"Mia, wait up."
"Not possible, Lily. I have 3 minutes left. There's no way I'm stopping now," she yells back.
"I don't expect you to stop, just...slow... down," I huff.
Finally, we break through the crowd into Rose park, directly in front of Red Fountain. Mia runs to the edge of the fountain, bouncing on her toes. Her auburn curls bounce around her shoulders and her eyes dart around the plaza. I sit down on the edge of the fountain next to her, looking around with her, the warm summer breeze blowing the mist from the spray against my back. Hearing the voice in my head, I turn around and look over my right shoulder, and I see him. His hair is fire red. He's skinny like Mia but muscular, with large glasses pushed high up on his nose. He and I see each other before Mia notices him. He looks at me and nods in my direction; then he looks at Mia. His eyes lock onto her, watching as she spins every which direction, and he smiles. After a breath, he shakes his head clearing his mind, and makes his way through the crowd, his smile never fading.
When she finally sees him and checks his wrist, tears start to well in both of their eyes. Then the Counters hit. Of course, I can't see them, or any besides mine and my soulmates, as the rules go, but you can tell when a couple's Counters hit zero. It usually crosses their faces. They look at their wrists, and then the "Spark" comes. This is common knowledge taught to us by our parents, teachers, and the rest of Valmont. Even if you don't understand it, you can see it as you walk down the street. From the stories that people have told, when the Counters hit zero, the couple hears a chime, then they feel the "Spark," basically this current of electricity, but gentle and almost calming, then the Counters disappear.
Looking at my best friend and her now soulmate, their Counters just hit zero. Mia and her soulmate stand there staring at each other as if there is no one else in the park, let alone the world. I clear my throat, trying to make them aware that I was still there and that it was starting to get dark.
"Mia. Mia. Hey, Mia," I say, trying to break her out of her trance.
"Oh, right. Hi, I'm Mia," she mumbles, eyes locked on her mates'.
"I'm Skylar," he smiles.
"And I'm Lily, Mia's best friend," I chime, "Mia, I'm happy for you and all, but the sun is setting, and you know how your parents are."
"Right," she pouts, coming back to reality, "This sucks. We just met and I don't even get the chance to actually talk to you."
A tear breaks free and rolls down her cheek as a small sob escapes her. Skylar immediately gathers her in his arms, wiping it away with his thumb.
"Skylar, follow me," I sigh, "You can go with us and take her home, but you have to say goodbye a few houses away, at least until tomorrow. Her parents are strict, so it might take a while until you can meet them."
"Thank you, Lily," he nods as we start walking.
He meant it; I could hear it in his voice. He didn't want to leave her, and I'm glad. Mia has been through so much in the past year. Both grandparents on her mom's side passed away only three weeks ago. One month before that, her dog, Scooter, passed away. The dog she has had for ten years. He was "Her" dog. She was the only one Scooter would sleep or be calm with during a storm. He would even push me off the bed when I would stay the night, but it never bothered me. He calmed her nightmares, and she calmed his.
Looking over my shoulder at Mia and Skylar, I knew she would be okay. They held hands so tightly their knuckles were white. She hung on his arm, nodding, and smiling at something he was whispering to her; tears still stained her cheeks. I didn't want to break the bad news to them as we neared her house. They stayed there hugging and saying goodbye until there was only a sliver of light left. Finally breaking away, he kisses her forehead then unexpectedly walks over and envelops me in a hug, trapping my arms at my sides.
"Thank you," he whispers in my ear, "truly."
I wrap my arms around him as best as I can, nodding against him.
"Of course. I will always be there for her, and now that applies to you too," I murmur, my voice catching in my throat.
As he releases me, Mia clings to him again, and he clings to her just as much, maybe even more. Finally, Mia wipes away tears and gives us a small, sad smile before walking a few houses down, going inside, and closing the door behind her. Skylar and I stand there for what feels like forever before he breaks the silence.
"So which way are you headed?" he asks, trying to be polite.
"Back toward Rose park, I live a few streets north of there."
"That's where I'm headed, I'll walk with you. It's already gotten pretty dark with the clouds and all," his eyes trained on the sky.
"Yeah, I guess it has," I say, my back to him and my mind elsewhere, already starting the journey home.
I wasn't trying to come off as rude; I was just exhausted. Between the already long and drawn-out school day, then sitting in the library for 2 hours trying to study for our chem test next Monday, followed immediately by chasing Mia through the after-work crowds in the park, I had reached my limit for the day. Not to mention I still had a 20-minute walk home from Mia's house, a Physics assignment that I guess could wait until tomorrow or Sunday, and a 9-hour shift at my part-time job at the zoo starting at 7:30 am that I was seriously considering calling in sick for. Saturdays are the busiest and the messiest. When you are one of only five student workers, 3 of which are part-time keepers in assistance to only one head keeper, Amelia, who is extremely lazy, some days can be extremely long. The other two students have parents in high places, who, once they heard that their children might be cleaning up poop, threatened the zoo until they gave in, giving the two the privilege of working the ticket booth every shift.
"So, I'm confused about something," he says, breaking the silence as we enter the park once again.
"What's up?"
"Earlier, I saw Mia running through the crowd and saw her Counter, so I started following her, but I didn't even see you until the fountain came into view, and there's no way you could see our Counters," he recaps.
"Right," I say, urging him to continue until the inevitable question is asked.
"But you and I saw each other before Mia did, and you seemed to know who I was. How?" he asks.
We stop by the fountain, a smile playing on my lips. I sit down on one of the few benches a little ways away and motion for him to sit beside me. Even though it was already dark, the park is well lit, with the fountain in the center changing colors and streetlamps every 15 feet around the park, with more located randomly throughout. There are two groups of people, one group messing around by the fountain and the other just entering the park from one of the few clubs we have here. On the other side of the fountain, an older couple is slow dancing and whispering to each other, lost in their own little world.
"Your pretty observant, I admire that." I let out a breath, steeling myself for whatever reaction might come, "I have this thing, kind of like a sixth sense of sorts. I kinda just know when people are soulmates."
"No way, I don't believe you," he says, crossing his arms, but his eyes are wide, waiting for me to explain.
"It's true. You're right, I can't see any Counters besides mine, but it's weird; I can just ... tell when a couple is near, and they haven't met," I shrug, "It's like someone is whispering to me, like something inside me is saying 'hey, these two people are meant to be.' I don't always intervene, only when the situation calls for it. When I hear that whisper. Sometimes it's only a push in the right direction; other times, it's pulling someone to the right place. It depends. It has caused both good and bad in the past, but they have all ended well."
"So, your kind of like that Cupid guy from mythology, the one who was like a love god?" he smiles.
"I guess that’s one way to look at it, I don't know much about mythology," I shrug.
"Wait, how could something like that be bad? It sounds awesome. You could help so many people."
"You would be surprised. I have ruined current relationships, though both people come back later and apologize or thank me. I have told people that their soulmates are the same gender as them before that person has come to that conclusion on their own. I have also had a few cases of the exact opposite. More often than not, they all come back and thank me, but in that moment, I'm not really seen at as the good guy," I say.
I could tell exactly what he was feeling just by the way he was looking at me. They say that the eyes are the windows to the soul; I guess it's a bonus on top of this sixth sense that I can look into someone's eye and read every emotion present. I don't know how, but as soon as I see it, I just know what emotion it is: happiness, sadness, disappointment, contempt, it's all crystal clear, and no matter how many emotions swirl or blend, I can separate them and read them all. As Skylar is contemplating what I told him, there was a mixture of sadness, sympathy, bewilderment, amazement, and a hint of jealousy.
"Don't look at me that way," I say, lowering my head and looking at my hands in my lap, "like I said, there have been more good endings than bad. Helping the older couples find their soulmates before they pass, giving them a reason to rest in peace. I've helped friends, family, teachers, and strangers. I enjoy helping people; I love seeing the interactions between them, similar to how you and Mia interacted."
"I still find it hard to believe, but you recognized me, and well, I'm here, aren't I?" he chuckles, rubbing his face.
I am about to speak when the voice directs my attention elsewhere. My eyes drift to the two groups that I noticed when we first got to the park. The group that came from the club had grown closer, passing in front of us. There is a guy in a bright orange sweater and dark skinny jeans with sandy blond hair just past his shoulders. He's laughing with someone else, so distracted that he trips over his own feet and falls face first. He gets up and laughs so hard he falls twice more. I can't help but giggle as my eyes drift to the other group over by the fountain. With his back to the guy on the ground but slightly aimed toward us, he's wearing a blue plaid long-sleeve shirt and jeans, his bright blond hair cut close to his head. He's engrossed in the story he's telling his friends, and they are just as interested in what he's saying. The two groups go their separate ways, but I can't help but smile, knowing that the two would meet soon.
"Before you completely abandon the idea of this sixth sense thing, keep an eye on the guy in the orange sweater and the guy in the blue plaid shirt and get back to me," I tell Skylar, standing, "I have to work tomorrow, but I'm sure I'll see you around. Night."
With that, I walk home.
I walk in about ten minutes after seven, my parents and brother flipping through the channels on the TV in the living room.
"Hey love, if you're hungry, there should be some pizza left if your brother didn't eat it all," mom calls.
"It's her fault she's home late," he shouts back.
"Thanks, but I have work tomorrow, so I might just go to bed early."
"Okay, don't forget we are having your grandparents over for supper tomorrow, so be home by 7," my dad says as I make my way upstairs.
Climbing up the stairs, I drag my feet to my room at the end of the hall. Walking in and shutting the door behind me, I drop my bag on the floor and flop on my bed, my eyelids feeling heavy. Just before sleep takes over, I drag myself out of bed, change clothes, set my alarm for tomorrow, then fall back in bed, sleep claiming me immediately.
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