Light of My Life: A Newsies Soulmate College AU

Chapter 5

"Is everyone enjoying themselves on our girls' night out?" Princess asked, taking a sip of her shirley temple.

"Yeah! Cheers to us!" Couri responded, raising her glass of Coke, and prompting a cheers from everyone at our table of four. To get away from the stress of classes, Roni and I decided to take just the girls out for dinner this weekend. Nowhere fancy, just the local sports bar. The hustle and bustle of the restaurant almost drowned us out, but we couldn't have been more thrilled to be sharing each others' company.

"So anyway, that first night he was SO emotional. He cried more than I did, and that's saying something." Roni continued telling us about how emotional Jack was the night they first met, since she was the only one out of us who'd found their soulmate so far.

Couri nodded in agreement as the bell signaling a new arrival at the bar sounded. "Yeah, he tends to mask his emotions a lot. Especially the negative ones." Couri's eyes went wide when she realized who the new arrival was. "Is that-"

"It is." I responded, confirming Couri's suspicion. The new arrival, who was sauntering up to the bar, was none other than THE Spot Conlon, freshman star football player rumored to go into the NFL as soon as he graduated.

Couri took a long swig of soda from her cup and held her head in her hands, looking down at her feet to hide her expression. Princess sat there, jaw practically on the floor, staring at Spot while Roni was busy taking pictures of our reactions. I was in the middle of it all, a combination of confused and subtly starstruck.

"Guys... I need you to check something." Couri said, not looking up from the table.

"Sure thing, what's up?" I responded, turning to her.

"I think I might be glowing, but I'm feeling kind of faint because, ya know, Spot, so I'm not sure. I need you guys to check, but don't make it obvious." She said nervously, her voice quivering.

Simultaneously, Princess, Roni and I looked at each other and nodded, each ducking our heads under the table in the most eccentric way possible. We emerged from under the table, shared a look of excitement, and ducked under again for a second look. Couri was glowing, but it was faint and barely there.

"You're not seeing things, Couri. You're glowing!" I whispered, nudging her.

"Wait! We have to find who it is!" Roni pointed out, craning her neck to see the farthest corner of the bar possible.

Instantly, all three of us whipped our heads in different directions, scanning the building for someone whose glow matched Couri's.

"Couri, you're not gonna believe this...But it's Spot!" Princess ecstatically clapped her hands and shook Couri from across the table. Everyone turned their heads once again to the football prodigy who was sipping on a Pepsi, and yes, faintly glowing.

"I GOTTA tell Jack about this!" Roni responded, frantically typing on her phone. The rest of us shook our heads in agreement. There was nobody on campus Jack admired more than Spot, and now that he had an official "connection", Jack was going to be giddy.

"Are you guys even sure it's him?" Couri asked nervously. "I mean...He's a FOOTBALL STAR and I'm just a dance nerd. Take another look around the bar. It can't be him. No way." I scanned the restaurant's crowd again, not seeing any other unpaired glowing person.

"Nope. It's gotta be him." Princess said, with much more certainty this time.

"Do you think he knows?" I asked, not taking my eyes off of Couri's soulmate. He didn't seem to notice the presence of the aura, which was now up to his shoulders. "Maybe it's just that subtle. Want me to go tell him?"