Moira

2.

001d, 19h, 09m, 55s

An exasperated sigh left my best friends lips as she stepped through my door, closing it behind her a little louder than she needed to. She shrugged off her light coat and let it fall to the ground carelessly just to prove a point.

When I moved to pick it up with an eye roll, she was quick to stop me in my movement with a playful glare, a smirk spreading across her lips.

"You can handle a coat on the floor for an hour or two, can't you, Ames?" Eniola snickered in amusement as she diverted her eyes off of me to take her shoes off, her dark curls bouncing slightly at the motion.

"I can, but I don't want to," I defended, my eyes rolling for a second time in the span of mere seconds before they glanced around the room once. Her grey coat sprawled across the white floor the only thing out of place in the apartment.

My nose scrunched up in disdain at the sight, and I quickly diverted my eyes away from it, gaze falling into the living room and out of the large windows.

The view would've been better if I lived on a higher floor, but I was completely and utterly content with it, seeing as the apartment was provided by The System. Anything they touched turned into gold— everyone knew that.

Eniola sighed gently as she followed me into the living room, overtaking me at the last second to let herself fall into the corner of the couch before I had the chance to. With interest, she eyed the room as if she hadn't been in it countless times already.

My personal theory was that she was simply impressed by the design. The organically shaped tiles behind which the bright white lights hid, the large screen hanging on the wall, the perfectly equipped kitchen stretching along the left wall; and the fact I didn't pay for any of it— how could she not be impressed?

"You know, having it all perfect in here won't make it easier to adjust to anything out there that isn't," She shrugged, eyes absentmindedly wandering outside the window, taking in the bright lights illuminating the otherwise dark city. "Who knows, your soulmate might be a complete hoarder— messier than me, even."

My brows perked up at her statement, quickly shaking my head at it as I overcame the urge to shudder at the thought alone.

"They won't be," I stated calmly, not leaving room for any more to be debated. Though, Eniola's eyes quickly landed on me with a challenging gleam in them.

"How'd you know?"

"Well, they wouldn't be my soulmate if that were the case," I snapped back, sinking deeper into the couch, my arms lazily crossing in front of my chest.

"Well," She cleared her throat, suddenly a playful grin tugging on the corners of her mouth. "We'll find out in what? Two days, right?" She leaned over to nudge my side playfully. "Until then, my jacket on the floor is a good way to start preparing for the worst of cases, no?" She flashed me a bright smile, her white teeth a harsh contrast to her dark skin.

Our previous conversation all forgotten about, I buried my hands in my hair as I mirrored her smile nervously. As I retracted my hands back out of it with a sigh, my eyes fell onto my left wrist, and I swallowed thickly at the time displayed.

001d, 19h, 02m, 01s

She seemed to catch my attention drifting off of our conversation and onto the timer gradually running out.

"Almost matching," Eniola gave me a reassuring smile, raising her arm to hold it against mine in comparison.

The red ink against her dark skin was harder to decipher than it was on me, though I could still identify it perfectly.

000d, 00h, 00m, 00s

The sight snapped me out of my worry, remembering that this is what it was supposed to look like, and realising that it was going to look just like it on my own wrist soon.

So very soon.

"How's Aiden doing, then?" I asked, clearing my throat and letting my arm fall next to my body again. She mirrored my motion as she replied.

"A pain in the ass, as always," Amusement flickered over her dark features. "Wouldn't want it any other way, of course."

"Of course," I snickered, amusement lacing my voice just as much as it did hers. "I know it's been ages—" I began, trailing off and interrupting myself with a huff. "But in lights of, well, this," I pointed to the timer on my wrist. "How was it? When you first saw him? I can't imagine it was awkward with Aiden being— well, Aiden," I shook my head at the thought of the ginger-haired man slightly.

"Oh, it wasn't," She sighed in contentment, probably thinking back to the day her own countdown ran out. It must've been at least five years now. "I was so fucking nervous— you were the one who told me I shouldn't be. Not that that helped, really." She bit back a grin.

"I thought what if he's not the one I want to spend the rest of my life with, what if he's annoying, what if he's, like, just not my type—" Her eyes diverted off the window and onto me swiftly before the next words left her mouth. "And you—" She began dramatically jabbing her finger against my chest. "You were just blabbering on about how The System never fails and how I should just trust them. I wanted to murder you right then and there."

A low laugh escaped my mouth at the memory, and I nodded in recognition. "Yeah, yeah, I remember," I tutted, making Eniola roll her eyes in amusement.

"I looked at him, right when the countdown hit 0. And I just knew it was him— and I knew I wanted it to be him." A soft smile played on her lips. "Even though two out of my three fears did come true, in the end. He wasn't my type at all, and god was he annoying—"

"—is annoying," I quickly corrected, Eniola lightly hitting my shoulder while she, in contrary to her action, nodded in agreement. "That's probably why you're soulmates, anyway."

She hit my shoulder harsher this time, her face contorting in playful irritation.

"You're nervous, then?"

I didn't hesitate when I shook my head forceful enough for the world around me to blur just slightly. "I've been waiting for this moment, basically my entire life."

"One doesn't automatically exclude the other, Amidelle." Her voice was soft, though her brows furrowed slightly at my vague answer.

"Well," I began. "Why would I be nervous? It's not like anything can go wrong. Nothing ever goes wrong— this is The System, after all. The point of implementing it is so that nothing goes wrong. They'll be perfect; whoever they are."

I grew annoyed at my own doubts creeping into my head. I knew what I was saying was the truth; they've been telling and teaching us these things from such an early age. I grew up experiencing them to be true. I watched my sister find her person, and I watched my friends do the same.

So why on earth was it so hard to believe my own words when I knew they were the truth?

"You don't have to say that just because you work for them—"

An annoyed groan escaped my mouth at that, swiftly cutting her off before she had the chance to spew more nonsense.

"You know that's not why I'm saying it!" I huffed. "I'm saying it because we both know it's the truth."

To my surprise, that's when she decided to drop it. "Right, of course." She simply muttered, and I watched with narrowed eyes as she leisurely leaned further into the sofa, her hands crossing behind her head. "What's for dinner?"

-

How do we feel about today's chapter? 

I still get so nervous updating this book kjnkbhvgc

Anyway, thank you so much for reading!! And hopefully, I'll see you in the next chapter. <3