In this world, everyone had a timer inserted into their skin. It clocks down the time until you meet your soulmate. If you have not found your soulmate by the time the clock turns 00:00:00:00 (year: month: day: hour: minute: second), the timer will reset if you will meet your soulmate again.
inspo: "Time" in written in the stars by my fav kepotts21
*****
Logan growled at the timer etched on her arm.
It was bad enough it showed the exact year, month, day, hour, minute, and second you would meet your soulmate. But they had to put a reset button on it.
When Logan was born, her dads noticed her timer.
04:11:08:08:32:26.
Four years, eleven months, eight days, eight hours, thirty-two minutes, and twenty-six seconds.
On August 24, at eight thirty-two a.m., four year old Logan Avery sat in her kindergarten classroom and watched as her timer counted down to 00:00:00:00:00:00. She was so obsessed with her timer, she missed the boy passing in front of her on his way to his friends, his arm showing twelve zeros as well. However, she spent the rest of the day wondering why it only showed zeros.
By the next day it had reset to:
00:00:00:08:24:57.
Again, Logan watched her timer and didn't notice the boy chatting with his friends and passing her in the hallway.
Her dads figured out that her soulmate went to Logan's school, but they decided to let their daughter be. She needed to discover her soulmate herself, as the story of Jack Avery and Zach Herron meeting wasn't that different.
Jack had frequented the skateboard shop that Zach had worked at, and it was only when the boys crashed into each other when they felt the sparks that all soulmates remember feeling. They couldn't believe they were soulmates, even though the timers had shrunken to form JRA on Zach's arm and ZDH on Jack's arm. It took a year, several dates, and a lot of denying to get the boys to finally admit their feelings for each other. And they were the better for it.
The day after the last day of kindergarten, Logan's timer read:
00:03:07:08:36:14.
Three months, seven days, eight hours, thirty-six minutes, and fourteen seconds.
Now in first grade, she walked to her desk, nearly bumping her knee as she watched her timer. No dice.
The cycle repeated. Through grades 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. And finally, grade 11.
Junior year of high school.
At this point, she just wanted the timer to disappear. She had spent the last twelve years trying to find her soulmate, and every day he passes her by.
*****
It was the day of prom.
"He's going to be at prom."
"Then go," Logan's best friend, Polina, replied as she applied mascara. "At what time exactly?"
"00:00:00:06:03:58," Logan grumbled, watching her friend pose in the mirror. She got up from her seat on her friend's bed with a sigh, settling down next to her on the small bench in front of Polina's vanity. "Six hours, three minutes, and some change."
"Well," Polina sighed, "at least you have a timer."
Timers were sort of a touchy subject for Polina. She was one of the rare few that were born without one. This usually meant that they would have a successful career or would have no true soulmate. Polina's Olympic gold medals in figure skating could attest to the fact that she had found her successful career.
Logan knew Polina always wondered how having a soulmate felt, but as Logan has been passing hers every single day, Logan felt as though Polina wasn't really missing out on much.
"Will you at least go to prom? For me?" Polina put down her blush brush and pouted at Logan, who rolled her eyes, unable to resist that face.
"Fine."
*****
"Bro, she's going to be at prom."
"You've said that generally same sentence for the past twelve years," Daniel rolled his eyes at his friend.
"Well, yeah, but she's going to prom," Jonah enthused.
"How do you know it's a she?"
"I've walked past her," Jonah said simply.
He'd known for a while now. He'd ruled out almost all the girls that went to his school.
The only girl left was Logan Avery.
He'd seen her during lunch, in his English class, cheering on the baseball team— he just couldn't get enough of staring at his soulmate. However, whenever Daniel or the others in his small friend group asked him why he didn't introduce himself, he didn't have an answer.
Every time he saw her, his words stuck in his throat and he was stuck admiring her and wishing that she was his. Then reality would hit and he would beat himself up for missing another day of his life he could've spent with Logan.
And each day, he would promise himself, Tomorrow.
"Bro, you knew who she was this entire time yet you didn't say a word to her?" Daniel asked incredulously. Jonah's face gave him his answer.
"Well, you don't have to wait until college," Daniel grumbled, staring at his own timer. Jonah had already heard Daniel's complaints: he wouldn't meet his soulmate until senior year of college.
"But Avery R.," Jonah pointed out, referring to Daniel's date to prom.
"She isn't meeting her soulmate until next year," Daniel said, tying his blue tie. "Anyways, she's just a friend."
Jonah checked his timer. 00:00:00:3:46:32. Just under four hours left. He wouldn't meet her until prom was well underway.
"You coming or not?" Daniel asked, peering from around the doorframe. Jonah sighed and got up, barely concealing a wide grin as he and Daniel clattered down the stairs to prom.
*****
Logan nervously flaunted the red dress that Polina had just forced her into. It had wide spaghetti straps, a vague sweetheart neckline, and a ruffled skirt. To go with it, Polina had borrowed her mom's plain red high heels and had added a thin black choker and a pair of diamond studs, finishing off Logan's look with a quick bit of makeup and some rings.
"I can't believe I'm actually doing this," Logan muttered.
"You're doing it," Polina responded. "It's written in your destiny. Your timer will hit zero tonight, I'm sure of it."
*****
00:00:00:02:26:28
Jonah could feel his heartbeat hammering in his chest.
Daniel had apparently decided to go fifteen minutes early, meaning that he was about to meet Logan in two hours and roughly fifteen minutes.
He wondered what he'd say and do once he finally talked to her. He wondered what her reaction would be when she found out he was her soulmate.
It's not like they were complete strangers. They did partner work beforehand, but Jonah always made sure his arm was covered; it would be useless anyways, as he always passed her when they went to adjoining classrooms early on in the morning, causing their timers to clock to zero. Prom being on a Saturday night, instead of the clock resetting to when they would cross paths on Monday, it reset to prom night.
A few more people queued up behind Jonah, and now Daniel and Avery. The line was starting to get pretty full.
He wondered if Logan was in the line. He wondered when he would see her.
*****
00:00:00:01:10:23
Fact: Polina was terrible with time.
Fact: Traffic.
Fact: Parking was a bitch.
Fact: All of these factors led to the two girls being late to prom.
At this point, Logan regretted the idea of ever thinking of coming to prom. Maybe she shouldn't be staring at her timer instead of looking for her soulmate. Then she didn't have to have a hell of a prom night.
Polina rushed inside, probably ready to party. Logan followed somewhat reluctantly, content to stay out in the quad and chill for a bit.
People were waving their arms to the music, loud screaming coming from the masses. Everyone was in their friend groups more or less facing the deejay. People rushed past her, bumped into her, utterly disgusted her out.
Logan wanted out.
"HEY LA!!" One of Logan's acquaintances, Jackie, shouted over the music. "HOW ARE YA?"
"Peachy," Logan shouted back. Suddenly, Jackie grabbed her wrist and propelled her into the circle of girls.
"LETS PARTYYY!!!"
*****
00:00:00:00:36:37
"Have you seen her?" Jonah asked Daniel.
"Nope," Daniel sighed. "Stop asking me. You'll meet her in half an hour. If you rush it, then what's the point of the timer?"
"I don't know," Jonah admitted nervously. "But, like, what if—"
Daniel shook his best friend. "Jonah. Fucking. Marais. Stop worrying. You're beginning to sound like—well, me."
"Nice to know you finally noticed," Jonah smirked, causing the other blue eyed boy to roll his eyes.
"You'd better enjoy the next thirty minutes, bro," Daniel said. "They aren't going anywhere."
*****
00:00:00:00:05:45
Logan sat glumly on the bleachers facing the empty football field, feeling the evening air whisking through the satin and tulle of her dress. She wondered how her soulmate was going to find her here.
The loud music from the gym below her was just someone speaking in low conversation next to her, loud enough to be noticeable and quiet enough to be ignored. She peeled the heels off her sore feet, watching the floodlights replace the stars in the sky. It was a full moon out.
Jonah's head was spinning from the atmosphere in the gym. He wasn't claustrophobic, per se, but when parties got too much, he found himself wanting fresh air.
He slowly climbed the stairs to his favorite place on campus. The cold air as opposed to the hot and humid interior of the gym felt welcoming as he saw a lone figure in red in the middle of the bleachers.
He didn't pay attention to her as he sat next to her, figuring that she was probably out of sorts from something that happened at the dance.
A slight brush of shoulder.
00:00:00:00:00:00.
Logan removed her hand from her cheek to stare at her timer, which was melting into a small point in the exact center of where the timer usually sat. She raised her eyes to look at the boy next to her.
She remembered him. Jonah. They worked on projects together. But, she remembered, they hadn't really hung out, and she remembered that he seemed a bit nervous around her, like he was treading on thin ice.
He was looking at his arm too. He slowly turned to face her as his tattoo projected onto his wrist: LTA.
Jonah could see the JMRF appear on her wrist. He stared at the face he had memorized so many months ago: thin brown hair, curled as of right now; wide brownish-green eyes and long lashes; luscious lips and flushed pink cheeks. Her brilliant smile, something that would make him feel like she had poured hot coffee over his heart, spreading the sensation all over his body.
"You're my soulmate," she whispered.
His brain short-circuited. The words he was going to say got stuck in his thoart, so he just nodded. "Y-yeah."
"I walked past you every day," she continued, her voice barely louder than his own heartbeat, and he could sense the slightest hint of regret and anger in her voice, "and--"
He was holding her gaze, and he could see the millions of emotions swirling in her eyes. Her eyes became glossy. "And you were right in front of me."
He finally broke away and tentatively reached for her hand, rubbing soothing circles on the back of it, fighting back a wave of guilt. She slowly interlaced her fingers with his. "You knew?"
"I--" For once, he was speechless. He didn't know exactly why he decided to keep away from her all this time. But he didn't expect the next words to come out of his mouth. "I love you."
"Jonah," Logan said. The past few minutes had her emotionally spent up. First, she found her soulmate, which is a sackload of emotion in itself. Next, she found that he was a guy she'd been passing by for much of her life AND SEEN PASSING BY HER, which is another emotional bomb. And then he has to add another huge bomb by saying he loves her.
He finally looked to meet her eyes, and her breath hitched.
Whoever was cosmically in charge of the timers gave her someone she could definitely fall for millions of times a day. His usually blue eyes, now seemingly hazel in the dark light, were full of an emotion she couldn't really get a grasp on. His hand on hers was warm, rough from the wind and yet gentle on her skin. She realized how close they were, and how he was looking at her lips...and how she had just been looking at his.
She had never been one to stop herself from doing anything unless proven to be extremely stupid given a lot of evidence, and there was no Polina to stop her from doing the stupid thing.
She could feel her hands sliding over his toned arms under the fabric of his button-up. He had probably discarded his tux somewhere downstairs, and she wasn't complaining. He wrapped her waist in his grip, slowly tugging her towards him. Her hands slid up his neck and she could feel his hair in his fingers. Their breaths mixing, noses aligning.
Just a ghost of a kiss before becoming more.