Chapter Text
“Oh, I can’t believe it! You’re so grown up.”
“Mom!” Leslie huffs. She locks eyes with Ann and the girls giggle. They had been lying on their bellies on her bed, legs swinging in the air, looking at an old scrapbook filled with photos of the two of them when her mom walked in. “I’m not ten yet.”
Her mother ignores her protest and sits on the edge of the bed, watching the girls fondly. “I remember my tenth birthday.”
“I know, you-”
“Let me finish! Your tenth birthday is very special, you know.” Leslie does know. She has been given this lecture by her mother hundreds of times, and all she wants is to enjoy her sleepover with Ann, and not worry about tomorrow.
“I know.”
“It was one of the most exciting days of my life,” her mother continues. “When those words appear on your wrist tomorrow, you will be a changed girl. Finding out your soul words, the first words your soulmate will ever say to you, it’s... it’s magical.” Leslie’s mind drifts off, bored of hearing this speech for what feels like the millionth time, and her eyes wander to the old photos in her scrapbook. She didn't have to worry about all this soulmate nonsense back then! Of course, she’s excited about it as well, but what if her soulmate hated parks, or, god forbid, hated waffles? If her soulmate, the person who should be her one true love, hated waffles… she can't bring herself to finish that train of thought.
Ann nudges Leslie and she snaps back into reality. “I’ll stop boring you girls with my old stories and let you enjoy yourselves,” her mom says. Finally. “Don’t stay up too late, okay?”
Leslie waits until she hears her mother’s footsteps on the stairs before she starts talking. “What if I hate him?”
“Huh?”
“My soulmate. What if I hate him? Or what if he hates me, or what if he hates you, Ann! You! What if he’s a horrible person, and he abuses animals or hates babies or something? Or what if-”
“Les. I know he's not gonna be a bad person. If he’s your soulmate I don't think he can be. That’d be like if… I dunno, if a murderer and a superhero were soulmates. It wouldn't work. A really good person won't be matched with a bad one.”
Leslie rolled onto her side and looked Ann in the eyes. “Ann, you angelic, effervescent butterfly. I hope you're right.”
Ann smiles. “I know I’m right”
“Hey, show me yours again. I want to know what mine might look like.” Ann rolled up her sleeve, showing the words “April’s party?” on her wrist. “I wonder who April is.”
“I’ve been wanting to know who she was since I got it! But at least it’s pretty unique. I doubt more than one guy will introduce himself to me like that in my life.”
“I hope mine is unique too.”
//
Ben takes a look at his wrist before he goes to sleep, his room softly lit by moonlight shining through his thin curtains. His tenth birthday was a few months ago but he's still not used to seeing his soul words there, written in large, slightly messy handwriting: “Would you gentlemen like a tour?” He’d been trying to figure out what situation could possibly lead to this. He would definitely be with at least one other guy, and they'd probably be somewhere new. It could be anywhere, though - a museum, an office, a school. And he knows he probably won’t find out for years.
He stares at the Star Wars posters on his walls. Whoever it is, hopefully she’s nice. That’s all he really wants. It’d be good if she liked sci-fi too. Or history.
He hears a faint knock on his door. “Hmm?” he mumbles, half asleep. His brother opens the door, and light from the hallway fills the room.
“Mom sent me in to see if you were asleep,” Henry says, leaning against the door frame. “You still thinking about your soulmate?”
Ben nods.
“Don’t worry about it. There's nothing you can do.”
“I know, but still…” he trails off, wondering how he should finish that sentence. What if we don't like each other? Or I only see her once and then we never meet again? He doesn’t say anything, just waits for Henry to keep talking.
“Try to get some sleep, Benji,” he says with a smile. Ben nods again, and Henry leaves, closing the door behind him. Ben squints to try to see the words one more time. He doesn’t know why, but he can't get the thought of his soulmate off his mind tonight.
//
When Leslie wakes up, she and Ann are lying together on her bed, still wearing their clothes from yesterday. She guesses they fell asleep before they could change. Oh well. She tugs at the sleeve of her shirt - they’re slightly itchy - before she remembers why she was wearing long sleeves.
Her soulmate! The first words he would ever say to her are on her wrist! She and Ann had wanted it to be a surprise for the morning of her birthday, so they had agreed to keep her wrist covered until she was ready. Leslie was ready now (no matter how early in the morning it may be), but she knows Ann won’t be up for hours.
“Ann, Ann, wake up!” Leslie yells, hitting her with a pillow. “It’s my birthday! Oh, beautiful Ann, wake up!”
She stirs and looks up at Leslie sleepily. “Les, why are you-”
“It’s my birthday!”
“Oh my god, it’s your birthday!”
“And that means I’ll finally know my soul words!”
“Do you want to look now?”
Leslie nods. “I had a speech prepared, but I don't think I can wait much longer before I look.” She pauses. “But it was a really good speech.”
“How long was it?”
“Six pages.” Ann grimaces. “Okay, fine. I have to say something though. So I’ll say this. This is a turning point in our friendship, Ann. Once I’ve revealed these words, we will be on our way to helping each other find our soulmates. And once we’ve found them, the four of us can live together in harmony.” Leslie hesitates, taking a deep breath. Ann squeezes her hand reassuringly.
Leslie takes the end of her sleeve and pulls it down. The writing is small and neat: “Do you have a second?” Leslie stares at it for a few seconds. This was proof, finally, that she had a soulmate. Not that anyone has been born without one, but still. She could have been the first person. But she’s not. She grins - somewhere, out there, there is someone who will say these words to her. Ann wraps her in a hug, squealing.
“Oh my god, Leslie!”
“Oh my god! I can't believe he’s real!”
She has a soulmate.