She'd done it, she'd actually survived to freshman year of high school. She let out a slow breath and headed for her locker. "Soulreader! Soulreader!" Her breath came out short. She ignored the voice shouting after her and focused on entering her locker combination. Soul reader was a name she had acquired early in middle school for her "ability" to read soulmarks. She thought the whole system was a scam, but if she could make money off a con everybody else already believed in who was she to argue. "Soulreader!" And that was right in her ear. She flinched and turned to face the obnoxious shouter, who of course had caused a crowd to gather around them. Ass. Couldn't people respect that she wanted a fresh start in High school?
"Can I help you?" She hissed.
The boy thrust ten dollars at her. "Beth Johnson told me you read soulmarks. I need you to read mine." Beth Johnson had been paying her to read her soulmark every two weeks since fifth grade, of course Beth would continue to send people her way even when she said she was done with all of that. She should have cut Beth off back in the seventh grade.
She heaved a heavy sigh and pocket the money, after all ten bucks was ten bucks. "Alright, show me." She really hoped his soulmark wasn't someplace she'd get in trouble for telling him to show her in the middle of a crowded hallway. There was a reason she used to read soulmarks in the out of order girls' bathroom back at the middle school. Luckily the boy just yanked up the long-left sleeve of his t-shirt. His soulmark rested just above the bend of his elbow.
She grabbed his arm and pulled him closer, ignoring his squawk of protest, her eyes were glued to his soulmark. She might have thought it was a sham, but she loved studying soulmarks, taking them apart piece by piece. The boy's soulmark was an emerald peacock, however the eyes on the tail feathers were black butterflies. The peacock's eyes were fire. She hummed as she thought of all the possible meanings. "The peacock could mean someone who likes the finer things in life. The butterflies possibly flighty, or running from something, pain, death or fear based on the color. Fire usually represents passion. Maybe you should look for a passionate person who likes to travel and pretty things. Perhaps a Sagittarius." She never made guarantees. She wouldn't open herself up to legal issues. She was no better than a horoscope, but when it came to soulmarks people didn't seem to pay that much attention to just how vague her answers really were, though all the possible metaphors were explored. The boy actually smiled at her before running off. She shook her head and turned back to her locker.
Someone crashed into the locker next to her's. She glanced over at the strawberry blonde. Based on the way she was draped against the locker KC was willing to bet she'd done it on purpose. "So…. What was that?" She drawled in a way that screamed she had all the time in the world, but KC didn't.
"I read his soulmark." KC said curtly pulling her biology textbook out of her locker and slammed the door shut.
"Obviously, but no one can read soulmarks."
"I never claimed to be able to do the impossible. However, I pick out the metaphors that I see. I've heard no complaints." KC replied. She turned to face the girl fully. "I have a class to get to that I don't want to be late for. If you have any more questions talk to Beth Johnson." After all Beth had basically single handedly built KC's little enterprise and she actually believed in soulmarks. KC flounced away, a power move she'd learned from girls like the strawberry blonde.
Her stomach was tied up in knots all through Biology. She didn't want to read people's soulmarks anymore. She wanted a fresh start, away from all that nonsense. KC could barely focus on class and when class ended she rushed out of the room. She wasn't expecting to get dragged into an empty classroom by the strawberry blonde from earlier. KC heaved a heavy sigh and made herself comfortable sitting criss-cross applesauce on one of the desks. The girl was joined by a boy who did not look happy to be here.
"I talked to Beth Johnson." Obviously, KC didn't think she would have been dragged to the classroom otherwise. "She speaks highly of your ability to read soulmarks, but you've been reading hers every two weeks for the past four years and she still hasn't found her soulmate."
"I don't promise soulmates. Soulmarks represent your soulmate's soul, a look at their very essence. I read the clues laid out in front of me and tell people what I see." KC said plainly, drumming her long nails on the desk next to her.
"Then read mine. And Jackson's." The girl commanded. KC just barely resisted rolling her eyes.
"Couples are double, twenty a piece." Reading couple soulmarks always led to awkwardness so if KC had to deal with it she might as well get good money out of it. The pair forked over the cash which KC quickly pocketed. The girl showed her soulmark first.
The girl's soulmark was on the left side of her chest, just under the collar of her shirt. The mark was an arrow with a silver head and a gorgeous red rose tied together with barbed wire. It was beautiful and ethereal. "The arrow can represent strength and the rose beauty. Tied together with barbed wire suggests that they might be guarded, or that their beauty and strength might be tied together with something far deadlier." The girl looked over at the boy, assessing, trying to see if her mark fit him. KC thought guarded could be an adjective that could be used to describe him, but she felt it would be the wrong one.
The girl moved, and the boy took her place revealing his mark which was on the center of his back. His mark was a wolf head composed of words written in a neat cramped handwriting in front of the Eiffel Tower. The Eiffel tower was cracked. "The crack in the tower probably means whatever symbolism the tower stands for is broken, maybe just hidden. Given the tower is the most popular one in Paris, city of lights where most people speak the language of love I'd say something like a romantic which would be supported by your soulmate's handwriting making most of the mark. The wolf could be anything from strength to they're a longer to they do a lot better in a group."
"That's not my handwriting." The girl accused, looking over KC's shoulder.
"Not my problem." And this was why she charged double for couples.