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Chuuya looked down at the hand resting on the handlebar of his motorcycle. He examined the red string tied in a small bow around his left pinky finger and followed its length until it trailed out of view. Today, he would follow it and see where it led.
Chuuya had been waiting for this day. He knew he wouldn't be able to until after he graduated. His parents wouldn’t let him take a road trip to who knows where before he was 18. He understood why, but trips to follow one’s red string were different than a regular road trip. He’d heard stories of people following them way younger than he was.
But that didn’t matter. Chuuya was going now. He had to wait a whole year longer than he wanted to, but he’d been too busy with his first year of university to go sooner. Now, there was nothing stopping him.
Chuuya had three months until school started up again; the weather was good, and he had used the year-long delay to save up for the trip. He glanced back at his house one final time before driving down the street. As he accelerated and felt the wind in his hair, his anxieties eased away. He’d never done anything like this, but this was to meet his soulmate. He could do it.
He merged onto the highway heading North. His string pointed straight ahead. Chuuya knew as he got closer, it would be harder to find roads that were in the exact direction he needed, but he would deal with that when he got there. He’d been studying maps for that exact reason.
EXIT 197 A van swerves in front of Chuuya to make the exit, nearly clipping his motorcycle with the back of their car. He sees one of those family bumper stickers on the back window. The mom and dad have a swirling string tying them to each other with a small heart. Three kids and a dog stand to the left of them. Chuuya wonders if his soulmate will want kids, and if so, how many. He hasn’t given it much thought. He doesn’t dislike kids by any means, but they are a lot to deal with. He shakes his sign as he passes a billboard. WORLD’S BEST BURGER. He should probably eat soon.
Chuuya watched some cows grazing in a field, and he watched the nearby signs. EXIT 278 ONE MILE. He’d made some decent progress so far. He hadn’t needed to change roads either, which was a plus. He wondered if his soulmate lived in a big city. He wiggled his pinky, pulling the string taut before letting it relax again, then repeating the process. He waited a moment, then felt the slight tug on his pinky, indicating his soulmate was doing the same.
BED N BREAKFAST 1 MILE Chuuya watched for the exit. He’d looked up places to stay before he left in the general direction his string was pulling, and this one had decent prices. EXIT 394 He took the exit, following the signs pointing out what direction the motel was in.
The motel was easy to find, and soon, he was checked in and lying on a queen-sized bed, eyes drifting shut. He wiggled his finger, noticing how much less effort it took to make the string go taut. He was still far away, but he was getting closer. He smiled as he once again felt the tell-tale sign of his soulmate tugging back. He was actually going to meet them soon. He fell asleep with a smile on his face.
PLACE KEYS HERE TO CHECK OUT. Chuuya dropped his key in the slot, marveling at how taut his soulmate string was. Much more so than when he’d gone to sleep the night before. Was his soulmate trying to find him now as well? Maybe they were just also traveling. As if sensing his thoughts, his soulmate tugged on the string. Chuuya grinned as he tugged back. It wasn’t much, but he appreciated any form of communication he could have with them.
EXIT 124 Chuuya felt his nervousness rise again. He made his first highway change, and he couldn’t believe how close he was getting. He felt like the string was actually pulling him towards his soulmate now. It kept getting more and more taut. He had to be close. There was no other explanation.
EXIT 37 Chuuya nearly crashed his motorcycle. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He’d never seen it before, but he knew exactly what it was. He could see the end of the string. It was still far away, but he was on a stretch of straight road, and he could see the end getting closer. His soulmate was definitely driving towards him. He felt panic rise in his chest. What if they didn’t like him? He knew this was his soulmate, so they were destined to like him, but soulmates didn’t always work out. He’d heard the horror stories. Maybe his parents were right; maybe he should have waited longer.
EXIT 36 There was no going back now; his soulmate was less than 500 feet away. 250. 50. A black sports car sped past chuuya in the opposite direction; he watched the red string connecting whoever was inside that car to him. The string was pulled so tight it was nearly pulling Chuuya off the motorcycle. He slowed down just enough to drive over across the median and flip around. Luckily the small divot separating the lanes wasn’t too deep. Chuuya’s motorcycle easily made it through. Once he was on the road again, he floored it. Why wasn’t the car slowing down? Surely they noticed the string getting that taut.
EXIT 37 Chuuya pulled even with the black car. He looked through the window and saw a brown-haired boy wave at him. His arms were wrapped in bandages, but Chuuya was more drawn to the shit-eating grin on his face. The boy turned back to the road and accelerated, pulling ahead of Chuuya.
Oh, so that’s how he wanted to play things.
Chuuya did not travel all this way just to be left behind. He accelerated himself, pushing his motorcycle as fast as it could go. He once again pulled even with the boy and flipped him off before speeding ahead and taking the nearest exit.
EXIT 38. Chuuya pulled off at the exit, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw the black car do the same. He saw a sign for a McDonalds off to the side and pulled into the parking lot. He took his helmet off and waited as the other boy parked next to him. The front door opened, and the boy stepped out. He was tall. That was the first thing Chuuya noticed. He walked around the car, coming closer to Chuuya. He was pretty. That was the second thing he noticed. He rested his arm on Chuuya’s head. So he was an asshole too.
“Hey, Soulmate! I met you halfway; wasn’t that so nice of me!”