Check The Time

Chapter 2 - Meet Jett

Jett

"Chocolate chip frappé for Bella," I shout over the coffee shop commotion, placing the cup on the counter.

I spin around, giving Jared a punch on the shoulder. "Beat you," I announce as he whips up a vanilla bean frappé. "You owe me a cake pop."

Jared rolls his eyes, obviously annoyed by his defeat. "Alright, alright. Vanilla or chocolate?"

"Chocolate, duh," I lean against the small counter beside him, grinning.

Jared finishes the drink then turns to me. "How much time do you have left?" he whispers, his green eyes sparkling with excitement.

My heart suddenly lodges itself in my throat, and I fight to swallow it. "Thirty minutes," the words came out mangled.

"I'm so nervous! You're going to be married tomorrow and I still have one year, sixty-five hours, fifty six minutes and," his eyes flicker from me to his wrist, "twenty two seconds!"

"Trust me your day will come," I reassure him, pulling myself onto the small counter space. "Enjoy being in your eighteenth year!"

We joke around for a while, his eyes switching from my watch to my face every once and awhile. Then suddenly the door opens and we both turn to see a girl who stumbles to a table, grumbling.

"Someone borrowed her mom's heels," I laugh, turning to face Jared who cracks a small smile. "She looks like she's sixteen."

"Nah, she has to be nineteen. She has a red trim around her watch," Jared clarifies and I spin around to see her settling into a seat, tossing back curls from her face.

"How on Genoveva did yo--"

"Vision enhancement," he interrupts my question with a confident grin. "I got it two weeks ago. I don't miss a thing."

"Ugh, you're so lucky! I've been wanting vision enhancement for the longest!" I punch his shoulder again, pouting and he laughs, making kissy faces at me.

"I know you still love me," he teases and we burst into laughter.

It takes moments for me to quiet down and that's when I hear the beeping.

Suddenly the whole café freezes and my heart lodges itself back into my throat. My whole body begins to sway while Jared stands there, mouth gaping in shock. My wrist trembles as I bring the watch into sight. The name is a bit blurry from my trembling, but I can make it out well enough.

'Amelia'

My throat is too dry, my heartbeat is too loud, my body is shaking beyond comprehension for me to completely grasp the name. All I can hear is incoherent garbled noises coming from somewhere behind me. Jared is more conscious of his surroundings and I watch as his eyebrows pull together and his mouth turns into a hard line.

Finally, after my heartbeat slows and my body regains control of itself, I find the girl in the heels calling my name in a quivering voice.

"J-Jett?" a voice made of velvet sputters with nervousness and I know right away that she is Amelia. "A-are yo-ou here, Jett?"

"Amelia," I dryly answer and our eyes meet.

Her face ranges from overjoyed to shock then to fury. She steps out of her shoes, her height no longer meeting mine as she marches over. Her tiny hands grip the wrist of my right hand and she twists my clock so she can see. Her curls fall over her face as she stares at her name screened on my wrist.

The café's tension is thick enough to cut with a machete. "The system must've malfunctioned," Amelia whispers-- to herself I'm sure-- before letting go of my hand. "We have to go right away."

Although I know the correct thing to do is to hurry to the Matchers' headquarters and find our original soul mates, I don't want to. Amelia vaguely reminds me of a beautiful goddess with gem-like eyes that are kind, yet fierce. Her small hands were warm and soft on my pale skin. Her voice is like silk, so smooth, so elegant, so soft. She is absolutely breathtaking.

"Let's go," she orders in a demanding tone, and I glance at the crowd watching us with a disturbing amount of concentration.

I hop over the counter to be on her side then soundlessly exit the doors of Press & Grind. I can hear her heels click on the smooth white pavement as she catches up with me.

"Do you have a ride?" she inquires after several minutes of us silently walking together.

I nod, focusing on the white lines separating the parked hover cars. She suddenly turns in the other direction and I shift my eyes to see her approaching an old hover vehicle -- I'm certain it is one of the first -- that put a Hover Car '56 on the top of the game.

"Do you have a ride?" I repeat her question, snickering.

"She can drive better than half of these cars," she defends her prehistoric vehicle with flushed cheeks.

"How about you just ride with me? When we get this all sorted out, I'll bring you back. They'll never take us serio--"

"HOW COULD THEY NOT?!" She interrupts, advancing towards me. "WHAT DOES MY CAR HAVE TO DO WITH THE FACT THAT MY SOULMATE IS SOMEWHERE OUT THERE ALONE AND PROBABLY MISERABLE WHILE I'M STUCK HERE WITH SOMEONE WHO HAS NO COURTESY?!" The distance between us is closed with two more steps. "GET OVER YOURSELF!"

Suddenly, my tongue becomes lead in my mouth and my eyes drop to the ground as if I am ashamed. My usual flare of temper and motor mouth are subdued by the emotion that leaks from her statement. I, instead, listen to her panting slowly change to level breathing and watch her fists uncurl, the fingers flexing then relaxing at her side.

"Sorry," she timidly apologizes, but I shake my head. "I really am..."

"It's alright," my voice cracks and I mentally curse myself. "I'll meet you there."

I pivot on my heel then trudge to my Hover Car 650, a hand me down from my old man. I press my thumb against the scanner on the handle, watching the locks release then I climb in, shutting the door.

A bit dazed, I pull my dirty blonde hair into a neat enough ponytail then start up the car, listening to its gentle purr. Finally I shift gears and zoom away, heading at lightning speed to Matchers' Court.