The Very Hopeful, And I

PROLOGUE: YOUTHFUL

For example, wouldn't it be disappointing if the name of your soulmate or ally was that of a celebrity's, only to find years later that you stumble across someone else with just the same name? All those years of bragging and bathing in attention from your classmates, only to be dragged down upon the 1st reunion when you introduce your partner that looks nothing like that famous person, they just merely share the same name.

Or how about being outed instantly because the 1st name on your wrist is of the same gender as you? Kids, even teenagers, don't always fully understand the concept of loving someone with the same... anatomy as themselves, and that's because they haven't learned or experienced everything life has to offer yet, and they don't know how everything works.

I can't say I really know of any other 'irregular' cases, I simply follow suit of others and focus on myself. Myself, who has a most definitely female name at the top of that short list of names engraved into my skin...

I don't yet wish to reveal my names beyond family to be perfectly honest. Maybe I've just stuck to a routine that has been embedded into me for the first 18 years of my life, but it's not for that reason alone. I want to do more in the world whilst I'm in a physical peak before I start aging and settling down with this girl whose name sits on my skin. I'm content with the people I have met so far.

I met my biggest enemy last year, when at my old job, they went out of their way to screw me over and stand in the way of me getting a promotion. Fortunately, I overcame this person and I managed to get the promotion of a lifetime, and they remain a part of my past that built me as a person... I guess that person was chosen as my enemy because had I not worked my way up the ladder, I probably would have been made redundant, put out of work, etc, etc, blah, blah, blah...

My greatest ally, just a year older than myself, I met during my school years. I have nothing but fond memories of this person. It's a great shame that we got separated after middle school; I would have liked to experience those high school years with him, getting up to all sorts of mischief in the first few years, then maturing and growing up together... but I'm sure I will find him some day again. Afterall, he's supposed to be my greatest ally.

*****

In kindergarten, we both got kept behind after class because we wrote stories that followed a similar plot and since we were sat next to one another, we basically got lectured about copying other people's work... Of course, I never looked over my shoulder that entire session, too engrossed in visualizing and bringing to life the figments of my little imagination. Incidentally, on that day, it turns out that person created a story about bird-humans that flew up to mars and found a dozen living breads, which I guess followed the same plot as my storyboard of how robot-human hybrids travelled to the moon by a magic carpet and discovered alien bunny life... In hindsight, his made more sense, you know, birds and bread.

I'll skip to the part where I made a promise with this ally. We were probably about 13/14 years old, he in the last year of middle school, not that far away from reaching that grand unknown stage that was 18. We had taken two girls to the arcade in the spring as a sort of double-date type arrangement, and we really had fun that day. I let the girl win of course at most of the multiplayer games, it was only the polite thing to do. Though I went out of my way to beat my ally friend; we were quite competitive in that way, but never anything serious.

So we kindly walked the girls back home, (to the same place, they were close, see,) and it seemed that talking about them led to this said promise.

"Tonight was real fun, don't ya think?" he asked me, sweeping his ebony bangs away from his eyes as rich as black coffee. For some reason, I remember he was sporting a red snapback with the words 'bad hair day' printed across it in blue writing. I didn't quite understand the hat, I'll be honest.