Realistic or Modern ❝ 𝑤𝑒'𝑟𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝘩𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔𝘩 𝑡𝘩𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑑𝑛𝑖𝑔𝘩𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑡𝑠 ❞

[low fidelity]

The blaring sound of Jude's phone alarm had permeated into her dreams again. It was a quiet nightmare, creeping up on her until a raging, wild storm tore Gloriaville apart, and she hadn't been able to find anyone else. It was the end of the world, swathed in pure silence. The image of grey streaked skies and rubble at her feet stuck at the back of her mind. At first, the girl had thought the alarm was tornado sirens, but then she jerked awake in a sweat under her numerous blankets and pillows, a hand pawing under her pillow for her phone. Jude thumbed at the screen and shut off her alarm. Her eyes were squinted at the bright light of her phone screen. 7:30 AM.

There was something about mornings that just made Jude's mood sour. Maybe it was the fact that she never got enough sleep. The girl had a habit of staying up far too late, simply listening to music or watching movies, not wanting the day to end and the next to come. Weekends were a solace, the oasis in the desert, though Jude felt that was a bit of a dramatic metaphor. Today, however, she awoke with nervous energy pooling in her gut - it was the first day of senior year. It was as if summer droned on by at a snail-like pace, and then - bam! - time to start school again, kiddos. Then, there was the thought that she only had 180 days left of high school, which was somehow more exhilarating and anxiety-inducing. So close, yet so far. Freedom was in sight. Now, to survive the school year in one piece.

After staying in bed for fifteen minutes more, Jude's second morning alarm shook her out of dozing off again. The ginger finally sat up and mumbled curses under her breath. She made sure her phone was plugged in to charge, and turned on a quiet playlist from her music library. Time to start the day. Her routine was as normal as anyone else's - get up, shower, brush her teeth, figure out what to do with her hair. She stared at herself in the mirror for a good minute, and opted for some mascara and tinted lip balm, trying to brighten her dead tired face. It kind of worked. Jude shrugged and dug through her closet. The weather outside was still waning into fall, but it hadn't cooled down completely just yet. Her outfit was simple, a large t-shirt over a long sleeved shirt, shorts, and her cleanest pair of sneakers. Minutes later, and she was out the door of her empty house, skateboarding down the street towards school.

Later on, Jude would swear she was having the worst case of deja vu.

Her soulmate mark appeared when Jude stood at a street corner, waiting for the crosswalk sign to flash green. The city was already fully thrown into its morning rush traffic, worsened by the first day of school. Its loud cacophony was comforting for her, a constant in her life since the very beginning, and she could probably walk to school blindfolded given the chance. It was an urban jungle, thriving and always awake. She spared a glance over to the car waiting for the green light and locked eyes with the boy sitting inside. Some other teenager, probably heading off for his first day of class too. It was an unremarkable second they shared - the light changed, the car drove off, and she didn't notice the mark slowly appear on the inside of her wrist. Jude got back on her board, kicking off to gain speed before she was late.

The second instance was within the packed halls of Gloriaville High itself. Thankfully, the girl wasn't late for class, and had time to find her assigned locker. Some old friends greeted her, others in the hall stepped out of the way without a second thought as Jude walked by, her face perpetually angry. By now, she was well known for her couple of fights, and people murmured it was a miracle she hadn't been expelled. Maybe because she hadn't actually started them, but Jude certainly won, and wasn't afraid to point that out to anyone who asked. She almost missed it when she opened her locker, shoving her skateboard inside. The ginger looked over her shoulder, and there was that same pair of eyes again. The pang of deja vu hit her, uncanny and odd, but he was gone before she could make sense of it. The bell rang, pulling Jude out of her confusion, and she was in her homeroom in a few minutes time. Students around her continued their chatter. A gaggle of girls giggled with smiles, swooning and cooing over someone's newly appeared soulmate mark, and Jude winced at the thought. Soulmates. Partners for life. The idea was almost repulsive; she couldn't imagine someone tolerating her for the rest of their lives, whether they were in love or not. Jude had little patience, and she knew she wasn't exactly likable. What if the universe - or whatever decided it - chose wrong? She couldn't bear the thought of being stuck forever with someone she didn't even like.

The thoughts in her head distracted her from homeroom. Jude sat back in her seat, drumming her pen on an open blank notebook page, as the homeroom teacher droned on about school news and whatnot. She couldn't shake the idea of what it would be like, having a soulmate. Like she saw in the hallway, some people met their soulmates at a young age. There were other cases, rare ones that appeared on the news sometimes, where people wouldn't meet their soulmates until much later in life. And, of course, some didn't even get to meet theirs in their lifetime. The world was abundant, it came at no surprise, but Jude wasn't sure which was worse. Living without ever meeting your soulmate, or not being able to stand them. The girl rubbed at her face tiredly, as if to rub away her exhaustion, and looked up. Her eyes glanced around at her other classmates, most of the senior class familiar by now, but a new-yet-not-new face was sat at the desk next to her. Oh. Was that you? Jude couldn't help but look away quickly and furrow her brows, struck with the pang of deja vu once again.

 

[Lost...]

Garrett had always been an early riser. Sports ruined him. He went to bed early and woke up early every morning to go on a jog. Today was no different. He was looking forward to the first day of his senior year. And he thought about it as he ran through the morning air before the sun had come all the way up. It wasnt hot, but it was far from cool. He ran shirtless down the street for about a half hour, making it roughly 4 miles round trip. He came back home at 6:30 and showered and put some breakfast on the stove before going to wake his younger sister. She was starting her Freshman year and he was excited to take her to school with him.

"Wakey wakey sleepy head, its time to get up for school." He said with a grip, pulling back her curtains just as the sun was coming over the horizon. She groaned but got out of bed obediently and hugged him.

"Im nervous..." she told him softly, her pajamas simply a big tee shirt nearly falling off of her.

"Theres nothing to be nervous about...I survived and you are so much stronger than me. I'll be right there to help you out and all your friends will be there with you too. I already told you, you're gonna be fine." He consoled her before bending down and lifting her up over his shoulder and spinning her around. She squealed and he laughed, "now get dressed before your breakfast burns. We're leaving in a half hour." He told her before setting her down and leaving with a smile on his face to finish breakfast and get himself more ready. He combed his hair and dressed himself more, jeans and a button up, rolled up to his elbows, he enjoyed a tee shirt every now and again, but he wanted to look nice for the first day of school and button ups were comfortable to him.

When he came back to the kitchen, Skye was there, ripped jeans, vans and a NASA tee shirt. She had combed her hair and still looked a bit nervous. He chuckled and sat down with her to eat their breakfast. They ate quickly then both left to brush their teeth and he grabbed his keys and they headed outside to his car.

With Skye in the passenger seat and Garrett driving, they made their way to school. He was stopped at a light when he caught a glimpse of a somewhat rough looking red head. The light changed and he turned, still thinking of her. She looked like she needed sleep, though he thought she could be super pretty if she maybe did just a little something, even just a smile. He shrugged and pushed the thought of her away, it wasnt as important as the song that came on the radio as he pulled into the parking lot.

He and his sister sat in the car to the end of the song, dancing and singing alng in an embarrassing way that made the entire car shake with the force of their movements. They both laughed as they made their way out of the car and into the school.

Helping Skye with her schedule and locker was quick, she learned fdt and got settled faster, especially once she found a group of her friends. They all welcomed her and said hi to Garrett. He grinned and said hello, talking for a short while before he had to head off to do his own stuff.

Finding his locker was quick and he shoved his stuff into it. Turning back around he caught a glimpse of that firey red hair agakn, pulling his attention away for a mment before he was clasped on the back and led away by a buddy on the swim team, talking about tryouts, wondering if his sister would be joining like she had said as well. They talked and caught up until the bell whe they parted ways to go to homeroom.

As Garrett walked into the class with his fellow seniors, most of the faces were familiar, as he was somewhat popular and knew a lot of people. However, because he was very nearly late there weren't many seats left and he wasn't able to ignore the burst of red coming from the back. Though he didnt usually sit in the back of the room. He walked back and sat down beside her, setting his stuff down and listening to the pre-year speech every teacher gave, even though it was the same every year.