Unfortunately, We're Soul Mates

Chapter 1

Another one of Jada's friends just got engaged. Just two years out of college, and everyone thinks they must get hitched. Jada was convinced it was a conspiracy.

"Congratulations," Chloe said to Siri, who was showing everyone the rock on her bony finger. They were sitting at a small café downtown. It was just after noon, and the weather was beyond perfection.

"Thank you, doll. Oh, I knew it was coming though. He's been acting weird for weeks," Siri said. Jada sipped on her margarita, leg propped up on the chair opposite her, and watched the people walk by. One little girl had an ice cream cone that she had licked so much on one side, it was about topple over. Without realizing it, the girl just kept licking.

"Jada, the engagement party will be next Saturday. Don't forget!" Siri said scowling at her.

"Why would I forget?"

"Because you forget everything."

The little girl was disappearing into the crowd now. Just one more lick, and that would be it. The scoop of ice cream would fall to the ground, and the world would experience her wrath.

"Next Saturday, engagement party, whoo hoo!" Jada said, taking another sip of her margarita.

"Can you at least try to be happy for her," their friend Ray said.

"What! I am happy for you. I'm happy!"

"Don't worry about it Ray. You know Sky is determined to stay single for life," Siri said.

"Here we go," Jada said.

"Well, it's true."

"Just because I don't think I have to get married right out of college does not mean I will be single forever. Anyway, I'm bored of this conversation. You ready to go shopping already?" Jada said. Her friends knew her well. If she changed a topic abruptly, it's usually not a good idea to go back to it. So, they dropped it, finished their drinks, and headed to the mall.

Later that night, Jada was at home in her one-bedroom apartment sitting on the bar stool in her kitchen when the cell phone rang. Her hair dripping wet from just having washed it, she answered with head tilted to the side.

"Hey David, what's going on?" she asked the caller.

"Hey, Sky. You about ready?"

"Ready for what?"

"Sky, we're supposed to go see that movie, remember!"

"Oh yeah, yeah, no, I remember," she lied. Quickly running to the restroom, she put David on speaker, and proceeded to dump gel in her hair. "I'm almost ready." She could hear David sigh on the other end.

"I'll be there in half an hour," he said, and hung up the phone. Brushing her hair violently, she did her best to throw it back in a pony tail. Next, she tossed some brown foundation on her caramel skin, and grabbed the first lip color she could find. It was only David, it was completely casual.

She met David when she was in her second year at the university, and he was in his last year. It was always on and off again. He was in a fraternity, so he was mostly busy, which Jada was fine with. But for some reason, this last year he had been making an obvious effort to make time for her. A really obvious effort. A painfully obvious effort. It seemed like they had gone out every day that week.

"Ugh, all I want to do is lay on this couch and finish Stranger Things," Jada said allowed to herself. Throwing her sweatshirt over her head, ruining the slick pony tail she had just thrown together, she sped to the living room. "Maybe I can watch a few minutes before he gets here." Sitting down on the couch turning on her Netflix, a thought suddenly dawned on her. Her mouth dropped.

And then there was a knock on the door.

Dropping the remote, she turned to stare at the door.

"He wouldn't propose to me at the movie theater...would he?"

Fast forward, the movie is over, and there was no proposal. In fact, instead of a proposal, Jada just got dumped. She was home now sitting on the couch in her pajamas while the TV watched her sulk. Her hair was loose and untidy, her eyes puffy, and life ruined. She didn't know why she even cared. If she was truly honest to herself, she wasn't really into David. But, getting dumped never feels good.

Finishing the night on the last available episode of Stranger Things, she turned off the TV, and went straight to bed, leaving all the lights on. Her room was gray. Gray comforter, gray lamp, and gray curtains.