Counting by the minutes

Part title

     I looked at my wrist. It displayed the digital clock loud and clear. I sighed.

    4;3;45

    4 years, 3 days, and 45 minutes. That long until I realize my soul mate, well.. is my soul mate. Who would it be? Do I know them already? Are they cute? Are they nice? Is it my current boyfriend? I hope not. He's stupid, I shouldn't even be dating Nick.

    All these thoughts raced through my head every day. Sure, I was 19.. But that's a good age, right? Ella- my best friend for ever and always that I met when I was five who is also my roommate in college- already met hers. They are truly in love. I find myself watching them and feeling the envy pile up inside me while I dream of finding someone like that. Her timer hit 0;0;0 at midnight, New Year's Eve. The alarm went off as she kissed him in Times Square. I sat in the corner and watched, capturing the moment on my phone.

     I sigh, trying to push all those thoughts to the back of my head. I tried to focus on memorizing my lines. To sum up my life with one word, I would say,

     Theatre.

    I'm a complete theatre nerd. I study it in college and I'm currently looking at my script for the part of Juliet in Shakespeare famous play. I mean, I hadn't exactly got the part yet, but I was confident. Theatre, I was always confident; anything else, I'm insecure.

    I end up putting the play back into my binder and shoving it in my-very messy- desk. I sigh once more and lean back in my chair.

   I need a life. Not shortly after that thought, Ella bursts through the door. "Guess what?!" She squealed. I rolled my eyes at her. She was the kind of person who is super nice and also has the looks of a model but is also popular even though she is best friends with a nerdy fangirl (a.k.a me).

   "What news do you bring to the kingdom" I reply sarcastically. She laughs a bit but her face goes back to serious in a split second.

   "We, are going to a party!" She smiles and drags me to my closet. I rip my arm from her grasp and fold my arms.

   "No." I state blankly.

    "Yes. You have to go meet people! Maybe you'll meet the boy your clock will hit 0 for at the party" she wiggles her eyebrows and I push her back playfully.

    "Can we maybe not talk about the countdown" I plead. She sighs and nods.

    "But your still going to this party!" She says, dragging me back into the closet. She starts to shuffle through my clothes trying to find something that isn't band/you-tuber merch or anything besides ripped skinny jeans, sweatshirts, and t-shirts.

     I finally give in and help her look for something I can wear. After about 20 minutes she sits on the floor wit me in defeat.

    "Your borrowing something from me" she states. I get up and follow her to her closet , but by the time I get there she is already holding a dress out for me to try on.

It's.... Pretty. I'm not one for dresses. It was red (of course it is.. We are talking about Ella. She always makes me wear something like this). It was a cocktail fit that went down to right above my knees and flared out below my waist. The top was a silk material and the bottom was the same but with a couple silver studs here and there. It was gorgeous... But not my style.

"Do I have to?" I ask hopefully. I pus the dress back towards Ella with a fake smile plastered on my face.

She pushes the dress back into my arms. "Yep! Now go get ready. We have two hours" she pushes me back into my closet to change and closes the door to hers. I reluctantly slip on the dress. It fit perfectly to my disadvantage. Ella will want me to go even more now.

When I walk out Ella is sitting in her bed. I gasp and pull her up and into a quick hug.

She looks amazing. She is wearing a sparkly dress that flares out silver but has a royal blue top.

"You look great!" I squeal. She eyes me over and the grin on her face gets bigger.

"YOU LOOK SO AMAZING IN THAT DRESS OMG" she yells. I chuckle and she sits me down at her desk. "Okay, first things first. Hair. Then makeup. I also have black pumps for you to wear. And you're going to wear contacts instead of glasses" she says while grabbing her curling iron.

"You're lucky I love you sis" I mumble. And before everyone freaks out, no we aren't actually sisters. We are.... Just not biologically. And my family didn't adopt her or vice versa. We are just close enough to be classified as sisters.

After we are ready to go I glance at my wrist one last time and head out the door.

4;2;56

The days aren't exactly what we called days. They are more of just a way to downsize hours.

We soon arrive at Cassie's- a very popular girl that Ella is sorta friends with- dorm. I sigh as we walk in, the door already open. Most are already drunk, others very close to being drunk. Oh, there is also the guy passed out on the couch. I notice people doing something they think is dancing and some couples making out in the corners of her room. I mentally gag.

I'm snapped out of my trance by a low and husky voice. Nick. Great. I hope you heard the sarcasm I was going for there. I'm going to break up with him... Soon. Not now though, not at a party. Not in the next days or whatever either. Just, soon.

"Hey beautiful" he slurred, Obviously drunk. He grabbed my wrist and led me to a hallway.

"No nick, you're drunk" I state flatly. He ignores my statement and slides his ands around my waist from behind, slowly kissing my neck.

"C'mon baby. I love you" he slurred again. Yeah right. His timer was definitely not at zero. He had a lot more girls in his future before he finds his true love.

"Nick. No. You Are drunk" I protest, trying to wriggle out of his grasp. Instead, he turns me to face him and leans in, connecting our lips together.

When he pulls apart he leads me back into the main room of the party. He drags me to the kitchen and hands me a cup of beer.

I sigh and take it. Ella was eventually going to make me drink. She does at every party.

Unfortunately one drink turns into 4 and I become a little drunk. Nick had disappeared for a while but I soon felt his arms wrap around my waist.

He smirked before smashing his lips into mine, bringing his hand up to the nape of my neck. I kissed back willingly, letting the alcohol take control of my body.

We both pull away for air and when we do, a hand grasps my shoulder.

I turn to see Cameron, Ella's boyfriend. I ignore him and go back to kissing nick but he pulls me away from him soon after.

"What do yooooo want" I say lazily.

"I'm taking Ella home, you should come too" he yells over the music.

"But..." I trail off, not able to remember my thoughts.

"Okay, your coming." He states, grabbing my wrist and leading me to the door. I stop near nick and kiss him one last time before entering the quiet, deserted, hallway.

"I don't want to leave" Ella slurs. I nod and cling to cams arm, unable to walk in heels. I hate getting drunk, I become a completely different person.

"Yeah cam. I was having fun with nick!" I protest, giggling a bit.

"Yeah, that's why I stopped you" he says as we reach me and Ella's dorm room. He takes my key from my purse and unlocks the door , leading us both inside. I collapse onto the bed.

"C'mon, one more hour" Ella begs. Cam chuckles and kisses her quickly before heading back to the door.

"Good luck in the morning"he says before shutting the door.

The darkness consumes me soon after and I dream of finding my soul mate. The dream was always different so I had no idea what to expect of him. Guess I'll just have to find out.