String of Fate

Chapter One

I thought that the world I lived in was strange. There was a hidden force that deemed who should be with who when the youngest of the couple turned sixteen. I wondered why one force was allowed to select the destiny of every person in existence. It wasn't so bad because it resulted in happy marriages and relationships. The world was a happy place. There were still some conflicts, but it was mostly happy.

I was just getting a bit frustrated with this higher power. After turning sixteen over a week ago, I'd expected to have my string by now. As a girl, I had thought that I would have been the youngest in the relationship and would have woken up with my string when I had turned sixteen, just like my older sister had. I guess I just wanted to find out who was at the end of my string.

Friday, nearly two weeks after my sixteenth birthday, I woke up with no string on my finger. Again. I was in a bit of a grump as I got ready for school, dressing and heading to the kitchen. My mum was sitting at the table, typing away on the laptop as she replied to the work emails that she had received overnight. She made running a bookstore look quite difficult. Dad was in between the kettle and the toaster, holding out a plate and a cup to me as I passed. I took them gratefully, sitting down next to mum and taking a sip of my tea before biting into the toast.

"Judging by the look on your face, you still don't have a string." My sister, Daniella, said to me, glancing at me from over the top of her fashion magazine. I shook my head, grabbing my phone from my pocket and checking for any social media updates. Facebook was quite active thanks to the fandom pages I followed with admins from over the world. It meant that I always had something to look at. "It shouldn't be long now."

"I hope not. I just want to know who it is." I admitted. Dad sat at the table, too, his plate piled high with toast. I wondered how he could eat so much early in the mornings. I just about managed one slice. His coffee smelt quite strong today, too. He couldn't have slept well - probably worrying about the wedding that mum and dad had to go to tomorrow. He hated crowds, something that I had inherited from him. "Is that so much to ask?"

"Just hope that you don't have to wait for three years like I did." My dad told me, taking a sip of his coffee. My mum looked up from her laptop, giving him a smile. He turned to her. "Are the website people still being difficult?"

"Yes. They want to charge a ridiculous amount for designing a website and we can't afford it. It's not like we want to sell the items through the website, just get an online presence." My mother explained, glancing at the laptop as another email came through. "Oh, no. the delivery is going to be late today. Their van broke down and he's not sure when he can get to us. If it's busy, we might not be able to stock the shelves."

"I can pop in after school to help and if we don't get to it while the store is open, I'll stock the shelves after closing. I won't have to fight between customers then." I offered, taking a bite of my toast. My family turned to look at me. "What? I need the shop to be successful if I'm going to inherit it one day. Oh, and if you can't afford a website but want an online presence, it might be worth setting up Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Google+ for the store. It'll get your presence out there." My alarm blared on my phone. "I have to go but I'll talk with you about it when I get back from school."

I downed the rest of my tea, slung my bag on my shoulder and stole half a slice of toast from my father's plate as I passed. I called 'bye' to everyone as I shut the door behind me. It was a short walk to school but I liked to make sure that I was early so I could meet with my friends before lessons started.

I headed to the stairwell that led to our registration classroom - the only one in the block above the canteen. I was the last one there, Annie and Calvin squishing together on the top step of the stairs. Three months after Annie's birthday and the two of them were still going strong, their hands clasped together and resting on Annie's knee. Sammy was sitting two steps down, legs stretched out across the steps. I sat down a step below her, also sitting sideways so I could talk to the gang easier.