Marie catches up with me after school, "Eliza! 'Liza!" she calls after me in the parking lot. I look back in time to see her nearly get hit by a senior guy trying to leave in a rush; she doesn't notice.

"You gotta be more careful-" I tell her when she catches up to me, but she cuts me off.

"I know, I'm sorry. It's just that I wanted to say I'm sorry for what happened at lunch today. You had a valid point about maybe not finding your Match, but just finding someone you could love." she admits.

I shrug, "its okay, I didn't mean to come at you like that."

"But there's more to it, isn't there? To you." she accuses as I continue to walk to my car.

I shake my head while fishing around my bag for my keys, "I don't know what you mean."

She attempts to stay next to me even while squeezing between the other parked cars, "I can't remember the last time I've seen you get so worked up over something. I know you're pretty chill about most things, but the topic of Pairs and Matches just seems to send you somewhere else. Tell me what's wrong." she pleads while trailing me.

I fumble with my keys when I reach my dark blue Chevy, dropping them on the pavement while trying to slide the key in the lock. Marie dips down and grabs them before me, holding me hostage, giving me a look that I know means business. I sigh, "There's nothing you can do."

"Says who? For all these years I've known you, you never once truly opened up to me, like I have to you. Just let me in," she's no longer fighting, she's sincere. Her words bite for how true they are.

Reluctantly, I let go, "Alright." I move to the rear of the car and hop up on top of the trunk, gesturing for her to come sit next to me.

She puts my keys in her pocket and jumps up. "I'm ready if you are." she says gently, realizing she may be getting herself into.

I take a deep breath while looking out over the deserted soccer field we're facing. "Nothing you said at lunch today was wrong either, by the way." I admit, fully clearing the air before I start. "So, you know how in books, how they describe what it can feel like if your Match dies?" she nods, her eyes widening, "Well they're all complete BS." I close my eyes, "It's actually so much worse."

"Oh, 'Liza!" she whispers, shocked, she covers her mouth to hold herself back.

I decide to go for full disclosure, the ease of the weight off my chest feeling good. "I was 13. I was in my room playing when a searing, burning pain began in my left hand. It felt like my hand was on fire. I threw my glove off and saw the growing scorch mark spreading across my palm. I screamed. I kept screaming even when my parents came rushing in, embracing me; they knew what was happening, they just held me tight until it was over.

"But it was far from over. The burning pain radiated up my arm and into my chest, where I felt a snap, a severing. It was like as if an invisible string had been pulling me, a string I never noticed until it was cut. I fell into myself, feeling alone and loss even though I had, and will never, know exactly what, rather, who, I lost." I pull off my left glove, revealing the forever scorch mark spread across my palm. "After the pain subsided, my parents had to explain what happened. They had tears in their eyes, like the ones I had from the pain." I look at my hand, as I often do, the same color of fresh ash as it's always been, and think about the person I lost, but never lost. "I used to imagine that they had died in a battle on their way to save me from being locked away in a tower. I imagined that they were poisoned by an evil witch or something.

"But I got older. I saw them dying in a hospital bed from cancer. I saw them broken on the pavement after getting hit by a car. I saw their life flash before my eyes, and I never even knew their face."

Just then, Marie engulfs me in a hug, "I'm so sorry. I had no idea." seemingly trying to retain her own sniffles.

"You don't need to be sorry, it happens all the time; it's just that no one really talks about it, or realizes." I hug her back in mutual comfort.

We stayed out there on the trunk till the parking lot was long empty and the first hints of orange appeared in the sky. She eventually handed over my keys and I drove her home. She never really looked at me the same way, but it was for the better, with more trust and honesty in her eyes.

I still often wonder, as I try to fall asleep at night, what my Missing Piece would've looked like, how they would've laughed, and how my life would be different if I met them someday, but I know it's useless to love a memory of a person you never met. 

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((this is the end. unless i figure out a full narrative for this concept someday

hope you enjoyed this short story

thank you for reading 

love u all :) ))