#Chapter 15: His Proposition

I was shocked into silence for the umpteenth time in the last few minutes. I'd always doubted Cathy's declaration that she loved my smell. I was sure she was just being kind.

Was it possible she was telling the truth? Had I been wrong all these years?

If Charles was telling the truth, the connection was beyond what most of us hoped for. An A+ match was rare in our society. The perfect S was so rare it was practically a myth.

"This makes no sense," I said. I tried to picture our interactions during school, to remember if there was anything more than the casual hellos, than sitting next to each other in silence. There was no sign that I was an S to him.

“How could you have no idea?" Charles frowned. "What do I smell like to you then?”

“You smell wonderful, but I couldn’t tell you a grade.”

“You don’t have a grading system?" Charles was shocked. "I thought you confessed to me in the parking lot because…”

I shook my head. “I don’t have that ability."

“Then this is a one-way S match