Soulmarks

Chapter 2: Early Meeting

My mother watches me with tears in her eyes as my father helps to unload me and my wheelchair from our van. She gets out of the car and stoops down to give me a suffocating hug.

"You promise you'll be careful?" she asks.

"I promise," I say.

"And if you have any issues at all, you'll call?" she asks.

"Yes mom, if there're any issues I'll call. But there won't be any issues. I'm going to be fine," I say. My mother nods.

"But just in case," she adds. I nod and I give her a slight wave before wheeling myself towards the entrance. An escort assists me with my bags, but says nothing as I get myself checked in and settled at the gate.

"Someone will assist you from here," the escort says stiffly.

"Right, thanks," I mutter, sighing. Is there something so strange and appalling about seeing a young girl in a wheelchair?

The entire wait by the gate feels agonizing. Everyone looks at me, but no one bothers to make kind conversation. They're all thinking the same thing. They all want to know what happened, but no one has the courage to ask, so instead they make their assumptions. Their looks are of pity or disgust, there are no positives.

My seat is only normal economy, but lucky for me, being in a wheelchair means I get to get on first. I hoist myself into the seat okay, but someone has to come and put my wheelchair away, as well as my luggage, before they can let the others onto the plane.

I have two people sitting to the right of me, a mother and son in the middle and window seat. I pray that the little boy can last the two-hour flight without having to go to the bathroom, because I don't know if I'll be able to stand long enough to let him out.

"So, why Vegas?" the mother asks, making me jump out of my thoughts.

"Excuse me?" I ask politely.

"You seem a little young to be going to Vegas all by yourself. You got family there?" she asks, smiling.

"Oh no, I'm going to meet my soulmate," I say.

"That's wonderful! And at such a young age, you're so lucky," she says.

"Mom? What's a soulmate?" the boy asks. The mother pulls up the boy's pant leg to reveal a leaf-shaped soul mark.

"See this mark? When you're older, you'll find a girl or boy with the same mark as you. And that, Logan, is your soulmate. It's the person you're going to love for the rest of your life," she says.

"Is daddy your soulmate?" Logan asks.

"That's right. Me and your daddy both have puzzle pieces on our shoulders," she says.

"That's so cool! So you're going to get a boyfriend?" Logan asks me. I laugh and nod.

"Pretty much, yeah," I say.

"Well, that's wonderful. What's his name?" the mother asks.

"Aven, AvenCallister," I say.

"The pop star?" she asks.

"I guess so. He revealed his mark on T.V last night, and ours is the same. This star on our wrist," I say, showing her the mark. "Logan's cousin Cindy is nuts for Aven. She'll go bananas when I tell her I met his soulmate. You're one lucky girl," the mother says.

"Thanks," I say.

I spend the rest of the flight talking to the family. Logan never needed to use the restroom, but boy could he talk an ear off. It was cute, though. It reminded me of Garett. He was always such a chatterbox. Once the flight lands, the flight attendant returns with my wheelchair and luggage.