You’re born with the first words your soulmate says to you as a tattoo on your wrist. You know who your soulmate is as they say those words when you meet for the first time face to face. Today, we learn the story of a boy with a blank wrist. 

Chandra was just another boy. He went to school, got good grades, and read comics. However, the strange thing about him was; Chandra had a blank wrist. Usually, people with blank wrists never have a soulmate, and he was so terrified that he’ll go his entire life without experiencing the kind of love you can only get from a soulmate. He got bullied so much for not having any writing on his wrists, and Chandra withdrew from everyone and just wore long sleeves. With very few but close friends, he was officially an outcast. He sighed but tried to be positive and go about his life, but it was hard. 

One day, his friends convinced him to go to a party, even though he despised them. Too many people around to mock him or worse, and it didn’t help that “appropriate party wear” rarely included long sleeves. He looked in the mirror and sighed, staring at his blank wrists, pulling on some bracelets to cover them. He knew they would slide down, but it’s better than nothing. He squared his shoulders and left. 

The party was awful. Chandra knew no one there, and his friends had left and mingled and had fun or spent time with their mates. Debating whether or not to exit the party, he started looking for Kai, his best friend. “Hey! The party’s great, right? Come meet my new friends?”

“Okay,” he sighed. 

“This is Luna, Iris, Kirsten, and Rohini.” Kai gestured to each person. The last one, Rohini, was possibly the prettiest girl he had ever seen. 

“Did it hurt when you fell from heaven? I’m so sorry, ignore me,” he mentally smacked himself. 

Stupid, you keep forgetting that you have no soulmate. Why torture yourself like this? Besides, she’ll never like you now, especially with that pickup line. 

He felt someone touch his arm, snapping him out of his thoughts. It was Rohini. She showed her wrist to him, and the flowing script said, “Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?”

“But, how? I thought I had no soulmate! Look!” he showed her his blank wrist. 

She signed something to him, which made him realize that he had nothing on his wrist because his soulmate was Deaf, and the mark only recorded spoken words. “You’re my soulmate?" 

She nodded, and he hugged her while sobbing tears of joy. "I thought I’d never find true love.”

They broke apart, and she signed while Luna interpreted for her. “I had always thought that no one would love me or want a Deaf girl as their soulmate. I thought that once they found out I was Deaf, they’d reject me. Thank you for proving me wrong.”

“If someone had rejected you like that, they don’t know what they’re missing out. You aren’t any less because you can’t hear. People learn other languages for their mate, and if they can’t be bothered to learn ASL to speak to you, they’re wrong.”

“Thank you,” Rohini said, tears in her eyes. 

“Hey man, we gotta go. My dad’s here, and you’re carpooling with me,” said Nathan.

Chandra and Rohini quickly exchanged numbers, promising to see each other soon. He wished they could spend more time together, but they had the rest of their lives before them. He had never expected something like this to happen. Ever since he was born, everyone around him had immediately condemned him to never finding true love simply because of his blank wrist. There needs to be more visibility and acceptance of people who can’t verbally speak or have blank wrists like him. The world was so cruel to those who are different, and he was so tired of it. They were the same as everyone else, and besides, there was no such thing as “normal." 

"Did you say something?” he asked.

“Yes. I asked if you had fun at the party,” said Mr.Holland.

He looked out the window and smiled, “Yeah. I did.”

Mr.Holland smiled and focused on the road again. It was nice to see him smiling. He always seemed so sad and alone in the world. He wondered what had made him so happy but decided to leave it and enjoy his happiness. 

Chandra looked up ASL classes near him and signed up for one. He intended to keep his promise to Rohini and learn ASL for her. 

He entered his class, a private one-on-one with a tutor. 

“Hello! My name is Jack, (signs the entire time they’re talking, making sure to be slow, every time they speak). What’s your name?”

“My name is Chandra. Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too. Shall we get started?”

“Sure.”

(basic ASL because I forgot.)

“Bye! See you tomorrow!” called Jack.

He signed goodbye (insert goodbye sign) and smiled. Maybe he can do this. Perhaps he can learn to help and accommodate Rohini. He was thinking about this when he got a text from a new number. (idk the signs for most of this)

R: Hello, this is Rohini. You probably don’t remember me

C: Hey! Of course, I remember you! You’re a hard one to forget

R: You sure?

C: Completely

R: It’s okay if you say no, but would you like to go on a date?

C: Yes! Of course! Where do you want to go? There’s this cafe I know nearby if you’d like

R: That sounds nice, and the name?

C: It’s called the Roasted Bean Diner, and their scones are to die for

R: Sounds good. Are you free Friday night?

C: Yeah! Is it okay if I ask you a question?

R: Sure?

C: I started learning sign, so could you tell me how you’d prefer to communicate on the date? I’m probably not good enough yet to have a regular conversation.

R: Don’t apologize. Thank you for learning it for me. For now, could we try texting if it’s okay?

C: Sure! See you then!

He put his phone away with a smile. He never thought he’d get love like this, and he got to experience it. Now he finally did, and it was with such a wonderful person. Now, to make plans for a first date to remember. 

Friday arrived, but not quickly enough. They both wanted it to come around so badly, so they could see each other again. No one at his school had seen him crack a smile, much less beam an entire week. She had done so much for him, even without knowing. The lessons had been going great, and he finished the introduction unit. Soon, if all goes well, he’d be fluent! He knew he was too optimistic and that things’ll probably go wrong the way it always does. It was hard to think of that right now when he had a love for the first time. He prayed to the gods for this to be the first thing in forever to turn out better than he’d thought if such a thing was possible.

He arrived at the cafe and found a booth for them, away from the crowds. 

C: I found us a booth in the back

R: Nearly there, thanks!

He looked up to see her smile and wave at him. He signed (hello), which made her face light up. His phone dinged

R: Thank you so much for learning it for me

He signed (you’re welcome, nice to meet you again)

She giggled (nice to see you too. You look handsome) 

He blushed (thanks, you look gorgeous)

She looked away, flustered. 

(It’s true (finger spelling?))

R: You sure?

C: Positive

Tearing up, she typed No one outside of my family has told me that. 

He wiped her tears away. Then I’m going to tell you every day because you are.

R: Thank you

“What can I get you two lovebirds?” A waiter suddenly asked, startling them. 

“I’ll have a coffee, please.”

Rohini pointed to a picture of a blueberry scone and a latte. 

“I’ll be back with your orders soon,”

C: Have you been here before?

R: Once or twice with my friends, what about you?

C: I come here pretty often. I, never mind, it’s stupid.

R: What is it? 

He sighed and flushed. I liked to play this game where I invented backstories for the people here. 

R: That sounds fun! What do you think that lady over there is like? She gestured.

(Nice)

(C-H-A-R-M-I-N-G?)

The lady turned around and saw them signing. “Why are you waving your hands around and making gang signs, hmm? Speak like the rest of us. You’ve got mouths, so use them or get a hearing aid already! Just stop pretending!” She turned around and muttered about loveless pretenders who’ll never get far in life like this and how they should fix it already. 

Rohini started crying, trying to hide it but failing. Chandru moved closer to her and signed (H-U-G U?). She nodded. He held her close and rubbed her back, helping her calm down before he started to speak. Her sobbing had slowly gone down to a few tears running down her cheeks. The employees kicked out the lady for her comments and apologized to her. He typed out everything he wanted to say to her and sent it.

C: What she said wasn’t true. She’s a sad woman who tries to cancel their pain by taking it out on others. Her thoughts aren’t valid. What matters is what you think of yourself, what you know is fundamentally true about yourself. She will regret saying this one day and don’t let it affect you. A single misguided person is not going to change who you are. You’re one of the strongest people I know, and nothing is going to change that.

R: Really?

He nodded, and she hugged him. They might be broken and imperfect, but they can help each other heal and go through it. After all, isn’t that what true love is?

THE END