Find You || Muke

Chapter 1

Can we just talk about the picture I used for the cover? Like, fuck me up Clifford. <3

In a... nonsexual way? Actually, I lie. Continue.

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Somehow, the universe has created a mark on the top of your left hand. That mark is unique and there is one other exactly like it. That other one is your soulmate. It is a red mark, very visible. When you are five years old, you get a pendant on a chain. That pendant will heat up when you are a certain distance from your soulmate.

People have become so desperate that they have gone to internet forums to look for their soulmate. So far, I have had an ice cold pendant around my neck. It has warmed up, but never gotten hot. If it is hot, you are at least ten feet away. Warm means you are in a mile's radius. It is always warm at school. So I believe that my soulmate goes to the school. I am not sure who it is. Not yet.

I was only 17 years old. I was in year 12. I was in art class, sketching out the shape of my pendant. My pencil moved smoothly along the white paper. "Hey Michael, how are you?" I hear from behind me. I looked to see Calum, and almost directly after the bell rang. I was always here early in the morning and so I always decided to begin what I was going to be working on in the class.

I shrugged, looking down. I didn't talk much. If I did talk, it was rare. Calum was my only friend. The only person I talked to. I didn't care for my Mum just like she didn't care for me. "It looks good so far." Calum commented.

"Thanks." I responded. After the mark was sketched out, I began adding details to the left hand that was on the paper as well. I was a good artist. Mr. Taylor would hang this up in the hall. He always did. The honors art students would draw something of their choice and he would hang it up in the hall when it was done. 

Calum sat down next to me, taking out his paper. It was a picture of me looking down with a pencil in my hand. So, his view of me when we were in class. It looked good so far. He had done everything aside from the facial features. "Should I paint this? Or do you like it better as a sketch?" I asked Calum, holding up the thick piece of paper. 

"Colour would be nice. Maybe not paint. Maybe a nice, light coloured pencil." Calum told me, examining my paper. 

"Are you going to colour yours?" I asked him.

"Water colour." Calum told me with a smile. I nodded, grabbing the 200 box of coloured pencils. I opened them, grabbing out the colour I thought was closest to my skin tone. As I lightly went over the bare areas, I erased the light pencil marks. I added some shading, some dimensions, and by the time the hour and a half long class was over, I was done.

Calum seemed to enjoy it. He finally finished the eyes on his drawing. Which I thought was the hardest part, too. Getting someone's facial features exactly right. "Looks good Michael, are you done?" Mr. Taylor asked me and I nodded. "I'll put it in the hall during my free block. Have a good day." He told me and I just gave him a smile and grabbed my bag.

Calum and I walked out together, both heading to our next class. I stared at his pendant. His was a circle with a bird in it, jagged lines coming out from all around the circle. It looked almost like a sun. Inside the circle, aside from the bird, was a single line. Almost looking like a cloud because of how it was placed. There were books and ideas for each mark.

The sun meant light - of course. Energetic, light-hearted, happy. The bird meant a free spirit. Extroverted. The singular cloud meant motivation. 

My mark was a quarter moon, and inside the moon was a couple things. A star directly in the middle of the curvature. Above the star was a small arrow, the tail feathers of the arrow coming out of the moon to the right and the pointed part coming out the other end on the left. On the bottom of the star, there was a wave.

The moon meant darkness. Introverted. The star meant innocent. The arrow meant destructive tendencies. The wave meant depression. It meant quiet and another meaning for introverted. 

The mark we are born with describes our future personalities. There was no changing it, no matter how much social conditioning you have. There was no judgments on who married who. The pendants spoke. So I don't know who I wanted to be with. I had no preference. 

I moved my hand down to my side as Calum and I continued our silent walk.

The highest paying job was pendant making. By far. It seemed weird but it has to be exact. It has to be a certain size. It was to be perfect. If the pendant is not made perfectly, the heating up mechanism won't work. There are people who have never found their soulmates, and sometimes that was because of a faulty pendant. Also, a person needs their pendant on to find their soulmate. The marks themselves don't work. I wasn't sure why.

That was my career goal. I wanted to make the pendants.

"I hate biology." Calum sighed as we sat down in our regular seats. I glanced down at the faded while lines on my wrists and I sighed. 

I nodded in agreement with Calum and waited for the teacher to come in. I was in the far right corner of the room when I saw my worst enemy walk in. Luke Hemmings. He glared at me and I glared back. "What's up, fatherless fuck?" Luke said to me from across the room.

"Hey, back the fuck off." Calum snapped back.

I didn't respond. "Didn't your Mum ever tell you that-wait." Luke laughed. Calum's face got a bit red as he sunk down in his seat. Calum's Mum died a couple years ago from cancer. I frowned.

"Leave him alone, Luke." I said quietly, hoping it was enough for him to hear.

He walked towards me and he shoved me out of the chair. "Get the fuck up." He said to me. Everyone in the class was looking at us. Luke was angry. He would break things and hurt people. I flinched as he held up his hand. 

"Michael-" Calum began.

"Shut the fuck up fatty." Luke snapped at Calum. 

I saw Calum place his head on the desk and hide his face. Calum had a small tummy and a baby face and a few people bullied him for being 'fat' when he isn't. They just think it's funny. 

He pushed his elbow down on my shoulder and I made a pained sound. I gripped his neck to try to force him off. I reached for the chain but nothing was there. He wasn't wearing a pendant. 

"Hey! Hemmings!" Mrs. Yates yelled. Luke got up and looked at her.

"He fell out of his chair, sorry." Luke excused.

I got up and sat back down in my chair as Luke sat down in his. "Is this true, Mr. Clifford?" Mrs. Yates asked me. I looked at Luke and he was looking at me angrily. I nodded and put my head down. I looked at Calum, silently wishing we had the same pendant. I never want to meet anyone new. Everybody is awful.