Chapter Text
A vibrating phone began to play repetitive sounds as Marcy awoke. The surge of relaxation left her body as she released a loud groan. Without even opening her puffy, tired eyes, she reached over to grab her phone and turn off the alarm.
As she presented the phone to her face, she widened her eyes. All she saw were blurs of colour and fragments of warm sunlight entering through her window, and...red? To ensure she saw clearly, she gave her eyes a good rub.
After her hazy vision cleared, she shot up from her resting position, causing the bed to creak beneath her. She couldn't believe what she saw; a red string on her right hand. Marcy was no newbie to the idea of a red string. She had known about this Chinese mythology for as long as she could remember.
With her left hand, she raised the phone to take a picture of the string. Suddenly, she noticed that a thread was not only wound around her right pinky but her left as well.
That's a strange prank.
She thought as she studied the situation. She took a good look at her hands, then took a glance at her phone. Her eyes widened as she immediately noticed the string didn't show up on the picture she took. Her fantasy-filled mind knew this was real. She didn't have to think twice: That isn't normal!
Now the possibilities of studying them danced around her brain. So many ideas were tossed into her pile of thoughts. She grinned at the anticipation. Before she got the chance to lose herself in her deep, intuitive thinking, the black-haired girl snapped out of her imagination and tossed herself out of bed. Trying her best to be quiet, she tiptoed across her sheet-piled floor. In doing so, her foot gets stuck between the fabric and tumbles towards the ground. In a last-second attempt to save herself, she waves her hands in front of her, breaking her fall. As the Asian girl's head rested on the floor, she glanced at her hand resting beside her face. She noticed that the thread had a slight red glow. It was dim but noticeable. As she lifted herself off the floor, she gave herself an "after school quest":
Follow that string.
Naturally, if the string stretched too far, she would stop following it. She wouldn't want to get lost, let alone waste too much time walking.
She continued to tiptoe towards the bathroom, being sure to be extra quiet when crossing past her parents' room.
They had been working on a case all night, and they must be exhausted.
She flickered the bathroom light switch, and without warning, an intensely bright light met her eyes, causing them to sting for a moment. The girl released a quiet hiss and stood in front of the mirror. She grabbed a hairbrush and began taming her bed head. She then grabbed her green hair clip, which her childhood best friend Anne gave her, and clipped her hair back.
"It's getting a bit long."
Marcy whispered, referring to her silky locks.
She continued to get ready for school. Since she couldn't eat much in the morning, Marcy ate a piece of toast thinly spread with butter and jam for breakfast. Then she prepared a simple lunch and got dressed in her 'Saint James High School' uniform. It consisted of a long green skirt, a collared shirt with "SJHS" imprinted on it, and she completed the look with an old hoodie from middle school that still fit her. Marcy packed her plain, green backpack with the school essentials and got ready to leave the Wu household. She slid on her brown shoes and marched out the door.
Marcy wanted to follow the string after school, but she found herself heading in its direction anyways. She noticed that the thread didn't slack, and it wound up itself. As the warm summer breeze gently caressed her hair, she made yet another discovery; the string isn't affected by the weather or just the wind in any case.
Write that down! Write that down!
Marcy studied.
She was pretty sure no one else could see the string, so she was under the assumption that she looked crazy hyper-focusing on her hand like that from another's perspective. She then pushed the thought of jotting every little thing down and instead used her walking time to...
Reflect..?
Ah yes, these trees sure are...green. Oh! This road is so rocky. Wow, that graffiti art is quite something. Wait, does that say "Sasha"? Insane that I am only noticing that now.
Marcy reflected. Sasha was also one of Marcy's childhood best friends! She was often rebellious and chaotic. Marcy wouldn't be surprised if that were Sasha's graffiti.
Marcy was doubtful of giving the scenery actual attention since she always took that path, but noticing small details might be a nice change rather than-
Shoot! I left my Swintendo Mitch at home!
Marcy had no choice but to "enjoy" the view. Without her games to distract her, what was she supposed to do with herself?
"Nimbostratus and cumulonimbus clouds..."
She looked up and paused, then put her right hand on her chin, gently caressing it.
"Looks like rain."
She muttered, puckering her lips.
She noticed that the traffic got denser as time passed. The smell of gas filled the air.
Marcy came to a halt as she realized she was just about to cross the road at a red light.
Note to self: Don't pay too much attention to your surroundings.
Marcy noted; an undeniably "Marcy" thing to do.
She can see her old middle school from where she stood. It was adjacent to her high school.
Marcy finally got to a busy sidewalk filled with middle and high school students. She was getting close to her current school. Even after the turns and corners she took walking to school, she still found herself trailing the path of both red strings.
Maybe both of them go to school here?
Marcy pondered. It was the only logical explanation since she had been following those strings the whole time.
Wait until Anne and Sasha hear about this! Nah, they wouldn't believe me. Still worth a shot anyway!
Marcy's head was racing, and she found herself skipping towards the 'Saint James High School' building.
I can't wait to see who these are attached to! It's just to satisfy my curiosity. I'm not particularly fond of the soulmate part.
Marcy thought, not noticing the ridiculous grin forming on her face.
She made it to the entrance to the schoolyard, panting a bit from the skipping. Her eyes met the ground, watching the string closely. Eventually, she brought her head up towards the direction of Anne, Sasha and her meeting spot.
Her eyes immediately shot up, and a large lump formed at the back of her throat. Marcy was in complete and utter shock, perhaps panic, even.
The strings were attached to Sasha and Anne, her two best friends.