10 Years, 5 Months, 3 Weeks, 4 Days, 19 Minutes, 21 Seconds
I stare at the numbers glowing faintly on my wrist, gazing in wonder at how the screen flowed so smoothly with the skin in which it was embedded. Only ten-and-a-half years. It seemed like such a long time, but I understood that I was lucky to have such a short time. Most people began with at least twenty years on their countdown.
I studied the screen implant, seeing only the countdown and the name of the manufacturer: Eros Enterprises, which was inscribed in the lower left corner of the monitor. I had just gotten the surgery today, and already the pain in my arm was leaving.
Every six-year-old had the option to receive the implant, and after much consideration, I decided I'd go for it. After all, who wouldn't want a watch that counted down to the very second they met their soulmate?
"Percy, it's time for bed!" I sigh as I hear my mom yelling from downstairs. I always have to go to bed early.
"But mom!" I yell back, not quite ready to go to sleep.
"No buts! Go to sleep!" She quickly responds, not in the mood for any tomfoolery.
I sigh and give in, knowing it's useless to argue. I slip into my Spiderman pajamas and climb into my bed, taking one last look at my watch, knowing that somewhere out there, there was someone that saw the same numbers glowing back at them.
8 Years, 3 Months, 2 Weeks, 3 Days, 49 Minutes, 56 Seconds
"Whatya think she'll be like?" I whisper to my best friend Grover.
"Probably a crazy, if she's your soulmate," He says grinning at me in the darkness of room, only the soft glow of my night-light illuminating his face.
"Hey!" I whisper-yell as I punch him in the arm. "I'm serious!"
"Ouch!" He says, rubbing his arm. "How would I know, anyway?"
"At least tell me what it's like when you finally meet her," I say, whispering the word "her" with wonder. Grover had met his soulmate around six months ago, and had never really told me what it was like. He was lucky to have such a short timer.
Grover pauses, as if thinking, before he responds. "It's the best feeling in the world! Time feels like it stops, and then everything in your life just seems to get better."
"Wow," I say with envy. "It's so unfair that you had such a short timer! I wish I had already met my soulmate."
"Tough luck, Perce, we can't all be as awesome as I am," he says cockily, earning him another punch in the arm. Ever since I had gotten my monitor, not a day had gone by without me thinking of what she would be like.
"How's Juniper doing anyway?" I say, knowing that the mention of his soulmate would move our conversation along.
"She's… okay." He says, blushing. "We talk a lot, and we even walk to school together sometimes! She's so cool!" As he continues rambling, I look down at my own monitor, watching the seconds tick by, already ready anxious for the moment those numbers would reach zero.
4 Years, 5 Months, 3 Weeks, 4 Days, 11 Minutes, 29 Seconds
Today was my twelfth birthday, and my patience still hadn't gotten any better. In fact, with each day that passed, it's gotten worse. Every waking minute of my life has been spent worrying about everything, whether or not she'll be smart, pretty, or kind. Part of me worries she'll be a jerk, but then I remember that we're soulmates, so no matter what happens, I'll love her.
We went over the topic of the "Soulmate Stopwatch" in class today. Our teacher, Ms. Dodds started crying in the middle of the lesson, and no one could figure out why. That is, until she explained the dark side to these monitors. She told us the story of the one morning she woke up to find a black screen where her countdown should have been, and how it broke her heart. She told us that if the screens went dark, it meant that our soulmate was gone, and that we'd never get to meet them.
She also talked of the people that missed their soulmates. The watches only counted down once, and if you missed the moment, it'd be impossible to find them. She told stories of old friends and family that had missed theirs, because of simple things such as stopping to tie your shoelace or missing a bus. After that, my shoelaces were always tied, and I was always on time.
1 Year, 8 Months, 3 Weeks, 1 Day, 38 Minutes, 1 Second
I hate my watch. All it ever did was mess with my life, and it made me anxious and stressed over someone I didn't even know yet. It was stupid and pointless, but once you get the dumb thing it won't come off until it hits zero.
I guess part of this rant is because I met a girl at school today. Her name was Rachel, and she was quite possibly the most beautiful and interesting girl I had ever seen. I may or may not have a SMALL crush on her, but it doesn't matter anyway. These stupid watches made sure of that.
1 Year, 1 Month, 3 Weeks, 4 Days, 41 Minutes, 51 Seconds
Rachel met her soulmate today. I knew this was coming, but I still let my attraction for her grow. I was planning on telling her about my feelings, but then she met him, and just seemed so happy. I stayed back and let her have her moment, knowing that it was now back to just me and my countdown, ticking away the seconds until I met some girl that would "change my life".
Grover and Juniper also started dating today, which I thought was sorta stupid considering that they already knew they were a match made in heaven. Nowadays, more and more people are meeting their soulmate earlier, and it turns out I was wrong about having a short timer compared to others. It seems that I'm the only one without someone to be with these days.
0 Years, 5 Months, 1 Week, 2 Days, 142 Minutes, 13 Seconds
"I see your timer's almost up, huh Perce? Ready to meet that 'Special Girl'" asks Grover, smirking at me.
I blush before responding. "I guess… I can't believe I'm already this close, it feels like just yesterday when I got the implant." I may have gotten over my hate for the little screen that was embedded in the underside of my forearm, and I'll admit I'm pretty excited.
"Just yesterday? C'mon man, that was like nine years ago! We didn't even know each other then!"
"I know, I know, I just can't believe time has flown by so quickly."
"I guess that makes sense. Hey man, sorry, but I gotta go, Juniper told me to meet up with her in a couple minutes. See you around?"
"You know it." I watch him leave with a smile, knowing that that will be me in just a couple months.
0 Years, 0 Months, 2 Weeks, 3 Days, 232 Minutes, 12 Seconds
I'm so close I can feel it. The anticipation is so intense; it's almost impossible to think about anything else. Everyone else sees this and offer knowing glances, even total strangers I see on the bus smile at me when they see my monitor. Not an hour goes by that I don't check my countdown, just in case it goes black and I have to experience the worst.
0 Years, 0 Months, 1 Week, 0 Days, 198 Minutes, 29 Seconds
"Only one week I see," says my English teacher, Mr. Blofis as he grins.
"Yeah! I can't wait!" I say, surprised at my own enthusiasm. I usually don't talk to teachers, but I'm feeling more and more giddy the closer I get.
Mr. Blofis smiles knowingly and rubs the small part of his forearm where his watch used to be, before turning to me and smirking. "Just make sure this doesn't get in the way of your classwork, okay?"
"You got it Mr. Blofis!" I respond, laughing at his expected "teacher" response.
O Years, 0 Months, 0 Weeks, 0 Days, 123 Minutes, 18 Seconds.
"Dang man, you're almost there, you ready?" asks Grover, slinging his arm around my shoulder and grinning.
"I really don't know! I mean what if she doesn't like me, or what if I don't like her? Or what if-"
"Dude, just calm down. I'm sure everything will turn out just fine. Just be yourself, alright man? I mean if I'm your best friend, you gotta be doing something right." He grins and slaps me on the back, trying to be reassuring. "Hey, Juniper and I are going out to that small café downtown, you wanna come? Who knows, you might even meet her there."
I glare at him, before I realize that he was just trying to help. "I guess it couldn't hurt…"
0 Years, 0 Months, 0 Weeks, 0 Days, 32 Minutes, 45 Seconds
"I swear Grover, if you make me miss my soulmate I will murder you," I say, now very anxious and slightly mad.
"Look, I knew there was going to be this much traffic I would've taken a left on Jist! I'm sorry okay!, don't worry though, I'll get us there on time!"
"You better, or you won't have a mouth to apologize with!"
0 Years, 0 Months, 0 Days, 8 Minutes, 12 Seconds
"See I told you we'd make it!" Says Grover as he pulls in front of the Café, a place called Java N' Jazz.
"Yeah yeah, don't act like you saved me or anything. C'mon, let's go order," I say as I open the door to his car and begin to get out.
"Hey, you finally made it!" Says a girl who I recognize as Juniper approach our car. She quickly goes over to Grover and kisses him before acknowledging me with a hug.
"Hey Tall- Wait, you only have a couple minutes until you meet your soulmate! Oh my gosh, why didn't you tell me? Come on, she might be in the café!"
She grabs my arm and tugs me into the café.
0 Years, 0 Months, 0 Days, 2 Minutes, 10 Seconds
I glance around nervously, trying to look for anyone that looked life changing as I sip my coffee, the butterflies in my stomach fluttering at increasing speeds. After about a minute and a half, I realize she must not be in the café and I rush outside, determined not to miss her.
0 Years, 0 Months, 0 Days, 0 Minutes, 48 Seconds
I don't see anyone with the exception of the stream of traffic, and my clock was still counting down.
0 Years, 0 Months, 0 Days, 0 Minutes, 32 Seconds
Wait! There's someone crossing the street, this could be her! My heart skips a few beats…
0 Years, 0 Months, 0 Days, 0 Minutes, 18 Seconds
She's coming into view-
0 Years, 0 Months, 0 Days, 0 Minutes, 10 Seconds
And there she is; a short-ish cute black hair-brown eyes, eyes that are staring at me. I make my way over and I'm about to introduce myself when I hear I loud car speeding down the road.
0 Years, 0 Months, 0 Days, 0 Minutes, 3 Seconds
I then realize that there's another girl behind her, and she took my breath away. She was without a doubt the most beautiful girl I had ever seen, tall, though shorter than me, blonde hair, stunning grey eyes that were currently busy in a book, I think it was "Pride and Prejudice". Too late I realized what was about to happen, and before I could even react-
0 Years, 0 Months, 0 Days, 0 Minutes, 1 Second
The car hit her with a thud, throwing her off her feet and directly toward mine. She looked up at me, struggling to breathe as I heard a soft beep coming from my forearm.
0 Years, 0 Months, 0 Days, 0 Minutes, 0 Seconds
I stare at her as I realize there's also a beep coming from her forearm, and I suddenly lose all my breath as I understand what this means. I rapidly run over to her and kneel beside her, holding her hand, and then-