How Did We Get Into This Mess - KOTLC Oneshots

Sunflower Soulmate | Pt 1

( dance with me in my backyard, boy- lookin' so fine in your corduroy ) 

It was Science when Dex's eyes widened, and he pointed out the koi fish materializing on Sophie's arm. Line by line, more strokes appeared. It was beautiful, but Sophie tugged her sleeve down, glancing around for Ms. Galvin.

"Miss Foster-Ruwen, why must I correct you twice," Ms. Galvin demanded. "First I must supply you with a hair tie, now I have to remind you to roll up your sleeve? This is basic lab readiness."

Sophie cringed, biting her lip. She painstakingly rolled up her sweater, preparing for a lecture. Ms. Galvin's lip curled up in a twisted grimace. All her students knew how hard she cracked down on soulmate marks. Mostly because the teacher didn't have a soulmate.

"Well? You know what to do."

Raking her nails down where the koi fish lay on her arm, Sophie bit back her scream. Details stopped filling in, and she apologized to whoever her soulmate was, hoping they didn't hate her.

"Now, will someone please explain the relevance of Dalton's law to today's experiment?"

Dex jiggled his combination lock, popping his locker open.

"You should really report her, you know," he reasoned. "It probably happens to other people too."

The blonde sighed.

"I swear, I'm this close to snapping," Sophie said, gritting her teeth. "She's threatened me with detention before, but at this point I don't even care anymore. I'm not going to keep punishing myself for something my soulmate is doing- and neither of us deserve it!"

"Well, it's going away," Dex observed.

He was right. The lines were blurring, fading and made a mess of. Black seeped off her skin, a faint trace of what had been there the only thing left behind.

"They must have washed it off," Sophie whispered, a soft smile on her face. Her expression changed to one of confusion as something else started to spell out on her arm.

"It's a phone number," Dex yelped. "With an area code near us!"

Sophie's face was stuck, shocked. She was frozen.

"What do I do?"

"Call them!"

"I can't call them! They could be some sort of criminal!"

"Then text them!"

She nodded, exhaling. Sophie put her textbook back into her locker, mentally cursing Foxfire Academy for not going digital. She took out her empty lunchbox, to-do folder, computer, and charger, slipping them in her school-supplied messenger bag.

"See you after- what language are you taking this semester again," Dex asked, eyebrows furrowing.

Sophie had the uncanny ability to become fluent in whatever language she focused on. Photographic memory definitely helped- she could scan the english to whatever dictionary and conjugation charts. Then it was just pronunciation. 

"Hindi. Spanish and French were last year, and Mandarin was last semester!"

"Yeah, yeah, no need to brag."

"Says the sophomore who mentions practically leading his Advanced Engineering class every other day," Sophie laughed

"How else am I supposed to show up Wonderboy?"

Sophie rolled her eyes, waving goodbye as she left.

She couldn't focus the rest of the day. What do you say to your soulmate? What kind of first impression did she want to make? Oh god, what if they had given her a fake number- like the number to the pizza place a couple blocks away?

Voicing her fears to Dex on the walk home, he pursed his lips.

"Well, for one, the pizza place isn't in that area code," he reassured her, pulling up google maps. "The number is in Adanac. The side next to East," he explained, when Sophie remembered his house was technically in that neighborhood. 

Sophie lived in Fornia- it was next to Adanac, and she and her cousin both lived on the same block. District lines decided to divide them into different neighborhoods though. Adanac was a lot bigger than Fornia, and East was even bigger.

"What are the odds."

"Sophie, you're lucky enough to be this close to your soulmate. Doing nothing is a crime," Dex cried. "Marella's soulmate lives on the other side of the earth, and yours is right here."

Right . . . here.

They probably went to Foxfire too.

Sophie didn't look back as she shut the front door to her house, to her room, to her closet.

She turned the flashlight on her phone, aiming it at her hand. A few gentle strokes of a thin black marker, dots of brown in the center, and yellow filling in the empty space. A sunflower. She typed in each digit of the number, saving it as a contact. Sophie took a picture of her hand. And sent it to her soulmate.

(So I haven't updated in a hot second- I've been more active on Fandom, and I've yet to transfer a sophiana oneshot, but we don't talk about that. Aside from that little tidbit, I've been more focused on my art, but this au will continue soon!)