Annabelle was more or less a logical person, and as she listened to him speak, she realized that what he was saying made sense. It had never occurred to her that she might be paired up with someone who could be a lot older than her, or someone who wasn’t a good person.
Biting her fingernails, Annabelle looked down at the ring in her other hand. Did she really want to do this? It was crazy, but it did make sense, and it seemed like a safer, less risky alternative to the marriage lottery. She had never been an adventuresome person, and maybe this would be good. It wasn’t like it was a real marriage anyway – maybe they could just become really good friends who happened to live together. Besides, if he was going away in six months, she could tolerate six months with him. He seemed like a nice person anyway, and who knew how long she could avoid being paired with someone random? Annabelle was lonely. She couldn't tell her parents, her only family, the truth about what her life was like, and maybe, just maybe, it wouldn't be so bad to finally have a friend to share her life with, someone to keep her company.
“I… Well, I…” Annabelle glanced up at him, her eyes darting back and forth uncertainly. And then, in a rather uncharacteristic move, she nodded. “Okay.”
She didn’t know what possessed her to agree, but she had, and there was no taking it back.