Over the days leading up to his graduation from high school, Samuel didn't let the letter, or the limited amount of time left he had with his family before he would be setting off to meet his soon-to-be bride and her family. It was a time for celebration and fun and that was exactly what he did.
He created a list of things that he wanted to do, most of them had to be done in the evening so that his younger brother and sister could join them. His father even went to go pick up his baby sister from their grandparents so that she wouldn't miss out on the fun. He invited Roger and two of his other friends, Kimberly and James to join then for some of the outing such as when they went bowling and got pizza and visited his favorite amusement.
He explained the situation to Roger over the phone that night after he had gotten the letter to let him know the plan had changed. On the one hand, Samuel was happy that Roger would be joining him and his family rather than Roger dragging him around to have the fun that he thought his friend should have before getting ready for the married life. It meant that he wouldn't have to worry about anything going wrong.
While Samuel had been given a lot of freedom growing up, his parents had still been cautious about what they allowed him to do. He was never barred from going on field trips or similar school events that occurred, but he was limited in what sports he could take part in out of fear that he might end up getting hurt. He was taught things such as swimming, self-defense and other things his parents thought were important to make sure that he would be safe and take care of himself.
Despite these things, Samuel never felt as though there was anything that he missed out on in life. His parents made sure that within reason of safety anything he was interested in he could partake in or they would go with him. Concerts, movies, amusement parks, other things such as laser tag, paintball that could be done safely and did not require physical contact he was allowed to do as long as he made sure he didn't play with anyone who would be rough with him.
He assumed that his parents were like this because despite the fact that they did not seem to know much about the girl he would be marrying, it seemed as though he still had to make regular updates and reports about him to her father. It felt a little unfair to him as Samuel would have liked some insight into what he was going to be stepping into, but he knew that there was a difference in power dynamic so it was not like his parents could really ask that much from the other since they owed him their debt.
Graduation had been great, his high school made sure as they did each year to make it a spectacular time for those who were graduating. They blasted music, gave congratulations speech, made sure that student body president and vice president gave their speech along with the honor students, this included Samuel who had always made sure to keep his grades at their best despite the hard time Roger gave to him about it. Pictures were taken, party poppers went off and balloons were released. Samuel could be at least thankful that he was allowed to graduate with him family before he had to leave. He made sure to get plenty of pictures with them. After graduation, they went to go eat at one of their favorite family restaurants were he was showered with abundance of praise and congratulations from those who knew him there. The owners even gave him family a discount on their meal.
"So, you really have no idea what this girl is like?" Roger asked as he tossed the black bowling ball, managing to successfully hit half the pins. His parents had agreed to let him and his friends have a night to themselves to celebrate the night of their graduation as long as he made sure that he was back by a decent hour and kept them updated.
"Nope. I don't even know what her name is or how much older or younger than she's supposed to be compared to me. I can't really blame my parents for that thought." Samuel replied, stealing a few fries off his plate before getting ready to take his turn to throw the ball. Bowling Bliss always served the best appetizers, even if they were a little overpriced.
"But like, what if she's not your type or you don't like her?" Roger was trying his best to wrap his head around the situation but was still failing thus far.
"I think the concern is more what if she doesn't like me or decides that I'm unfit to marry her. If she doesn't, I think either my parents or I are going to have to repay the money to their family, or something like that." Samuel replied sighing as he sat down. He managed to get his first strike after throwing the red bowling ball, but he still probably wouldn't be able to overtake the other in points before the game was over.
"Isn't this the kind of thing that usually only happens to women?" His friend Kimberly piped up, "I'm not used to hearing about guys getting forced into an arranged marriage such as this." Kimberly had asked to come with them, but more because she was bored and enjoyed the company rather than because she wanted to play bowling. She never understood what the fun was behind throwing a such a heavy ball and pins it only managed to hit only about a third of the time. She was of Roger's friend as she was into cheer leading and hanged around more of the popular kids. She had straight long blonde hair and dressed in such a way that showed that she came from a fairly well off family, but that she was not a snob.
"It's only because of how things turned out. It was expected that his child was going to be a son and my parents were going to have a daughter, but it turned out the exact opposite. He didn't call the deal off however apparently because he wanted to give his daughter the option to approve or deny it himself." Samuel explained watching as his friend managed to hit a strike, fisting pumping in the air as he watched his points go up on the led screen that showed their scores. His phone suddenly pinged in his pocket, pulling it out he saw that it was from his parents, reminding him that he needed to be home soon so he could get a good night of sleep before he had to leave tomorrow.
"Still, it's a bit weird of a situation." Kimberly mused.
"It is what it is, it's not like I can do anything about it. It's time for me to get going anyways. My parents are going to worry if I do not head home soon since I have to leave tomorrow. I'm sure I'll be able to take to you guys still even while I'm there and let you know how it is." Samuel assured. He quickly finished his food, allowed Roger to win the game as he was going to anyways and gave hugs and quick words of departure before leaving while his friends decided that they were going to stick around a while longer as Roger had called some of his other friends to come by once Samuel had left.
Tomorrow it was going to be time for him to leave and Samuel was doing his best to convince himself that it was going to turn out to be a better experience than his gut was telling him. The girl he assumed couldn't have been that bad despite the kind of family she grew up in.