Walk in my Shoes

Chapter 2

Waking up in my own body again in a different place than I passed out was certainly an odd feeling, but when I saw Erin in the door I jumped up and hugged her. Laughing and choking on hair, "We did it! We really did it."

I pulled away from her, trying to read the emotions in her eyes. "Where did you go?"

We spent the morning sharing stories and coming back down from the excitement of the night. Once we came back to our senses, we remembered to look for notes that may have been left behind by our soulmates. It's still a strange thought, that I've seen his face and he'd been in my body. My soulmate, he's out there, and he was here. 

I picked up the notepad next to the chair where he would've woken up, knowing I'd probably have to translate it somehow. I slipped it into my pocket and followed Erin into the kitchen and to each of our rooms, finding nothing. 

Erin spun around, her hands in her hair. "I don't see anything! How could there not be anything else?" 

I pulled her hands down between us, holding them in mine. "Don't worry about it, we have the notes. That's at least something"

She shook her head and stared at our feet. "I know. I just wanted there to be something else. I've been imagining this day since before I can remember, since I was little."

"It's alright, come on. We could both really use a minute to cool off." I pulled her into the bathroom and started running cold water. Looking up into the mirror to see Erin's face, only to be able to see her through words written in bright red lipstick. She looked as shocked as I felt.

'See you in 1 week'

'Little bookstore on corner'

"One week? And then we get to meet them?" She squealed as I held her wrist under the water. I turn to look at her, not sure what to think. I want to believe it, based on Erin's face, she did.

One week later, Erin and I were browsing books in the store down the block. It was crowded with tall bookshelves that overflowed with books, beams of light streaming in through windows. There was a window seat in the front, a pile of pillows on the floor in a corner, and a counter against the sidewall. 

I browsed one of the shelves and pulled out a 'Sherlock Holmes' collection. Erin was pacing in front of the counter, considering she would probably do that until she laid eyes on her soulmate I decided to ignore her. I'd been eyeing the window seat since we came in, so I settled onto it with the book to wait.  

The door opened, jingling a bell over and over as people walked in. I could tell by Erin's face that she didn't recognize any of them, I didn't either so I returned to my book. 

The bell jingled again but I ignored it assuming that it was just another random person. I continued reading until I realized that whoever it was had frozen in their tracks. I looked up and the breath caught in my throat.

I found him. The same face that had looked out at me from a mirror now stared at me from across the room.