KATRINA’S POV
Things happened very quickly after that. We got home and checked for damage- there wasn’t much. Whit’s End was a wreck though, so Eugene and Buck returned to the shop to help with the clean-up. This left Eliza and I home alone. She didn’t pay much attention to me for the duration of this time. For most of it, she stayed in her room. That was okay. It gave me a chance to watch the news. And there was a lot of it. Over fifty riots had broken out through America that past night. Destruction now polluted major cities around the country, and people were angry about it. Frantic for an answer, talk show hosts, newscasters, and celebrities shared their opinions on what should be done. The internet was a hornet’s nest. Every corner was full to the brim with arguments and criticism. It was scary. The arguments were clear. Christians have performed an act of terrorism. Because of this act, the general population no longer feels safe- particularly because there was no consistent way of identifying someone as a Christian. The riots were the public’s response to the emotionally impactful nature of such a substantial tragedy. Something was going to have to be done, and everyone knew it.
After a few hours of this- I put down my phone. Shut my computer. Turned off the television. I didn’t know what was going to happen, but watching chaos ensue wasn’t going to fix anything. I would spend time with my daughter. Try to forget. It was lunchtime anyway.
“Eliza?” I tapped on her door, then opened it. “What’re you doing?”
“We’re having a tea party,” she stated firmly, pouring some invisible drink into her rabbit’s cup.
“Well, that looks like fun. What kind of tea are you having?”
“Apple tea like you have in the morning.”
“Hm. Well, that is my favorite.”
“Do you want to join the party?”
“You know, I would. But I have some grilled cheese downstairs waiting to be eaten.”
Her eyes lit up.
“With the pink bread?” She asked intently.
I smiled and nodded. I’d been putting food coloring on Eliza’s bread to make it pink. With a squeal of delight, Elizabeth ran downstairs, and I followed. Such a joyful child. So oblivious. Something about our Imagination Station adventure made the trauma that came before melt in the child’s mind. All she could talk about during lunch was the beautiful palace we were guests in last night.
“And all the beautiful plants!” She remembered, taking a sip of chocolate milk.
“Oh yeah, I liked those. What did you think of-”
Eugene and Buck came in through the garage door. I stood up, shocked at their sudden return.
“I thought you weren’t-”
“So, you haven’t heard,” Buck swallowed hard.
“Heard what?”
“A decision has been made,” Eugene said, taking a seat at the kitchen table. With his head resting against his hand in a thoughtful daze he sighed.
“We have to be registered.”
“What do you mean registered? For- for what?”
“We have to register- we can do it online- to say that we’re Christians.”
“What?”
“They’ll then… later on, send us some form of identification.”
“This is the part I don’t understand,” Buck chimed in from the counter, “What form of identification? Are we getting stars on our coats or-”
“No… but you’re thinking along the right lines. We’ll most likely have to wear some sort of bracelet or pin.”
“Okay.”
“This is so dumb,” Buck cursed. I gave him a look.
“Sorry, but what am I supposed to say?” He continued. Sighing, he picked up his backpack and moved towards the stairs.
“We should move to Yorkshire!”
“Are we moving?” Eliza asked, having paused her lunch-eating. I took a deep breath.
“No.”

JASON’S POV
My heartbeat was a hammer. Banging against my chest. I panted, my head against my steering wheel. I couldn’t calm down. Since when couldn’t I calm down? I knew when. It was when the people I cared about were in danger. I had slaved to protect my country for years. Now I was going to have to protect everyone but those I cared about. I just wanted my big brother. He had always been unwaveringly brave. Unashamedly firm in his stance. Was agreeing to this a mistake?
“Jason?” Connie opened the passenger seat’s door and sat down.
Connie. One of the two people I could cry in front of. And I did cry. I would learn cry so much harder…
“Connie. It’s happening. I can’t do it. I can’t.”
“Shh. Hey, we don’t know that. Jason? Look at me. We don’t know that.” She held my hand so tightly.
I nodded, struggling to take in air. After a few minutes of silence, I forced out,
“I could never hurt Jules.”
“Jules?”
“Connie. I love her as my own daughter and if I had to see her- like- like that it would kill me.”
She stared at me a moment, speechless.
“And you,” I continued. “Connie. I need you.”
“You don’t need me,” she reassured. She knew she was wrong. I wasn’t mentally stable. Why Connie and my dad were the only ones who could make me feel safe, I didn’t know.
“Yes, I do. I’d fall apart if anything happened to you. I know I would.”
She sighed, eyebrows heavy.
“Then I think I have a solution.”
“What’s that?”
“Let’s get married.”

EUGENE’S POV
“This is so dumb!” Buck groaned, leaning against the fireplace.
“You’ve mentioned that,” sighed Katrina, who was mending my mennat for the fourth time that week.
“It’s just- I don’t know. I want things back to normal. That’s all.”
“Honestly, you could be more grateful. The riots have stopped.”
“At the expense of others. Sure, the protests have stopped, but forty people have been murdered. Forty.”
“I know. And those people were punished.”
“It doesn’t make it right.”
“…I didn’t say it did.”
“Very well then, Elizabeth. Your hair has been successfully braided!” I announced, lifting up the handheld mirror. She let out a gasp of satisfaction.
“I look like a princess!”
“I couldn’t agree more,” I smiled. Eliza jumped off my lap and hopped across the room to show her mother. She had just finished my mennat.
“You look beautiful, dear. Here, try that.”
I took it from her, then put it on, the cloth strip causing immediate discomfort around my neck. I glanced over at Buck, who was playing with his identical one.
“It’s a-a bit more comfortable,” I lied. Katrina quickly saw my dishonesty and sighed.
“You’d get used to it if you wore it around the house like Buck does.”
“No, you wouldn’t,” Buck chimed in, heading towards the kitchen.,
“Well I’ve gotten used to mine.”
“That’s because it’s on your forehead rather than strangling you,” I scoffed, removing the tight leather strip from my throat.
“You’ve obviously never worn something on your forehead for seventeen hours. It can be very uncomfortable.”
“I’m sure.”
“Hm. We’d better leave soon if we want to make it to the movie tonight,” she realized, having glanced at her watch.
“I don’t want to go,” Buck said, popping a cheese puff into his mouth.
“To the store? Yeah, no one else does either,” Katrina snapped. She quickly apologized. “I um- I need to get my purse from my room.”
Once she’d left, I caught Buck’s eyes.
“What?”
“You could have been more sensitive.”
He rolled his eyes.
“I don’t get why she’s been so uptight lately.”
“You’ve been just as tense.”
“I’ve been stating my opinion.”
“Right. Well, let’s just- get this over with. We can discuss your attitude later.”
“Sure.”

KATRINA’S POV
I stood in front of a changing room mirror. I wore a white tulle skirt that reached my knees. Turning to look at my new pile of clothing, holding varying colours of brown and tan, I took a deep breath. Buck was right. This was dumb. The American government was regulating the wardrobe of a group of its citizens. So much for The Land of the Free. What would the kids think once school began? I felt ashamed thinking about it. To be suddenly labelled- it was scary. I quickly changed out of my last government-approved dress and met Connie at the checkout counter, who was standing by Eliza. They were both holding several bags of clothes. Readily aware of the metal fish sign hanging in the middle of my forehead. I wanted to get back home, where I felt normal again.
We waved goodbye to Connie and met the boys in the car. Buck got in in a huff as usual.
“How’d we fare?” Eugene asked, pulling out of our parking place. Buck sarcastically chuckled a,
“Seriously?”
Eugene, slightly hurt by his rudeness, backed off.
“I um- I found some tulle skirts so… that was good.”
“How about we-”
“Can we just go home. Please?”
“-alright.”

CONNIE’S POV
“Hey babe,” I answered Jason’s call.
“You’re ridiculous,” he laughed over the phone. I laughed too.
“Have you set a court date yet?”
“Yeah, next week.”
“Cool. You haven’t told your father yet, have you?”
“…he’d think it was weird.”
“It is weird. I can explain it to him if you won’t.”
“Nah. I can do it. Maybe after next week though.”
“…well okay. What about everyone else? With the age gap and everything?”
“Age gap?” Jason asked, feigning ignorance.
“You’re twelve years older than me, Jason.”
“Oh that. Well- do we have to tell everyone?”
“I guess not.”
“Okay. For now, we’ll keep it to ourselves. Just one question?”
“What’s that?” I asked, turning the corner.
“What about Jeff? Will you tell him?”
“Yeah. I plan on it.”
“Are you gonna stop seeing each other?”
“I don’t know. We need to figure this out. I want to keep seeing him.”
“That’s okay.”
“But we could never get married.”
“Sure you could. I think legal and spiritual marriages are separate, don’t you?”
“…I guess.”
“So, keep dating!”
“But I feel like I should be spending more time with you-”
“Connie. This is just a precaution. You know that. You’re not obligated to spend time with me unless-”
“I know,” I took a deep breath. It was a lot to swallow along with everything else that’d been going on. “Okay. So, it’s alright if Jeff and I go out tonight?”
He laughed. “Of course.”