Countdown (on hold)

Three years, five months, five days, seventeen hours, twenty five minutes before

Even though Mom had outdone herself, dinner was still different than usual. My parents kept watching Theo from the corner of their eyes. Every few minutes they would ask me how I felt about my bracelet. I said I loved it and that I couldn’t wait for the three more years to be over. They laughed, and told me to enjoy the time I had with my friends until I was supposed to meet my soul mate. It felt scripted, the way that we all acted. Theo and I only talked when we were asked a question. There was none of our usual bantering and our parents laughing at us. Whatever Theo did before, clearly made Mom uneasy.

            Right after the tradition of blowing out birthday candles and shoveling cake into my mouth; Mom excused me from the rest of dinner. She told me to be back in the living room when everyone else was done eating their piece of cake. I nodded, thanked her again, and went to my room.

            I flopped down onto my bed as soon as the door was closed. Even after being alone all day, I still needed alone time. My mind was racing with everything that had to do with the bracelets that I thought about. Running away with someone other than my soul mate stood out the most, but I couldn’t possibly run away. I had more respect for my family than that. And besides, it would be rare to find someone who was willing to run away with someone they thought was their soul mate without the bracelet telling them that. But what if their government paired soul mate wasn’t their true soul mate and someone else was?  That would never happen; the government would never make a mistake with pairing people together. I couldn’t think strait; if I said I was never going to run away then why was I thinking about it?

            Someone knocked on my door before I could yell into my pillow. I grunted a yes without looking up. “Hey Shay,” Theo said before closing the door. I sighed, this better be important.

            “What do you want Theo? Or did you just come by for a friendly visit?” I sat on bed, not exactly inviting Theo to sit down, but he did anyway.

            “I just wanted to say sorry about this morning, and that I’m taking you out riding tomorrow as an I’m-sorry-I-ruined-your-thirteenth-birthday present.” He gave me his goofy, toothy smile. I’m sad Theo hasn’t found his soul mate yet; he has award winning looks and a great personality. “How’s that sound?”

            I shrugged, “Fine, but I’m riding Carrot, and you’re riding your horse, okay?”

            Theo laughed, “Sure, now go to the living room before Mom comes looking for you.” He started to walk back out.

            I nodded, “Before you leave, I want to ask you something.” Theo looked over his shoulder. “What did Mom mean when she said something like ‘you know how you are’?”

            He stiffened. And it was noticeable, unlike all the other times he has in front of other people. “I’ll tell you when I’m ready to.” I was about to say something else, but Theo cut me off. “Shailene, just drop it.” He snapped.

            Theo never snapped or yelled at anyone, so I knew he meant business when he told me to drop it. “Tell Mom and Dad that I went to bed, okay?” I whispered.

            I guess Theo could tell I didn’t like it when he snapped because he relaxed a little for me. “Sure. Night Shay, happy birthday.” He walked out the door before I could say anything.

            Finally, I could flop back onto my bed and relax by myself for a while before I fell asleep. Sure, I was gone all day, but I still needed alone time; Theo was my best friend and I didn’t get out much besides school. And most of my time was spent at home alone with my family except for the occasional someone coming over for a project.

*Author's Note*

Argh, I know this chapter is long or even that good, but its a filler and every story needs some of those, right? ;) Anyway, THANK YOU so much for the reads and votes!!! I <3 them sooooooo much!!! Love you lovelys!!!