Leave Your Mark

First Words

He sat in the middle of the history lesson, unable to pay attention. Rather than focusing on the monotonous voice of his teacher droning on about the architecture of ancient Egyptian civilisations, James stared at the words on his wrist, contemplating their meaning. Apparently it would be hard to miss his soulmate, because the first thing they would say to him was, "Wingardium leviosa."

He sighed at the ink on his wrist, still not able to figure out how on earth gibberish in Latin would come up in conversation. It had already been weeks since he had turned sixteen and gotten the tattoo of his soulmate's first words to him. Many times he had wondered if there had been a mistake. But there were no mistakes in fate.

Before he knew it the bell had rung. It was his free period, so he packed up his things and headed to the library. When he opened one of the heavy double doors, he bumped into someone who went tumbling backwards, spilling papers everywhere and sending a large book clattering to the ground.

"Wingardium leviosa!" the girl exclaimed. She blinked. "I-I mean sorry."

He stared at her for a moment, taking in her sparkling green eyes and beautiful red hair. Her yellow and black striped scarf and beanie went well with her black long sleeved t shirt and jeans, and a blush dusted her freckled cheeks.

"Holy crap," he said.

Her eyes widened. She nearly smacked herself in the face, her arm flew up so fast. She examined her wrist and tears sprung to her eyes. "You're--"

"My soulmate," he finished, and gulped. He snapped out of his momentary trance and started helping the catatonic girl pick up her papers.

"I'm Lili," said the girl as soon as she gained her composure.

"I'm James." He held out his hand. Instead of shaking it, however, Lili just gasped and stared at him.

"No wonder we're soulmates," she breathed.

"Sorry?" He didn't understand what she was saying.

"Have you not read Harry Potter?!" she asked incredulously.

"Erm...no?"

"Oh my gosh." She reached into her bag and pulled out a hardback book. "This is Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. You've got to read it if you want to be friends with me."

"A fangirl, huh?"

She nodded vigorously. "To the extreme."

He rolled his eyes. "No wonder we're soulmates," he murmured, grinning.