Leave Your Mark

Midnight

It's a well-known fact that at midnight that marks the day one turns eighteen, they and their soulmate switch bodies for a day. I have that experience when I'm seventeen. I go to bed in one place and wake up in a completely different place. I sit up and wander around, galumphing rather ungracefully, not used to having so much height, until I find a mirror.

I pause, catatonic, in front of the vanity. I'm...him. You know that one person who you know and sometimes talk to, but you don't see them except in school because you don't know each other well enough to actually schedule something outside of the mandatory meetings? That's who he is to me.

Oh, boy. This'll be fun. I can only hope he feels the same amount of awkwardness that I do.

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OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD

IT'S HER! IT'S HER!

I've been trying to work up the nerve to ask her out for months! She is so smart and funny and sweet! But wait...oh no. We barely know each other. We've been dancing around each other for a couple of years now. I've had the hugest crush on her for what feels like forever, but I am almost certain she doesn't feel the same.

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He was cute, I had to admit. I have caught myself staring on more than one occasion. But soulmates? Him turning eighteen was practically a marriage proposal! Now that we knew we were soulmates there was no going back. I couldn't believe it. We'd known each other for this long and we suddenly found out we're soulmates. What the actual f—

"Tristan, breakfast!" shouts a woman's voice—his mother, I can only assume.

"C-Coming!" Oh, geez. His voice was so deep.

I'm not used to being so tall, so it takes a while to get down the stairs.

"I made pancakes, your favourite!"

"Oh, th-thanks."

"So," the woman says after a long, uncomfortable silence. "Who are you?"

I breathe a sigh of relief. "I'm Cassie, ma'am," I say with Tristan's voice. "I'm sorry we had to meet like this."

"It's okay, this is exactly how I met my mother-in-law. Anyway, eat up!"

"Thank you," I say.

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After a lot of thinking, I guess it's time to get out of bet and stand up. Oh, God. Is she—

She is on her period.

The cramps hit like a wrecking ball. My—her—insides feels like it's being twisted like pasta on a fork. I frantically wander through the house until I find the bathroom.

OH MY GOD THERE'S SO MUCH BLOOD. HOW DO WOMEN NOT DIE FROM THIS. WHAT IS CASSIE'S UTERUS DOING. WHY DO I FEEL IT PULSATING. WHAT ARE THESE CRAMPS, IT FEELS LIKE I'M GIVING BIRTH. THIS IS HELL.

Even though I know I have to, I don't want to wipe off. I feel like I'm violating her if I, you know, see or touch anything.

"Cassie, honey, are you okay?" asks a man's voice from outside the bathroom. I can only assume it's her father.

"It's complicated," I call awkwardly. Aww, her voice is so high and squeaky and cute. I figure that I have to get up and face him eventually, so I awkwardly finish up (avoiding looking as best I can) and exit the bathroom.

"Sir," I say to the bearded man standing intimidatingly in front of me, "I am not your daughter..."

He blinks. "What."

"It's my eighteenth birthday today, and I've switched bodies with Cassie."

The man just stands there for a moment. "What were you doing in there?" he demands.

"I had—Cassie had to use the bathroom, so I—"

"No. What were you doing?"

I then realised what he meant. "Well, I've never had a menstrual cycle before, so it took a while to figure out what to do. I didn't look at anything, I promise! I just had to figure out how the pad fits on the underwear and then..."

"Alright. I just needed to make sure my little girl's soulmate isn't a pervert."

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"So, Cassie, have you ever met Tristan before?"

"Yes, ma'am, we know each other from school."

"Oh, that's nice."

There's a very long, very uncomfortable silence. "I'm sorry, is this as awkward for you as it is for me?"

"Yes, it is."

"Oh, thank God."

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"So, I suppose I should get to know you...?"

"Kid, go home and find your body."

"Thank you, sir." He didn't have to tell me twice. I sprinted home—which took much longer than anticipated since Cassie was almost two feet shorter than me. That, in addition to the cramps, made running much more difficult.

"Hey! Cassie!"

"What?" asked my voice. It was really, really, really weird.

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"What?"

"It's me, Tristan."

"This is literally the weirdest thing I have ever experienced," I said, walking out the door. I saw my body, wearing pyjamas and with crazy matted hair.

"Yeah, same here," Tristan said with my voice. "Why is this so awkward? Mum, was it this awkward for you when you and Dad switched bodies?"

"Even more. I think the best thing you can do is just go to your—Tristan's—the bedroom and talk. Get to know each other."

"Okay."

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She shut off the hologram and pocketed the device. "And so, a few hours later, they had nothing else to talk about, so they just played Mario Kart. And the rest is history. Of course, all of it is history. Because it all happened in the past..... Hmm. That's a weird saying now that I'm thinking about it. Anyway, that's how great-grandma and great-grandpa met. I hope you enjoyed the story. Now go to sleep, you little hooligans."

(A/N): Hey, guys! Sorry for the general crappiness of this chapter. I had an idea, forgot about it for a few weeks, and when I came back to it I completely forgot where I was going with it. On a different note, HOLY HECK, GUYS! THERE'S OVER A THOUSAND READS ON THIS! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! But really, though, this means so much to me, I literally can't believe it. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I love you all, my lovely lovelies!