Out of My Mind

The air was cold on my skin, colder than I believed should have been legal. I was so unprepared for the weather, I was wearing a thin black cotton shirt and a pair of jean shorts. In my defense, from where I came from, it wasn't chilly until November. September was just too early for jeans.

I was so close to the doors of the school, I could already feel the warmth of the heaters.

A few students were still in the parking lot, uncaring that they were running late, and as I scanned over them, envious of their long sleeves and covered legs, my eyes landed on a lone figure wobbling toward me.

Now, I highly doubted she was meaning to come toward me, more likely to the front doors, but since I was standing not even a foot away, I decided I liked the previous idea better.

Getting crushes on random girls was not the reason I convinced my family to move north. A slightly bad decision on my part, my freezing skin agreeing. The reason was more complicated.

In my family, generations ago on my dad's side, we were cursed. Well, gifted with a cost, is what Dad liked to say. The Giles family line consisted of only men. That was our curse. No female was to be born with our blood. I was never told how exactly that came to be, but I wasn't one to argue.

The gift, though, was that we would get a true soulmate, and when the time was right, we'd be able to feel them, in a way.

One day I was looking at a map, and I just felt a need to be somewhere else, and when I placed a single finger on the paper, I knew exactly where to go.

Which naturally had to be the climate of the Antarctic. 

But my soulmate was here. I knew it. I could feel it. Like a rope connecting us, but the other side was foggy. And until I touched her, I was in the dark on her.

The girl was different, though. It was her, her differences in appearance that drew eyes to her. There was no denying that she was beautiful.

Her hair fell down her back, a waterfall of curls so tight, they had to be real. She was a tiny thing, had to only come up to my shoulders, with bangs that were trapped under the rim of her black glasses, glasses that took up most of her upper face.

As she got closer, I took note of her porcelain skin, of her pixie-like features, of the way her lips pursed, annoyed. Her entire outfit matched the whole paleness she had going on. A periwinkle blue hoodie, matching the winter sky above. Washed out skinny jeans, the knees of them worn out. It was plain, simple.

A part of me wondered if the reason she caught my attention was because she was the one. Instant attraction was the first sign. It was, of course, a possibility. Another possibility was that it was someone else. Another stranger, just as unique.

As she passed me to go into the building, I noticed her eyes. They were a mesmerizing gunmetal blue, the color dull and muted. It matched her.

Her hand reached up to open the door, her fingers brushing against the skin of my exposed arm. I held my breath, my heart racing, waiting for something, anything. A spark or a voice from the sky telling me it was her, that I had found the one meant for me and me for her.

Nothing.

She gave me a small smile, turning to look at me, her glasses catching a glare from the sun overhead. "Excuse me," she apologized, her voice soft and quiet. I nodded back, taking the handle from her and opening the front door. She walked through and I watched her keep a steady pace down the hallway.

I stared at the stranger from that morning. He sat only two rows up and to the left of me, the back of his head fascinating me.The fingers that had brushed against his skin only hours before still tingled.