, stubborn side of him she saw back at the boundary line came back out.  She realized that it should probably bother her, but she found that it heightened her awareness of him.
    She didn’t go inside until her stomach started to rumble, and even though it was well past breakfast, Mazzi gave her a banana and some toast to eat.  Afterward she went up to Luke’s room to use his TV since the other Ordinarys were out on errands.   She copied the steps she had seen Luke do just yesterday and after a few errors she was able to get a movie playing.
        Ally couldn’t read the titles or the covers of the movies she chose, so she had to come up with her own summaries.  She watched several love stories, which peaked her interest based on the inner battle she just experienced in the garden.  Back in the settlement love wasn’t regarded as serious as it was in these movies.  Marriage was important, and many married for love, but it was expected that everyone have a family to help better the community.  This meant that sometimes the Ordinarys in the settlement needed to marry someone they could easily get along with, rather than someone he or she loved.  Since Ally had tentatively planned on going to the City, love had been lost on her.  She didn’t know if Ordinarys in the City were allowed to marry, so she had given up that expectation early on.             But the love in these movies made the characters light up.  They ran through fields, danced around large rooms full of glamorous looking people, and even gazed at the stars from a blanket on a grassy hill.  The stories went on.  As Ally watched she couldn’t help but be reminded of Luke.  She hadn’t known him long at all, but she felt comfortable around him.  As if she had known him all her life, and was really just noticing him now.  He seemed to identify her as a person, not just an Ordinary.  Ally figured he just felt responsible for her, since it was not likely that an Exceptional would fall for an Ordinary.  Things like that only seemed to happen in the movies she was watching, and all this new world had left was reality.    
    THAT AFTERNOON ASHER finished his chores early and offered to teach Ally how to play the piano that sat in the foyer.  Every time she passed the large, glossy instrument she longed to run her fingers along it.  She wanted so badly to hear the music that Sabine said it made.  So when they sat down at the small bench behind it and Asher lifted the cover to keys, she quickly reached out and pressed one down.  A low note emitted from the back of the piano, echoing through the hall.
        Asher laughed at the amazed look on her face and showed her how to position her hands on the keys.  She pressed down several notes at once and winced at the unpleasant sound it made.             “It takes practice”, he said and put his own hands on the keys.               Ally watched as his fingers glided across the keys, making a melody so perfect she started to sway back and forth.             “It’s beautiful,” she murmured, continuing to watch his hands.  She felt dampness on her cheeks and was surprised when she reached up and felt a tear on her cheek.  How many other things had she missed out on because of the virus?  Or maybe just because she’d been born an Ordinary.             The front door slammed open and Asher