Time Will Tell

Chapter One

Parker's POV

I don't have much time before I meet the one.. or no one. 3 days and 20 minutes exactly. The anticipation is killing me.

I have never really thought about where I would go before my time is up. If I go to the wrong place, I won't find the person I'm meant to be with. Who cares, anyways? Why have a piece of metal tell you who you should love?

My parents were never supportive of what I believed in. I loved inventing things, but my family would always get worried when I did. They knew that I would get bullied in school for it. I didn't care. Still, I had to stop inventing when my parents took my tools away. Now they are dead and I'm left alone with my little sister.

Even in this "perfect" society we live in, we still need money. I had moved out a few months ago, but that was only because of my parent's deaths. It had struck me personally, but I had to be strong for my little sister, Alice.

To pay for rent, I have to work at a pizza shop downtown. I work reasonable hours, but it has horrible pay. Still, I need the money to support my little sister,

Alice.

I brush my hair with my hands and pull on my blue work shirt. Placing my hat on my head, I grab my key and go out the door, locking it behind me.

My time is far too low for me to be worrying about flipping pizzas daily. I have to, though. We would starve if I quit. Food for Alice is much more important than a "soul mate".

Alice is only a toddler, so she can't go to school yet. I have to take her to my work every day so that I can watch her. I bring a couple of toys that I had bought with some money from my last paycheck, but other than that she has nothing to do.

As I go down the steps of my home, I grab Alice's hand. My dad wrote in his will that I would get his motorcycle when I turned 16. It's the last thing I have of his, so I ride it every day to work. I've had it for about 2 years. I set Alice on the front and then hop on myself. Yes, little kids probably shouldn't be riding on a motorcycle, but this world is far too messed up for that to matter.

"Ready to ride?" I say sweetly to her. She nods in a reply and I set the helmet on her head. I slide mine on and she puts a thumbs up. She doesn't speak much.

I start it up and before I know it, we're there. After jumping off of the bike and taking the helmet off, I pick up Alice and set her on the ground and take off her helmet. Her blonde hair becomes a tangled mess. She giggles as she tries to fix it.

We both walk in and the strong scent of dough fills my lungs. Over the months that smell has began to aggravated me.

My boss, as always, walks up to me and hands me my apron. I set Alice by a booth and tie the apron to my waist. I slowly look up and see a girl have her timer fall off. Nobody is around, and she is left with nobody. She sits on the ground and puts her face in her hands.

I turn around and get to work, trying not to think about how lonely that girl will be for the rest of her life. I fail at it, and end up with a mind full of worry. If that happens to me, will I be lonely for the rest of my life? Will I find somebody else to love? Do I even care?

All these things that go through my head, distracting me, and I burn my hand while stuffing a pizza into the oven.

I silently curse and turn on the sink, washing off the pain. The cold water stings for a minute, but feels good after a while.

"Get back to work, Parker." Says my best friend, Thomas, in a joking manner. He had gotten the job a week before I had.

"Shut it." I glare over at him but can't hold back a grin.

I should probably be out with friends, or doing something productive before my timer falls off, but instead I'm here. Maybe my "true love" will call for pizza and I'll meet her. How great that'd be.

Right at that moment, I get a call from the work phone. Ironic, I think.

I pick up the phone, "Hello?", and a male voice picks up. I mentally sigh and take his order, then hanging up. I make his pizza and walk outside with Alice. She hops into the back seat of the work car and I get into the driver's seat.

I check the address quickly before driving off. I hit every stop light and curse silently to myself. When I get there it's already 5 minutes over the time I should have been there. I tell Alice to stay in the car and I run up to the door.

The man comes up to the door several seconds after I knock. He unlocks the door and opens it, processing what is happening for a minute or two.

"Sir, your pizza?" He looks from me to the box and yells into his house.

"Yeah, one minute.." He seems out of it, and angry, but I patiently wait for him.

His wife walks over to me and gets cash out of his wallet, handing it to me. She apologizes with her eyes and smiles genuinely to me.

"Thank you." The woman says, grabbing the pizza.

"No problem." I smile back at her and she closes the door. I head back to the car, but can't get the image of the bruise on her arm out of my head.

I see things like that many times, but it makes me mad every time I do. Who would hurt the person that they were meant to be with? Maybe the cuffs and "soul mates" aren't a very good plan after all.

Alice grins at me as I climb back into the car. I turn up the radio and we drive back to my work. You could have helped her.. My conscience tells me. No, I couldn't have, I tell it. I'm in too much trouble already, people are getting suspicious. In this generation creativity is shunned, and they see it as defiance.

And defying my country would be treason, and the penalty for treason is imprisonment. Yes, if you are creative you could be sent to prison. I could never do that to Alice.

I have to act like everyone else for the rest of my life. That will be possibly the hardest thing that I will ever have to do.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey guys, I'm just setting up the story so far. It'll get better, I promise. (He is using big words cause that's how they talk in this future place, or whatever you want to call it. They have a larger vocabulary than Americans these days..)

I hope you guys like it so far. If it's bad, tell me in the comments. I would like to know so that I don't keep writing badly..

But this was kind of a long chapter, so I might update after my vacation (Which will end in about a week..ish).

-Mikaila