the other side of paradise- karlnap

1- Pity Party

Karl fiddled with the cuff of his sweater, pulling at the string until it snapped off quietly. He dropped the loose strand off the side of his desk, casting a glance a the murky skies outside and preparing himself for the walk home in the cold. He let out a tiny sigh, snapping his attention back to his teacher as he droned on about geography- or maybe calculus, he didn't remember what class he was in. He caught the final words of what his teacher said before the bell rang and his classmates moved their belongings into their bags rapidly, leaving the room in a matter of seconds. Karl was lucky enough to be one of the first to leave, picking up his pace as he half ran down the front steps and began his twenty-minute long walk back home.

Thunder rolled across the sky, making him grumble under his breath and pick his pace up even more, to the point where he was half jogging back home, shivering as cold rain trickled down the back of his neck. Cars whizzed past next to him, one of them getting too close and making a spray of cold rain water fly up and soak his clothes

"Great" Karl breathed, grimacing as his socks squished in his shoes "Absolutely amazing- my favorite pair of socks" he began sprinting down the street, his umbrella gripped in his hand yet he refused to open it. After all, what's more embarrassing than having an umbrella while it's raining?

He skidded around a corner, almost falling to the ground when his foot sank into a patch of mud. Karl groaned, shaking the mud off his shoe as he continued running to his house, which was now less than a block away. By the time he arrived at his front door he was completely soaked, his backpack was wet and his umbrella was still closed and clutched tightly in his closed hand. Karl pushed the door open, waddling inside and kicking his shoes off before waddling upstairs and to the bathroom where he stripped off his soggy shirt and jeans, leaving his shoes on the bathroom floor as he wrapped a towel around his waist and walked to his room, grabbing clothes and throwing them on quickly. He still hadn't seen his mother, so he assumed she hadn't come home from work. Karl took the stairs two at a time and walked into the kitchen, finding a birthday card next to a small cake, and a present

'Happy Birthday Karl, hope you enjoy your gift
-xx, Mom'

Karl sighed heavily, sitting down on the kitchen table and picking at his cake glumly as he reached for the present. As he unwrapped it, he found himself pleasantly surprised. It was a necklace-  a simple silver chain with a matching silver ring hanging at the front. As Karl further inspected the ring, he saw an inscription on the inside

"'To the moon and back'" he hummed softly, clumsily unclasping the necklace and trying (and failing) to put it on himself. After about five minutes, Karl gave up, and put it back inside the box gently, turning back to his cake and noticing a little note tucked underneath it. His heart skipped a beat as he pulled it out. The paper was lined, and folded to look like a letter

A little extra but okay  he thought, running his finger over the panda sticker that held the note together. He stood and grabbed a fork from a drawer before sitting down again, scooping a piece of cake into his mouth as he opened the letter. Inside was a short paragraph that his soulmate wrote him. Karl's heart fluttered as he scanned the page over and over, a wide grin. on his face

Hello!
If you're reading this, I guess you're my soulmate. I'm sadly not allowed to tell you my name, but anything else is free game. I live in Orlando, Florida, and I attend Essempe High. I'm seventeen years old and I'm a guy. I hope we can meet someday, I'm sure we'll have lots to talk about and even more to learn from each other

much love,
S. (your soulmate ;) )

Karl grinned stupidly at the initial on his paper, and even more at the information disclosed on the note. Not only did his soulmate live in the same town- he went to the same highschool as him. Karl shakily took his phone out and messaged George instantly