Tattoos and Soul Mates

How Can Someone Seem Familiar When You've Met Them Once?

I groaned, rolling out of bed. My alarm clock was beeping shrilly, which was causing a massive headache on my part. 'Seriously, why does school have to be at such an ungodly hour,' I thought to myself as I wiggled into my skinnies. I tossed on a ripped black shirt underneath on of my vests before scuffing into my boots and smearing black makeup over my alabaster skin. I didn't bother even touching my hair. It was too early and I didn't have enough time to tame it. I barely remembered to grab my bag and toss it over my shoulder before racing out the door.

It was raining, and I didn't want to have to walk in the torrential downpour for longer than I'd have to. The quicker I could get this over with, the quicker I could get out of the abusing cold of the rain. "Hey Ands! Wanna ride?" I looked next to me. As Jake had pulled up next to me in his beat up car which smelled like cat pee, a wave of water previosly settled in the gutter slammed into me as it surged up at the appearance of the car. I nodded, sputtering a little as I shook my hands as if it would rid the water from the rest of my body. 'Thanks, asshole,' I signed to him with a glare.

He merely laughed. "My pleasure. C'mon, we have all the same classes." I gave him an odd look; I hadn't gotten my time table, and he knew this. He waved a piece of paper in front of my face. I snatched it from him. "Jinxx and I picked it up for you, and we also explained your, uh, verbal situation, so don't worry 'bout that." He said as we weaved through the streets in the small town that was Clairemont.

CC, Jake, and Jinxx had been my friends for years, and they'd known me before I stopped talking; however, they had gone to Clairemont High for longer than me. I was 16 at the time, though today was my first day...in the middle of the school year. So much fun. A few minutes later, we arrived at Clairemont High-school. I sprinted into the building, not wanting to get anymore wet than I already was, my bag held over my head in a futile attempt to protect me from the little rain I was exposed to. Water squelched out of my shoes everytime I stepped. Jake placed a hand on my back, CC ran up to me and took my bag from me, and Jinxx just shook his head in mock disappointment. He was by far the most mature of all of us, and he found our antics a bit annoying at times.

"So, homeroom aka Hell aka math is room 712 with Mrs. Whimfrey, 2nd block is history with Mr. Blanc in room 444, music in room 001 with Mr. Merrick, art is in room 017 with Mr. Way, science is in 141 with Ms. McDougal, English is in 123 with Mrs. Williams and lunch and gym are in the usual places; gym and caffeteria. Your locker is over here. C'mere!" Jake yelled as he ran down the hall. I rolled my eyes and jogged after him and the others. "Hey Vic, mind moving?" Jake asked a short, Mexican boy leaning against one of the lockers. "Oh, yeah, sorry man."

He smiled at me as he moved away. I spun in the combination that was printed on the now-crumpled schedule in my hand before shoving in everything except for a notebook, a pencil, and some markers. "CC and Jinxx only have lunch, music, and science with us. Welcome to Hell, I guess." Jake said, showing me into one of the rooms near the lockers we were at. I slumped into the seat in the corner farthest from the board and closest to the door. There were a few kids in the room, and I could easily tell what "group" they belonged to. A group of preps and popular kids was at the front, the nerds were in the back, the normal kids were scattered about the room, and there was one kid that caught my eye, sitting on the other side of the room, her head down and earbuds pushed into her ears.

Jake dropped into the seat next to me and bussied himself with throwing balls of paper at a girl perched on a desk not too far from us. I could see that her wrist read "Jake", so I knew it must be Ella. I started scribbling in my notebook, biting at my lip as I tried to remember the exact face I had seen yesterday at Starbucks. I was an alright artist, but I wanted to get better so I could draw the one from my dreams and maybe the one from Starbucks. An old lady walked in, a nasty snarl on her thin lips, "QUIET DOWN AND GET IN YOUR SEATS!" She spat from her almost toothless mouth. "We have a new student.

"How lucky." She said this as a mutter, and I think I was the only one who heard her. "Andy, stand up!" She snapped. Not wanting to anger her, I did. "Care to tell anything about yourself, or are you just going to stand there?" She sneered. I shook my head.

"Well too bad! Say something, boy!" Jake stood as she screeched this at me. "Andy, uh, doesn't speak." He mumbled to her, low enough so the class couldn't hear. "Excuses, excuses." She muttered as she waddled to the front of the room. "I'm going to call roll now.

"If I hear any of you brats talk, it's an automatic detention." A boy 2 seats away from me muttered, "Crabby much?" Mrs. Whimfrey snarled, "Alan! What did I just say?" The ginger boy smirked softly at the boy sitting next to him. "My name."

"1 week of detention with Mr. Carlile." The boy, Alan, groaned. "Anyone else care to talk? Hmm?" No one said anything. She was halfway down the list when there was a name that made my ears perk up. "Ashley Purdy?" No one said anything.

The kid sitting next to the girl with her head down jabbed her in the side with his elbow, causing her to awaken. "Huh? What?" I realised it was a boy, and it was the boy from Starbucks. "Detention. Again." I squeaked suddenly, all eyes turning to me. "What is it, you twig?"

I quickly signed to Jake, 'My tattoo is burning.' Jake sighed. "It's just his tattoo. I'll take him to the nurse." Mrs. Whimfrey nodded curtly as Jake ushered me outside the room. Once we were farther down the hall, Jake turned to me.

"What was that?"

'My tattoo hurts.'

I know that. Why?"

I shrugged. 'It just started burning. I don't know why.'

For some reason, I didn't feel like adding the point about it starting when I looked at Ashley. No one knew what mine read, and they never asked about it, for some reason. Most of the time, as soon as a name appears on you forever, everyone's crowding 'round and asking to see it, and speculating who it was. Chances are, you most likely had already met the person by the time you were 15. In my case, I hadn't. Jake had known Ella all his life, Sammi and Jinxx had known each ther since they were 5, and everyone else I had known was in that catagory. Jake and I walked in silence for a few moments, and it seemed a bit aimless. "Wanna skip?"