A Promise Made to be Broken

I smiled as I pulled my blanket off me and stood up. I stretched and put my glasses on.

“Cherry, hurry up! We need to get our colors!” I heard my twin sister, Coco, call.

“Just a minute!” I called back to her as I walked out over to my drawer. I got out some jeans, a light shirt, and a soft jacket.

I got changed quickly and put my hair up in a messy bun. I knew we were supposed to wear something fancy, but I didn’t ‘do’ fancy.

I opened my bedroom door and saw Coco. I smiled as I saw her dressed up. Coco and I were twins, that much was obvious, but we were very different.

She usually put her soft, silky brown hair in curls or a braid. I had my hair in a bun or just straight down.

She wore little makeup, although I see no reason why she needed it, and most of the time wore heels. I wore no makeup and all the time just wore my vans.

I wore glasses, she had contacts. She said she didn’t want to have to worry about them falling off.

She got all the guys, I got no guys. Okay, I had ONE guy best friend, but he doesn’t count. I’ve known him since we were 5.

“Dad left early again,” Coco said as we walked down the stairs. I was about to ask her a question, but she answered it before I had the chance. “Mom’s out.”

I sighed and nodded. My mom rarely ever came home. She said she was just super busy but Coco and I didn’t believe her excuses.

We had a quick bite of toast, grabbed the keys, and got in my car. We would have taken hers, but she had lent it to her friend.

I started to back out of the driveway when Kai stopped us. I stopped immediately and unlocked the car.

He got in the backseat and sat in the middle. “You didn’t think you were going without me, now did you?” he asked.

“Well, you didn’t tell me,” I said as I drove out of the driveway, this time actually doing so.

“I was too busy running all the way over here,” he said, leaning back in his seat.

“Yeah, yeah,” I said as I started driving to the Hue Center. I knew the way because I had stayed up the night before making sure I knew it.

Coco immediately went on her phone and Kai and I just talked. When I say we talk about everything, I mean it. I told him anything I told Coco, I trusted him more than I trusted myself.

“Are you excited to get your color?” he asked me, looking at his own wrist.

When someone turns eighteen, they get a color on their wrist. If someone has the same color as you, that means they’re your soulmate.

This causes some issues, because some people may think they find their soulmate, but haven’t. Some colors are very close because there are many people in this world.

Since Kai was a year older than Coco and me, he already had his color, but he still hasn’t found his soulmate.

Kai had a pretty Bluish Turquoise color. He said he hadn’t spoken to his soulmate yet because they probably weren’t 18 yet.

“Well, if I’m honest...I’m kind of nervous,” I answered, “I wonder if I know my soulmate already...”

“Just promise me something, okay?” he said. “Promise me that you’ll be happy with your soulmate, whoever it is.”

My eyes widened a bit but I nodded. “I promise,” I said. I had never broken a promise before, especially not a promise I made with Kai.

I had never dated a guy before. I always wanted to wait until I had found my soulmate.

When we got to the Hue Center, Coco put away her phone. We all looked up at the building and took a deep breath before stepping out of the car.

I locked the car and we all made our way to the doors. I had come here the year before with Kai, I wanted to see him get his color.

We walked in and a lady looked at her clipboard then back at us. “Coco and Cherry Mathews?”

Coco and I nodded and she led us into a room where a male sat, waiting for us. Kai followed us in and sat down in one of the chairs.

“Who wants to go first?” the guy asked, looking Coco up and down. That happened often, every guy that laid eyes on her wanted her, she was hot, hotter than me.

Coco sat down on the chair in the center of the room. She held her right arm out. I had told her all about what I saw when I watched Kai get his color.

The guy grabbed her arm and put his free hand over her wrist. He closed his eyes and started mumbling to himself. After a minute or two, a Green Sapphire color started forming on her wrist.

I looked at the color with awe. It was so pretty, I just hoped I had such a pretty color like that.

When the color formed fully, Coco stood up and sat down by Kai. I got up and sat where she was before. I held my wrist out and I couldn’t keep my excitement hidden.

The guy grabbed my arm and put his other hand over my wrist. He started mumbling again and the color started appearing. For a second it was a shade of blue and the next, it was red. That was odd.

When the guy removed his hand, I could see the color clearly. It was a Garnet color.

I smiled as I looked down at it. I was able to talk to my soulmate now, but that would have to wait until I got home.

Kai and Coco stood up and we walked out of the Hue Center. We went back into the car and drove back to the house.

When we walked in, I saw my dad. “We got our colors. Coco’s is Green, and mine is Red,” I said as I hugged him.

We didn’t see our dad very often but it was more than we saw our mom. Their color was a Grape Purple.

He hugged me and Coco and nodded to Kai. He had gotten used to him being around. “Have you spoken to your soulmates yet?” he asked us.

I shook my head but Coco nodded. “Yeah, they seem pretty nice, they live really far though...” she said.

My father nodded and turned to Kai. “What about you, boy? Hear anything from your soulmate?” he asked.

Kai shook his head. “Nothing yet, sir. Still waiting,” he said. He and my father usually got along but they didn’t show it much.

Kai and I went up to my room and sat on my bed. After a silent minute or two, he looked at me, confused.

“Well? What are you waiting for? Talk to him!” he said, nudging me in the ribs.

“What am I even supposed to say to him? I’ve never even met him!” I said, stressing a bit.

“Start with ‘Hi’, see how it goes from there!” he said, grabbing my phone and roaming through it.

“Alright, alright!” I said, sighing. I cleared my mind for a moment and then started thinking.

𝓗𝓮𝔂?

Oh hi!

I didn’t know why, but I was surprised to hear his voice. It was in my head, of course, but it sounded sweet.

𝓢𝓸, 𝔂𝓸𝓾’𝓻𝓮 𝓶𝔂 𝓼𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓶𝓪𝓽𝓮?

I guess so, it’s nice to meet you. My name is Jacob, what’s yours?

I smiled when I heard his name. It was a pretty common name, sure, but I liked it.

𝓜𝔂 𝓷𝓪𝓶𝓮 𝓲𝓼 𝓒𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓻𝔂 𝓜𝓪𝓽𝓱𝓮𝔀𝓼. 𝓝𝓲𝓬𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓶𝓮𝓮𝓽 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓽𝓸𝓸.

I like your voice, it’s very pretty. Your name is too.

I felt myself blush but I shook my head. I just met this guy. Sure, he can compliment me, but I don’t have to like it.

𝓣𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓴𝓼. 𝓗𝓮𝔂 𝓾𝓶, 𝔀𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓭𝓸 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓵𝓲𝓿𝓮?

Southern Carolina, how about you?

𝓓𝓪𝓻𝓷, 𝓘 𝓵𝓲𝓿𝓮 𝓲𝓷 𝓜𝓲𝓪𝓶𝓲

Eight hours isn’t so long, but not super quick either.

𝓨𝓮𝓪𝓱...𝓱𝓮𝔂 𝓙𝓪𝓬𝓸𝓫? 𝓘 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝔀𝓮’𝓻𝓮 𝓹𝓻𝓸𝓫𝓪𝓫𝓵𝔂 𝓪𝓻𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓪𝓶𝓮 𝓪𝓰𝓮, 𝓫𝓾𝓽 𝓳𝓾𝓼𝓽 𝓽𝓸 𝓶𝓪𝓴𝓮 𝓼𝓾𝓻𝓮, 𝓱𝓸𝔀 𝓸𝓵𝓭 𝓪𝓻𝓮 𝔂𝓸𝓾?

I’m nineteen I’m guessing you just turned eighteen. So, Happy Birthday Cherry!

𝓣𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓴 𝔂𝓸𝓾. 𝓗𝓮𝔂, 𝓘 𝔀𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓭 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓽𝓪𝓵𝓴 𝓽𝓸 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓵𝓸𝓷𝓰𝓮𝓻, 𝓫𝓾𝓽 𝓘 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓰𝓸 𝓻𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽 𝓷𝓸𝔀, 𝔀𝓮 𝓬𝓪𝓷 𝓽𝓪𝓵𝓴 𝓵𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓻. 𝓑𝔂𝓮, 𝓙𝓪𝓬𝓸𝓫...

Bye, Cherry.

I sighed and smiled as I laid down on my bed. "He seems really nice, his name is Jacob. He lives in pretty far and he's 19," I told Kai.

Kai turned off my phone and turned to face me. "It sounds like he makes you happy, just remember the promise, k?" he asked and held his pinky out.

I turned to him and smiled. We had done this only when it was important. I nodded my head and my pinky wrapped around his.