This was the night. Well, it was supposed to be the night if all the research Maia had done was correct. And if it had any relevance to the SoulMates system at all. And if she hadn’t misunderstood it all. Come to think of it, there were a lot of flaws in Maia Stevens’ plan.
Maia hoped this was the night.
Sometimes (virtually always) she wished that this whole thing worked more like it did in the books that she’d read. She wished that the tattoo would be the person’s name, or the first words they’d speak to each other. Or even better, she wished it was like that one story she read where there was a countdown timer embedded in your arm and when it got to zero then boom soul mate.
Instead, what they had was a flawed system that made next to no sense. First of all no one but the government seemed to know how it had started (although Maia wasn’t the only person who thought that they were just as oblivious as everyone else). Then on top of that there was no way to make sense of how the tattoos appeared on a person’s skin; all the testing could confirm was that it wasn’t actual ink and that it was something that came from within the hosts’ body. Add to that the fact that there was no way to know for certain who’s tattoo matched yours (unless you’ve got half a picture of course, those were fairly hard to argue with), and you’ve got the recipe for a really bad movie.
Only this wasn’t a movie, this was their life and it kind of sucked.
Maia thought that it was unfair that a person could only ever be with their designated soul mate, especially when there was so much uncertainty about whether that person was actually your soul mate or not.
It was probably safe to say that the reason she felt this way was because her parents had actually gone against the system. There were only a select few people who really knew the truth about the two of them and Maia kind of wished that she wasn’t one of them.
Her parents had met while on vacation in some tropical paradise that Maia had never bothered to remember the name of and the two of them hit it off almost immediately. A day after they’d met they’d shown each other their tattoos and they’d thought that they were supposed to be together. They’d slept together, exchanged numbers and agreed to meet up when they got back home.
Almost a year after they’d met Maia was born and then things began to fall apart. Not too long after her first birthday, Maia’s mother had started having an affair with another man, one that had a wife and a tattoo that didn’t match hers even in the slightest. This went on until Maia was four and her Dad found out.
As Maia had gotten older she’d had some questions that her Dad was pretty reluctant to answer, but after she turned fifteen he gave in and told her everything. Maia had asked to meet up with her mother (she hated what she’d done but that didn’t change the fact that she was her mother and Maia had questions) and after that meeting was when she’d first started doubting the system.
The only thing Maia was able to recall from that conversation was what her Mum had said about why she had the affair. She had said that even though her tattoo had matched Maia’s father's she felt this pull towards the other man that she couldn’t ignore. She said that at first she tried to ignore it and went about life as normal, but as time went on she’d find herself running into him in random places and that feeling of connectedness just never went away.
And that whole debacle was the reason why Maia didn’t care much for the SoulMates system.
But even despite that she kind of hoped that it would work out for her. She wanted to find something that mirrored what she’d read about, and she knew it was possible because it had happened to her friends. Maybe her parents were one mistake, the exception to the rule that they now lived by. Maia wanted to find someone who would eventually know her better than she knew herself, among other things, which is why she was currently sitting in one of the only good clubs in their town.
On the morning of her eighteenth birthday Maia actually couldn’t find her tattoo (she’d foolishly hoped that it hadn’t appeared, but she just knew it had). She would have thoroughly searched every inch of her skin except for the fact that she was already ten minutes late for work and she didn’t really want to get fired on her birthday.
It wasn’t until she was at work, in front of her cubby frantically trying to change into her uniform before her boss showed up, that she found out where her tattoo was. She had been in the middle of changing her shirt when her co-worker, and best friend, Ryan had walked in and pointed out the tattoo that was located on her left shoulder blade.
Maia had actually graduated high school (something that had apparently become optional where she was from) so she was able to figure out that her tattoo was a constellation, she just didn’t know which one. So when she got home from work that night she did some research and that research was the reason she was sitting in the club and hoping to find the person with the tattoo that matched hers.
When the SoulMates system had been implemented completely the government agreed that the legal drinking age everywhere should be dropped to 18, they figured if everyone was going to have to act like adults they may as well be allowed to drink as well. Despite that fact Maia still felt tremendously out of the place in the stuffy building. There were too many people and the music was already making her head throb and Maia had never really done well in social situations. She’d brought Ryan along but he’d disappeared with a random girl over half an hour ago and Maia knew she probably wouldn’t see him again that night.
“She needs something stronger than what she’s currently drinking,” Maia felt a hand rest on her shoulder and turned towards its owner. “And I just need something to drink in general.”
In the dim lighting it was hard to make out any features clearly but Maia was able to pick out that the guy was at least six foot tall and had dark hair and eyes. As he sat down on the stool beside her he smiled and even though she didn’t know him she felt comfortable.
“On me.” He said as he slid a drink over to her before he smiled again. “I’m Calum by the way, and you are?”
“Regretting the decision to come here.” She replied automatically, barely even thinking before the words slipped from her mouth. “I mean, I’m Maia.”
She shook her head and decided to take a sip of the red drink that was sitting in front of her. It didn’t taste anywhere near as good as it looked but it wasn’t absolutely terrible.
“Thanks for this.” She told him, looking back down at the drink because she didn’t know if they were supposed to be having a conversation or not.
“No problem.” He laughed. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you looked like you needed it.”
“Well you aren’t wrong.” She muttered to herself and turning slightly in her seat so that she was almost facing Calum.
“Now, I’m intrigued. You look like you’d rather be anywhere else, so what brings you to this joint?” He took a sip of his own drink before raising an eyebrow and cocking his head slightly as if he was trying to figure her out.
She shook her head and let out a small laugh. “That’s a long story.” He opened his mouth and she cut him off quickly. “I swear to god if you say ‘I’ve got time’ I’m walking away right now.”
He stuck his tongue out slightly and laughed again. “Thanks for the heads up because I almost just ruined this conversation before it actually got a chance to start.”
“Wouldn’t that have been a shame.” Maia actually wasn’t sure if she was being sarcastic anymore but she had to remind herself that Calum wasn’t the reason she was annoyed and that he actually seemed kind of nice.
“How about you tell me a bit about yourself Maia? Maybe somewhere along the way I might be able to figure out why you’re here and why you wish you could leave.” He was charming, she had to give him that.
“What would you like to know Calum?” She turned again so that she was now completely facing him and crossed her legs before having some more of her drink.
“I don’t know, anything.” He shrugged laughing yet again. Maia couldn’t tell if he was a naturally giggly person or if he was already a little intoxicated but it was cute none the less.
“I’m Maia Stevens, I’m eighteen and I don’t know what else to say.” She laughed at herself, hoping it would make her feel less awkward.
“Well I’m Calum Hood, I’m nineteen and I’m really looking forward to getting to know you better.”
For at least the next hour the two of them talked, pausing to order new drinks every now and then. Maia learned that Calum was indeed a giggly drunk but other than the fact that he found it hard to stop laughing at small things he almost seemed sober. She learned that he was only there because one of his mates had dragged him along and that he wanted to leave almost as much as she did.
“Alright, alright.” He said, holding up his hands. “Now, this was bound to come up at some point, so tell me about your tattoo.”
Maia let out a small sigh. “That’s actually why I’m here.” She turned around and pulled her hair away from her shoulder to show him the tattoo.
“Oh?” His eye brows rose as she once again took her seat.
“Yep.” He looked like he was waiting for her to continue so she kept talking. “So basically it’s a constellation and there’s only really one story attached to the constellation. The story talks about two constellations, one of which is mine, and long story short it said something about them meeting up on the 7th of July so I figured it was worth a shot.” She finished with a shrug.
“That’s actually kinda cool.” He told her.
“It would be more cool if I could just find this person already because I kind of hate this place and, no offence because I enjoy your company and all, I just want to go home.”
“You said you know what you think this matching tattoo’s supposed to look like, right? Can you draw it?” Calum asked, signalling for the bar tender to come over after she’d nodded. “Alright, draw it for me and we can ask around, surely if your soul mate’s a local someone here will recognise the tattoo.”
“Are you serious?” She asked as Calum handed over the pen he’d gotten from the bar tender and pushed a napkin towards her.
“Yeah, totally. I think you’re a really awesome person and I want to help.” He smiled and nodded towards the napkin in front of her.
Maia didn’t even have time to feel embarrassed about the fact they she knew the constellation off by heart as she quickly sketched out the small design and then held out the napkin to Calum. The second his eyes landed on the small picture his eyes widened and he looked up at Maia.
“What?” She asked, feeling self-conscious. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“It looks like you’re in luck, which means I’m out of it.” He smiled at her, a hint of sadness evident on his features. “I know who’s got this tattoo.”
-
you were probably all a little bit confused for a few minutes there and thought that i'd posted the wrong story, but no. this one is definitely about ashton and he'll make an appearance soon enough.
i wasn't going to update this yet but i was bored and thought what the hell :)