Our Glowing Hearts

Pizza

Wait, this can't be happening... Shouldn't I be happy? Shouldn't I be excited? I recalled the million times my parents described their first meeting as magical and exhilarating. For some reason, all I feel is fear and uncertainty. 

After I saw that my necklace was glowing I ran home and straight to my room. I sat in a chair for over an hour in shock. I just met my soulmate. That boy that answered the door, that I didn't get the name of, was eventually going to marry me. But really, what was his name?

Maybe it was a simple name... Like George or Bill. Or maybe it was a bit more unique, like Hudson or Samuel. It didn't really matter... unless it did. What if his name was really weird? Shouldn't that not matter if we're soulmates? I had no idea.

The second April answered her phone, I tripped over my words trying to explain what happened. Wait, was I supposed to tell her?

"Wanna order some pizza? I'm like, super hungry!"

"Sure, come over." I said, barely holding in my excitement, but not wanting to ruin the surprise. 

About thirty minutes passed by before April came over.

"I already ordered the pizza, half pepperoni and half cheese, just the way we like it." I smiled. She smiled back. 

"So, what happened? You seemed really scared over the phone." April said.

"Well um-" I was interrupted by my obnoxious doorbell. Followed by April, I opened the door.

"Hi, this pizza will be $4.20." 

"Sure, here." I hand him the money and accidentally slammed the door in his face.

April and I walk back to the living room and turn on the television. 

"Hey, he was cute." I smirked at April.

"Your necklace didn't glow, therefore you shouldn't have feelings for him." April glared at me.

There was five minutes of awkward silence and weird pizza chewing noises. 

"Anyway, sorry about that, what happened?" April said.

"Well, I have new neighbors across the street and there was this boy who answered the door. He was about our age, I think, he had blonde hair and blue eyes."

"So?"

"I had to deliver cookies because he was my new neighbor, dad wanted me to."

"I'm sorry where is this story going?"

"April will you hush for one moment! When I was going to give him the cookies, my necklace glowed."

April was in shock, "What did you do?" She asked.

"Well, I shoved the cookies in his hands and ran before he could see it."

April rolled her eyes, "You're so awkward! Anyway, was his heart glowing too?"

"I don't know, he kept it under his shirt."

"Well congratulations Meira! You found your soulmate, can I meet him?" 

"No! How can I face him? I'm now just the weird neighbor girl who shoves food in people's hands and runs away!" I was starting to panic, but April knew just what to say.

"Well, if your heart was glowing, his probably was too. He's your soulmate for goodness sake, he'll understand you." April was more excited than me, and I had to practically tackle her to keep her from running over and introducing herself. 

"I guess you're right." I started to calm down.

"And if he lives here, he probably goes to our school. You can just talk to him there." Another good suggestion from April.

"Yeah. I'll just talk to him. Easy, right?" 

We finished up the night with ice cream and a little homework, then April went home and I tried to sleep. Instead of pondering the many questions of the universe, I pondered the infinite questions of my future tonight. I tossed and turned, but it was as if the butterflies in my stomach were on drugs, and I barely got two hours of sleep in total. 

---

"Are you, like, sick or something?" April asked when I walked into homeroom.

"That's a vote of confidence." I sighed as she tried to fix my hair and I tried to take the shortest nap ever. 

"Attention, class!" Our principle's authoritative voice woke me from my almost- sleep and I checked the clock. Three minutes had passed.

"We have a new student today, his name is Jason. I expect you all to be very welcoming." The principle's heels clicked into the distance and she left Jason standing awkwardly in the doorway. 

"Hi..." He shifted his balance from one foot to the other and contemplated entering the classroom and taking a seat. Everybody was looking at him, even me. I could see the blue in his sparkling eyes from across the room and I desperately wanted him to notice me. 

Just then, the bell rang. The classroom erupted into chaos. People started talking and grabbing their books, all desperate to be on time to their first hour class. I, on the other hand, was taking my time packing up my things. 

"Hey, was that him?" April whispered with a voice full of excitement and curiosity. 

"Yeah. It was." I said, a little uncertain. I looked down to check my necklace, but Jason was too far away now and it wasn't glowing at all. 

I warily made my way to the English classroom, preparing myself to see him again, but he must not have the same class schedule as me. 

"Oh well, there's always next class." April winked at me and departed for her first class, Spanish. 

I guess April meant well, but the butterflies of excitement had migrated out of my stomach and I didn't know what to think about Jason. Everything just felt off about him, but I looked back on the sixteen years of reminders that the necklaces were never wrong, and set my mind to following wherever my necklace took me.