Chapter Text
Josh stared at the clock and his wrist simultaneously. It was coming today. He could feel his mark arriving.
On your 16th birthday, you got a mark on your wrist. It was just a symbol, nothing that meant much of anything. Except for it meant a lot. The only other person on the earth with that same mark was your soulmate.
It wasn't particularly hard to find them, the mark would quickly start to influence your decisions, pulling you towards that person like a magnet. Finding your soulmate was inevitable, not that anybody bothered trying to avoid it.
The mark slowly appeared on Josh's wrist. He cried as it happened. Not from sadness or pain, entirely joy and anticipation. It came slower than he expected, but by midnight, the three lines were prominently drawn on his wrist.
|-/
•••
Josh didn't feel anything behind the inky marks on his wrist for nearly 6 months. This was disappointing, but not strange. He knew this must mean he was older than his soulmate, but they would find each other quickly. He hoped.
When he woke up the morning of December 1st, he could feel it. There was an electricity behind the mark on his wrist. His partner would receive their mark today. Josh's spirits were immediately through the roof, and he ran to his mom.
•••
Tyler's wrist had been itching for hours. He knew what it meant, everyone knew what their 16th birthday would mean. That didn't mean he was ready, especially not when the faintest spots of pigment began appearing on his arm.
Throughout the day, the mark became more and more apparent. It wasn't until rather late though, that he could fully make out the marks on his wrist.
|-/
•••
A few weeks later, Josh was broken the rough news. He'd have to leave his hometown, and move to a new city in New Jersey. It was one of those things though, he couldn't just stay in Ohio alone. He'd move, and that was that. Maybe things would work out, maybe he'd meet his soulmate in New Jersey.
•••
Josh was starting his new school today. It was early February, and he had decided he really didn't care what the people at his new school thought of him, before he met any of them. He woke up rather late for his first day, and threw on an outfit that he deemed appropriately reflected his fuck-all attitude towards this new school, black jeans and a black hoodie. He roughly combed through his red curls with his fingers, and strolled out the door and to his car.
Upon arriving to his new school, he found a parking spot that seemed inoffensive, and headed for the office to receive his new schedule.
His day started with math, so he headed over there, knowing if he took too much time he'd end up late and possibly with a detention on his first day. He walked in just as the bell was ringing, and chose a seat against the side of the classroom.
The teacher and the rest of the class walked in shortly after, and Josh was thankful he wasn't approached immediately. A few boys had sat close behind him though, but Josh assumed he had just sat in front of them accidentally.
The teacher got the class' attention. Unluckily for Josh, he was one of /those/ teachers. "So class," he started, "We have a new student joining us today. Josh, would you like to introduce yourself, and maybe tell us a few things about yourself?"
Josh stood up slowly, resenting the teacher for making him do this. "Hi," he stuttered, "I'm Josh. I'm from Ohio, I like dogs and music." He sat down much faster than he had stood up.
The teacher seemed unimpressed with a quick "Alright, everyone introduce yourselves to Josh, and please welcome him to Belleville." With that, he started the lesson.
Most of the class ignored the teachers instructions and Josh. He was thankful for that, he wasn't too good at talking to people. The only ones who seemed remotely interested in Josh, were the boys who were (apparently not accidentally) seated behind Josh.
The one with the short brown hair tapped Josh's shoulder. "Hey," he whispered, "I'm Tyler. I'm also from Ohio. I guess we have to start a band and sing all our songs about Ohio." He laughed, apprehensive of his own joke.
Josh laughed back, the slight worry melting from Tyler's expression. "I'm Josh," he reintroduced, shaking Tyler's hand firmly.
Josh stared at the boy for a moment. He was swimming in his massive sweater, equally as black as Josh's. They seemed to fit in each other's gazes, like a the last piece in the puzzle found a few weeks later under the couch cushion.
The dramatic gaze was broken, by a short punk kid, who loudly introduced himself as Frank. Another boy, who looked like he hadn't showered since 1998 introduced himself as Gerard, and the bouncing emo kid was Pete.
They quickly invited Josh to join their "squad" (as Pete called it affectionately, accepting a swat to the arm from Frank). Josh was hesitant, not quite willing to be involved with whatever they did, but he wasn't in any position to be rude to people. Also Tyler was really attractive, but that was another story. So, he accepted, very much to Pete's excitement, still earning smiles from the others, just with slightly less enthusiasm.
Lunch rolled around, and Pete dragged Josh to the schoolyard, Frank, Gerard, and Tyler in suit. They stopped at an area covered in benches, tree stumps, and what looked vaguely like tombstones that were all in close proximity underneath the branches of a few big trees. Josh would describe this as beautiful if he didn't get such a murder-y vibe from the place. Still, he sat where Pete placed him, and tried his best to remember the many people whom he was introduced to.
There was Ray, who had extremely curly hair and looked really annoyed with Gerard. Then he met Joe, who had slightly less curly hair, and was probably high. Then he met Ryan and Brendon, who were soulmates, and apparently attached at much more than the hip. According to Brendon, the collectively went by Ryden, but Josh was unsure of this, considering Ryan had been shaking his head furiously as Brendon explained this. Then there was Mikey, who was Gerard's brother, and Pete's soulmate, which seemed to be quite disappointing to Gerard, as he hoped for... better things for his little brother. Mikey ignored this however, as Gerard's soulmate was "a fucking midget punk kid who has too many illegal tattoos and can fuck off" (in Mikey's very own incredibly intelligent words to describe the one and only Frank Iero). There was also Patrick, who was a pretty small guy with a smile that made Josh want to hug him repeatedly, and Josh was not a hugger.
So, Josh sat with the massive group whom he had befriended within few hours. There was a lot he had to worry about starting at this new school, yet he mainly focussed on how he would manage to remember everyone's names.