I was born with this necklace. I’ve been told to never take it off. I don’t even think I could take it off if I tried. No other woman has the same necklace as I do, you see, every single-pendant necklaces come in a pair and at birth one little boy and one little girl receive identical necklaces. Everyone has one, no exceptions. Mine has a thin leather cord and a gold mandala pendant; and at the center of the mandala is a small pacific opal. The world-government started this system way before I was born. They says it’s so no one dies alone and no one has to feel “heartbroken” because our World President Charles Dixon says it’s the worst feeling in the world - but in all fairness she wouldn’t know because the necklace system was put into place centuries before her. The magical thing about the necklaces, is that they’re never wrong. The person you match up with is always the right person for you, and I’m not sure if that’s just what I’ve been taught to believe, or if that other person is truly perfect for the other.
A few months ago, I researched my necklace on Necklace Matcher and while I hadn’t found my exact necklace, the website said that there was an 83% chance that my match would be found in the United States of America. I decided on the morning of my 20th birthday - the day that most people leave home to explore and go on their journey to find their other half - that I’d book a flight to the United States. I’m bringing a diary with me on my journey and will be writing down significant parts of my trip along the way.
Day 1 - Monday: I just got onto my flight out of JetBlue. I’ve never been on a plane nor left England. I’m excited and hopeful that along the way, I find myself. I hope to learn more about myself, meet new people, and in the end meet my other half. Today I met a nice lady probably in her late-40s at the airport who helped me find my way to my terminal. She told me her name was Cheryl and that she frequently flies in an out of the airport on business. I thanked her for her kind help, found my way to the terminal, and boarded the plane. I don’t really remember much once I got onto the plane, because I fell asleep, except our takeoff. My ears did this weird popping sensation that I’ve only ever felt when rock climbing with my cousins and there was a lot of noise which I assume came from the engine.
Day 5 Friday: I arrived in Washington D.C. at the Reagan Airport a few days ago, I’ve taken some time to adjust to America, and I’ve finally decided to leave the hotel and take a tour of the area. I’ve always wanted to go to a university, college as they call it in the States, so I decided to tour George Washington University because it was the closest to the hotel where I was staying. Once I arrived at the building, I walked inside and was greeted by a very accomplished-looking man. He introduces himself as Jacob and I instinctively look at the necklace around his grey collared shirt, hoping it was the same as mine, but instead I saw a similar, but not exact, looking mandala with a different gem, a smokey quartz, in the center. He notices me staring at his necklace and explains that he’s already found his match. Instead of getting discouraged, I continue to follow him on the tour throughout the building, absent-mindedly remembering something my mom told me when I was small, “Your year, as well as one year above and one year below you are the years of the mandalas. If you find a man wearing a mandala, find his friends. You will find the right gem soon enough.” I snap back into focus and out of the corner of my eye, I see a few men hard at work on some high-tech science machinery. One catches my eye. He’s hunched over a microscope. He looks over and for a half a second we make eye contact. His eyes are the same color as his pale blue button up and I try to get a look at his necklace, but couldn’t because it was tucked into his shirt. I ask Jacob if he knows anyone with the same necklace as mine. He replies saying that he might, all of his friends wear mandalas similar to his, but he says that no one really goes to find their other half until much older. He says that the people of the United States are very driven and like to focus on their careers before they travel on their journey. Jacob was lucky, though. His other half was only a few counties over and met her through a youth group when they were in high school. Out of pity, Jacob and I exchange phone numbers and he invites me to meet his friends, including his other half, Selena.
Day 6 Saturday: I got a text from Jacob: “1517 Connecticut Ave NW around 8pm”. He tells me this is the place his friends usually go on their Saturday nights. I look up the address hoping to see a club, but give a small chuckle when I realize it’s an Indie cafe and bookstore called Kramerbooks & Afterwords Cafe. As the sun begins to set a bit over the horizon, I get dressed for my evening out. I have butterflies in my stomach, with the possibility that I meet my other half. I dress up in my favorite a-line dress that hugs my curves just right and exposes my necklace perfectly. I exit my hotel and then realize I don’t have a car to get around. My phone tells me the cafe is 4 miles away from me, too far for me to walk in my heels. Just as I look up from my phone, the same man who caught my eye in the George Washington building rounds the corner. He sees how lost I am and asks if I need help hailing a cab. Once he teaches me what hailing a cab is and how to do so, I thank him graciously, feeling my face turn bright red. I mentally slap myself for blushing and once the cab driver starts driving to the address I gave him, I mentally punch myself for not getting a good look at the pendant around his neck. I arrive at the cafe and take a few pictures to remember my first outing with people I hope will become my close friends. Walking into the cafe I am surrounded by the aroma of books and freshly ground coffee beans. I see Jacob and who I assume to be Selena wrapped around each other. When he turns around, he waves motioning for me to join him at the table. I see another couple, a woman seemingly my age who Jacob says is Kendall and another boy, Adam who David says is a bit of a goofball. I take a seat beside Kendall and introduce myself to everyone, noticing that no one has a necklace like mine and that Adam’s and Kendall’s necklaces match. Great, I think to myself, I’m hanging out with two couples. Just as my hopes for the night plummeted, their back up, higher than ever as there’s a sudden there’s a commotion at the door. Four men walk in, all looking about my age. My heart leaps out of my chest and the same man who caught my eye during the tour and helped me hail a cab comes walking in. He’s laughing and looks so comfortable in his skin. I suddenly realize I probably look like I’d seen a ghost and quickly try to hide my emotions, hoping he doesn’t realize who I am. The men reach our table and Jacob stands up to hug each of them. They’re his friends?! I think, slightly freaking out. Jacob introduces them quickly, one of them is Michael, another is Ben, the other is Sean, and the final name I’d been waiting to hear, Corey. He immediately recognizes me and I internally groan. Trying to not focus on Corey, I fix my eyes on the boys’ necks. As I go down the line, neither of them have the same mandala as mine, but they are definitely in my year. Corey begins talking so I respectfully turn to look at him. He starts talking about his family, how his mom just went to England for work again and how he’s worried about her back due to all the flying she’s been doing lately.
I notice that Corey’s necklace is tucked in again, and I’m disappointed. I feel like the night was wasted and that I might as well go home because Corey’s necklace is almost guaranteed to be the same as mine. Kendall leans over, gasping quietly grabbing my necklace. She tosses it over a few times in her hand and I can feel her breath on my neck as she carefully examines my pendant. Gold mandala, small opal, I tell her. She tells me under her breath that she’s 100% certain she’s seen the exact one before, she just doesn’t remember where. The night ends and it was almost a complete bust. I still don’t know what Corey’s pendant looks like, but the reason it wasn’t a complete bust was because I met some new people. I did enjoy their company even though I’m on a journey, and my other half could be anywhere in the entire world, and there’s only an 83% chance that their in this country.
Day 14: It’s been a week since my last journal - my night out with Jacob’s friends - and I’ve pretty much just been a tourist this entire trip and I seem to be losing sight of my journey: to find my other half. But the problem is I can’t seem to talk myself away from the city. IT’S amazing with so much history and literature. I’ve spent so much time bookstore hoping JASON INTRODUCES ME TO A BOOKSTORE

I was born with this necklace. I’ve been told to never take it off. I don’t think I could even take it off if I tried. No one has the same necklace as I do, you see, every single-pendant necklaces come in a pair and at birth one little boy and one little girl receive an identical necklace. Mine has a thin leather cord and a gold mandala pendant. At the center of the mandala, a small pacific opal. Everyone has one, no exceptions. My friend Michelle, got lucky and found her match already. He’s a grade 12 named Kurt that lives in a few counties over. The world-government started this system way before I was even born, even before my grandparents, they says it’s so no one dies alone and no one has to feel “heartbroken” a feeling I’ve never experienced because President Most says it is the worst feeling in the world. My parents always tell me about their elaborate journey of them trying to find their matching necklace, but despite travelling the world for each other, they ended up sitting on a plane next to each other, my mom going home to Manchester giving up on her journey, and my dad going to hopefully find his match. I’m almost 20 and will be allowed to go on my own journey to find my other half. Lately all I’ve dreamed of is meeting the boy that I will spend the rest of my life with. The magical thing about the necklaces, is that they’re never wrong. The person you match up with is always the right person for you, and I’m not sure if that’s just what I’ve been taught to believe, or if that other person is truly perfect for the other.