A year to forget

As the clock counted down from two minutes, Amelia brushed her hands through my hair again. We were glued to eachother, for the last few minutes of our life. We had two minutes left of being in love. 120 seconds left of being soulmates. When the clock striked midnight, our feelings would fade away and we would be apart.

I looked around at the other couples in the dance hall doing the same thing. Enjoying time together. Kissing, hugging, saying their last words before the new year started. I held on tighter to Amelia, who was close to tears. Her face was red with the blusher she always wore to outings like this. She caked it on a little too much, knowing exactly what will happen in a few moments. Her makeup was smudged, but she had the same twinkle in her eye that she always did. In the moment, she was beautiful. I didn't know how long that would last.

"Don't forget me." She whispered. I shook my head to let her know that I wouldn't, but we both knew we didn't have a choice.
One minute.
My mind replayed the memories I had with the girl I loved. Walking along the Christmas lit streets hand in hand because we needed to get out of the house. Our Starbucks dates, trying to get homework done in time. Romantic nights at her house when her parents weren't home. For the past year, Amelia had been the love of my life. In less than a minute, she was going to be just another girl to forget, in another year to forget. Another 'soulmate' who just wasn't meant to be.
We had dreaded this moment all year. Back in mid July, we promised it wouldn't happen. We promised that we would finally be the ones to get through the yearly refresh together. Other feelings would reset, but our love would stay strong. We would prove how the system could be beaten, and we could be soulmates for years ahead. We both knew we only had a year together, but dreaming was all we had when you only stay with your soulmate between New Years.

30 seconds. She was crying even more now. My eyes were glued to her, taking in all the beauty I had enjoyed all year but only had seconds with now. I squeezed her and told her goodbye, as the ten second countdown started.
10.
9.
8.
We looked eachother in the eyes, saying goodbye for the last time before we fell out of love.
7.
6.
I leaned in and kissed her.
5.
She kissed me back and we stayed there. The last few seconds in love.
4.
3.
2.
1.
Silence. Nobody spoke. If they weren't kissing, they were staring hopelessly at the stranger they had just fallen out of love with.
I pulled away from Amelia. Her  once pink cheeks were a weird grey colour, and the sparkle in her eye was gone. I started to cry too, forcing myself to remember my memories with the girl in front of me. I wanted to fall back in love with her, but I didn't feel anything and she was nothing. Walking down the christmas streets was now just an act of boredom, a starbucks date was an excuse to get hot coffee in the months of November and nights at her house was just meaningless sex. For a second, I remembered what I saw in her. Her personality, laugh, everything. It was like reaching through a wall of elastic bands- I tried to hold on to whatever I could but I was dragged back into the new year.
Amelia, lifeless as ever looked me dead in the eye with her hand outstretched for a handshake. Our love was gone, and I had a new soulmate for the new year. A handshake shared with someone you used to share everything with was the hardest part of letting go, but we said our farewells, wished eachother luck and walked away.
Hello, 2016.