The Mark

3

The long grueling dragging class that is fourth block ends in just a minute. I keep my eyes on the slow ticking clock. I can hear josh and his friends still talking nonsense just as the teacher is at the front of the classroom.

Finally the bell rings and most of the students flood out of the classroom. The end of fourth block means the end of the school day. I wait until everyone else leaves the class so I don't get caught in the crowd. Josh and his friends make their way out last but josh lingers behind a bit. After his friends exit the doorway, he gently tosses the same piece of crumpled airplane paper at me while I'm still seated. It lands in my lap and look down for a second and then look back up to see if I can read his face but he was already gone.

I slip my notebook into my bag and shove the crumpled paper into my pocket. Finally, making my way out of the classroom I head out of the main school door bracing for the brutal winter air to the student parking lot and get into my car. I throw my bag into the backseat and decide to look at the crumpled paper because I'm too impatient to wait until I'm at home. Struggling to get it out of my pocket because I'm sitting, I finally pull it out and read the words this time written in pencil and a bit smaller than the previous. "See you there then 'baby'." The words read. What the hell?

I roll my eyes and mutter "What a pretentious dick." After tossing the crumpled paper behind me without a second thought I turn on my car and pull out of the parking lot to make my way home.

After the short drive I'm pulling in front of my house. I grab my bag and the paper from the back and make my way inside. "Hey kiddo, I'm in the kitchen making dinner. It should be done in an hour and a half." Mom yells from a distance.

"Okay thank you mom." I yell back and head upstairs to my room. My siblings are all already home. All respectively in their rooms with their doors shut. I'm the oldest of four. All of them are excited for me to receive my mark. Our parents both received theirs and found each other just a year later when my mom was simply in a grocery store and they both reached for an apple causing their hands to touch where their marks were. I only hope I can be that lucky. I've heard stories of people not finding their soulmate for thirty or more years. I shutter at the thought.

After dinner I'm sitting at my desk with the crumpled paper that josh threw in front of me. I flatten it out and study the ridges from where the paper was balled up. It meant nothing. He's just an ass. I roll my eyes and scoff, snatching the paper from my desk and balling it back up before tossing it into the trashcan to the right. I pull up my backpack and slide out my books and start my homework for the evening. It's hard to concentrate though because of something I've got lingering in my mind.