Colored Footsteps [Breddy Soulmate AU]

Eight

A/N: today in a Zoom class, I was writing some notes in my notebook. The notebook was on the keyboard of my computer, so as I was writing, it pressed random keys. A bunch of gibberish was sent out in the chat to everyone before I realized what was happening. 

I've recently turned 16, and it's time for me to travel and sell my paintings once again. My parents still let me go, but if I do anything funny, they're dragging me back home.

Little do they know that I don't plan to come back.

This is the time when all the planning in the past two years comes into play, and I'm the only one who knows.

Not even my soulmate knows, which is the iffy part about my plan. If my soulmate doesn't agree, everything will go to waste, and my parents will catch me and never let me out of the house again.

I've watched where my soulmate goes, watched that counter and whenever it went down. Noticed a pattern. Sometimes it's random, but every April break, they come. So it's only obvious, that during April break, I'll go too. We'll meet in the middle, and I'm NOT going back home after that.

I load the stacks of my artwork into the back of the car, making sure the ones with the newer techniques are on top. New customers will be more likely to buy them that way.

With the car loaded and everything in place, I settle in the passenger's seat, and my dad pulls out of the driveway.

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A/N: guys...I'm so sorry....you're going to want bubble tea after this...I'm just torturing you at this point...I'm so sorry.

//Brett's POV//

We've been moving along at a steady place for quite some time now, and it's time for a break. I can't even remember the last time I had bubble tea, it's been way too long!

My mum stays back in the car, and as I walk through the door to the shop, I notice a lot of people milling around and sipping gently from their cups.

I have to make an actual effort to stop myself from drooling. The familiar heavenly smell wafts up my nose and creates a moment of bliss. I must have looked like an idiot just standing there with my eyes closed, sniffing the air aggressively. A sharp bump to the shoulder shakes me from the moment and I am met with stern eyes glaring at me.

"Excuse me young man, you are HOLDING up the line, and I have to be somewhere important in 15 minutes!" A woman in her mid 50s snaps at me.

"Oh!" I hurriedly scramble forward, not wanting to make her any angrier than she already is.

After ordering my usual (original, or course), and paying, I stalk quickly out of the shop. The glass door leaves a lingering coldness on my palm.

I quickly take the straw and jam the sharp end into the top of the bubble tea container. Not able to wait, I sip immediately and savor that wonderful taste, trying to make it last.

I swallow it slowly and sigh, content.

I pick up bits and pieces of chatter as I walk along the sidewalk next to the rows of shops and stores.

"-you know, my sister is getting married next month? I know, right, and only after a few months of meeting her soulmate too! Haha, for me and Michael is took, like, a year. It's no secret we didn't really take to each other-"

"-and yesterday, at the barbecue, I just watched as this shady man walked into our private backyard. I was like, wth is going on?? Apparently my brother invited him in secret so he could be like, 'surprise y'all I met my soulmate!' It was kind of weird at first honestly, but they were so cute together uwu-"

"-GUYYSS you'll never believe it. Introducing...Sarah! My soulmate! I met her like two hours ago LOL and knew I had to tell you guys right away. Isn't she amazing??"

Seriously? Does no one have anything better to talk about than soulmates?

Each conversation I overhear has SOMETHING to do with a soulmate, and each time I hear that word, my insecurity grows. I feel like I'm the only unmated person on the planet, even though I know that's not true.

I try to distract myself with my bubble tea, and for the most part, it seems to be working. I've had experience with tuning out the background chatter so I can focus, whether on practicing, tests, or reading, though the latter rarely happened. Mostly, when I would pratice...I mean prctice, I mean... PRACTICE, my family would be talking in the background, driving spears through my concentration.

So it's no big task to just focus on the bubble tea.

Curiously, I check my wrist to see how we're doing.

63,548 steps.

I nod appreciatively. Not bad, we're doing well.

I take a mental note about which direction the steps move downward the fastest, and then make a beeline for my mum's car.

She looks at me as I get into the passenger seat, clutching my holy bubble tea tightly in my hand. "Is it good?"

"As always."

"Which direction is the quickest?" She asks, gesturing to the counter on my inner wrist.

"Southeast," I say through a mouth full of bubble tea.

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