Free The Chosen by Celia Thomson

suspiciously like cat food—and honey and wine at the base of each statue. Kind of interesting, from an anthropological perspective, but not something Chloe really felt she could get worked up about.
    “But you have to throw a bouquet,” one of the other girls said. “That way one of us unmarried girls can catch it.”
    “Agreed.” Valerie laughed.
    “Are you going to have your father bring you down the aisle?” Chloe asked, thinking about other possible “patriarchal” aspects of the service.
    “I don’t know who my father is,” Valerie said, shrugging. “He’s probably dead.”
    “Oh,” Chloe said. “I don’t know mine either.”
    The other girl nodded, as if it were obvious.
    “It’s funny … ,” Chloe said slowly, thinking about it. “Everyone is all concerned about finding out who my biological
mom
is, but no one has said anything about my dad.”
    “Uh, Honored One.” Simone coughed delicately.
    “Lineage in the Mai is always determined through the
mother
because you always know who your mother is.”
    “Yeah, but—”
    Alyec cut in. “What she is trying to say, Chloe, is that in the past your husband was not always the father of all your children.”
    She knew it was impolite, but Chloe couldn’t help gaping. Was this a cat-legacy thing? Or was it just a result of the violence and chaos in Eastern Europe?
    Somehow Chloe didn’t think it was the latter. The implications were … not nice images.
    “So, have you and Alyec talked at all?” Valerie asked, changing the subject. “You know, about this?”
    Alyec began to choke on his beer.
    “I’m sixteen!” Chloe said, stunned at the implications of the woman’s question.
    “Oh, I didn’t mean
now
,” she said, laughing heartily. “But do you, you know … have any plans? Going steady?”
    Everyone was staring at her and Alyec interestedly, even Igor. Her boyfriend was completely silent for once and seriously blushing.
    Suddenly Chloe got it. There were fewer Mai than Rhode Islanders—probably fewer than the Amish. Every couple was a pair of potential breeders.
    “Oh, look at the time! Gotta go,” she said without attempting to disguise the lame excuse.
    “Yeah, I’ve got to go find my mom. Uh, early night,” Alyec said instantly, also getting up.
    “Oh, Chloe, you are so funny,” Valerie said. “You too, Alyec. You’re a
perfect
couple.”
    The perfect couple left as quickly as possible without knocking furniture over or books off their shelves.
    “Well, uh, good night,” Alyec said when they were outside.
    “Uh, yeah.” Chloe kissed him, but it was short and sort of perfunctory. He didn’t hold it either. When they finally looked into each other’s eyes, they laughed nervously.

Seven

    A
= 33 degrees,
B
= 95 degrees,
a
= 6 cm What is the length of
b
?

    In the last couple of months, Chloe had grown claws, fought an assassin, died twice, and become the leader of her people. It just didn’t seem fair that she had to deal with
this
as well.
    She took a deep breath, thinking about the late-night study session she’d had with her mom.
Law of sines
.

    a
/sin
A
=
b
/sin
B
6/sin 33 =
b
/sin 95 6/0.5446 =
b
/0.9962
b
= ~10.97

    That seemed right.
    Chloe heaved a deep sigh and peeled the exam off her desktop, where it had stuck from the pressure and hand sweat. Maybe elbow sweat, too.
    She handed it to Mr. Hyde, the calculus and computer teacher who had been quietly waiting for her at his desk, solving a puzzle in
Scientific American
. He took the test from her as if he had forgotten she was there, faintly surprised and pleased. He was ascetically thin and all Vulcan, except for the ears and the sense of humor. All arching eyebrows and flawless logic.
    “Listen,” he said, a little louder than his usual softspoken self. “I was kind of thinking of having you as an alternate on the math team next marking period, after Christmas.”
    Chloe almost dropped her books again.
Her?
She wasn’t a geek—just kind of good at