Leafy Green

Poison Ivy

I lightly tug at the ivy leaves that trail up my forearm, getting lost in thought. I wonder if my soulmate's eyes share the same vibrant colour as the poison ivy, or if it's blue like the ocean and sky, or a rich brown like the earth's soil.

Either way, I can't wait to see them.

I was always confused by the way that the soulmate system worked. I knew that each couple had matching botanical trails somewhere on the base of their skin, but I never understood how it worked with leaves.

Everyone else has flower buds protruding from their skin of glorious colours, and when they meet their soulmates, the buds open and fall for the other to keep until the flower weeps along with their bodies. I only knew of one other person with foliage as their botanical trail, but it wasn't poison ivy like mine.

I clear my head of my questions and walk down the street, past the various cafes' and restaurants until I reach my apartment building.

A moving truck is parked outside, and there are a few young-looking men taking boxes out of the truck in into my apartment building. I follow them in, joining a few of them in the elevator and smiling politely as the automatic doors close. The button to my level has already been pressed so I don't bother to push it again, knowing it won't do anything.

"Do you live here?" a man asks. I study him quickly, searching for his botanical trail, and finding it along the tip of his ear where a few blue buds protrude from his skin.

I smile at him. "Yes, I do," I answer. "Are you moving in?" I say, inquiring about the boxes surrounding the large elevator and moving truck on the street.

He shakes his head no. "A friend of mine is, I'm here because I owe him a solid," he chuckles, his eyes wondering to the ceiling as he seems to revisit a humorous memory, probably relating to the solid he owed his friend. But he could be thinking about ham, and I wouldn't know.

The door to the elevator opens, and I stand aside as the other men walk into the hallway. I go out the automatic elevator doors after them and follow them down the hall until they stop at the door across from mine.

I excuse myself as I push past another man with a few orange flowers on his calf attempting to get to my door to unlock it; which I do successfully.

"Oh cool, you're neighbours," I hear the same man from before say. I turn around at my doorway to look at the man waiting patiently at the door for entrance. "Maybe we'll see each other again then."

I smile at him again. "Maybe." I turn back around to my door and take the keys out, hanging them up on the key rack next to the door. "Nice meeting you," I say, closing my door.

I take off my shoes and take out my hair, sighing in relief as my hair flows in loose waves down my tan back and shoulders rather than being tightly bundled on the top of my head in a thick, dark brown ponytail.

Opening the fridge in search of food, I find that I should probably make a shopping list because the shelves are starting to look scarce. I grab out a green apple and bite into it, relishing in the juicy and sour taste.

I take my apple to the lounge where I reach for the remote and casually lean up against the armrest of my vibrant purple couch that I got as a gift from my old friend.

After about five minutes of flicking through different Italian TV shows I used to watch as a child and a collection of infomercial channels, I hear a loud clatter outside my door, followed by a string of colourful profanities. I quickly walk into the kitchen to dispose of my apple core and then make my way to the front door to see what the calamity was.

The poison ivy on my arm starts to itch, but I don't overthink it. It's poison ivy; I'm surprised that it didn't start itching sooner. I open the door to reveal a slightly distressed male with raven hair and a ring of poison ivy sitting on his hair like a crown.

I don't stare too much as I look down to my arm that is itching so badly, and the rash that has started to cover the surrounds of my trail. I try to ignore the itch hoping that it'll lessen if I don't overthink it.

I go towards the distressed man who has stopped sputtering profanities and instead stares at me in wonder as I help clean up the mess of shattered ceramics that looked as if they were once plates on the ground, making sure not to cut myself as I sweep them into a small pile.

I look up at the man again who has done nothing to help me with the mess he has made. Deciding that I'll call him out on it, I open my mouth, but he beats me to it as words start tumbling out his. "I'm so sorry about the mess, I got distracted by a sudden itch from my trail and dropped- "he stops mid-sentence, his gaze cast down to the ground at the mess I've partially cleaned up.

I itch my own as I'm reminded of it. My itching must have caught his attention because his eyes are now staring at my forearm at the flourishing trail of poison ivy. He reaches out for my arm which makes me jump from the abruptness of his movement towards me. Our bodies clash together as we're mere centimeters away from each other as I stumble towards him.

He looks into my eyes, vibrant green more magnificent than what I imagined them to look like staring into my ocean blue eyes. The soft skin on his fingertips run over the poison ivy on my arm, instantly stopping the itch. I smile in relief as it finally dawns on me that he's my soulmate. I look up at his hairline which is coated in a red rash that follows the Ivy crown, similar to the outbreak that has now disappeared from my arm.

My hand reaches out towards his head, and he slightly bends down so that I can run my fingers through his hair. My fingertips run over his scalp and tangle in the ivy crown that has now grown to twice the size that it initially was. The rash on his forehead slowly disappears, and he sighs in relief as the itch subsides.

He wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me into a hug, I happily comply even though we just met, but I feel oddly safe in my soulmates arms while standing next to a pile of broken plates and bowls.

I too, wrap my arms around his neck and rest my chin on his shoulder, looking at my forearm at the growing ivy leaves.

"What's your name?" He asks, as we pull apart slightly, still clinging on to each other. I laugh under my breath as I look at our feet, my shoulders bouncing as my laugh grows louder. I look back up to him and stare into his gleaming eyes, a smile spread wide on his face. "Why are you laughing?"

"My name," I start, running my hand over the ivy in his hair. "Is Edera. Italian for 'Ivy.'" He laughs along with me before quieting down.

"I'm Italo-American. My name is Oscar." I smile at a non-plant related name. My eyebrows furrow as he starts to laugh again, although my smile doesn't falter. "Oscar Veleno."

My smile drops. Veleno and Edera.

Poison and Ivy.