Colorless

Prologue

 My mother's eyes were a bright and beautiful emerald, while my father's were a deep and chocolaty brown. This is a really shitty and cliche way to describe the magnificence of color in the iris but it will do as the focus isn't exactly what color the eyes are but the fact that there is color at all. In a world where only the lucky ones get the bear the gleaming shades in their stares you find it hard to not cherish the gift of color. Especially when you're at the tender age of 19 and have yet to find out whether or not one of the lucky ones. My parents always told me 'Oh Leo, you'll find someone, it's only a matter of time' but I was honestly starting to believe that day would never come.

Staring into the mirror I couldn't help but notice the blank space where my eye color should be. It was as if it ceased to exist, without my soulmate there to bring it into being. Why should something so small become something so significant in our lives? Our soulmate wasn't guaranteed to be alive when we were, what if they weren't even created? There's tales of people who died with eyes the color of nothing, never having met their other half or having seen their true eye color bloom before their very eyes. Taking a deep breath and shaking my head to clear my thoughts I opened the door of my bedroom and walked out into the hallway to begin my day.

These things plagued my mind daily. As I was sat eating breakfast, as I tried to pay attention in school, as I stared at the passing scenery on my bus ride home it was like the inevitability of fate was following me around. It was ridiculous but it was a constant fear of mine, what if nothing did become of me and my "soulmate"? As a college student I had much more trying things to worry about like if I was passing all my classes and if I had enough money to buy ramen from the corner store, but with even some of my friends finding their soulmates so early it was hard not to worry.

My best friend, Sin, lived up to every expectation his name suggested and then some. He had found his soulmate a few days ago by some chance encounter at a grocery store, and I was now the only one left in my group of friends without my eye color and soulmate by my side. If someone like Sin could find their soulmate at our age then why couldn't I? I wasn't bad looking in any way, dark brown hair which naturally curled at the ends and left a tangled mess on my head, alongside sharp cheekbones with a matching defined jawline and pink full lips. For a guy I would say I'm doing pretty well in the department of looks. Maybe it's because of my sexuality, being gay in today's world isn't something new but it certainly could have an effect on this whole soulmate process. Who really knew how this shithole process even worked?

The reality of it was you don't see many gay couples in today's world, especially with the soulmate system in place. This wouldn't be fishy if it was genetic, but the soulmate system was actually a science project developed over 30 years ago in some lab in Asia. They created this chemical serum injected into subjects at birth that stripped them of their eye color and rearranged their hormones to rewire everything so they'd only be attracted to certain people. Each serum is unique to fit specific people, only two people in the entirety of the world have the same type of serum making them (inevitably) attracted to each other. It is, in my opinion, quite a forceful way to place people together. This is what started sorting out any one who wasn't cis or straight, and the population started seeing a lack in anyone different from what was considered 'the norm'.

Looking up, I realized I had missed my stop. Muttering a quiet, "Shite." I stood up and quickly got off at the next stop, starting the short walk down to the park. I was meeting with a few candidates for the extra room at my flat. I used to live with Sin before he found his soulmate. Seeing as he's now unavailable, it's time for me to find someone new to live with. I despised being alone, it was a deep fear of mine that started when I was a kid. Here I am at almost 19 and I still can't seem to shake the stupid desire for constant companionship. As I approached the candidates I observed there was about five girls and only one guy. Even at first glance I could tell that at least two or three girls aren't going to get the room. I could definitely do without annoying sorority girls and blonde bimbos.

I sighed deeply, already regretting this decision. Flatmate needed flyers on a college hall cork board wasn't my brightest idea to say the least, and here I am reaping the consequences. When I finally stopped in front of the 6 people gathered in the park it took them a second to turn their attention towards me, and it wasn't until I cleared my throat that they stopped all their chatter and stood at attention. I had my doubts that any of these people would be a suitable flatmate but I mentally said 'fuck it' and motioned for them to follow me.