Soulmate

Episode 8-Almost Forgot

My phone rang loudly, waking me up in the process. At first, I didn’t move. Maybe it was Mark calling. But ten minutes passed and it still wouldn’t stop, so I groggily reached for it, frustration bubbling up as I squinted at the bright screen.

“Oh, what’s up, Mark? It’s still early, what do you need?” I mumbled, irritation clear in my voice.

“Chill, it’s me. Mika.”

The voice stopped me cold.

“M-Mika?!” I stammered, suddenly wide awake. I looked at the number, and indeed—it wasn’t Mark.

“Hello? Mika? Is this really you?”

“It’s me,” she replied calmly.

Realizing how rude I had been, I quickly tried to backtrack. “Uhm, Mika…”

“Yes?”

“Sorry I yelled at you. I thought it was Mark.”

“It’s fine,” she said gently.

“How did you get my number though?”

“I asked Mark,” she replied simply.

Before I could say anything else, I heard a muffled sigh on the other end.

“Anyway,” Mika said, “You forgot, didn’t you?”

“Forgot what?”

There was silence.

Then she dropped the bomb.

“Our date today.”

My heart stopped for a second. DATE. TODAY.

I shot up from my bed, knocking my blanket off in a frenzy. “OH NO!” I shouted, standing straight like a soldier being yelled at by a commander.

“I KNEW IT,” Mika groaned on the other end.

“I-I’m so dumb,” I whispered to myself, phone still in hand. “Wait, wait, I’ll be there! Just give me—like—ten minutes!”

“Ten minutes?” she repeated with a laugh. “You live thirty minutes away.”

“I’ll teleport. Just don’t move. Stay there. I’m coming!” I hung up and flew around my room like a tornado. Clothes were flying, socks were missing, I accidentally put on my shirt inside out and didn’t realize until halfway out the door.

As I rushed out, I muttered to myself, “Of all days to forget, why today?! i***t! Dumb! Brain cells, where are you when I need you?!”

When I finally arrived at the meeting spot, breathless and hair still slightly messy, Mika was already there. She leaned casually against a lamppost, wearing a cute yellow sundress and a denim jacket. She didn’t look mad, just… amused.

I approached her slowly, panting. “I’m… sorry… I forgot… but I remembered just in time… to sprint through traffic like a maniac…”

“You almost died for this date,” she smirked.

“Worth it.”

She rolled her eyes and chuckled. “So, where are we going?”

“Well,” I rubbed the back of my neck, “I know it’s kind of a repeat, but… I was hoping we could go back to the amusement park. Like last time.”

Mika’s eyes lit up. “Really? That place was fun. Especially watching you scream on the Ferris wheel.”

“I wasn’t screaming,” I grumbled. “I was… vocalizing my excitement.”

“Yeah, in terror,” she giggled.

We made our way to the amusement park, and things just fell into place. First stop: the photo booth.

We put on the wackiest costumes we could find. Mika wore a giant flamingo hat and star-shaped sunglasses, while I rocked a fake mustache, cowboy hat, and pink feather boa. We posed like we were on a magazine cover, then like we were spies on a secret mission. At one point, the hat slipped and covered my eyes, and I accidentally bonked my head on the booth wall. Mika laughed so hard, she snorted, which made me laugh even harder.

Next, we went shopping for matching hats and glasses “for disguise purposes,” as Mika said. We settled on banana-print bucket hats and rainbow-tinted shades.

“Now no one will recognize us,” she said, walking like a spy from an action movie.

We tried street food after that. Mika dared me to eat the spiciest fishball on the cart, and I confidently accepted.

Spoiler: I died.

“WATER!” I gasped. “MY TONGUE IS MELTING!”

Mika was crying from laughter while casually eating hers with no reaction.

“How are you immune?!” I cried.

“I was raised by wolves,” she said proudly.

Later, we shared a giant cotton candy. Mika ended up with sugar on her nose, which she didn’t notice until I pointed it out. Then she smudged some on my cheek for revenge.

We were acting like kids. Like a couple who didn’t have a care in the world.

Eventually, we sat on a bench near the fountain. The sun was starting to set, painting everything in gold.

“That was fun,” I said, leaning back.

“Yeah,” Mika said softly. “You know… this kind of day makes me think.”

“About what?”

“College.”

I turned toward her, eyebrows raised.

“I want us to go to the same university,” she said, eyes locked on mine. “Wouldn’t that be awesome? More days like this… maybe even better ones.”

My smile froze.

She looked at me expectantly. “So, what do you think?”

I opened my mouth, ready to say the truth: I’m not going to college. But before I could get a word out—

HONK!

A loud horn broke the moment. An ice cream vendor on a bicycle rolled past us with a bell that sounded like a trumpet made of nightmares.

“Ice cream!!” Mika suddenly shouted.

She jumped up like she had springs in her shoes and grabbed my arm. “Let’s go!”

“But—college—”

“Ice cream first, future later!” she laughed, dragging me to the vendor like a five-year-old on a sugar mission.

We both got double scoops—mine was chocolate and mango (weird combo, don’t judge), and hers was ube and cookies & cream.

As we sat again, now with sticky hands and brain freezes, Mika looked at me seriously. “So… college?”

I licked my ice cream and looked at the sunset. “I’ll think about it,” I said honestly.

She didn’t push. Just nodded and smiled. “That’s all I wanted to hear.”

And with that, we sat quietly, enjoying the last light of the day, our banana hats slightly tilted and ice cream dripping down our fingers—two chaotic goofballs in love with life and maybe a little with each other.

To be continued...