Soulmate {Book Two} The Vioval Ritual

🔮 Epilogue ~ Wilson's POV 🔮

The cafeteria is bright in the afternoon light streaming through the windows, weakening the colorful strobe lights that are bouncing around the room. Music is blasting through huge speakers, resonating throughout the huge space. Tables of food sit on the edges of the room.
Kennedy is at one of those tables, perusing with reckless abandon, dropping piles of various foods onto her plastic plate. I walk up to her, chuckling.
"What're you laughing at?" she grumbles, turning to raise an eyebrow at me.
"You're barely gonna fit in that dress if you keep eating like that!" I laugh, gesturing to her towering plate of snacks.
"I don't care. I don't have anyone to impress." she shrugs, spooning some macaroni salad into her mouth.
"What about your boyfriend?" I ask, half-joking.
"My what?" she stares at me confusedly.
"You know, Kyle." I clarify. At the mention of his name, she shakes her head.
"He's not my boyfriend." she insists, then sighs, "He's not even here, anyway."
I look at her in surprise. "But it's Grad! Why wouldn't he come?"
"I don't know. Maybe he had obligations."
I nod. "Maybe."
After a minute of silence, Kennedy seems to remember something. "Where's your date?" she questions, chewing a melon-ball.
"She's not here yet." I reply with a nonchalant shrug. "She promised she'd be here soon though. Any minute now."
"What if she ditched you?" Kennedy says, and I laugh off the worrying statement.
"She would never." I shake my head, as if what she said was the most ridiculous thing I'd ever heard.
But that got me thinking. Would she really ditch me on Grad night, one of the most important nights of our lives?
Wait a minute. She's me. If I'd never do that, she wouldn't, either.
I let out a relieved breath at the realization. Kennedy throws a glance my way before focusing back on her food.
Suddenly, I feel a vibration in the pocket of my dark dress-pants. I pull my phone out and check the notification.
It's a message from Willnia.
I hope for the best as I open it.
"Hi".
That's it?
I reply with a "?", and she answers immediately.
"Look up".
Confusedly, I lift my gaze. Across the room, a girl stands, grinning widely. Her sleeveless dress is beautiful, with a sweetheart neckline and a sparkly white bodice. Netting stretches from the neckline to a ribbon choker, colored a soft pastel shade of yellow. The silky ribbon belt and flowing skirt share that same color. Her light brown waves rest on her shoulders, not a hair out of place. Finally, a yellow flower sits in her hair, a sparkling jewel in the center.
My favorite color---our favorite color---looks so stunning on her.
Willnia's eyes light up when she sees me staring, a pink hue creeping onto her cheeks. She starts toward me in her sparkly white flats, her dress swaying with every movement.
I can't believe she's my date.
I place one arm behind my back and bow, extending my hand out to her like a true gentleman. She accepts my hand and allows me to pull her in close, my other arm wrapping around her waist.
"Ballroom dancing? Seriously?" she laughs. I twirl her and she erupts into a fit of giggles. She's just so adorable. "Okay, enough joking around. Save it for the slow songs."
I sigh melodramatically. "Okay, okay. Let's go get some drinks." I suggest, leading her in the direction of the beverage stand.
After grabbing a couple bottles of flavored sparkling water, we head over to the table Kennedy's sitting at. Sandrina's there, too.
"Hey!" Willnia greets them with a small wave and a smile. Kennedy looks up from her second plate of macaroni salad, her mouth full to bursting of the noodles. Sandrina gets up to give each of us a hug; that's how she often greets people.
"Hey, guys! How's it going?" she asks, looking back and forth between us with a sparkle in her eye. It's no secret how much she ships us.
"We're great! How about you?" Willnia replies for me. Her and Sandrina carry on their cheerful conversation while I sit down beside Kennedy.
"You look some happy." she comments, finishing off her macaroni.
"I am. I couldn't imagine being here with anyone better." I say dreamily. It's true, Willnia is the best possible person out there for me. I mean, I can see why. We're kinda the same person, so it makes sense. "What about you?"
"Huh?" she looks at me, puzzled.
"You having a good time?" I ask, leaning my elbow on the table.
"I guess." she mumbles, lowering her gaze to stare at her plate, a faint air of melancholy surrounding her.
I catch on quickly. "You wish Kyle was here, don't you?"
After a short pause, Kennedy sighs. "Yeah. Everything is just so much more boring without him."
I nod in understanding. Something pokes my shoulder, and I turn to look up at Willnia. I wonder what she wants until I realize a slow song has started playing.
"I gotta go." I tell Kennedy as I stand up to follow Willnia.
I'm lead to the center on the dance floor, and it's there that Willnia and I position ourselves in the classic dancing position; my arms around her waist, hers around my neck.
Swaying to the slow rhythm of the music, I take in the scene before me.
I'm dancing with the love of my life at Grad, and I don't have to worry about her dying any minute because of some stupid tether. We don't have to hold anything back anymore.
And so, I hold nothing back. I kiss her, her lips immediately moving with mine as if we've been doing this forever. We're like inseparable puzzle pieces in this moment, everything disappearing around us, leaving us in a blissful void of passion.
When I finally pull away, she catches my lips with one final kiss, this one lighter and sweeter. I smile at her, and she giggles.
In the corner of my eye, I notice someone enter the gym. The boy is of short stature---compared to me, anyway---and dons a black blazer. Thick rectangular glasses sit on his face.
Is that who I think it is?
I watch him walk up behind Kennedy, who is slouched in her seat at the table, staring at her empty plate. He grabs hold of her shoulders and she jumps, startled by his presence. When she turns to see who it is, her eyes widen in surprise.
"Kyle?" I hear her yell out in disbelief. Kyle nods. "I can't believe you're here."
He responds with something I can't hear and Kennedy giggles. Giggles. He must really do something to her, because Kennedy is not a giggler.
I watch them exchange some casual words until he says something that makes her eyes light up brighter than the strobe lights. She nods quickly, and he takes her to a spot near us.
And there, they dance.
Never would I have thought they would happen. I didn't think they had a chance.
But, then again, I didn't think other dimensions existed, either.
Suddenly, I'm overcome with this immense feeling of hope. Hope for Willnia and I, hope for Kennedy and Kyle, hope for everything to be right in the world.
Accompanying this hopefulness is love for everything and everyone in my life. Never would I have thought that I'd meet the One, the person who's heart was made perfectly for mine. This is the one thing everyone wishes for, but very few actually get. I can't believe I have such luck to be one of those people.
But every time I gaze into Willnia's hazelnut eyes, I believe it more than I've ever believed anything before.
And it's in these moments that I know soulmates truly do exist, and, no matter what, nothing can stop them from being together.
I see the way Kennedy and Kyle look at eachother and know that they've found their soulmates.
And when I turn my head back to look at Willnia, I know I've found mine.

~ The End ~