It's too bad I'm not a hero, nor was my beginning humbling in any way. Actually, my beginning was just like everyone else's. I only started this story with that phrase because I really like to grab attention.
So, are you paying attention now?
Yes?
Good.
My name is Melina Rose Leroux. I'm eighteen years old. Four months ago my best friend Jaidin and I left for a self-fulfilling adventure. We were sent off to find our "matches". Yes, that's exactly what you think it means.
Matches, like soulmates, are spread out across the globe and people rarely every meet the one. That's why, decades ago, it was ruled across the world that all humans be genetically bonded with a necklace at birth, called a Locate, to help them find their soulmate.
There are two halves to every full Locate. One half is the one you own, the other is somewhere in the world, waiting to be connected with yours. The Locates are programmed to heat up and get tingly when your other half is near. Sometimes, if you're around someone who isn't biologically meant to be around you, the Locate turns ice cold. The Locates give young people a reason to leave the lives they've known and see the world, fall in love, and live happily ever after without unnecessary heartbreak. Of course, I still never learn my lesson, but that's a story for later.
Still paying attention?
Yeah?
Great.
Now here's the real story.
It was a sweltering June morning when Jaidin came running down the road towards the house.
