Chance

Chapter 1 - Meet and Greet

 My eyes fixated on the little button that could possibly bring me the happiness that I had been seeking for years. If the pounding in my chest was any indication, this was a big deal. This was way out of my comfort zone but how was I supposed to make any progress if I never stepped out of the box?

"Stop being so scared, Addi," I mumbled to myself, my mind willing me to delete the app and forget all about my frivolous attempt, "What's the worst that could happen? I mean, I may match with some old dude but then I can just pretend I never saw it and move on with my life."

I sighed loudly. I wanted to meet someone new and this app had huge claims of helping their users find their soulmate- that one person that they can spend forever with. What if my soulmate didn't have the app? I was literally wasting my time.

With one last sigh and a skip of my heart, I pushed the Find option. The app required me to fill out a bunch of information about my interests and preferences. One more question and I would have been suspicious.

Please hold while we process your entry.

The cursive words blinked on the screen for what felt like an eternity. This was a mistake. I knew it. If I had deleted the app when I initially wanted to, this anxious feeling would have never gotten such a tight hold of me. My stomach flipped and my hearing muffled as the words continued to blink away, taunting me with the possibility of finding true happiness or this being a total bust.

A few agonising seconds later, the app skipped to a dark blue screen with the word 'Proceed' in cursive. I clicked it. It made no sense turning back now.

I had the shock of my life when the profile of the guy I matched with came up.

Your soulmate. The app had those words printed at the top of the screen. Funny, they spelled 'Dead to you' incorrectly. This guy was not my soulmate. I exited the app and shoved the phone in the back pocket of my jeans. This was some sort of sick joke.

I walked out of my room and made a beeline for Camila's. I barged in, not bothering to knock before entering. She never showed me the courtesy so I wasn't about to show her anything different.

"Come in," She snapped as she glared at me and locked her phone. She sat up straight when she finally took in my appearance, "Why do you look like someone stole your candy?" She patted a spot on the bed next to her. I took the hint and sat down.

"Remember I was telling you about the app, Chance, that's supposed to match you with your soulmate?" The last word came out a lot more sarcastic than I had intended. I didn't have the courage to look her in the eyes while I spoke. Instead, I played with my fingers and focused all of my attention on that.

"I distinctly remember telling you that it was a scam and to delete it. I'm guessing you went ahead with it right?"

All I did was nod.

"What happened? Did they match you with someone that looks like a weirdo?"

I shook my head and finally looked at her. Her braids were hanging loosely around her face as her brown eyes searched mine. "It matched me with Ben." Her mouth fell open as soon as the words left my lips, "Yup, that Ben."

She held out her hand without saying anything. I pulled the phone out of my pocket and placed it in her waiting palm. She quickly unlocked it and entered the app. Camila nodded to herself then handed me the phone.

"Just throw the whole phone away at this point and he messaged you by the way. He really has some nerve after what he did."

I looked at the message and was less than impressed by its contents. He used the messenger within the app to contact me.

Ben: Hi, Addi. You do know that the app alerted me too, right?

The message didn't even deserve a response. Cami was still ranting, flinging her arms in the air every few seconds.

"How would he feel if you did to him what he did to you? He'd never want to speak to you again and for good reason . He sucks and he knows it. Why did he even bother texting you? It's never gonna happen. He should take your silence as a hint!"

"Wait, what did you just say?"

"Which part?" Her eyebrow shot up, "I said a lot. You weren't listening!"

My body involuntarily caused my eyes to roll, "I was listening but I was saying that for dramatic effect. You had a good idea. I should hurt him the same way he hurt me. Fair is fair."

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard you say and you've said some pretty stupid things over the last eighteen years, my friend."

She had a point, the idea was dumb although it'd be worth it if I was able to get him to hurt the same way I had been hurt two years ago. I wanted to step outside of my comfort zone and this was the perfect way to do it.

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Okay so I wanted to edit this story a year after I started it (today is 19 February 2021). I'm really excited because I love this story and these characters and I hope that whoever is reading this ends up loving them just as much as I do.

Also!!!! I'm adding chapter headers and a little signature at the bottom. I hope you like!