Something I had to write for school, so I'm putting it here too.

Special s/o to minxesti for looking it over for me, thanks ❤️❤️

Clammy hands trace along soft skin, covered in painlessly vibrant blues and reds that tingle lightly when touched. The contrast mesmerizing against such a pale canvas, leaving its recipient with a lack of breath from the absolute tragic beauty. Markings marred otherwise perfectly clean flesh, easy to hide but impossible to forget.
And as she looked back at her tear streaked reflection, the same one that, ten minutes ago, bore no evidence of panic or pain, she couldn't help but hate herself a little bit more. She made a promise to herself, she wouldn't fall for the one thing everyone around her seemed to, she wouldn't let the famed stories and happy endings make her want what every human in her vicinity craved.
Yet here she was, trembling at what stared back at her in the bathroom mirror, now her biggest enemy, with salt on her lips and fear in her eyes, something that she so rarely saw in herself.
Max couldn't help it as she turned away, refusing to look at her painted fate any longer, and as she rushed to finish dressing herself, she did the best she could to erase her thoughts on the subject, keeping her mind and mouth on a leash that otherwise would send her into a panic. She slid her fingers across the smooth porcelain of the small sink, finding her hands gripping the edges with a pleading force, as if to wake her up from this dream.
This terrible, mind boggling, nightmarish dream that put her in a paralysis with one glance up. And one glance up she gave, a mistake, she knew, but Max couldn't help it as her misty hazel orbs were drawn to the delicate swirls that had never decorated her outer bicep until about ten minutes ago, minutes that now felt like a sickeningly sweet eternity. Ink that needed no artist to be applied, Mother Nature, Fate, she did that herself. She gave Max the exotic blue and red swirls, colors that bled into a faint purple crescent moon in the middle of the tantalizing lines.
The soulmate tattoo.
That's what they were called. Soulmate tattoos. They had been around since the beginning of time, a system set up by fantasy-like circumstances that made no sense but perfect sense all at the same time. A system that was one hundred percent accurate, one that would supply every soul with an equal counterpart. It's how they had avoided conflict and destruction, no broken hearts and no heartless beings.
Everyone trusted the system with their lives, and everyone had a soulmate tattoo that corresponded with their perfect lover. It was precise, concise, and absolutely perfect.
Or, it was supposed to be.
Max had heard wind of an ancient tale, one that haunted everyone's minds at least once.
It spoke of a man who had fallen for a beautifully powerful woman, bore a mark with her name, covered in things she adored, she took his breath away, his life, his soul. He wanted to give her his everything and he did.
Only to find out she bore no mark corresponding with his own.
Of course, that was just a myth parents told their kids at night to scare them into sweetness. Just a myth.
Max felt her hands slip from the porcelain, leaving her a shrugging mess in front of her own two eyes, eyes that usually sparkled at her reflection, now dull pools filled with cold fear. She didn't understand. She couldn't. It wasn't the fact that she now bore a soulmate tattoo, no.
It was the fact that she loved someone. And she didn't even know who.
It was said that your mark only showed up after you met your soulmate, but Max met hundreds of people everyday, she was a zoo educator at her local zoo. Her job was to meet people and educate, she looked into hundreds of eyes, shook hundreds of hands, and laughed at hundreds of jokes.
It was next to impossible for her to find her soulmate. Like searching for a specific zebra in a herd of fifty.
Sighing, Max went through her most obvious options.
      Matt, her manager, she saw him everyday and he did seem to take a liking to her the second they met. But Max thought of him as an older brother. So he was off the list.
Jack, he could be the one. He always waved at Max and made sure she was eating lunch at her proper time so she never got famished during visiting hours. He seemed to really care for her and had dirty brown curls that any girl would swoon over.
"Except...he's gay." She blew out a puff of air at this realization, how could she have forgotten? He was with his boyfriend last week. With a grunt, Max moved on to the next possible suitor.
Marc. He was a zookeeper who spent most of his time with the lions and had a solemn face. He hardly ever opened up to anybody, but Max found herself often in his presence. Soft blue eyes and a jacket that smelled of lemongrass, despite feeding his favorite animals raw meat all day, he laughed with Max and told her things she didn't think she'd ever know.
"He has a wife, Max," she let out, voice touched with a lack of hope, "and he's way out of your league." She moves on to the last person on her list, already knowing how it would end.
Nathan. He worked with her as a fellow educator and had piercing green eyes that left Max breathless and lost on multiple occasions. Plus, his smile was that of an angel, the whitest teeth and the cutest little dimples that formed when he flashed that debilitating grin of his.
But, he already had his tattoo. And it looked nothing like Max's own....
This was impossible. She just went through a list of all her friends, all her possible lovers, but none of them fit the bill and now she was back to square one. And she hated it. How was she supposed to figure out who her soulmate was?
She ran her ashen hand through silver hair, a decision she had impulsively made a couple months ago, tugging her now browning roots and pulling lightly, as if to test her reality. Shaky fingers slipped through water slicked locks with little effort, silky smooth strands calming her vibrating nerves.
With one last unsure look in the mirror, Max pulled herself from the bathroom and padded down the apartment hall to the kitchen, soft sounds echoing throughout the room, whether it was from her bare feet or some other thing, she didn't know. Her toes touched the cool tile of the kitchen floor, contrasting harshly with the warmth of the hallway rug, leaving her skin cold, mixing in with the cool from her dilemma.
She blindly pulled her phone out of the back pocket of her dark jeans, knuckles rubbing against coarse denim, checking the time haphazardly, taking note that she had to leave for work in about twenty minutes. That gave her just enough time to eat something for breakfast (which she had thought about skipping just for the sake of sleeping in) and feed her baby. And by baby, she meant the fifteen inch bearded dragon she called Cas.
Cas was really the only thing Max inherently fell in love with, he was her best friend, her child. Or at least that's how she treated him. She fell in love with him the second she saw him running back and forth with bright eyes in his enclosure. There was a bearded dragon exhibit at the zoo, and two of the captive dragons had mated, resulting in 24 baby dragons that needed homes. And Max, well, she jumped at the opportunity. And now, here she was, 3 years later.
Max felt a small smile tugging at her chapped lips at this, pulling her from her insecurities and previous issues she had yet to resolve. A small turn of her head towards the living room revealed Cas, basking in the six A.M sun and heat lamp on his tank, blinking slowly as he awoke himself completely, waiting patiently for his breakfast. Max pulled a square container out of the fridge, walking over to the tank and lifting the warm screen that kept Cas in (Lord knew he had tried to escape multiple times) and dropping a few mealworms onto the dish in the middle of the sandy habitat, along with some carrot nubs and a small handful of kale.
He acknowledged her presence with a small tilt of his head, sliding off his rock and brushing dry scales against smooth skin, going for his favorite meal. Max smiled, more of a grin at this point. Cas was the one thing that always eased her anxious bouts, and even with the huge problem hanging over her head, she found herself reveling in the moment that kept her sane.
She ran a few fingers against his back, his heat being absorbed by her own cool flesh, taking in the bumps and ridges, light yellows and browns, a collage of desert on skin, seemingly telling a story of where he'd been and where he was now. With one last touch and a whispered, "Good morning, Cas," Max left him to eat, sliding his screen back onto the top of his cage and making her way back to the kitchen, where she had yet to start making her own breakfast.
She stared at the cupboards filled with cereals, both hot and cold, gripping the brass knobs a bit too tight as she shut the doors closed. Max rummaged through her fridge, the cool air hitting her nose and instantly dropping her temperature, inhaling fall temperatures in spring weather. She cursed under her breath as she stared distastefully at the week's leftovers and no fresh foods.
"Guess I'll just settle for cereal bar..."
     She grabbed a bottled water from the fridge and made her way to the microwave cart, on top of the electric box a metal bowl filled with various bars, and picked one at random. She unwrapped the bar from its plastic wrappings, lifting it to her mouth, letting freshly cleaned teeth tear into granola, soft crunching followed by a swallow, leaving her tongue tasting like honey and oats.
     Max put the cereal bar in her mouth, using her teeth to keep a hold of it while she bent down and reached for her shoes, an old pair of black converse she'd had since high school, covered in battle scars and memories, perfectly comfortable for walking and greeting zoo goers. She pulled them on with little effort, tying the laces just tight enough, and lifted herself up, rolling her shoulders back, satisfied with the slight pop from coiled muscles. She finished her cereal bar with a few last bites before tossing the wrapper towards the trash, satisfied when it successfully made it in.
     One last glance at her phone had her reaching for her black Casco windbreaker, and she threw it on, covering her green zoo polo shirt, not bothering to zip it up. It was warm out today, but there was a soft breeze blowing that warranted a jacket.
      She took a breath, welcomed air filling her lungs as she grabbed her keys, pulling the door open, but not before sparing one last glance around her apartment, eyes traveling across the room, landing on Cas. She gave him a small wave with three fingers before finally stepping out of of her home, ready to start the day with her soulmate tattoo still nagging at her in the back of her chaotic mind.
       It took her forty five minutes to get to work, 10 minutes to walk to the gift shop, and five to wait for the first group of second graders she had during the day. She didn't mind the wait, it gave her time to think on the problem still at hand, and possibly come up with more guesses as to who she suddenly had a thing for. She came to the conclusion that it had to be one of the visitors the zoo encountered yesterday, because  soulmate tattoos showed up thirty minutes to twenty four hours after the initial meeting, and that would mean she had to have met him while working. Max never went anywhere after work, especially on a Monday, so it fit that he must've been somewhere in the zoo at the same time she was.
    But there was still the problem of how many people she met in a single day. Weekdays weren't too busy, but yesterday had still been mighty full for a Monday, she had given five tours throughout the day, all of them consisting of at least one male adult, not to mention the hours she spent just walking around the zoo greeting people and helping with directions and other things. She couldn't possibly come up with a number for those ones.
     Max was brought out of her worried thoughts by a small hand tugging at her windbreaker, pulling her a little bit, and she instinctively looked down, plastering a smile on her face when she was greeted by a kid no older than eight, who was smiling brightly at her, a single tooth missing from the wide grin, brown eyes sparkling with youth and innocence. The little boy spoke quietly, obviously shy, when he found Max's eyes on his own.
     "Are you the lady who's 'sposed to teach us about the animals?"
    Max nodded, kneeling down to be at his height and speaking clearly, looking around for the rest of his group.
    "Yeah, I'm Max. Where's your group, kiddo?"
      The blonde haired boy shrugged, smiling a bit sheepishly as Max laughed. Just when she was about to speak again, she heard a high pitched voice yell from across the gift shop.
   "Manuel Davis! You get back her right this instant!"
   Max stood abruptly and looked around, noticing a rather busy looking lady surrounded by children, with short brown hair and glasses on eyes that bulged out of her head, presumably with anger for the missing Manuel, who was currently standing in shock with Max's hand in his own. Max muttered something under her breath, something about how screaming teachers should be banned from the zoo, and tugged Manuel along, smiling the whole way, even while the teacher went on and on about manners and staying with your group.
    When Max met with the group, hand still in Manuel's own, she lifted her face and waited while the screamer suddenly toned down her volume and put on a facade that held sugary sweet words and a furrowed brow to indicate worry that Max clearly hadn't seen thirty seconds ago. She took Max's free hand with both of her own and Max bit back the urge to pull away. Polite and proper, she reminded herself.
     "I'm so sorry about him, he never seems to listen and often runs away from the group, I hope he didn't give you any trouble." She emphasized the word trouble as she spared a glance at the freckle faced, missing toothed kid, giving him a glare equivalent to death, and Max sighed inwardly, forcing an upbeat tone for the kid's sake.
     "No no, he was perfectly okay! He just wanted to know if I would be your tour guide today. In fact, I've never met such an upstanding little man!" She passed him her own glance, smiling genuinely and she felt her heart restore it's hope in humanity as he smiled back and giggled lightly, letting go of her hand and blending in with the mass group of second graders. She turned her attention back to the woman before her, introducing herself like she did everyday.
   "I'm Max, your tour guide for the day. I'm guessing you're Ms. Turner, with the nine A.M second grader tour?"
    Ms. Turner nodded politely, and Max removed herself from the warm grip the woman had, clasping her hands together and motioning towards the exhibit entrance, starting to walk, looking back once to make sure the mass amount of kids, reminding her of a herd of animals, was behind her the whole time.
    "Welcome to our friendly zoo, I hope you guys all have as much fun today as I will! Let's get this started, shall we?"
    What seemed like minutes was actually hours, and, to Max's surprise, as she finished speaking on their last animal, the cobra, the kids were still paying full attention. They actually seemed to enjoy her as a tour guide/educator, as did most people, and it only made her more confident in her job. She asked if there were any questions, and Manuel's hand shot up, eyes on something other than the animals, and Max smiled and nodded, signaling for him to speak.
    "Is that a soulmate tattoo?"
      Max froze in her spot, body and mind unaccustomed to such a question, ice running through her being, breath slowing down to nearly nothing. Her tongue was lead in her mouth, her voice was a ghost of a whisper caught in her throat. She lifted desensitized fingers to her arm, where she now realized her windbreaker had slid down, revealing her newly formed tattoo, her uniform sleeve not long enough to cover the stain on her life. She stood there motionless for many moments, leaving the class before her confused and alert, not aware of how the subject had affected their tour guide.
      They all stared at her with wide, curious eyes, but Max couldn't answer. She felt as if she was drowning in their stares, their curiosities that begged for answers, leaving her with a pounding against her skull and flashes in her vision. Her anxiety kicked in, taking the form of her headache and stillness, whispering "what if"s and "they know"s in her ear that kept her standing in a twitchy silence.
     "Max?"
      She flinched at the familiar voice, the scent of lemongrass and leather hitting her nose, and she swallowed harshly, doing her best to shake off the panic attack that had previously threatened to seep into her everything. But Marc knew her too well and soon he had an arm around her shoulder, leading her away from the mass amount of second graders who were now whispering, whispers Max didn't want to hear. She heard Marc radio Nathan, who would now be on his way to finish wrapping up the tour and leading the group out.
     He kept his arm around her all the way to the break room, where he then helped her sit down, finding his own seat directly across from her. Calloused hands littered with ragged scars took hold of Max's own pale ones, squeezing gently to get her attention. Max looked up hesitantly, knowing full well her tattoo was visible, her windbreaker had now dropped down to both elbows, where it sat tight in the crevices of her arms. And as she followed his worried gaze to her bicep, she knew she couldn't lie.
    "....I don't know what to do." It was broken, lost, a complete turnaround from the woman who had greeted those kids just over a couple hours ago. It was something Marc had never heard from the silver haired tour guide, and it had him worried.
    "It's just a tattoo, Max. Everyone gets one. It's part of life."
      He took one of his hands away to pull down his own green polo shirt, revealing a small lioness head with decorative green circles surrounding the edge, something that suited him well. Max stared at it intently, wondering what his wife could have that would match such a unique Marc piece. It practically shouted who he was, and Max appreciated that his ink said that about him.
    "Amber has a lion with red dots surrounding hers," Max looked up at him, surprised, as if he had read her mind, "it's all over your face, Max." He smiled that rare smile of his, and Max found herself calming down a bit. It helped that he had shown his to her, it also helped that he was Marc.
    She sighed, looking down at the table, struggling to find the correct words to describe how she felt at the moment, her mind was lost in a jungle of insecurities and problems that she couldn't possibly put in words, but she tried her best.
    "I just, I always told myself I wouldn't have this happen to me. I wouldn't have my fate chosen for me. I would choose who I got to love, like they do in the stories. And I......I'm just scared."
    "Of what?"
     "Of Unrequited Love."
   She said it as if it were poison on her tongue. The myth she was told as a kid, everyone was told as a kid, that possibly wasn't a myth. What if it affected her? What if she was the one who the system couldn't find love for? What if she was destined for a heartless life?
     Marc looked at her confused, then burst out in laughter, something that sounded so heavenly and rare that Max almost couldn't be mad at him. But then she realized he was laughing at her and she couldn't stop herself from slapping his chest and crossing her arms over her own, refusing to let him have her hands any longer.
    "Max, that's just a myth. Some stupid legend. It's not real. When have you ever seen anyone who's gotten Unrequited Love?"
"....Never...."
"Exactly," he pushed himself up from his chair and walked over to her side of the table, holding out his hand for her as he spoke, "now, let's get back to work, huh? I'm sure you have a tour soon, and I need to go feed Rex and Rhi their lunch. It's horse day, their favorite."
   Max sighed, but smiled nonetheless, taking his hand and letting him pull her up and drag her out of the break room, back into the gift shop where he patted her on the back and parted ways. She watched him walk away, presumably to the zoo kitchen where they kept prepared meals for the animals. She shivered, she really didn't know how he did it. Holding raw meat the size of laptop, bloody and from something like a horse, while not wanting to empty his stomach of all its contents through his mouth.
     Max shrugged, turning sharply and looking down while thinking about it, biting her thumb nail in concentration. She was so focused on the raw meat matter that she didn't see the person in front of her, so focused that she didn't hear the "watch out" from someone across the room, so focused that she didn't register what had happened until she was on the floor and a hand was placed in front of her vision, it's owner fervently apologizing and asking if Max was okay.
     Max was fine, for the most part. Her bottom hurt a bit, but she wasn't going to tell her stranger that. Instead, she found her gaze traveling up the person's body, over dark blue jeans and a black t-shirt with some random quote on it about working hard, and up to a face. A face with a rather sculpted jaw, dark stubble covering part of it in a way that was extremely attractive, full lips that spoke endless apologies, hair that was so jet black Max couldn't help but compare him to a raven. Followed by concerned hazel eyes, ones slightly darker than her own, eyes that held secrets and questions that Max couldn't stop staring into, covered by a pair of thin wire glasses, which were now lopsided against his olive skin. And his voice. It sent shivers down Max's spine, deep and meaningful, careful with its words and masked in a slight embarrassment that Max found so beautiful.
    She let herself grip his hand, and when she did, she was taken aback by the sudden surge of electricity that traveled up her arm, stopping at her bicep and left a pulsating tingle in a certain place that had Max's eyes widening with both fear and excitement. Her cheeks were warm, and she could practically feel the blush that had settled over them. With a shaky breath in, Max got a hold of herself and looked him back in his eyes, smiling lightly and brushing herself off as she stood a good few inches below him.
   "I'm....I'm okay, thanks. I should've been paying attention to where I was going, sorry......I'm Max."
    He smiled back at her at this, and it turned Max's knees into jello, her arm pulsing harder at his show of teeth. He rubbed the back of his neck with one hand, muscles bulging beneath the v-neck shirt, and Max pulled her gaze away, she didn't want to be caught staring. He licked his lips haphazardly, looking down at Max as he asked his question, covered in another apology.
   "Well Max,I'm sorry, I should've helped you up sooner instead of gawking at you, and I'm Kane. By any chance, do you work here?"
     Max nodded, her eyes shining with a curiosity and eagerness that was so unlike her. He nodded as well, continuing.
    "Well, I was here yesterday and I'm pretty sure I left my camera by the penguin exhibit. I don't suppose you saw it?"
    Max racked her brain for things she picked up yesterday, and as she did, she realized she not only saw his camera, but also him, taking pictures of the animals at the zoo. She felt her heart swell and couldn't help it as she burst out with something no one should say on their first, er second, meeting.
    "I think I love you."
    Kane's face changed from pleasant to utter confusion. His lips turned to a somewhat forced smile, and he looked at her as if she was from another planet.
   "I'm sorry?"
      Max felt her smile grow wider as she touched her tattoo, cool skin zapping with soulmate electricity that had her dizzy and overwhelmed by everything, her words tumbling out of her mouth as she searched his own bicep with her eyes.
     "I think I lo-"
    But she stopped dead in her tracks. She stopped rubbing at the skin where her tattoo was, still pulsating and pushing her towards the man before her. Her skin went cold with a realization, one so profound and ironic that she couldn't help the single tear that slid out of her eye and down her cheek. A warm, salty streak that broke her everything, left her gripping her bicep with sharp nails, digging into skin and leaving a white hot pain that burned her arm, but not nearly as bad as the pain now residing in her chest. She double checked, another glance at his own arm to ensure her fate, hoping, praying, she was wrong, but tanned skin and dark hazel eyes confirmed the only thing Max begged not to be.
    He bore no mark.
     She had Unrequited Love.