Beautiful Thing

Two

"Yes, Ma." You nodded, a small smile curving your lips. "You were relentless."

"You know why? Because I had a feeling your heart wasn't in it. You were just going to be going. So I let you be. But now," she leaned down and hugged you, "I'm begging you to be nicer to yourself. If you can't pass the class, it's okay. If you need to take it again, it's okay."

"Mama, I can't afford another semester. I have to pass. It's now or never for me." You looked up at her.

"We'll figure out a way to pay for your classes. Don't sacrifice your mind and soul for this, _____. Please?" She picked up the box and put it in your hands. "Give yourself a break and meet someone new. Your life story needs a new, happier chapter."

You laughed out loud as she patted you on the head then danced back inside, closing the door behind her. You stared at the box for a while. The chill in the air had disappeared, and the sun hung above the trees. A brown baby bird landed on the fence and chirped before taking off to join other little birds like it. Okay. You could at least humor her. You opened the box with care, breaking the sticker seal. Inside sat a simple smartwatch with a smooth black surface and white leather straps. It matched a bracelet you'd gotten from Wish, so that was a plus.

The face was cold to the touch. You glanced over the instructions and turned it on. Setting it up was easy. All it asked you to do was install the app and put the watch on. It paired after the second attempt then vibrated as it did its scan. You held your breath as an hourglass appeared on its face, turning upside down every minute while it searched the database for your soulmate.

Your soulmate. What if you didn't have one? What if you did?

Then it let out a cute chirp. And then another. And another. And another— "What the hell?" You stared at it as it chimed seven times total. Maybe there were messages from your soulmate waiting for you to receive them. You smirked at the thought of your soulmate being eager. You tapped the screen and it lit up with a message that took up the whole screen.

7 PAIRS FOUND

Seven? Your shoulders slumped. "Great. A glitch." Though you figured something like this could happen, you were still a little bummed. You dug through the user manual to find the customer service number. After an hour on the phone troubleshooting the device and resetting it four times, it still said you had seven soulmates. Seven different people, each with their own unique ID in the database. When the operator had followed every trick in the book, she put you on hold briefly to check with her supervisor for other options.

She never came back on the line. Instead, it beeped when it was disconnected. You called back five times but kept getting a busy signal. You huffed. You wondered what the others who'd been paired with you had to say about this.

With your phone in your hands, you closed your eyes and thought of what you should say. Should you play it cool? But what if it seems like you're not interested? Okay, then you should show your excitement with lots of emojis. Ugh, but then it may look like you're too excited. You weren't excited. This was fucked up. Shit.

You opened the message center and composed a group chat with all seven of them. You exhaled and typed up the first thing that came to mind.

[You:] Has anyone contacted customer service yet? I got hung up on.

You expected a message back, but you got nothing. Okay. Well, it was early. They could be at work. Maybe they didn't get the notification. If they were on the other side of the world, maybe they were asleep. Someone was bound to answer. Patience. You had to be patient and just give them some time.

You could do that.

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