Wrists

Chapter 1: Flashback }Part 1{

The weight of my mother practically projecting herself onto my bed should have been a warning to me, a warning that my impending doom was indeed coming, but of course, sixteen year old me was not the smartest, nor the most observant human being. I groaned at the weight of a 40 year old woman resting on my shins. She laughed, and proceeded to attempt to drag the blanket I was nested in off of me.

"Dessie, come on! Your sister and I have worked hard to plan your party, you have GOT to get out of bed and get into the shower. The party's in two hours and---" I cut her off by putting my manicured hand over her mouth. Her eyes widened in surprise.

"Mom. I'm not like you and Stephanie. I don't need two hours to get ready. A ten minute shower, ten minutes to dry my hair, a swipe of mascara... that's like, twenty five minutes. Then, all I have to do is throw on my jeans and a hoodie. Simple. I can be ready in thirty minutes. Besides, I told you I didn't want a party... I'm probably not even going to look at my wrist. It's not important to me. I don't know if I want to spend my whole life searching for one person who says some words on my wrist." I inhaled quickly, then continued before she could interject. "You saw what happened to the girl down the street. The reason her family had to move? Yeah... Brittany Smith had the words 'Look out' on her wrist. The first person to say that after it appeared was her little brother, as that psychotic driver nailed her with his Mercedes Benz and her guts scattered all over the road. Mom, I don't want to end up like her. I want to be free and not have to worry about what people are saying to me. I figure, if I meet my soulmate, there's got to be another sign besides words. Words can hurt." I pried my legs out from under my mother and walked into the bathroom connected to my bedroom.

"Odessa, wait. We aren't finished here." She called after me, quickly untangling herself from my blanket and stumbling after me. She caught herself on the doorframe of the bathroom as I turned the shower on and pulled the curtain to. She cleared her throat before placing her thin, long fingers around my wrist. I glanced at her bracelet. Diamonds glittered around her wrist and shimmered as the bathroom light reflected off of them.

"Nice bracelet." I said as I pushed past her into my room to grab a pair of jeans and my black hoodie. I walked back to her and took her hand. "Mom, I'll be at the party that you and Steph set up, but I'm just not enthused about words appearing on my wrist that will define my life for the next... however long it takes, until my soulmate says these words on my wrist. It doesn't sound enjoyable. Excuse me." I finished, walking into the bathroom and opening the cabinet to grab a towel. My gaze flitted back to her for a split second before I quickly rolled my eyes and closed the toilet lid. "I'm listening, Mom. Say whatever's on your mind... but I don't want my water to go cold, and you did say that I needed to get ready."

My mother shook her head slowly, a saddened smile across her lips. "It's quite simple, really. I just don't want you to become obsessed with NOT knowing. It just makes life easier, that's all, dear. I'm here for you, whatever the outcome, honey. When you get out of the shower, come see me. I have something I need to do." She reached for the door handle. "I love you, Dess." She pulled the door closed and I stood, listening for her footsteps walking away.

I stepped into the shower and absently rubbed my wrist. Stupid words, appearing when I never asked for this. I'm sure most girls were probably thrilled to have something cute on their wrist like a tattoo... but not me. It can't be enjoyable, constantly questioning every single new person. I briefly wondered if anyone had ever gone crazy and ran up to every person in town to try and find their soulmate. I bet they have. The whole concept of the words is just dumb to me. Absolutely no way does it make sense to me that anyone needs to know this information. I sighed and turned the water off before grabbing my towel.