Countdown (on hold)

Three years, two months, five days, two hours before

Turns out Caleb isn’t my soul mate.

I was looking for Theo in the freshman wing of the school when someone came up behind me. They wrapped their hands over my eyes, blocking all evidence of sight from me. They pulled me close to them, holding me in a friendly embrace. “Guess who,” Their deep voice gave away who it was. I would know his voice anywhere, even though that was the first time he spoke directly to me.

It was Caleb, and our bracelets didn’t go all crazy with their beeping. He wasn’t my soul mate. I was devastated, I really hoped it was him. But at least he knew who I was, which was a plus.

I realized Caleb was still waiting for to me guess who he was, when he sighed and started to tickle my eyelids. My nose crinkled up when I laughed from his tickling. Caleb started laughing, so either I looked funny or I actually made him laugh.

He turned me out from him, uncovering my eyes in the process. I blinked a few times, getting use to the light. Caleb waited patiently for me to say something. Eventually I said, “How do you know who I am?” My voice squeaked, making me sound younger than my thirteen years.

Caleb laughed again, “You’re Shay, Theo’s younger sister. And of course I know who you are; Theo doesn’t shut up about you sometimes.” He flashed me his hundred dollar smile, making me weak in the knees. I gave him a shy smile back. I couldn’t believe I was actually talking to Caleb Dawson, my crush of three years, one of my brother’s best friends, someone I’ve known practically my whole life, for the first time. It gave me butterflies in my stomach.

He started walking towards his locker, I assumed. When he saw me standing where he left me, he came back over to me and dragged me along with him. I decided to say something, since I only said one thing to him then. “Oh,” I whispered, “I didn’t know Theo talked about me when he was in school.”

Caleb turned towards where I was leaning on his locker. He looked shocked. “Are you kidding me? Theo never shuts up about you sometimes.” He shoved one last book into his locker before slamming its door shut. “After your thirteenth birthday, Theo kept talking about how because of him, you couldn’t continue a family tradition or something. And he was convinced he ruined the whole day for you. Is that true?” Caleb looked at me with such sincerity in his eyes, I wanted to tell him exactly how I felt on my birthday, which then seemed ages ago.

Oh. I didn’t know Theo mentioned how he ruined my thirteenth birthday to his friends. “Well, Theo did sort of ruin it for me,” I admitted. I never told anyone how I really felt with Theo on my birthday. He made a big scene, running off and leaving my parents to fuss over him, on the most important birthday of my life. In Theo’s defense though, he did try to make it up by taking me out riding at our grandmother’s farm. And before I knew what was coming out of my mouth, I was explaining the whole day of my thirteenth birthday to Caleb. From when Theo woke me up by dropping the white box on my stomach to when Theo came in my room to apologize before midnight and every little thing in between.

“I’m sorry to hear that your thirteenth birthday sucked, but if it makes you feel any better, my thirteenth birthday wasn’t too awesome, either.” Caleb then proceeding to tell me how horrible his thirteenth birthday was. I had to admit, his did seem pretty bad. Between the dogs eating his birthday cake, and him throwing up all over the new cake his mom and sister baked for him, it wasn’t the best of birthdays. “I love it now though,” Caleb continued, “I hated it then, but now I’m glad I have the memory.”

“Memories are nice,” I agreed with him.

Caleb nodded, “Yeah, memories are nice.” I didn’t say anything after him simply because I didn’t know what to say. Caleb didn’t want to stop talking because he asked me if I wanted to talk about anything. I said I didn’t, but if he wanted to talk, I would listen. I guess Caleb either really wanted to or really had to talk to someone because he started rambling on about his family life. His parents wanted to have another child, but he didn’t want them to because he thought three was already too many for them to handle. He confessed that his older sister ran off with some guy a few years ago, then came back to town with the guy’s baby. Caleb’s parents disowned Marley, his sister, as soon as she came back. That’s why he said they couldn’t handle the three they already had, without including a fourth child to the mix. “Mom said Mar-Mar couldn’t stand the idea of having to fall in love with someone she wasn’t, that’s why she ran off with someone she thought she loved. Marley’s actually still with the guy, whatever his name is, and they have another kid together. I’m pretty sure Mar found her own soul mate, without the bracelet telling her she found him.” You could tell Caleb still missed his sister.