All The Time We Have

Chapter 1

I watch my friend carefully. Her excitement is glowing all over her pretty face.

"Exactly two minutes left!" she almost shouts. We're waiting at the bus stop and the bus would be coming in two minutes. I think she hoped she'd meet them on a beach at sunset or something.

  What a beautiful day it was to live in Bakersfeild. The sky, a gorgeous shade of teal. The same color of my eyes. With the wind singing, and the birds chirping, it seemed like a scene straight out of a Disney movie.

"I mean that's ok, these things can't always be romantic I mean, my mom met my dad when he was working at a store in the mall, and it's not like you can plan it to be romantic I just hoped, I mean everyone hopes don't they-" she breaks off, looking at me awkwardly. " Sorry. It's just a big day for me you know." Yes I do know. You've been going on about it for the past month. I smile at her.

"Don't worry." I say "You'll be okay Lily, you always are." I grin, determined not to ruin this for her. It's selfish of me to be moody. This is her future being determined. Right here, in about 1 minute.

She smiles at me, the wind blowing her brown hair into her face "Thanks Carina" but it isn't quite reaching her eyes. She's restless and keeps tapping her foot. Her dark eyes are wide with.. fear? Excitement? Nerves? Probably all of them and a thousand more things I can't imagine. She keeps checking her wrist. The bus comes around the corner. "1 minute and 10 seconds" I heard her mutter to herself.

"Hey, I'll leave you alone now ok? The bus is here. I'll sit a couple of seats away, and be there if you need me," I say, squeezing her arm reassuringly. "Good luck." I hope it sounded sincere.

The bus pulls up and I climb on first, taking a quick glance at her while I give the driver my ticket. She's shaking and looks a little green. I want to give her a hug but I know I shouldn't interrupt now. I look at the passengers and it's full of pensioners. My heart starts beating frantically. What? I can't see anyone else at the bus stop. But she's only 16, she can't end up with an 80 year old. I turn around and look at her- she's breathing hard. The bus driver asks if she's ok but she ignores him. Her eyebrows are creased and her face is flushed. Oh. Oh no. Stay calm. Someone is probably late. I give her a thumbs up and try to smile reassuringly. I think it's more of a grimace.

I take a seat near the back. I see her sit down a few seats away.

Suddenly, a dark shape runs past my window and a boy jumps on the bus. He has that same frantic look in his eyes. I breath out with relief. "Yeah get on, we're running late," the driver says, taking his ticket. The boy looks around, carefully stepping towards the seats. He's tall and handsome, holding a sketchbook. I smile slightly; Lily hates art.

He spots her.

His eyes widen as he walks closer, as if being pulled by an invisible rope.

Lily stands up too, that same rope tying her to him.

"I was worried the bus would leave. No way could I miss meeting my soulmate!" he jokes, though he looks just as nervous as she does. They smile at each other as they both sit down together. I can't hear what they're talking about.

I take a deep breath and let it out slowly. Suddenly I'm crying. Hot tears dropping down my cheeks.

I look at my wrist, pulling off the black leather glove covering the time on it. I scratch at it, trying to get rid of it.

The numbers have never changed.

They've always been at 0.