Chapter three

The next few days passed the same. Every time I saw Jake my heart skipped a beat, and every time I studied the marks on my ankle I saw they were darker. But the shape was off, every time I looked at the shape that was forming it looked less and less like anything football related. 

I arrived at school on Friday feeling slightly depressed. So far the mark didn't mean Jake but Jake was what I wanted. Ella and Chris knew that too, they had noticed the way I was around him, and because they're such good friends, they decided to help me do something about it. So in PE I tried to talk to him. 

'Hey Jake.' Ugh it sounded more like a question, 'Hey Anna.' He smiled and for a second I forgot my nerves, 'Wanna sit with me?' He asked. I nodded lost for words and with a quick glance I saw Ella and Chris with their thumbs up, wow they're such nerds. I sat with him, surprised his friends weren't with him and we waited for Mr Blake to tell us what we were doing for the lesson. 'Today you're working in pairs guys, so grab the person next to you, they're your partner. We've got a special guest in today who's gonna set up ten different stations, each one will have a different exercise used in training for boxing.' I looked at Jake and he seemed really excited. 

The 'special guest' was a girl boxer that no one had heard of but she seemed nice and she set up ten stations around the hall. Me and Jake started off with push ups, until the teacher blew the whistle and then we changed stations, next was sit ups and then step ups and so on. Jake was clearly thrilled but I got bored really quickly and didn't put in much effort. 'Come on partner, where's your enthusiasm?' He asked between exercises, 'I don't have any, this isn't my idea of fun.' He just laughed in reply and I found myself smiling back. 

At the end of the lesson I was drawn to him, I just needed to be with him. I skipped along beside him as we left the sports centre, ready to head home and then I made the stupid decision to try and hold his hand. He instantly pulled away a look of confusion on his face and I stopped in my tracks, 'Anna...look you're nice, I want to be your friend but we're not meant for each other.' He showed me his arm where the lines had grown darker, 'This is the start of a soulmate mark Anna, that means I'm off the market, I'm really sorry I didn't mean to give you the wrong impression.' And with that he walked away, leaving me stood there alone. 

He avoided me after that, yet my mark still grew darker. I didn't get close enough to see his anymore, not that it mattered, he wasn't mine. 

About two weeks after the attempted hand holding my mark was complete. It was nothing to do with football, however it was quite beautiful. It was a little open book, on the first page was a tiny little heart and on the other was the letter 'A' presumably for 'Anna'. It was definitely pretty but I hated it, I didn't want some book loving geek, I wanted Jake. I passed him in the hall that same day two weeks later and on his arm I saw his mark. It was complete, and it was perfect. It was a pencil, the mark I had always said my soulmate would have. But it wasn't my pencil. It was someone else's. 

I was completely heartbroken. I felt lost, without him I felt empty.