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Eight | Other Half

SOTC: Panic Attacks In Paradise by Ashnikko

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"I concur this is the place to talk about it," Ada said, making a small squeal.

She had led me inside of the offices, thankfully the one I didn't meet them in, and had us sit at office chairs. After Ada made a phone call, we waited for Achilles.

"Let's do this," he said upon walking through the opened door, sitting at a chair.

Ada began. "As you know, every human is born with a soulmate. Both can be on two different sides of the world, of two different cultures, of two different ways of life even, but by fate they face each other. How old are you?"

"Eighteen," I answered, not sure of its relevance.

Ada gasped, rattling Achilles' arm in the cadence an impatient child to a leg.

"Damn, that's perfect timing if you're a Receiver," Achilles said.

I raised my eyebrows.

Ada cheered, "Oh my god, please be a Receiver!"

"Remind us that we can't be teachers," Achilles's head bobbed up and down on the desk as he chuckled, his hand on Ada's shoulder.

She resumed. "Ok, there's an Initiator and Receiver. The Initiator is older than the Receiver but in the same age range, the oldest possible gap being ten years. The Initiator is the the one who unconsciously draws the Receiver to them when the Receiver is of age, eighteen."

Thank god for clarity. It'd be a rough day if I found age range meant me and Hugh Hefner.

"And as soon as the Initiator lays eyes on the Receiver for the first time, they know its their soulmate when their souls are scar begins to burn. Then they court the Reciever for the span of thirty days."

"That seems very one-sided," I said matter-of-factly. This was utterly crazy; I didn't blatantly believe what flowed out of Ms. Girl's mouth like the Nile River.

"But the Receiver doesn't know. Their soulmate could be anyone around them and they don't know. It's like awaiting a surprise, but the Initiator gets to throw it," Ada replied.

Ok, I guess that seems fair.

Achilles picked up after her. "The Receiver gets to know when the thirty days are up. That's when the Initiator can say..." He looked into Ada's eyes and said:

"I love you."

"And the Receiver says back..." Ada looked into Achilles's eyes and said:

"I believe you."

A pause rang in the air encompassing the office.

"So you just believe that person feels that way for you?" I questioned after a pause.

"Ok, think about it this way! You both feel that way for each other like you never will for anyone else in the world. The Receiver's response to the Initiator is said to be the declaration that you share a value for yourself as much as each other, so you will unlock the soul ties for each other unlike anything experienced."

"Ok... is this a prank?" I asked quietly afterward.

"If it is, try saying I love you," Achilles replied, but looking into Ada's eyes again rather than mine.

I opened my mouth, but my vocal cords didn't vibrate. I tried saying those words again. Again and again. But I couldn't.

"Or I believe you," Ada said, looking into Achilles's eyes again.

I couldn't even mouth the letters. What the actual fuck??

Achilles looked back at me. "The Receiver's line actually hints at that one thing you both must do in order to unlock the soul tie between you and your soulmate," he said.

"What?" I asked, barely audible from shock.

"You have to love yourself," Ada said. "Believe you have value. Believe you deserve love."

Um... what? "Why?"

"How else can you love someone else?" was all she answered me with.

^.^.^.^.^

Rustling my body against the covers, I internally cursed the light. It was either have it blare into my eyes or question if the rack in front of me was a Death Eater or just a coat rack. But it wasn't the evil structure made of Jeff-Bezos-knows-what riches consuming my mind.

Soulmates were real, and it was proven before me. Maybe the loving yourself rule was definitely erroneous, but the rest hadn't been. It was proven by Ada and Achilles, and those words I couldn't begin to form.

Words I'll never say.

A pit in my stomach flourished with guilt. They wasted their breath to tell a to be dead girl the secret of this beautiful place.

Guilt always made me slip into a memory.

Two Years Ago

"How hard is it to wait until marriage?" Juliette ranted on, finishing up a text on her phone. "Like, I get that you love him and stuff, but having sex is like a sin. It's for children, it's literally to have kids."

"Exactly, and her boyfriend is an anorexic vampire," Lilly picked up. "Speaking of which..." Her icy blue eyes whipped to me from her own phone. "Clara, is it a rule to finish your food in your house?"

I snapped back to reality. "Um what?"

Today, like all days, I sat with my two friends at lunch in EagleCrest High School.

"Ugh, I love her, she's always off in her innocent little head," Juliette sighed, clicking the off button on her phone. "When do we get to see your mom again? I love your mom."

"Well, um, I don't know." Each syllable was muffled under the hand of my jacket.

Juliette slammed her phone on the table. "What? Speak up." Her voice was high.

"Holy shit," Lilly breathed quietly, flipping back her red braid.

Juliette whipped her head to Lilly. "Don't curse in front of her! She's innocent."

"Fine, yeesh." Lilly turned back to me. "Just don't bring your dad next time. He's hot but he's weirdly timid around your mom."

"Didn't he just get back from Canada?" Juliette asked.

"No, Qatar. I told you that eight.. eight times, I think," I muttered. I hated when they talked about Dad like that— my loving, unselfish father. But I couldn't do it; they were my only friends. The only ones who would take me in.

The only ones I had.

"Ay don't talk back!" Juliette warned, pointing an accusing finger at me. "Your mom would literally scold you for that." She turned to Lilly, laughing. "Oh my god, do you remember that time where her mom scolded her for saying yes when Jackson asked to kiss her?"

"Duh!" Lilly laughed.

Like always, I watched the self-esteem my life rose.

Next Chapter Teaser: Xerxes has a special someone