You're Getting Warmer

Chapter One

"Arielle!" I heard my mother call.

"What is it, Mom!?"

"Get dressed, we're going out to dinner for your birthday!"

My birthday. To be more specific, my 18th birthday.

My 18th birthday and still no luck. It's still cold as ever. Why won't this stupid charm change temperatures!? Almost all my friends already have a warm charm, or at least a charm that's less cold than mine. To be honest, I'm quite scared. Why? Because, I already told you, it's my 18th birthday. I only have one year left. One year until my necklace is taken away from me and I have to settle for an arranged marriage. However, I didn't find out about that part until last year.

*Flashback, year 2109*

I'm 17, finally. Today, September 23, is my 17th birthday. And you know what? Life is going pretty well. I mean, school's being a pain in the ass, which is completely normal, but other than that everything is pretty good.

"Arielle," my mother said from across the table. "I think it's time me and your father tell you something about your necklace." she finished.

"Uh, but I already know how it works.. " I replied, confused.

"No, Ari.. you don't know the whole story. We decided we wouldn't tell you until now, just so that we know for sure that you're old enough." she reasoned.

"Well.. okay, then, tell me."

"You see, Arielle, the necklace isn't all that happy or easy, there's a couple of twists to it." My father budded into the conversation.

"Oh, yeah? And what's that?" I asked, raising my eyebrow. The way he said it made it sound as if there's some sort of evil and mysterious myth to it.

"The rule is, " my mother piped in again without hesitation "if you don't find your soul mate by the end of your 19th birthday, your necklace get's taken away from you, and you'll have to settle for- "

"An arranged marriage." my father cut my mother off. My mother shot him a stern look. She hated when people did that. But I was too shocked to take in any more detail of what was going on around me. I had to find my soul mate by the end of my 19th birthday!? If i've known that before I might have worked a little harder at finding my boyfriend! But now I only have 2 years and a day! Were my parents crazy!? This is information I should have known about!

"You're kidding me, right?! This has to be some kind of joke. That couldn't possibly be a rule."

"It is, Ari, and we're sorry to have to tell you that. But it's true, and if you don't find your match fast, you may have to live a miserable life that is planned out for you. In fact, they already have your name in the system, with a random person's name across from yours. That person is the person you'll marry if you don't find your real sou-"

I couldn't bear to hear anymore. No matter how important it may have been, I couldn't listen anymore.

How could the government do this to me?! I didn't want to have my life planned out for me! I wanted to plan my own life! Settle down at my own pace! But now I'm being forced to hurry up, and find someone. This was such crap. I got up from the table slamming my palms against it, my chair skidding violently against the floor before it fell down.

"This isn't fair!" I screamed, before running out of the dining room leaving my parents in complete surprise.

I ran to my room crying and thinking about how it wasn't right that I was being forced to find someone who was perfect for me at such a young age. I was only going to be 19 for God's sake! That's still a teenager! Nine-Teen! My whole idea of life going great, and perfectly fine, was shattered in about 5 seconds.

As soon as I got into my room, I slammed down onto my desk chair and logged onto my computer. I opened my browser and began researching more about the necklaces, typing their name into the search bar, just in case there was more information that my parents weren't telling me. Why hadn't I thought of looking this stuff up before? God, I'm so pissed. The search results loaded, and I clicked on a history website that seemed trustworthy enough. I began reading the article;

" Nicora Charm (Knee-Kora)

The Nicora charm - first released in 2034- gets it's name from the Latin language, with two of Latin words combined. Niteo (means 'glow', or 'shine') and Corazon (means 'heart'). The charms have this name because of the way they glow (hence, niteo) when they reach the hottest temperature, when you are very close (within 2 meters) of your soul mate (or, other half of your heart, hence, corazon). The purpose of the charm is to alert you when you are far from, near, or very close to your soul mate. If you are very far, your charm will be cold (approx. 5 degrees Celsius). If you are near, your charm will become warmer (approx. 16 degrees Celsius). If you are very close, your charm will become hot (approx. 25 degrees Celsius). Because of the cold and hot temperatures, they may be uncomfortable to some people's skin, and in this case they may put their charm on top of their shirt so it does not come in direct contact with their skin. However, the warm temperature is more or less comfortable enough to come in contact with bare skin. If you are in a crowd of people when your charm reaches the hottest temperature, it may be hard to find your soul mate. However, when you look within the two metres of you, studies have shown that no matter how many people are within two metres of you, you will know which one it is as soon as you lay your eyes on them. There are specific rules that apply to the necklace. If you do not find your soul mate by the end of your 19th birthday, your necklace will be taken away from you, and you will have an arranged marriage planned out for you. You are not allowed to get a divorce with, or split up with the person you have been arranged with. Once with them, always with them, even if you do not like them, unless extreme measures are taken.

Article written by: Luc Peterson (8/12/2108) "

It was a pretty recent article, and it hasn't been updated, which means it was all there. I was still tearing up a bit, at the thought that I was now being pressured into finding love faster. Unless I took extreme measures? What could that have meant? I closed my computer, my head hurting from all that just happened in a matter of 10 minutes.

I sat on my bed and after about 30 seconds fell right over onto my side, burying my head in my pillow. Now not only did I have the stress of being in my last year of high school education, which would be crucial in order to get into a good university, but I also had the stress of finding love. Great.

*Reality, year 2110*

It was a pretty crappy day, and what makes me even more upset at this moment is that the temperature actually has changed before. One day I was at a concert, and as I was entering the stadium, I felt a small shock of warmth against my skin. But it went away after about 2 minutes and returned to it's normal temperature it was at before. And it hasn't changed again since.

I got changed into a nicer outfit (nicer than my pajamas anyway), wearing a black shirt with a lace back, and a pair of dark blue jeans. I put my long black hair into a side fishtail braid, put on a pair of black flats, grabbed my phone, and left the house and climbed into the car where my parents were waiting for me.

Who knows, maybe my charm will do something interesting tonight.

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Author's Note: Hi guys! So, this is my first story on here, and I know the first chapter is pretty short, but it won't be this short every chapter. Tell me what you think of it, and if I should continue it? Just keep in mind it's my first book I'm publishing on here, lol. Thanks for reading :)