Roses & Feathers

Prologue

The world has this system, that connects every person in the world in some way. 

The Soulmate System. 

No one really knows, how it works and how this system makes its decisions, but it's there.

It's simple. At the age of 16, you come of age. Not like you're an adult then, but you're able to communicate, with your soulmate. It's the Soulmate-Of-Age date mark.

Everything they write on their skin, appears on your skin on the exact same place, they wrote it. You can talk to them in this way, but the thing is, you can't tell your soulmate your full name, your address or anything too personal, that tells them exactly, who you are. You have to give each other hints on who you are, without exactly saying it. 

And if you get hurt, bruises, for example, are little black roses.

Scars, for example, are white feathers, with dark blue shading on your soulmate's skin.

The roses and feathers adjust on your skin and have the same size or form like the actual scar or bruise.

When you are near your soulmate, the writing on your skin, begins to burn, like a burning pain and not being in flames of course, and it glows. The closer you get to that person, the brighter it glows and this only stops if you take your soulmate's hand into yours and intertwine your fingers with them.

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Ashton Fletcher Irwin is an eighteen year old student from Richmond High School. He is rather small, has curly, brunet/blondish hair, wears glasses in front of his fascinating hazel coloured eyes and is kind of shy. His father left them, when he was a toddler and his mum is almost never at home due to working very hard. Ashton has to take care of his two younger siblings Lauren and Harry. 

He has no friends and gets bullied at his school, for many reasons, like being gay, being a nerd, having no parents, etc.. It makes him depressed, to take care of his siblings all alone and going to school, which is basically a living hell. People beat him up on daily basis or insult him and shove him into lockers. 

He found a bit of control, in self harming, but the only thing it did, was leading him into a downwards spiral.

He tries to talk to his soulmate, for solid two years now, but never got an answer. By the time, he thought his soulmate just doesn't care about him and lost all his hope. Never did he think about his soulmate maybe not being of age yet. One day he wants to say goodbye for forever and gets something he never thought, would happen.

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Michael Gordon Clifford and Calum Thomas Hood are two seventeen year old students from Norwest Christian College and Luke's best friends. 

Michael has unicorn coloured (like he calls it), dyed hair, bright green eyes, a button nose, kitten features and rather pale skin. He is also a little bit smaller than Calum, who has dark hair (with some highlights from Michael), soft chocolate coloured eyes, tan skin and toned abs, that kill Michael every time.

They've all known each other all their lives and they plan on becoming a band, once they're old enough. At the moment they just play their guitars and bass and sing, in one of the boys garage every weekend, all weekend. 

Michael and Calum are soulmates, but even before they found out about them being each others soulmates, they had the world biggest crushes on one another. They've practically know the other since they were in their mothers wombs.

They are always there for each other and have the others back. They never fight, and rather have a constructive discussion about their disagreement to find the best compromise. 

Calum and Michael's relationship is the sweetest ever. The shy holding hands under the tables, sweet cheek kisses in the hallways, walking the other to their not shared classes, the gentle hugs from behind and the small neck kisses as a way to say 'Thank you'. This is how their relationship works. Being all sweet, cuddly and lovey dovey. They're cute together and real couple goals but... lets just say a certain blond breadstick is third wheeling as hell.

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Luke Robert Hemmings, is an almost sixteen year old student, from Norwest Christian College, with anger issues. He is very tall and lanky, has blond hair, piercing blue eyes and a lip ring. 

Luke only has two friends, Calum and Michael, or what he likes to call them, since they're in a relationship, Malum, their shipname. He loves his friends to the moon and back, but them being totally in love, makes him sad, coz he feels lonely.

He still has to come of age, to contact and find his soulmate. Everyday, Luke draws little doodles all over his arms, waiting for the day he turns 16. 

But all his imaginations, of how the first contact with his them will be like, are crushed, when he actually turns sixteen and wakes up, to someone's writing on his skin.