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The Epistemic Watch. That’s what everyone had come down to calling them – those little buggers everyone just had on their wrists.
Thomas was never really fond of the name, really. If anything, he thought it was ugliest thing he’d ever heard next to Gally’s laugh. It wasn’t even a watch. It was just a tattoo of sorts… or at least it’d look like one if tattoos moved.
They counted down to the day people meet their soulmate. Everyone is and always had been born with it inked on their left wrist. It didn't bother Thomas all these years because it had always said that there were still years left. But now that years had passed, his watch was at minutes.
00h 07m 27s
Thomas clasped his hands together, anxiously rubbing them as he looked around his surroundings. He was in the school cafeteria. Not exactly the most romantic place to meet your soulmate, but what could he do? It was a school day, and the universe decides what the universe decides.
“God, could you stop fidgeting every second?” Minho asked with his eyebrow raised. Even though Minho was sat across of him, Thomas could practically feel the amusement oozing out of his best friend. “Ya look like you're ‘bout to pass out.”
“Wow, sorry for being anxious. Not like I’m meeting my soulmate in seven minutes. The literal destined love my life. The one the universe decided would be perfect for me. Soulmate, Minho. You hear? Soulmate.” Thomas said, over-enunciating the last word as if it would make his point clearer.
Minho chucked a fry in Thomas’ direction, drawing out a stifled chuckle from Teresa who was sat next to Minho. “Loser.”
00h 05m 36s
“I see the whole gang’s here.” Gally said as he gently dropped his tray on the table, and joined the three. It didn’t take long for him to notice the squirmy kid next to him. Gally looked at Thomas up and down. “‘Sup with you?”
Thomas flashed his watch at Gally. 00h 04m 10s.
“Oh... so?” Gally said with an indifferent shrug. “I don’t know why you got your panties in a twist. Nothing to be worried about, really. Happens to everyone. At least I know I wouldn’t be sweating like you when my countdown reaches zero.”
Before Thomas could come up with a witty reply, Teresa chimed in, “No one asked, Gal. But same. You’re sweating like a pig.”
“Wow, Resa. Thanks for defending me.” Thomas sends a glare at Teresa and Gally.
“Just sayin’,” Gally said defensively, holding his hands up. “What you really have to worry about is whether the chick is going to be hot or not,” he added with a snort.
“Uh, no,” Teresa disagreed, wagging her finger at Gally. “Number one priority is where. Talk about how you're meeting your soulmate in school. That stinks. I met mine in a park, which was much more romantic than this dump.”
“Hey, Teresa,” Gally said in between bites, grabbing her attention. “No one asked.”
“How can you guys be joking about this? I'm going to be meeting my soulmate. My soulmate! And all you guys can say is that I should stop sweating through my pits, and worry about meeting in this hellhole?” Thomas exclaimed, breathing heavily.
The group was silent for a solid second before Gally broke the silence with, “To be fair, no one ever said you were sweating through your pits…. Why, are you actually sw-”
“Shut up,” Thomas interrupted him. (He was, in fact, sweating through his pits.)
Minho stepped in. “Woah, man. Calm down. Why don't you grab a drink at the vending machine? You could use a drink to help you cool down,” he said calmly, slightly concerned.
Thomas nodded numbly, his heart pounding against his chest harder by the second. He gave Minho a weak, nervous smile as a thank you, and grabbed some change from his bag before jumping out from his seat.
He jogged towards the vending machine. Thinking it was probably a good time to check the countdown, he took a glance at his watch. Major mistake. Wait, no, scratch that. Double major mistake. Before Thomas could react appropriately, just as he made a move to gape at his watch in shock, he tripped right in front of the vending machine, landing on his face.
His watch had read 00h 00m 04s.
“Woah, hey. You look like a bloody mess. Need help?”
Thomas was pretty sure he was shaking. He wasn’t sure at this point. And, very slowly, Thomas looked up. His watch had started beeping uncontrollably. Ping. Ping. Ping. Thomas' breath got caught in his throat. It was… a boy.
The blond-haired boy noticed the sound coming from Thomas' wrist, then at his own. The boy looked genuinely confused for a second as he stared at his own wrist, his fingers ghosting over where his watch would be. Then, he realized. “Oh. Oh. Fuck, I forgot about that. Listen, I had a chemistry test I had to stu – God, wow. I’m an idiot.”
To save him the embarrassment, Thomas collected himself, and quickly got on his feet. “Yeah. Oh.” Wow, eloquent. He flushed as he scratched the back of his neck. “Look, I'm sorry. You may not even be into bo–”
“I'm Newt,” the boy introduced himself, holding out his hand for Thomas to shake.
Thomas was taken aback. He stared at Newt's hand for a minute.
“Well?” Newt pressed. “Come on. I’m embarrassed enough I forgot about today, and now my own supposed lifetime lover won’t shake my bloody hand. Don’t leave me hanging.”
Thomas snapped back intro reality, turning into a deeper shade of red. He didn’t think it was possible. “I'm, uh, yes. What, no! I'm not yes because yes is not a nam– ”
“His name is Thomas!” someone yelled. Both Newt and Thomas turned to the source of the voice. It was Minho. Teresa and Gally were both howling from laughter. Thomas made a mental note to murder his best friend just as Minho flashed him an innocent look.
Thomas turned back to Newt. “Uh… I'm Thomas. But you know that now.”
Newt rolled his eyes, but he had a smile plastered on his face nonetheless. “I think we're going to get along just fine, Tommy.”
“Tommy?”
“Yeah, could I call you that?”
At this point, Thomas was grinning at Newt. “Yes. Always.”