A loud slam abruptly woke me up, joined by the sound of fluttering note cards falling onto the floor. I emitted a groan, my eyes glancing at the clock that I had on my nightstand, the time being enough to make me jump out of my bed. My eyes then averted to the  watch on my wrist, the unmissable and unmistakable holographic countdown that was ticking down the time until I met my soulmate.

  00:16:30:50

   "I can't do this." I mumbled under my breath, fumbling with the latch of the watch, trying to take it off. I turned the hologram off, placing the watch back into the box, leaving it there. I grabbed my towel before trudging to my bathroom, the silence of the apartment indicating that Lynn wasn't here. I only assumed she was with her soulmate now. The thought only made me feel even more sick. How can anybody rely on something like that?

   A quick shower later, I bursted into my room, the time I had left before I'd arrive late to my classes making me rush to get ready and get my things all together.. I walked over to my closet, grabbing the first shirt and first pair of jeans that I saw. Once slipping into my clothes, I grabbed my towel, attempting to dry the mane that was my hair. After a short moment of attempting to dry it, settling with how I got it, I walked over to the heap of books that had fallen on my floor, it being the sound that woke me up earlier.. I placed the books into my bag, now attempting to scramble up all the notecards that were scattered around the floor.

   "Do you maybe want to come in?" Lynn's voice echoed throughout the quiet apartment. "I could probably make you some tea, if that's what you would like."

   I chuckled, that offer being out of Lynn's character. She would be lucky if she didn't set at least one thing on fire.

   "If you don't mind." An unfamiliar voice spoke, his Northern accent taking me by surprise.

   "Not at all. Make yourself at home. Excuse me for a moment." The sound of footsteps ensued after, it stopping right outside my bedroom door.

   The door flew open, revealing Lynn.

   "Who are you and what have you done to Lynn?" I held up my hairbrush and pointed it at her.

   "What the hell are you even doing?" Lynn furrowed her eyebrows together, shooting me a confused look. "Never mind that, it isn't important. There's somebody I want you to meet." A huge grin crept on her face. She grabbed my arm and pulled me out of my bedroom, leading to me to the kitchen.

   "Lynn, I'm going to be late. I don't have time for thi- Oh."

   Lynn let go of my arm and walked over to the man standing before me. I craned my neck up a little to see the man looking down at me from his tall height. A small polite smile was on his face. "Hi, my name is Phil." He waved a little. I looked at his eyes, the icy blue color being a contrast against his dark hair. His hand then flew up to his fringe, pushing it back a little so it wasn't in his eyes.

   "Hi." I slowly said before introducing myself. "Look, I'd love to chat with you guys but I can't afford being late to my classes." I hurried back to my room, gathering up the papers that were on my bed before putting them into my folder and sticking that into my bag. Just as I was about to walk out of my bedroom, Lynn was standing in the doorway, blocking my way. "Jesus Christ, at least say you're there, Lynn."

   "Aren't you forgetting something?"

   "Forgetting what?"

   Lynn walked further into my room, grabbing the watch that I had placed back into the box. "This."

   I sighed. "Do I really have to wear that?"

   Lynn placed it on my wrist. "Look." She softly spoke. Our eyes looked at the countdown. "Today"

   "16 hours until hell." I mumbled. "I gotta go, Lynn." I said, not giving her the chance to keep on talking about the watch. I walked out of my room, Lynn following me. "It was great meeting you, Ph-"

   "Wait, hold on a second." Phil interrupted, causing for me to stop dead in my tracks. "Can I see your watch?"

   "Um, yeah. Why?"

   Phil looked at the countdown. "I have a friend that has the same-"

   "You can't be too sure about that." I quickly replied. A strange feeling took place in the pit of my stomach. "It's probably not even the right person that you're thinking about" I paused. "Not that I would've cared either way." I quickly added. "I'm sorry. I have to go."

   00:09:00:08 . . . 7 . . . 6 . . . 5 . . . 4 . . . 3 . . . 2 . . .

  I switched the hologram off. I held my books tighter to my chest as I quickly walked back to my apartment. As much as I didn't want to believe it, today was the day. Was it going to change everything? What if turns out to be the wrong person? There were countless stories about people's watches stopping because their of their soulmate passed away. What if mine stopped just like-

  Stop. I wasn't going to think about that.