{ Greetings my lovely leafs! This beauty is yet another collab between @chello_8893 and myself! This time she will be writing odd chapters, and I will be writing even. This first is her master piece! }
“Excuse me, miss, I’d like to check out these books please,” I grinned, placing my books on the counter in front of my best friend.
“Gajeel, you aren’t supposed to bug me at work,” she scolded, though I could tell she was fighting a smile.
“I’m not,” I said, “I came to check out some books.”
She raised an eyebrow at me before sighing. “Why do you even want books on the countdown clocks anyways?”
I shrugged, trying to sound bored as I replied. “Just doing some research for a class.”
“So, how many days left on yours?” She asked, quietly, as she took my student ID and scanned the books for me.
“Hard to tell,” I lied, looking at the inside of my wrist. Countdown clocks were devices everyone was born with. They acted as a sort of timer on the inside of your wrist. When your timer hit zero, you would be looking into the eyes of your soulmate. That is, if the damned thing had ever had a countdown. Mine had been at zero for as long as I could remember, but I couldn’t remember the exact moment it had hit zero—or who’s timer had hit zero at the same time mine had.
Like the old tales go, everyone has a soulmate. But, before the countdown clocks, people would just walk right by theirs, never even sparing them a glance. That’s why the clocks were invented. They synced together with the person who was most compatible for you—who you would fall in love with and marry—and they eventually led you together.
From stories I’ve heard, and from watching some of my own friends’ timers reach zero, I knew that there is some kind of pull that happened. As your timer gets closer and closer to zero, you get closer and closer to your soulmate. You can’t help but go where the timer leads you, and neither can they. Once it hits zero, you finally get to meet them. Or, in some cases, you’re already friends with your soulmate and just haven’t realized it.
I glanced up at Levy, the tiny bluenette whom had been my best friend for over ten years. She was the reason I lied about my clock being on zero, and the reason I was checking out these damned books on the countdown clocks. With hers still counting down, and mine on zero, there was no way I could tell her the truth.
That I had loved her since the day we met.
~Levy~
I was quiet as I checked out Gajeel’s books. I could tell there was something he was hiding from me about the books, but I didn’t press him for information. I really didn’t have any right to, considering I was hiding things from him, too. Huge things.
I glanced down at my countdown clock, sighing. The single little number was almost taunting as it stared back at me. How can a number be so infuriating? When that number was zero, it was actually quite understandable. When my timer first hit zero, I remember immediately going to the doctor to see if it was broken. He told me it was working perfectly fine, congratulated me, and sent me away.
Most girls get all giddy and nervous when their timers grew close to zero, but I never got that chance. I went to sleep one night, and the next morning when I woke up it was on zero. I had no idea what to do about it, so I decided to hide it. Hitting zero without finding your soulmate was as good as being marked as a lonely old maid, destined to be alone forever. Frightened, I had lied to everyone, telling them I still had a few years before my clock would be even close to hitting zero.
“Hey, look over there,” Gajeel murmured, getting my attention. He pointed to the middle of the library where a girl was looking around nervously, clutching her wrist. “She must be close.”
I nodded. “I wonder where her soulmate is,” I mused, wistfully watching the scene.
The girl slowly continued walking, and I spotted her soulmate before she did. He was a handsome boy, probably the same age as her, and he had the same nervous expression on his face. The moment their timers ran out, both of them looked up, locking eyes. I wonder what that moment is like? I wondered. Slowly being pulled towards your soulmate, waiting in anticipation as your timer slowly grows closer and closer to zero, and finally getting to meet them once it finally does. I sighed, handing Gajeel his books. I wonder what my soulmate would have been like…
“I’ll see ya back at the house, Shrimp,” Gajeel grinned.
I smiled. “Don’t forget to feed Pantherlily,” I teased. We had lived in the same apartment since the year before when we had started college, and had adopted a black cat who we had named Pantherlily. We joked constantly that he was our cat-child, our little furbaby. Secretly, the jokes felt like little pricks in my chest because I knew that no matter how many times I joked about it, or how often I wished and dreamed about it, Gajeel and I would never be together to have real children.Eventually, he’ll meet his soulmate and leave me behind.
And that was the most terrifying truth of the countdown clocks.
{Wattpad decided to be a dick and delete my first draft -__-}
