The Very Hopeful, And I

PROLOGUE: MINDFUL

In this life, destiny is determined at birth. Each child that is born enters the world with permanent ink to the wrist, the writing which holds a significant meaning with regards to the future. From the day we are born, it is decided; the three names that will have the biggest impact on you for as long as you live:

Your soulmate,

Your greatest ally,

Your biggest enemy.

There are only a few basic facts you definitely need to know, all of which get taught to you by your parents and throughout school. Of course, there are many loopholes, exceptions and irregular cases that may occur, but to get by, this is all you need to know.

Soulmates can be connected in the smallest and strangest of ways, before even meeting each other for the first time. These connections become stronger once the two people do meet and they can be anything from watching the same movie at the exact same time to physically being able to feel one another's pain. Therefore, should you get a sudden migraine or a sudden stabbing feeling to the stomach, there is usually no need to worry for the long term causality, at least not about your own health. Or you know when you get a song stuck in your head and you don't even know why because you haven't listened to it for years? That's because your soulmate is probably out there singing that tune right now.

Allies are essentially soulmates but without the romantic aspect; your greatest ally will stand by you through thick and thin, and in about 1 in 5 cases, they share the same enemy name. Similarly to soulmates, allies do hold connections, but never anywhere near as strong. The most significant connection will arise upon their first meeting. It is pretty ordinary for these people to meet through reaching for the same book in a library, or same item in a store, or to attend the same place of work or education. Being faced with indecision about anything at all? Go with your gut instinct, there's a reason it's there.

Enemies can be acquired in various ways. Often, they can be the person that bullies you throughout school, causing a negative impact on your mentality as an adult, or the cause of a death of a loved one. In fact, it isn't uncommon for the name of your enemy to not be a person, but a disease or an emotion/reaction, sometimes even an addictive substance. Nowadays, as a precaution, these people, along with their surrounding families, have mandatory regular health check ups just in case, for example, diabetes is passed down to you through family history. These types of name aren't too much to be feared upon since they can be controlled with professional help. Sure, there are much more serious health issues such as cancer also, but you can still extend your lifespan by keeping your body in check. But be aware that if the name of your enemy is of someone you just never seem to come across for years on end, then there's a chance that the cause of your death could lie in their hands; you could be walking around with the name of your murderer on your wrist... Just saying.

So that's enough general information about the names and their connections. I should mention that the factor of whether you meet your soulmate or not determines whether you age physically beyond reaching 18. That's right, high school ends, and then you either get to settle down and explore the world with your loved one and have children and all the rest because you've already met your soulmate, or you have to explore the world alone, waiting to stumble across your decided love, attending endless weddings without a plus one, maybe sometimes with your ally, but they could be taken too... either way, regardless of whether you feel in any rush to find that person or not, it can feel kind of sad just being sat there, looking like a child in comparison to everyone who's growing up, faces maturing... Or worse still, you could be sat there looking just as mature as your old school chums around you, but you're still sat there alone, meaning you've met your soulmate already, but it was someone you merely walked past perhaps in the street, and all you did was say 'sorry' for bumping into them.

There are tales of people who didn't even so much as meet their soulmate for decades, having lived through more than one general era. Word is, down the road from my house in my hometown, the wealthy bachelor who lives alone was born in the 19th century, and he doesn't know if his soulmate passed on or if he's supposed to wait for an entire century to pass... I can't say I have a view about this said myth/truth (whichever it is,) but it's a strange feeling that a man who looks to be the same age as me could have actually passed the 100 years mark... Perhaps he should hold spectacular parties and invite everyone until she shows up...

You may notice the use of the word 'mark' rather than 'age'. Everyone has a physical age, which may or may not pause after living for 18 years. For those whose aging process gets put on hold, their years are measured as a 'mark'; take myself for example who is 18 years old physically, but my mark age (usually shortened as just a 'mark',) is 22 because that is the amount of time for which I have been living. A mark may initially sound somewhat useless, but in fact it is beneficial to be aware of your mark for addressing people with a certain level of respect. Odd in some ways because on the surface, it could seem as though a teenage is talking down to a middle aged person, but in this reality, the explanation would be that first person's mark is higher and that they have been living for longer, therefore being wiser (typically,) and holding a higher rank in society. Now, this ranking system isn't a worldwide thing, more or less depending on the country you live in, but I've come to learn to regard it since I initiated plans to move away from my home county. See, in these extra years I seem to have been given, I figured that staying in one place and not doing much would be kind of pointless.

Our bodies are quite amazing, really. Our systems are able to preserve our youth and extend our lifespans. Whilst it is unknown whether people like the man down the street really do exist or whether there is a certain mark that you reach where you continue to age regardless of the discovery of a soulmate, this is what helps the human race progress. Extra years of our lives that we can spend studying and discovering in. It's almost like having several gap years in a row once you finish school and you get to explore the world and discover new interests and decide what else you have a passion for to do in the world once you start aging again.

When I finally do meet my soulmate, I can expect a selection of many things happen to me; I might wake up in the morning, take a look in the mirror and discover a few grey hairs, (that I can just pull out and no more will be grey until some point in the far future); I might even grow taller slightly or go up a shoe size; I could mature emotionally and suddenly decide that some grudge isn't worth holding anymore, and it'll be noticeable combined with other things and with how abrupt the change on my perspective is; There are many other possibilities for the signs that could hit me, but I know that when it happens, and when I meet him, I'll know.

Yeah, it's kind of a big life spoiler, but we aren't going to know any different as we go through our individual experiences and encounters. Some people choose to hide what is on their wrists, either because they are an irregular case, or they just don't care to find that soulmate so they can begin physically aging. I personally never went out of my way to hide what is on my body, but I have developed the tendency to sport long sleeve shirts, though if asked about my names, I wouldn't think about saying no to giving them the answer.

That was, until I met him.