It was late that May that something serious started to happen. Olive’s parents did end up getting up divorced, and it was extremely rough for her. She said that they had arguments all the time and that her dad verbally abused her and her mom. She cried a lot when I called her because she could hear her parents downstairs arguing. It was tough for me too. 

I did my best to comfort her, and it worked a little bit. I bought her some more things, like stuffed animals or new books, and that was good because she liked them. 

“What I wouldn’t do without you Patrick.” She said as I Face Timed her that night. 

“I know, and it’s Pat, not Patrick.” I said a little embarrassed. 

“I will always call you Patrick silly, it’s for full name.” She said. 

I smiled and said, “What I wouldn’t do without you.” 

She started to laugh and that’s when I realized that it was 12:30 in the morning. I was pretty tired so I said goodnight and went to bed. I laid down my head and tried to sleep, but I couldn’t. I thought about what I said. 

“What I wouldn’t do without you.” 

The truth is, I didn’t know what I would do without her. I wouldn’t be getting good grades like I was because those classes were pretty damn hard. I wouldn’t have someone to sit with me on the bus, and I wouldn’t have someone to keep me company in class. 

I realized how much she meant to me and how much I would lose if I lost her. The thought scared me a little, but it went away quickly. All of this happened in a few seconds for me. 

I eventually fell asleep that night, but not easily. I couldn’t get my mind off the fact that somehow, someway, I thought I loved her. 

The dreams came too, but I hardly remember my dreams anyway. 

The next day was June the first, thank God. The last day of school was June the fourth, and I was excited. I was excited about no more homework, tests, or quizzes, but I wasn’t excited about not seeing Olive every day.  

Olive was afraid of that too. 

Everything had calmed down with her parents. She decided to move on from it, which is what I advised her to do. It worked pretty well because she was smiling and laughing that day. 

“You seem happy.” I said jokily.  

“Because I am silly.” She said, then laughed. “Do you have a problem?” She inquired. 

“Not at all dear.” I said, keeping my face straight. 

She bumped into me on purpose and we went on with our day. It was a short day because we were on an early dismissal schedule. North Carolina was a pretty good place if you asked me. We had all the seasons, the summers were warm and the winters were cold. My parents thought about moving to Roanoke, Virginia in ninth grade, but we decided not to. My dad was having a tough time finding a job, but eventually he found one, which was good. 

The next few days flew by like the wind, and before we knew it, it was summer.  

A lot of people think summer is the best season, some think it’s autumn, for others it is spring, and a few believe its winter. I am one of those people that like all of the seasons the same. Summer was the worst of them, I admit because it meant that I was home alone all day and that I couldn’t hang out with anyone at the park, but that changed quickly. 

My parents said that I was allowed to take Olive to the park if she was allowed to. I was so excited about it that I thought I could scream all day, 24/7.  So, I called her that day and asked if she wanted to ride her bike to the park. She said she could if her mom allowed her. Her dad was out of the house.

“Sounds like a plan!” I said excitedly.

“Sure does, do we meet at the playground?” She inquired.

“Yes, if you want to. Would you rather meet in the parking lot?” I asked desperate for an answer.

“The parking lot would seem easier.” She said truthfully.

“Okay, see you there, if you’re allowed.” I said.

She laughed then said, “Okay.”

I hung up and went to get my bike out of the garage. My parents wouldn’t be home until six in the afternoon, which gave me plenty of time. It was only eleven in the morning. She called back in a few minutes and said that she could go, but only for an hour. An hour was like heaven to me.

I biked over to the park and I hugged her when I got there. I was so happy to see her and actually physically be there instead of on a screen.

I looked into her eyes and saw something that I didn’t expect to see. It looked like fear, mixed with confusion. I didn’t ask her about it then, nor did I ask her that day.

We went to the playground and sat on one of the swings.

“So, how’s your summer been?” I asked nonchalantly. I started to make circles in the mulch with my foot.

“Oh, nothing much. Just a lot of boring.” She said quietly. Something seemed wrong with her, but I couldn’t tell what it was.

“Same,” I said, “and it’s pretty horrible being home alone on the weekdays. I don’t have any siblings and my parents don’t get home until six in the afternoon.” I said rocking back and forth in the swing. I started to spin the swing around and around.

“That sucks,” She said looking at me, “but at least your dad hasn’t made any threats.”

“Threats?!” I half shouted.

“Yeah, he’s been threatening us lately. Not death threats, but, like, just scary threats.” She said starting to tear up. She got off the swing and went down to sit on the bench.

I followed her and sat down next to her.

“Is there anything I can do?” I asked softly putting my hand on her shoulder.

“You could hug me and comfort me, but that’s your choice.” She said starting to smile.

“Sounds like a plan.” I said and chuckled. I wrapped my arm around her and she let her head fall into my chest. She started to cry a little bit then. The tears were staining my light blue Hollister shirt, and started dampen my shirt. I could feel the tears on my skin.

I rested my head on top of hers and started to sing. I wasn’t exactly a good singer, but I wasn’t bad either.

Her favorite season was winter, and I knew a pretty good winter song.

“She’d trade Colorado if he’d take her with him

Closes the door before the winter lets the cold in

And wonders if her love is enough to make him stay

She’s answered by the taillights shining through the window pane.”

She looked up at me surprised and I continued to sing.

“He said ‘I wanna see you again, but I’m stuck in colder weather,

Maybe tomorrow will be better, can I call you then? She said ‘You’re a rambling man and you ain’t ever gonna change. Gotta gypsy soul to blame and you were born for leaving.’”

     Then she started to sing some of it.

“At a truck stop diner just outside of Lincoln

The night is black as the coffee he was drinking

And in the waitress’ eyes he sees the same old light a shining

He thinks of Colorado and the girl he left behind him.”

     “Skip to the end, that’s my favorite part.” She whispered, and so I did.

“When I close my eyes I see you, no matter where I am

I can smell your perfume through these whispering pines

I’m with your ghost again

It’s a shame about the weather, but I know soon we’ll be together

And I can’t wait till then.”

     I paused for a little bit, then finished it.

“I can’t wait till then.”

We sat there in silence for a little bit, and then she spoke up.

“You’re a good singer.” She said, calming down.

“No really.” I said.

“Don’t lie, you are.” She said laughing a little bit. That was good. Laughter is the best medicine.

Then, all of a sudden, it got really cold. The wind started to blow and snow was falling. I stood up and Olive was gone. I was standing alone beside the bench. The bench was all rusted and worn.

I walked towards the playground and leaned on the swing. The chain broke and I stumbled when the swing flew to the ground.

All of a sudden, there was a foot of snow on the ground.

I looked past the playground and saw a figure in the distance. It looked like a man, woman, and a child. They were standing there.

“Hello?!” I yelled.

They ignored me and just stood there, then the wind blew them away.

As I stood there, I was reminded of the song I sang.

“When I close my eyes I see you, no matter where I am

I can smell your perfume through these whispering pines

I’m with your ghost again

It’s a shame about the weather, but I know soon we’ll be together

And I can’t wait till then.”

The wind stopped blowing and the snow started to melt fast.

It got warmer, and then all of a sudden, I felt a hand on my shoulder.

“Patrick? What’s wrong?” Olive asked.

I turned around and looked at her. She was staring at me, concerned, and her eyes were red and puffy from crying earlier.

I walked down the hill to where the man was standing along with the woman and the child. I looked around for footsteps and saw nothing.

As I turned to go, I saw a piece of melting snow on the ground. It melted into the grass, then it was gone. I had that sense of horror again. That sense of mind-numbing horror, and this time, it didn’t go away instantly.

I felt the ground where the snow had melted. I was hoping it was a trick of the light. Hoping it wasn’t real.

When my hand touched the ground, cold wetness.

That summer was the best summer of my life. We hung out every weekend, and sometimes, we went to the movies or the mall. There was one moment that summer that I got into a huge fight with my parents. They were mad at me because I spent more time with Olive than them.

     “I may lose Olive in the next few years, but I got you guys forever. Sometimes friends don’t last forever.” I argued. We were eating dinner in the dining room. We ordered pizza.

     “We know that,” My mom said calmly, “but right now your family is more important, and so is your personal life.”

     I started to play around with my salad with my fork. I was getting frustrated. My hands were getting sweaty and my heartrate started to go up.

     I clenched my fists under the table and said, “Olive is my only friend mom and if you’re too thick to under-“

     “Don’t you dare say that to your mom Patrick.” My dad fiercely.

     “Okay, if you can’t understand that then I guess I won’t have any friends.” I said angrily.

     “That’s not true.” My dad said eating some of his salad.

     “That’s what you want to believe,” I said unclenching my fists, “but I’m being serious when I say that Olive is my only friend.”

     “At this moment, you may have other friends later in high school.” My mom said hopefully.

     “How many friends did you have in high school mom?” I asked curiously.

     “Around six.” She said.

     “Dad?” I asked.

     “About eight.” He said looking down at the table.

     “Well, isn’t that great. Sounds like most of you had a lot of friends in high school.” I said starting to eat my pizza. It was cold and slimy, and all of a sudden, I wasn’t hungry anymore.

     “Yes,” My dad said, trying to be calm, “and you can too if you try.”

     “I’ve already tried!” I shouted. “No one wants to be around me! I’m weird, and who wants to hang out with a weird person! Olive does, and she’s the only person that accepts me!” I finished. I was standing up and my hands were shaking rage.

     “Patrick! You’re not weird.” My mom shouted.

     “THEN WHY DO PEOPLE STAY AWAY FROM ME! WHY DO YOU THINK I’M SO LONELY INSIDE! OLIVE HELPS ME WITH THAT, AND YOU’RE TAKING THAT AWAY FROM ME” I yelled.

     “Patrick-” My dad started, but I had already left the room.

     I stormed upstairs and went into my room. I was too angry to close my door, so I turned off the lights, turned on my lamp and did what I always did when I was angry.

     I turned on my soothing music and started to write and read.

     I was reading the Harry Potter series again, and I was only on the second book. The words passed through my mind, leaving no trace behind. I wasn’t even paying attention to what was being said, it just passed though me.

     “Great, I can’t even read.” I muttered and threw the book down forcefully.

     I picked up my journal and flipped to a blank page, and then, I had an idea. I had never written poetry before, but I had a good idea for a poem. I would give it to Olive the next time I saw her.

     I called it “White Roses”

White Roses by Patrick James

When I see you again, I’ll be as happy as could be

You light up my life like the sun and the moon

When you look up and smile at me, walking down the street

I know that we will be together soon

White roses, surrounding us all around

The sweet smell of the sun, the fresh breath of air

The quiet and stillness, the only sound

Those are the only eyes that I could stare

But when I see you again, which will be in a while

When you’re there waiting by the woods

With your arms outstretched and a genuine smile

I’d die a happy man if I could

The snow is falling gracefully and elegant

And the cold weather is pretty frightful

When I am there when you are sent

The tears in me will be an eyeful

But when I see you that one day

When the snow is falling, and when love is true

I will know exactly what to say

“Everything the same, I love you.”

     I finished the poem in a few minutes. I was listening to one of my favorite song called “Hey There Delilah.” The poem is pretty sad, but I thought that she would like it. I sat in my room there for a moment just listening to the music. I thought about going downstairs and apologizing to my parents, but I decided not to. There was always tomorrow.

     So, I called Olive.

     “You did what with your parents?” She asked.

     “I argued with them about hanging out with you. They say that family is more important.” I said, exasperated.

     “Oh, well, family is important.” She sighed sighing.

     “But friends won’t last forever. Maybe we will, but most friends don’t. I just want to tread lightly and act like every day is the last day that I’m seeing you.” I said, taking in a lot of air.

     “You worry too much,” She said laughing, “I see your point though, but I can see why your parents would be upset. I mean, they love you.”

     “Are you agreeing with them?” I asked, a little shocked.

     “No, I’m just playing both sides.” She said smartly.

     I can’t lie, but she got me there. “True.” I said laying back on my pillow. I was so tired.

     “You sound tired, maybe you should go to bed.” She said, trying to lighten me up.

     “Maybe,” I said, “but I might read first.”

     “Don’t let me stop you.” She said smiling at me through the phone.

     “You never have and never will.” I said smiling back. “Goodnight, everything the same.”

     “Goodnight, everything the same.” She said, then hung up.

     The screen on phone froze, then went back to my home screen. I tapped on iMessage and looked at her contact picture for a long time. It was her sitting on the bus, and she was smiling. She wasn’t looking at the camera, but she knew I was taking a picture.

     I texted Dale and he didn’t respond usual. Sometimes you have to let friends go, and it always ended in a fight. It always ends in a fight. I turned off my phone and my light. I tried to sleep that night, but I didn’t fall asleep until one in the morning. I had a dream too, and this one I remember.

     The dream was like a jerky first person video. It was like I was recording on my camera while going up and down and all around. I could make out where I was, and Olive and I were at a dance. It looked like homecoming. She was laughing and taking my hand. We danced and then the camera went black. It reappeared this time showing us in the same house. There was glass all over the floor and a few bloodstained napkins. The camera went black again.

     It reappeared to show a woman and children in front of me. There was snow falling and I couldn’t make out where we were. One of the little children, a girl with dark brown hair, grabbed my hand. She was whispering something I bent down so I could hear her.

     She said, “Wake up Patrick.”

     All of a sudden I woke up with a jolt and stuffed my pillow in my mouth to stifle the screams. I didn’t know why I was screaming, but I was, and I was glad that my parents couldn’t hear me.

     I was sweating all over and I felt the other side of my bed to make sure no one was there. For some reason, I thought Olive was there with me, laughing like crazy.

     “It’s just a dream Patrick,” I told myself, “that and nothing more.”

     I lied to myself though because that dream seemed all too real, even for me.

     I laid back down and waited for God to paint the morning sunrise while thinking of Olive, standing there smiling, and holding my hand.

August the twenty-third was my birthday. I woke up that morning, excited to see what presents I got, but there were none. I looked all over the house and asked my parents, and they didn’t know. School had started two weeks before this, and Olive and I were in the same classes, save for math again. I walked out the door, ready to get on the bus and see Olive, but I saw something red in the driveway.

     It was a fire engine red jeep. It looked brand new, and I was too stupid to realize it was mine at first.

     My parents waved the bus on and I felt bad for Olive, but I was happy.

     I had got my driver’s license last spring, but I didn’t expect my parents to buy me a car. 

     “Oh my God!” I yelled, it echoed through the neighborhood.

     “You’re welcome.” My mom said and hugged me. She was in her work clothes and I could still smell her perfume.

     My dad joined the hug and he said, “It’s all yours, including the payment every month.”

     I couldn’t help but laugh. My mom handed me the keys and kissed me on the cheek. “Be safe.” She said and they both walked back into the house.

     I hopped in the car, and that new car smell hit me. I was so excited about my new car, I could barely talk. I stuck the keys in the ignition and it revved up.

     “Awesome.” I said, and then I tuned in on the rock and roll station.

     “Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns n Roses came on. I smiled and backed out of the driveway carefully.

     Best birthday ever you could say.

     When I parked at the school, Olive was waiting for me at the entrance.

     “Nice car.” She said, and I could hint jealously in her voice.

     “Is that jealousy I sense?” I joked

     “When I get ahold of that brand new cars of yours you’ll see.” She said dangerously.

     “Feisty.” I said, then laughed. We walked into science.

     Now, let me tell you something about the eleventh grade. As you know, classes tend to get harder. The reading becomes more complex, the history starts to spread all over the world instead of just in the USA, and you start to go into physics, which had a hard-ass teacher. Even Olive was having a hard time in her classes. It was the first time I actually saw her struggling with math, and it was kind of funny.

     “Shut up.” She said when I was teasing her about a math question at lunch.

     “Eat your lunch.” I said and shoved her lunch bag over her math homework.

     “Bite me.” She said furiously.

     “Okay.” I said, then took her hand.

     “Not literally!” She yelled while pulling her hand away. “Dumbass.” She muttered.

     “Language.” I said.

     “What are you, Captain America?” She said stuffing the math homework in her backpack.

     “No,” I whispered and leaned in, “I’m Superman.”

     “Well, whatever the heck you are, don’t come in saving me from anything. You’d be all sweaty and icky.” She said sticking out her tongue. I could tell she was joking.

     “Then I’ll make sure to rub it on you.” I said.

     “Try and fail Superman.” She chuckled.

     “Okay Lois Lane.” I said laughing at her.

     She slugged me in the arm and then the bell rang.

The first few months of eleventh grade weren’t that bad. Things with Olive’s dad had calmed down, and she wasn’t upset about it anymore. In fact, she seemed to have forgotten about it. Meanwhile, the arguments with my folks calmed down and life was good for me too. Homecoming was nice. I had outgrown my suit from the previous year and my parents made me buy a new one.

Olive bought a dress, which was a light shade of peach and with a dash of blue.

We went to homecoming in October, danced, and I did something special.

As we danced, she looked down, and I saw my opportunity. I gave her a kiss on the top of the head.

She looked up at me, at first she was surprised and then she smiled.

“You missed.” She said.

“I did?” I asked. Then, she stood on her tiptoes and kissed me on the cheek.

“Apparently I did.” I said blushing. She smiled again, and then we let the music take us away. The next song that played was “For You.” by Twin Bandit.

“I will love you in the morning

When the dew is on the ground

Will love you all day long

When the sun is rising high.”

I thought about Olive during those lyrics because every day I woke up right before the sunrise. There were some nights where I couldn’t sleep hardly at all, and I would open the window to let the night air in. The breeze would blow and make the papers I wrote stories on fly around. If the moon wasn’t out, then the stars would comfort me. They say that when you look at the stars, that you’re looking in the past. They say some of the stars are gone, and it took them millions of years for their light to reach Earth. That thought always sparked my imagination.

Then the sunrise would come just up over the mountains.

Beautiful golden rays colored with orange and red. The sparkling light of the sun making the mountain shine in the distance. If the clouds were out, the sun made them look like cotton candy.

I would always think of Olive when I saw the sunrise because she was the definition of the sun. Bright, beautiful, shine, and hot, (hot in a good way though).

“There is nothing you could say

There is nothing you could do

To change how I feel for you.”

     There was nothing that would change my feelings for her, and I was damn sure that she felt the same way. She acted like it, but I couldn’t tell if it was real or fake, but it seemed real enough for me. I thought about asking her out that night, but I chickened out, as always.

“I will love you in the evening

When the moon is on the rise

Will love you all night long

When the stars all cover the sky.”

     I could hear Olive humming as she rested her head on my chest.

“There is nothing you could say

There is nothing you could do

To change how I feel you for you.”

     The song ended there and I looked out the window. It was nearly dark and I looked at my watch to see that it was ten fifteen at night. I told Olive and she said that she needed to be home by ten thirty. We walked out of the school and I said I could drive her back.

     “How sweet.” She said nicely and hopped in the passenger seat.

     I hopped in the car and started it up. I look over at Olive and she had her heels up on my dash. She was smiling mischievously because she knew that it was a new car.

     “I told you you’d see.” She said laughing.

     “Funny.” I said and started to laugh without smiling. That made her laugh hysterically and then I backed out of the parking space and rove out of the school. It only took us a few minutes to get to her house because there were a lot of lights on the main road. I turned into the neighborhood at ten twenty-five. I had five minutes to get her home. I got to her house and she hoped out of the car. I gave her a kiss on the hand out of the window and then she ran inside. The lights were on in the house and the mother came out to thank me.

     “No problem.” I said.

     “Well, you’re always welcome to come over sometime.” She said warmly. She was in her pajamas and she looked cold.

     “Maybe I will, thank you.” I said nodding my head once.

     “No, thank you, goodnight.” She said.

     “Goodnight.” I said then drove off.

     I looked over at the passenger seat, hoping that Olive was still with me, but she wasn’t. All I saw was the empty seat and the dust marks on my dash where her feet had been. I didn’t plan to wash those off. So, I pictured her sitting beside me in the seat. I was telling her jokes and she was laughing. Then she leaned in the kiss me and that’s where I stopped imagining. I needed to focus on driving, not dreaming.

     I parked in the driveway and sat in the car for a little while longer My parents said that I had to be home by eleven and it was ten thirty-two. I turned on the radio and listened to music, but I got sick of it fast and turned it off.

     “Another restless night.” I muttered and listened to the crickets instead. The silence was deafening.

     Then, it got cold again, just like it did at the playground.

     “Oh no.” I thought.

      The windows started to fog up and I could see my breath.

     “PATRICK!!” Someone screamed, and it seemed like a feminine voice. Definitely not Olives though.

     I got out of the car quickly and stumbled. I fell on the pavement and I felt my nose gush blood. I got up fast and looked around. It was warm, and there was no cold weather. I looked around to see who yelled my name and I saw my mom standing on the porch.

     “Patrick, what’s wrong?” She asked, concerned.

     “Why’d you yell my name?” I asked, clearly in an annoyed voice.

     “I didn’t.” She said and her face turned white. I think mine did too.

After that whole confusing fiasco, life went on with ease.

     September passed, then October, November, and then December came, which meant Christmas and presents and Santa Claus.

     “What do you want for Christmas?” Olive asked as I drove her home from school. Christmas break started the next day, and we were both excited.

     “Does more of you count?” I asked in a dreamy voice.

     “No silly.” She said then giggled.

     “Well, I want a few books and movies.” I said. That’s actually what I did want for Christmas. There were lots of new books out, and I was collecting Stephen King first editions, plus, I hadn’t got Black Panther 2 or Justice League Part 2. I longed to see those movies again.

     “What do you want?” I asked.

     “Well, that depends, clothing wise or fun wise?”

     “Both.”

     “Well then. I want a few pairs of sweatshirts, and books and movies.” She said.

     “Thank you for the ideas. Your birthday is next week also, double whammy for me.” I said smiling. We were almost at her house, and the snow was starting to fall.

     “You don’t have to get me anything.” She said shyly. She was blushing.

     “Don’t be ridiculous, I know you want something.”

     She started to smile, and when she smiled like that, I knew that she really did want something. I thought about the poem I wrote earlier that year. I did say that I’d give it to her the next time I saw her, and that was ages ago. I didn’t know why I had held back for so long, so I decided that I would give it to her on her birthday.

     “The big one seven, how’s that going to feel. You’ll be able to see every single rated R and NC-17 movie, right?” I said cheerily. “Maybe even a car.”

     “Pshh, a car? No way, but the whole movie thing will be fun.” She said in a slight tone of giddiness.

     I stopped in front of her house.

     “Well, this is it.” I said.

     “The big one.” She said.

     “The mother of them all.” I said, starting to laugh.

     “The endgame.” She said, then we both started to laugh.

     We started this little conversation bit around October when we were trick-or-treating. I didn’t want her to leave so I stretched out our last conversation as long as possible. I added some dramatic sentences and then she finally went. It’s been our thing since that that every time we leave for a while that we make the conversation really dramatic. It was fun because we each had to come up with a dramatic line. It was like a contest.

     “Damnation.” I thundered. She laughed hysterically.

     “You win.” She said laughing.

     “OH YES! VICTORY!”I shouted as she got out of the car.

     “See you silly.” She said walking away.

     “I see you too Olive.” I said then drove off. I could hear her laughing as I drove away.

     The roads were a little icy from the morning, but the sun had melted it down the same. Plus, I had a Jeep, so, yeah. I pulled into the driveway and I hesitated to get out of the car. Ever since someone shrieked my name I’ve been waiting to see if they would do it again. No one screamed.

     I unlocked the door and went up to my room. I didn’t have a ton of homework, but it was enough to keep me busy for about an hour.

     “Hi-ho, hi-ho, it’s off to work I go.” I thought and laughed a little bit out loud. “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” was one of my favorite movies and every time I could slip in a reference from it, I would laugh.

     I finished all my homework and decided to listen to some music out loud. For some reason, I decided to listen to “For You by Twin Bandit” again.

     I sang along with the song and I thought I sounded pretty good. Maybe it could be another song I could sing to her, but I would have to learn how to play the guitar too because there a few guitar parts in it. My dad had a guitar in his garage.

     “Maybe I could ask him-” But my thoughts were stopped there.

     I felt my phone vibrate and I picked it up. The message wasn’t from Olive, but from my mom instead.

     “Patrick, your father was in a car accident today and he is at the hospital. Stay calm, I’m coming to get you.” It said.

     My stomach dropped and I shot up from my desk.

     I asked my how long he had been in the hospital and she said only a few minutes.

     I heard the car honk outside. I ran to the car, ignoring mine and hopped in. We sped off to the hospital.

     “How bad is it?” I asked nervously.

     I could tell my mom had been crying because her eyes were red and puffy.

     “Just like Olives.” I thought, but I brushed it away quickly.

     “Well, the doctors said that there was a low chance of him surviving that crash, and he survived, but he’s in pretty bad shape. He’s bleeding internally and I don’t know if they can fix it. I asked them if he would live and they didn’t answer me. They told me to stay calm.” She said choking on tears. She started to cry hard again and we started to swerve.

     “Mom, let me drive.” I said calmly and I helped her pull over to the side of the road.

     I hopped into my mom’s Sedan and my mom told me the directions to the hospital while crying still.

     We parked and we rushed inside. My mom said which room he was in, and I followed her. I walked in and the doctors rushed us out. They said he was struggling and that they needed to work with him. My mom started to cry harder and I comforted her. I tried to sneak a glance into the room and I saw him. He head looked like it had been bashed in, and both of the bones in his legs were sticking out. I started to tear up myself, but I stopped the tears from falling.

     They told us to wait outside the room and we did.

     It was hours later that they came in and told us that there was nothing else that they could do. All they could do was make sure he was comfortable when he died. That’s when I started to cry. My mom went into the bathroom and stayed there for a half an hour. Meanwhile, they let me into the room. I walked in and saw him. He had been bandaged up and he looked a little better. He was asleep and his hand had fallen over the side. I picked it up and it was cold, almost like ice. I felt clammy and rushed outside just in time to make it to the trashcan. I threw up all my lunch and a little bit of my breakfast. I saw it seep in with the other trash. Styrofoam cups, sanitary gloves, and other hospital trash. After that episode, I called Olive to tell her what happened. By then, it was already eight at night.

     “I’m so sorry.” She said, and for a moment I thought she was going to cry.

     “All I can do is watch him sleep right now.” I said choking a little bit. My throat was hurting from crying.

     “Is there anything I can do?” She said calmly.

     “I could really use a hug, but a prayer couldn’t hurt.” I said nicely.

     She laughed a little bit and prayed with me over the phone. God knows I needed it right then and there.

     “Feel a little bit better?” She asked.

     “Yeah, hopefully the doctors are wrong about how he will die. Maybe he won’t die.” I said hopefully.

     “I will be there for you always Patrick. Always.” She said seriously.

     “Thanks.” I choked then ended the call.

     My mom came out of the bathroom and walked into the room. I glanced in there to see her holding his hand. Her head was rested neatly on the seat and she was already fast asleep. I sat by the window and watched the stars for a little bit and then rested my head. I didn’t fall asleep instantly but I eventually did, and I dreamed this time again.

     It wasn’t like a jerky video, but instead, it was like a glitch video, if you can understand that. It’s like when you’re in a game and it all of a sudden starts stopping and starting. It looked like I was at a special occasion. A lot of people were there, including my mom and dad. Olive was there too.

     It was at my house and Olive and I were outside. We were sitting in the grass and all of a sudden, it started snowing. Big heavy flakes flew to the ground and we danced in it. It was like heaven.

     Then, the snow stopped. Olive walked back inside without saying anything and I was left outside. I tried to open the door but it was locked. I turned around and heard a giggle in the steady darkness. My feet crunched through the snow.

     “Hel- Hello?” I stuttered. My teeth were chattering from the cold.

     This time it giggled louder and it seemed closer to me. I took out my phone and turned on my flashlight. In a distance, I saw a man, woman, and child. The child pointed at me and yelled, “He’s gone!”

     I woke up with a start and looked around

     My mother was crying hard and my dad’s body was gone.

     “He’s gone,” My mom choked, “in his sleep.”

It was a Sunday afternoon. All of my close relatives were there. My aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. My dad’s sister, Barbara was crying hard and hugging my mom next to me. She walked over to me and gave me a hug too.

     “I’m so sorry.” She said, almost not knowing what to say.

     “It’s okay.” I said calmly.

     “Is there anything we can do for you?” She asked nicely looking into my eyes. She was a little bit shorter than me.

     “No, just comfort.” I said looking back.

     She smiled and I could barely make out an, “Okay.” As she walked on to her seat. My mom and I were both standing with our heads down again. My dad was resting in front of me, and it looked like he was sleeping. His eyes were closed and there weren’t any bandages on him. His salt and peppered hair was slicked back over his head, and the rest of his body was in his favorite outfit.

     My mom went to sit down and then I was the only one left standing. I looked around and saw everyone whispering to one another. I few were crying and a lot were smiling. I guess they were happy to see people that they hadn’t seen in a while. After all, that’s what funerals are for, right? A family reunion.

     I kissed the inside of my hand and placed it on my dad’s cheek. It was cold and hard, but I didn’t care.

     “So long dad.” I thought, then sat down.

     My aunt was sitting next me and she whispered, “I’m sure it was quick Patrick.”

     “Sure,” I said in my mind, “it was extremely quick. They said that the accident wasn’t that bad at all, except for the fact that the impact shot glass straight into my dad’s stomach, but he barely felt that. The crash also snapped both of his leg bones, and they were jutting out of his skin, but that was painless, right?  He screaming the whole time they said, but I’m sure the pain didn’t last long, right? The feeling of losing blood isn’t that half bad, it just feels like something is being sucked out of you, but that’s not the most painful feeling in the world. Later they said that the morphine wore off and that he was in more pain, but he was tough, right Aunt Betty?”

     “I’m sure it was quick too.” I said without looking at her.

     The service started and it seemed to go on forever. I got sick of looking at my dad’s coffin so I had to look at the ground when the pastor spoke. My mom delivered the eulogy, which she had been working on in the past few days, save for the misery and grief she had to go through while writing it. The eulogy was better than I expected. I think my dad would have liked it. He loved when my mom wrote him.

     We drove to the cemetery in separate cars. I had the music off because the thought of listening to music and pretending to be happy was a sickening I thought. We reached the cemetery which was only a few miles from our school. It was at the church that we went to. The church happened to be behind the park and playground.

     They had another service and then they buried him. My mom went home because she couldn’t stand to be there any longer. She felt like it was her fault that he had died. I tried to tell her it wasn’t, but she didn’t listen.

     “I should have been there.” She wept.

     “No, Mom, it’s not your fault.” I said grabbing her arm. We were the only ones left in the cemetery.

     She jerked her arm away and went to her car. I watched her drive off and they I continued to stare at my dad’s grave. My mom’s name was engraved in the tombstone too, but of course, she wouldn’t be dead until a little while.

 “Well Dad, it’s just you and me now. We finally get to have some father and son time together. I could read you one of my stories and I could pretend that you’re listening. I hope the worms don’t get in your nose or ears down there. I hope it smells like wood instead of dirt. Hopefully the mold doesn’t cover you up too badly down there. Who knows, maybe this could be like Pet Sematary. I could bury you in the Micmac Burial Grounds and you’ll be resurrected. A zombie is better than no dad, but, sometimes it’s better to be dead. Right dad?  I thought.

“Lucky.” I said out loud. He was in heaven somewhere while I was stuck down here with no one except my mom and Olive. Sure, having them is awesome, but not having a father figure for the rest of my life, (like Olive), will probably leave me sore.

It was cold that one morning, and I was reminded of the dream/vision that I had in the car. Someone had screamed my name, but I didn’t know who it was. I walked back to my car a half an hour later and drove home. It didn’t snow, but the wind was some kind of fierce.

I parked and went inside my house closing the door slowly. The hinges creaked form the frost. I heard the TV in the living room and tiptoed in. My mom was sitting there almost asleep. I woke her up when I walked in.

“Hey.” I said.

“Do you know what Vern’s last words were before he died?” My mom asked suddenly.

I stopped in the middle of washing my hands, I was trying to warm them up from the cold.

“No.” I said nonchalantly. I went to the refrigerator and got out some milk.

“I’m surprised it didn’t wake you up Patrick. He yelled your name really loud. I think he was trying to get your attent-”

My eyes shot open and I dropped my glass of milk. It shattered on the kitchen floor and my mom jumped up.

“He yelled your name really loud.” Echoed in my mind.

“Patrick?! What is it?!” My mom half shouted.

“I need to go.” I said leaving the kitchen and heading up the stairs.

I closed my door and thought it all over. My dad’s last words were my name. She said that he said it really loud. Could it be that that night when I got home from homecoming that I heard my dad’s voice? I didn’t want to t6hink about it, but I couldn’t stop myself. I heard my mom sweeping up the glass and I didn’t feel like going down there.

Not then, I was still in shock.

“It’s not possible, stuff like that only happens in movies.” I told myself hitting my head with my hands.

“No Patrick,” I heard my dad say, “it’s all real and you just don’t want to believe it. Do you really think that you wouldn’t be able to hear my last words? You’re my son, you should hear everything. You probably knew you weren’t going to hear my last words, so your mind took care of it. Isn’t that cool, you have powers.”

“Impossible.” I said out loud. I couldn’t have powers, that’s insane, and as I said before, it only happens in movies. I stood up and went over to my desk. I sat down and started to write all of this down in my journal.

I’ve had many vision/dreams in my lifetime, some of which that I don’t remember, but if I could analyze them, maybe I could figure out future events. It sounded crazy to me, but I believed it.

     That time when I dreamt that there was glass and bloody napkins everywhere, I was pretty sure that that was some kind of fight. That I could prevent. The only vision that I wasn’t sure about was the constant vision of the man, woman, and child. They have been in almost every vision or dream. I couldn’t tell what it meant, but I was sure it was something important. It’s not every day that you figure out that you have a weird ability.

     I stopped writing and decided to call Olive and talk to her about the funeral and my ability.

     “I know I’ve said this many times, but I’m sorry for your loss.” She said sincerely.

     “Thank you, and the funeral was nice. He looked at peace.” I said.

     “Good.” She said.

     “So, it turns out that I have this weird ability. Apparently my dreams and visions foreshadow what is going to happen in the future.” I said excitedly. I probably sounded insane right about then.

     “Well, that’s cool.” She said, I could tell that she didn’t know what to say.

     “I know I sound insane, but it’s true, I’ll tell you more about it when we see each other again.” I said.

     “Okay, I have to go, bye.” She said quickly.

     “Okay, bye.” I said then hung up.

     I sat back down on my bed and undressed out of my suit and changed into some comfy clothes. I thought about my dad and how he would always help me put on my clothing, even when I was a teenager. He was so caring, and the house felt empty without him. I cried a little bit right then and there, then I went downstairs to watch TV with my mom. I sat down on the couch and she was fast asleep. The milk and glass was cleaned up.

     “I should have helped.” I thought. “Hi-ho, hi-ho, it’s off to sleep I go.” I thought again, but I didn’t laugh this time.

I couldn’t stop thinking of the man, woman, and child. What did it mean exactly? That I didn’t know, but I knew that I would find out soon. Snow started to fall outside and I watched it fall.

     “The man, woman, and child.” I thought.

      I watched the snow fall for a very long time.

Christmas came, and it wasn’t the same without dad. January, February, and March came also. Nothing new there. Olive comforted me and it was all good. Sometimes I would drive to school and sometimes I wouldn’t. Olive and I would go see a movie almost every weekend. I hated leaving my mom alone at the house, but I did it anyway. I don’t know why.

     “That was a good movie.” Olive said as we walked out of the theater.

     “Indeed, all chick flicks are.” I said laughing.

     “Hey! I bet you liked it silly.” She said.

     “Not at all, but Henry Cavill is pretty sexy if you ask me.” I said trying to make her laugh. It worked.

     “I knew it!” She said making other people around her stare.

     We walked outside, soon to realize that it was raining. Olive had only a t-shirt on and I planned to drive her home. However, I had on a sweatshirt, which gave me an idea.

     “No, I can handle it.” She said pushing my sweatshirt away.

     “C’mon.” I said handing it to her.

     “Fine.” She sulked. She took the sweatshirt, which was way too big for her, and put it on. She looked like an old fat woman.

     “I could tease you so bad right now.” I laughed speed walking in the rain to my car. She had the hoodie over her head and I could barely see her face. Rain was splotching it from all sides.

     “Screw you!” She yelled and then she stepped in a puddle.

     SPLOOSH!

     Rain sloshed all over her jeans and up to my sweatshirt. I laughed hard and then we were at the car.

     She hopped in quickly and so did I.

     She slugged me in the arm and said, “Let’s go Superman.” She was in a better mood now, as if she hadn’t been already.

     “Alright Lois Lane.” I said and then we drove off.

     “Do you mind if I take thye sweatshirt off now?” She asked.

     “Sure.” I said, and then she did.

     Although this may seem a little piggish to some people, I try not to tell this one part often. I’m not proud of it and I always believe that I is my fault. As you know, the sweatshirt was soaked, which made her shirt we too. As she took of the sweatshirt, some of her shirt peeled off too and I caught a glimpse of her bra. As I said, it was a mistake I made.

     “Did not see that.” I said as she pulled her t-shirt back down.

     “See what?” She said.

     “Nothing.”

     “What?”

     “NOTHING!”

     “It’s something. Tell!” She yelled.

     “Make me.” I said.

     “I will.” She started to rub her dirty shoes all over my dash.

     “Alright! I looked at your boobs! It was an accident.” I said regretting every second of it.

     “That’s what this is about? Boobs?” She said, surprised.

     “Yes.” I said slowly.

     “Well, just so you know Superman, my eyes are up here.” And she pointed at her eyes.

     “I know,” I said, “but I just looked the wrong way.”

     “Yeah right, you’re a certain type of silly.” She said laughing.

     “Girls never take off their shirts in front of guys, but guys always take off their shirts in front of girls. Plus, you’re used to it.” I said starting an argument.

     “Used to it! What do you think I am! I sex magnet!” She yelled.

     “No, uh, shit.” I said stopping at a red light.

     “I just get nervous around girls with less clothing on. I’ve always been, well, a good boy.” I said shyly.

     “Ah, I see now. If I were to take my shirt off now, what would you do?” She asked mischievously.

     “I would drive to the side of the road, close my eyes, and wait for you to put it back on.” I said smartly.

     “You wouldn’t want to see?” She said curiously.

     “QUIT IT! I KNOW WHAT YOU’RE DOING!” I shouted driving into our neighborhood.

     “Watch me.” She said and started take her shirt off.

     “Nope.” I said closing my eyes. We were parked in front her house.

     “C’mon Superman. Be a man!” She said.

     I kept my eyes closed and then she put her shirt back on. I opened my eyes after a long time and she was sitting there smiling. I was breathing heavily.

     “You’re so silly.” She laughed.

     “Hilarious, now get out of my car Lois Lane.” I said trying to laugh.

     “Alright Superman, goodnight.” She said walking backwards in the grass.

     “Goodnight Lois Lane.” I said, then drove on.

     I didn’t know why I was so nervous when she started asking me those questions. I was getting sweaty and I could feel sweat running down my back and into my pants. I pulled into the driveway and sat there for a moment. I kept thinking of her bra when she took her shirt off accidently.

     “Stop it Patrick.” I said aloud.

     I walked in the house quietly and I could hear my mom snoring upstairs. I didn’t know how long she had been asleep.

     I went up to my room and went to bed quickly.

     “You wouldn’t want to see?” Olive whispered in my head.

     I started to laugh right then and there, and I laughed until I fell asleep on a dreamless night.

I passed my SOL’s that year by the skin of my teeth. Olive helped me study some and I got smarter every day. She was a big help during that time. I helped her out some in English, mainly with literature and writing. That summer wasn’t the same without my dad. Olive and I didn’t hang out as often, and for some reason, I could feel some of the friendship slipping away. It felt like we were drifting apart, so I told her this one day at the park.

     “I don’t think we’re slipping away.” She said on top of the slide.

     “Well, it seems like it, we don’t talk as much as we used to.” I said swinging on the swing.

     “I know that, but I just think it means that we’re getting more mature.” She said walking over to me.

     “True, but promise me that we won’t drift apart.” I said holding her hand.

     “I promise.” She said and smiled. I got up and we walked over to the baseball field.

     “They’re expanding the cemetery behind the church.” I said looking over at the church behind the baseball field. “Want to come and see dad with me?” I asked.

     “Sure, but if it starts to upset you, I’ll leave you alone.” She said gripping my hand harder.

     I remembered the poem I wrote for her, and I kept forgetting to give it to her, but not this year. This was our senior year. We walked together over to the church and into the cemetery. I knew exactly where my dad was resting.

     We stopped in front of the grave. There were still some flowers that my mom had put there previously. I bent down and straightened them so that they didn’t cover my dad’s name. Vern Patrick James.

     “It looks beautiful.” Olive said letting go of my hand. She went over to the tombstone and started to brush off some of the pollen.

     “Never has been the same without him.” I said looking past the cemetery and into the baseball field.

     There was something about that place that made me wonder, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.

     “I’m sure.” Olive said coming back over to me.

     We both stood there in silence for a while. The sound of the birds singing was peaceful and the silence was once again deafening. I had a sense Deja vu right about then. I don’t know why, but it felt like I had been here before, and not like at the funeral service. It was something different.

     “The man, woman, and child.” I thought, and it gave me gooseflesh.

     “Are you cold?” Olive asked, noticing it.

     “How could I be?” I asked smiling.

     We stood there in a silence for a little bit longer and then Olive spoke up.

     “Why haven’t you asked me out yet?” She asked resting her head on my shoulder. I had my arms crossed.

     A lot had changed since we first met each other. I had gotten a little taller of the past few years. My hair was close to my chin now, and it had was getting darker as it went down to my shoulders. I had been working out, so I had a few muscles to show off, but not much. I was wearing my glasses now instead of my contacts. They weren’t that bulky, but I decided to wear them because they looked natural. Olive said that I looked good in them too.

     Olive had changed too.
     She was still wearing glasses, but they weren’t as thick nor were they metal framed. The acne she had was gone, and her dark brown hair got lighter as it went down to her waist. She usually kept it in a ponytail or a braid. Her eyes were still the same, but not as dark, they were more of a hazel color right then and there. She was taller too, and she seemed more open and mature. She would ask weird questions, just like me. I think a little bit of myself latched on to her and changed her.

     “I’m not sure.” I said.

     “We seem perfect for each other.” She said as we walked back to the park.

     “We do, but you know, I’m just a chicken sometimes.” I said laughing a little bit.

     “True.” She said and we reached the baseball field. I had driven her with me to the park. She was in no rush to head back.

     “Hey!?” I half shouted staring at a place in the outfield.

     “What?” She asked, a little concerned.

     I walked over to the place in the outfield and was amazed by what I was staring at. It was a simple white rose laying there in the dry grass. It seemed brand new to me, and I didn’t know what to think of it. I picked it up carefully and it was oddly mesmerizing.

     “Oh.” Olive said.

     I walked over to Olive and showed her, as if she hadn’t seen it where it was laying. I turned it over and I didn’t see any faded or brown spots. It was as if it had appeared there naturally.

     “Do you want it?” I asked, but she didn’t answer my question.

     “How did that get there?” She asked, a little confused.

     I turned around and looked at the spot again. That spot seemed oddly familiar and I had that sense of Déjà vu again.

     “I’m not sure.” I said, still staring at the place the rose had been.

     Olive stared at the spot too and then she took the rose. She examined it just like I had then gave it back to me.

     “Keep it,” She said warmly, “you found it.”

     “Okay.” I said and then we started to walk back to the car.

     She hopped in and said, “Hey, do you want to come over to my house and have lunch? We have pizza rolls and some other stuff.” She asked cheering me up.

     “Sure.” I said, turning the key in the ignition.

     We drove off to her house. Her mom was there and she greeted me like an old friend. We walked inside. I had never been inside her house before. It was a little smaller than mine. It was a two story house with an attic. Olive went into the kitchen and took out some pizza rolls. They were the ones with pepperoni and sausage in them.

     “Yummy!” I said, and Olive laughed.

     Olive’s mom went outside and said that she would leave us alone for a little while.

     Olive fixed a huge plate of pizza rolls for us to share. We went into the living room and she turned on the TV. I suggested a movie that we should watch.

     “Cloverfield?” Olive asked.

     “Yeah, it’s a good movie. A first person monster/disaster movie.” I said excitedly. I took one of the pizza rolls and I dropped it on the plate quickly. It was hot.

     “I don’t like scary movies Patrick.” She said, warning me.

     “It’s not THAT scary.” I said.

     “Alright, let’s give it a go.” She said shaking her head.

     I found the movie on Netflix. I pushed play and the beginning scared her easily. It started off saying that the video was government property and all that creepy stuff. It mad the movie seem real.

     “This is only the beginning.” I said, and she started to punch me.

     I laughed and we both grabbed the same pizza roll. It was an awkward moment, but in a good way. I saw her blush then, quickly, she grabbed another pizza roll.

     I smirked.

     We continued to watch the movie and only a few parts scared her. There was one part where it showed the monster up close and she nearly jumped out of her skin. I laughed extremely hard because I thought it was funny. The movie ended quickly after that and I could hear Olive let out a few breaths of relief.

     “Don’t ever, ever, ever, watch this movie with me again.” She said furiously. I got up and put the empty paper plate into the trashcan.

     “It wasn’t that scary.” I said.

     “The hell it was.” She whispered and she got up. She opened the refrigerator and got out some lemonade.

     “Kool-Aid?” I guessed.

     “Shut up.” She said trying to conceal her smile.

     “I knew it!” I said.

     I texted my mom and told her where I was, and she was cool with it. Olive’s mom came back inside and said that she had to run an errand, which meant that we were going to be alone.

     We walked back into the living room and Olive scooted closer to me. I felt extremely uncomfortable for some reason, and I didn’t know why. She was looking at me weirdly and I looked back.

     Then, she climbed on top of me and sat on my legs. I looked up at her.

     “Will go out with me?” I asked.

     “What do you think?” She said smiling.

     I smiled back and then she started to take off her shirt and I started to take off mine. I pulled out my wallet and inside was a condom that my dad had told me to keep in there for safety.

     We did it in her room, and it was quick.

     It wasn’t like I expected, it wasn’t like a porn movie, but it was more meaningful. It was slow and soft. I’m not sure if she reached her climax, but I could feel her squeeze my back a little bit. She gasped and so did I.

     I reached my climax and then we stopped slowly.

     We took turns taking a shower and then we went back into the kitchen again.

     “That went well.” I said.

     She laughed and said, “Sure did.”

     We ate dessert, which was a mix of ice cream and pie. I fixed what I called, “The Sea star.” It was a piece of pie shaped in a star with ice cream underneath it. I used strawberry ice cream to make it a pink color.

     We both ate it ravenously.

     “You’re eating me.” I said jokily.

     “Why wouldn’t I?” she said, raising an eyebrow. It made me laugh so hard that ice cream and Pie flew out of my mouth a little bit. After we finished, Olive’s mom came back home and I decided that it was time to go.

     “I hate to see you go so soon.” Her mom said.

     “Well, I really enjoyed it. See you in a bit Olive.” I said waving from the front door.

     “Bye.” She said waving back, and her eyes held a secret that we kept between each other for a very long time.

     I hopped in the car and looked at the cup holder. The rose was still sitting there. It had been sitting there without water and in the dry heat, and it looked no different. I picked it up and then put it back down.

     There was one more thing that I noticed about that white rose.

     It had a certain smell, no rosy or flowery smell. It smelled like Olive right before we had sex. It smelled like her house and her perfume.

     I got the gooseflesh again and drove off.

     I left the white rose in my car when I got home. I walked inside and my mom greeted me. I told her that I enjoyed lunch and then I went upstairs to my room and picked up the poem. I caught a whiff of roses when I did.

As I flip through the pages I’ve written so far, Memories are coming back to me in a flood of emotion. All the good memories and the bad memories. It’s been hard to remember so far, but I think I’m doing a pretty good job. I don’t expect anyone else to read this except you.     

     My senior year is a big spot in this story, and not just that we were seniors. Things happened that year that changed our lives completely. Not as much as good things, but as bad things too, and as you know, stories never have happy endings. There is no such thing as a happy ending, and I just wanted you to know that.

     You are probably wondering why it took me so long to ask Olive out, and I suppose I should tell you the truth. The truth is, I don’t know why. I actually don’t know why I didn’t ask her out earlier.

     It must have been my confidence level or something, but there is one thing that I do know.

     I was scared, and I was horribly nervous.

     I had never met someone who was so close to being my twin before. Sure, I had been around weird people, but not like this. I didn’t want it to end either. I was so lonely before it all happened, (as I have said before), and I was so scared of losing her. I wanted her to be with me and never leave me, and I suppose some of that thirst took over me in a way. I’m sure it scared her too, and sometimes I could tell that it did scare her. I told you that one time there was fear and confusion in her eyes. I believe she was like that because I was holding her so tightly. My grip was like iron.

     You may be asking questions about that place in the baseball field. Why it’s so weird and mysterious. The man, woman, and child. As Dan Letz has said before in many of his stories, only time will tell.

     But let me say this before we dive into the tale once more.

     Not everything is as it seems.

     In fact, nothing is as it seems.

     Are you ready to join me once more? Okay, let’s go.

Senior year was finally here. I hadn’t applied to or visited any colleges yet. I thought about going to Virginia Tech, but that was an out-of-state college, which meant that my mom would have to pay extra. I still had Olive, but we weren’t in all the same classes. We had English, History, and lunch and that was it. We were still dating though.

     “I’m going to miss you in some of the classes.” I sighed.

     I was talking to her over the phone the night before school started.

     “You’ll survive,” She said, “plus, you have Prom to look forwards to.”

     “True.” I said laying on my back. It was almost eleven thirty at night.

     “You know what they say about Prom night.” She whispered, acting like a little girl with a dirty secret.

     “Oh yes, I know.” I whispered back and we were both reminded of the secret we kept between each other.

     “What is it with you and secrets?” I asked.

     “Oh, girls have many secrets.”

     “Such as?”

     “Well, crushes and stuff like that.”

     “Oh ho, none about me?”

     “Maybe a few…”

     “Every damn time I think I’m safe.” I exasperated.

     “Ha.” She said.

     “Well, I’ll see you tomorrow then my dear.” I said tiredly.

     “Alright silly, goodnight, everything the same.” She said caringly. I could hear her pull her sheets up.

     “Goodnight, everything the same.” I said and then hung up.

     I sat in my room there for a moment. Senior year. Everything after this year would be big for me. Real life and damned if I knew that I was ready. I looked at myself in the reflection and saw a short boy with a missing front tooth, buzz cut and light-up sneakers. I couldn’t help but laugh. Sometimes the past catches up with you. I got up and started looking around for some old photo albums. I went downstairs quietly and I could hear my mom snoring.

     “Always the snorer.” I thought and chuckled in spite of myself.

     I looked on the bookshelf downstairs and found one. It was pretty old. I scanned through pictures of me as a baby, and boy was I chubby back then. I scanned through pictures of my dad and me also. It made me sad to think that I lost him so quickly.

     I flipped through some more pages and found myself in elementary school again.

     All of a sudden, I was back in Kindergarten, and the teacher was telling us to partner-up.

     I looked around and tried to find someone that wanted to be my partner, but no one did. I was left standing at my desk alone. The teacher walked over to me and offered to be my partner. I took her hand reluctantly. We were supposed to find dancing mates. Then, I was in the hallway walking to lunch in fifth grade. I could hear all the kids in front of me, and they were excited because it was the last day of school.

     I was in the back of the line, with only me, myself, and I. I was excited that it was the last day of school, but not entirely. I didn’t know if I’d find anyone in middle school like me. My dad had always prepared me for the real world, but it seemed more intimidating to me at that moment.

     I ate lunch silently without talking to anyone. I was alone again, and not in a good way.

     I opened my eyes a little bit more and found myself in seventh grade. I was walking to my locker and a bully bumped into me on purpose.

     “Watch it shrimp!” He thundered.

     All my papers and books spilled out on the floor. No one stopped to help me and many people looked at me. I was praying for a Good Samaritan to come by, but none came.

     I was on my own again.

     I walked into class late and the teacher scolded me.

     “That’s another tardy Patrick.” Echoed in my ears. I thought that I was going to cry, but surprisingly, I didn’t. I opened my ears farther and I was in tenth grade, meeting Olive on the bus. I remember saying hi and that’s the only nerve-racking thing that I remember. Anything past that is happy, happy, and happy.

     I looked at the ground and saw mulch and dirt. Olive was in front of me, laughing. We were at the park and I was singing one of my silly songs. “Photograph” by Nickelback.

“Look at this photograph

     Every time I’d ever makes me laugh

     How did our eyes get so red?

     And what the hell is on Joey’s head!”

     She was laughing hysterically as I mimicked the lead singer scratchy voice.

     I looked up and saw us at homecoming in eleventh grade. I kissed her top on the head and then she kissed me on the cheek. The music took us away that night, and I don’t think we ever did return.

     We walked outside and gazed at the stars, which were bright and beautiful.

     I looked back down and saw Olive on the bed in front of me. She had her eyes closed and she was gasping. I quickly looked back up and then I was in my room again. It was silent, and all I could hear was my mom’s faint snoring just down the hall.

     I got back up and looked for another photo album and when I reached to the top shelf, something fell off the bookshelf. It barely missed my head and it landed with a soft thump right beside my foot. I looked down and I wasn’t sure what I was seeing.

     It was a baseball cap all right, and it looked exactly like my dad’s.

     I picked it up and felt something sticky inside it. I turned it over and the inside was covered in blood and hair. I dropped it in disgust and horror. I was about to scream when something else fell.

     It looked like a note and when I opened it, it was my dad’s eulogy, and right alongside it was my poem.

     I stared to have cold sweats and turned around to leave and there was my dad and Olive in front of me.

     My dad was covered in blood from head to toe and Olive was wearing nothing. It scared me, and I turned the other way, but they were there too.

     “How could you?” My dad rasped, and he stepped closer to me.

You could have done it Patrick.” Olive croaked.

     “Done what?” I breathed.

     They were about to say something and then they disappeared. My surroundings changed and I was out in the middle of nowhere in the snow. It was cold and I didn’t have a jacket on. I looked around and spotted a figure in the distance, then two, and then three. I stood there like a statue.

     They walked to me and then, all of a sudden, they stopped. They were standing there, looking in my direction.

     I waved my arms and they paid no attention.

     I walked their way and the snow seemed to get thicker and deeper. I was trudging through it by the time I got there.

     When I got there, I saw only mannequins. For a moment, I could make out a face in the tall mannequin, but it faded away.

 “You could have done it.” Echoed in my mind.

I closed my eyes tightly and started to scream. All of a sudden, it wasn’t cold anymore and I opened my eyes. I was back in house. My hands weren’t cold and my pants weren’t wet. It had all been some big dream.

“The man, woman, and child.” I said aloud. That’s who those people were.

I heard my mom thundering down the hallway.

“Patrick? Are you okay?” She asked.

I turned around and stood up, “Yeah, just had a bad memory there for a moment.” I said wiping my hands on my shorts. They were sweaty.

She smiled, and was clearly relieved. “Okay.” She said and sauntered off to bed again.

I knelt to the ground and picked up the photo album. I noticed a hat on the ground, but it was only mine that I had bought at the beach years ago. There was a piece of paper on the ground, but it was blank. Just printer paper. I sighed in relief and put them back on the shelf.

I walked back upstairs slowly and closed my door.

I sat on the bed, shut down my phone and stripped into my underwear.

I turned out the light and it was pitch black.

“Here we are Patrick. Just you and me again, against the world and all its demons. Are you ready?” My dad asked in my head.

“Not at all.” I thought thinking of the weird dream I had downstairs.

I didn’t know what it all meant, but I was sure that it was something important. There had to be some clue that I could find to make it all fall together. Like a puzzle piece.

     I couldn’t stop thinking of that one sentence.

     “You could have done it Patrick.”

     “Patrick, you’re going to be late!” My mom called downstairs.

I was putting on my suit and some of my cologne. My hair was neat and tidy and my bowtie looked professional. I walked over to my desk and picked up the most important poem of my life. I put it in my pocket and looked at my room from the door entrance. I was going to miss it all, but some memories are best left forgotten.

I walked downstairs and my mom was waiting there for me. She was crying a little bit and I gave her a big hug.

“Don’t cry mom.” I said softly.

“I wish your father could have been here. He would be so proud of you.” She choked.

“I bet he is mom, I bet he is.” I said rubbing her back.

“Do not let go of that girl Patrick.” She said sternly. “She loves you and you can’t break her heart.”

“I know, and I won’t” I said.

She looked up at me with watery eyes and said, “You make this night the best night of your life, you hear me?”

“I do.” I said, laughing a little bit.

“Good.” She said and then she smiled and pinched my cheek softly.

I released her and waved goodbye as I went out the door. I hopped in my Jeep and headed off to Olive’s house to pick her up.

Prom had come by so quickly that I couldn’t believe that I had passed all my classes. I had visited Virginia Tech and it looked like the school for me. My mom said that it was my decision, and that it was up to me to choose. I turned on the radio to some good old love songs. After all, it was prom night. I backed out of the driveway and started after her house.

My senior year wasn’t over yet, I still had some more tests to take and colleges to visit. Olive was thinking about going to Duke, which kind of made me sad. We wouldn’t be able to be around each other anymore.

“You worry too much.” She said holding my hand at lunch earlier that day.

“I know.” I said smiling. It was hard not to smile when she was smiling.

I parked in her driveway and walked up to the front door. I rang the doorbell and the mom answered.

“Come in.” She said excitedly. I nodded.

I walked in, and just at that exact moment, Olive came walking down the steps. She was wearing the same dress that6 she wore to homecoming. Light blue with a touch of peach. She had her hair tied back in a bun and she was wearing her glasses. She was wearing casual shoes and I couldn’t stop looking at her.

“You look gorgeous.” I said and Olive’s mom squealed.

Olive looked at her funny and took me by the crook of my elbow.

“See you soon mom.” She said.

“Alright, have fun.” Her mom said and I shut the door.

I walked her to the car and she hopped in. I had a surprise in store for her that night.

“So, I brought my wallet.” I started.

She looked at me curiously.

“I’ve been saving up and I have decided to treat you to some exquisite cuisine tonight.” I said in a fancy voice.

“You didn’t.” She said smiling.

“I did.” And I raised an eyebrow while saying it.

I decided to take her to Macados that night. It was a fun restaurant and I had made reservations. I knew that it was going to be busy, so I planned ahead.

I parked and then we walked inside. A bunch of students and kids were already there. A few were making out and some were just simply enjoying their meal together. I couldn’t help but smile.

We were seated at once and Olive got a look at the menu.

“They have everything.” She said.

“Indeed, including wings and chicken tenders.” I joked. She laughed because she knew that I wasn’t a fan of sandwiches.

I ended up ordering the chicken tenders and she ordered the Titanic.

“Wow, that’s a big sandwich.” I said as they gave it to her fifteen minutes after. I looked at my watch and it was nine at night.

“Perfect.” I thought.

“Oh please.” She scoffed.

She barely at half of it.

The school was crowded when we got there. A bunch of fancy cars and all that stuff. I’m sure a few kids would be getting busy in those fancy things that night.

“The car doors will be thin.” I whispered as we walked to the school.

“Shut up silly.” She said elbowing me slightly in the ribcage.

We walked in and they took our picture. They introduced us and we walked down the school hallway and a few people cheered because they had seen us together before. I waved at some people and I spotted Dale. He was with a girl and he nodded and smiled. I nodded and smiled back.

Soon after that dance started. At first it was all funky and hip-hop music, but later, it got slower. I tried to do some fancy foot moves and I nearly split my balls in half. It was a narrow escape and Olive was laughing the whole time. She tried to do the limbo, but she slipped on the first one. Thankfully, I caught her and everyone made noises.

Her cheeks flamed and then the slow music started. The first song was “A Thousand Years” by Christina Perri. I liked that song because I had heard it before.

“I have died every day waiting for you

Darling don’t be afraid because I have

Loved you for a thousand years, and I’ll

Love you for a thousand more.”

We swayed to the music and I kissed her while doing so. This time she came back more powerfully and I was taken back at first, but we both let it happen. She rested her head on my shoulder and we continued to dance until we were the only one left on the floor.

We went outside to watch the sunset just in time.

It was a beautiful display of gold, pink, orange, and red. It was disappearing over the mountains and I saw Olive tearing up. I put my arm around her shoulder and she let it happen. The sun went down and then we looked at the stars. We counted some of them and then we sat in the grass.

“I love you.” She said.

I looked in her direction and she was looking at me. I looked back at her with sincere eyes and said, “I love you too.”

We kissed again and then we went back inside. I got her some punch and a cupcake. She ate and drank them and then we went to dance some more. She tried to do a few dance moves, and a few were good.

We were both laughing and that was good.

As I was dancing I heard a woman screaming in my head. It was unlike anything I had ever heard before. It was very high pitched and I had to leave the dancefloor because it was so bad. I walked to where the food and drinks were and rested my head on the table. Olive came walking over and she out her hand on my shoulder. My head was still aching from the screaming, which was fading away by then.

“I’m alright.” I said holding her hand.

“Are you sure?” She asked.

“Yes.”

“What was it?”

“I heard someone screaming, or, someone was screaming inside my head really loud.”

“Who?”

“I’m not sure, but it sounded real.”

“Oh my God, what should we do?”

“Probably nothing, it’s not that bad. Plus, its prom night.”

“I know that, but, now I’m a little scared.”

“It’s okay. It was nothing.” I said soothing her.

 One of the chaperones told us to go somewhere else to hang out and we did. Olive forgot about what I said and we continued to dance some more.

After prom started soon after and that’s when we decided to have some more fun. There were a lot of prizes you could win and I was excited. So was Olive. Olive ended up winning a pair of Beats headphones. I was proud of her and I picked her up and kissed her.

I played a few games but I didn’t win anything. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. I guess my luck ran out.

It was one thirty in the morning by the time we left and I was pretty damn tired. Olive was tired too and I thought she would fall asleep, but she didn’t. She was wide awake.

“Did you have fun?” I asked.

“No.” She said.

I looked at her, confused for a moment, and then she said, “I had a blast!”

I chuckled and we pulled into the neighborhood. I had a sense of unease as we pulled in and parked at her house.

“Oh my God.” She breathed.

“What?” I asked and I saw a grey car in the drive way. It didn’t look like her mom’s car.

“Whose car is it?” I asked nervously.

“My dad’s.” She whispered.

Olive nearly jumped out of the car and ran to the front door.

“Olive!” I yelled and ran after her.

She was pounding on the door and I started to look for a spare key. I looked all over the pots and plants. I could hear her mom screaming inside and Olive was crying her eyes out.

I did what I had to do.

I made Olive back up and I started to slam the door with my foot and my shoulder. I tried knocking off the door handle with my arm and it cracked a little bit. I kicked the door one final time and it hinged open a little bit. I pushed it all the way and it fell in. Olive ran in and I followed her.

I ran right into her dad, and he was holding a gun to my head.

Olive was crying and she was on the ground. I could see blood seeping down her head and dripping to the floor.

“Hey punk.” The dad said, and then he smacked me over the head with the point of his gun.

I saw stars and I stepped back a few steps and tripped over the remains of the door.

Her dad came down on me and sucker punched me in the gut. He kicked me once and lifted me up by the hair. I was screaming and he started to mimic me. He pulled Olive up and he held us at gunpoint.

“In here!” He shouted. As he moved us through the kitchen, I saw glass shattered everywhere and bloodstained napkins.

“Oh my God.” I thought and the dad shoved me on.

He shoved us into the living room and her mom was lying on the ground. There was blood seeping out her shoulder and there was a bloody knife on the ground. I grimaced.

Olive flew to the ground and knelt beside her mom. The dad shoved me to the ground beside the sofa and held us all at gunpoint.

“Well, look at us, one big family.” He said cheerily. He waved the gun around.

“Dad, please-” Olive started.

“SHUT UP!” He shrieked.

Olive whimpered back and Olive’s mom moaned on the ground. I started to scoot over there and the dad pointed his gun at me.

“So, you must be the boyfriend.” He said, and he was smiling.

“Yes.” I said solidly.

“Have you f'ed her yet?” He asked calmly.

I didn’t answer his question right away and he walked up to me and smacked me across the face hard. It stung and my bottom lip started to bleed. The blood oozed down my chin.

“I asked you a question boyfriend.” He said sitting down in front of me. I looked over at Olive and she was reaching for her phone.

“Yes.” I said.

He looked at me, as if pleased and then he stood up. He walked over to Olive and asked her the same question.

“If he’s telling the truth daughter, then he’s going to be f'ed.” He said.

“No.” Olive said.

He could tell she was lying and he smacked her just like he smacked me. He started to kick the mom and I got up to stop it. He decked me and it sent me back to the ground.

He pointed the gun at my head. I could feel the cold metal against my forehead. I tried to show no signs of fear.

“So, you did.” He said.

“Yes.” I said solemnly.

“That’s okay.” He said and then he pointed the gun away.

“I’ve f'ed my wife plenty of times and she didn’t complain, you know? Did my daughter complain?” He asked waving the gun around.

“No.” I said.

“Good. You’re a good boyfriend then. So, if you’ve done it before then why don’t you do it again?” He asked turning his back on me.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I mean, why don’t you f her right in front of us. Prove to me that you’re the best boyfriend in the whole world.” He said setting the gun down on the counter.

I could hear Olive crying silently. I saw the mom murmuring something, and I also saw the phone she had sneaked underneath her mom’s head. I could read the numbers, 911.

“Okay,” I said, “I will on one condition.”

“Alright boyfriend, what is it?” He said looking at me and he crossed his arms. I saw Olive take the phone out from under her mom’s head and she put it behind her back.

“You have to turn yourself in after we do it.” I said, glancing out the window for red and blue lights.

“Okay, deal.” He said. He took me up by the hand and shook it. He walked me over to where Olive was laying and picked her up. He laid her over the sofa and hit her because she was thrashing.

He ripped her skirt and everything else.

“Alright bud, she’s all yours.” He motioned me. I saw the gun on the counter behind him.

Olive looked up at me with scared eyes and I winked at her and nodded. She knew what I was up to.

I unbuckled my belt and held it tightly. I started to unzip my pants, and that’s when I swung around fast and the metal part of the belt struck her dad on the temple.

I picked up Olive and told her to run.

     The dad stumbled a bit and picked up the gun. He aimed it at me and I hit him just in time. The gun fired and I saw the direction it was going. I saw Olive’s mom stumble back, clutching her stomach and spitting out blood.

     The dad laughed. I tackled him and started to whip him. He pushed me off easily and I could hear sirens outside. I started to whip him with my belt but he dodged some of them easily. He punched me in the gut as hard as he could and flung me over the kitchen table. I crashed onto the broken glass and it cut through my clothing and skin. I saw all the shattered glass and blood stained napkins. I thought of the vision I had many years before.

     I got up quickly and ran into the main hall. Olive’s mom was lying on the ground, and she wasn’t breathing. The dad had the gun pointed at Olive’s head and I shouldered him with all my strength. He fell to the ground and I picked up the gun.

     I helped Olive up, but she flew down to her mom.

     Olive was crying hard and cradling her back and forth.

     I pointed the gun at the dad.

     “Why?” I asked.

     He looked me in the eye and said, “Why what?”

     “Why this?” I said and pointed all around.

     “It was all part of the dream.” He whispered.

     “What dream?” I asked curiously.

     “The dream about you.”

     “Me?”

     “Yes, about you.”

     “What happened?” I asked nervously and he explained.

     “Well, it started like this. I was out in the middle of nowhere and it was snowing. I saw a man, a woman, and a child in front of me in the distance. I saw the woman and child leave and the man was left standing there. There was a song playing in the background.” He remembered.

     My knees started to buckle.

     “What then?” I said, shaking.

     “Then, another figure appeared in front of me. He was about your height and he had on a t-shirt and shorts. He shouted, ‘Hello?!’ and I didn’t shout back. The dream ended.” He finished.

     “Why did it make you do this?” I asked.

     “I don’t know, but I had another weird dream that answers that question.” He said truthfully.

     “And what is that?” I asked.

     “I was back in the field, and I saw the man, woman, and child again. They were standing in front of something grey and small, and I couldn’t make out what it was. I woke up sweating and then, a year later, I had a weird vision. I was standing in a baseball field and I was holding a white rose. I dropped it on the ground and I saw two figures in the distance, and then it ended. Then, a few months later, tonight, I heard a terrible screaming in my head and it didn’t stop. I woke up and it didn’t stop. I drove to this house and asked my wife to make it stop and I got angry. The anger took over, but I figured it all out. I knew what was going to happen in the future. Something terrible is going to happen.” He said.

     I could hardly speak because I was in shock.

     “What’s going to happen?” I asked.

     “You could do it Patrick.” He whispered.

     “What?” I asked in shock.

     “Tell Olive I love her.” And then he pulled a small pistol out of his back pocket, aimed it at his head, and fired.

The cops showed up in the house at that exact moment. I could hear all the cops yelling, but it was only whispers. Soft whispers compared to what I was hearing. The gunshot was still ringing in my ears. I dropped the gun and knelt to the ground. My hand landed in something squishy and warm. It looked like red oatmeal, but I knew exactly what it was.

     I saw Olive, and she was still cradling her mom. The cops were trying to pull her away, but she was refusing. I stumbled over and told the cops to stop. I sank to the ground and put my arms around Olive. We stayed there for a few minutes and then I helped her up. We went outside where the cops would question us.

     “Did you see him shoot?” One of the cops asked.

     “I was there in front of him.” I said tiredly.

     “Okay, that’s all I have for now.” He said then gave us each a blanket and told us to sit down on the porch.

     I sat next to Olive.

     “She’s dead,” Olive croaked, “and so is he.”

I didn't say anything back. I looked over at Olive and she was staring at the ground in shock. She was still naked form the stomach down from where her dad and ripped everything off. My belt was missing and my pants were halfway down.

There was a crowd gathering around the yellow police tape. Some were taking pictures and some were recording. The news would be there in no time. I wiped my hands over my face and it was coated with blood and sweat. I wiped it on my pants and pulled the blanket up tighter.

They questioned Olive a few minutes later, but she didn’t speak. They took her to the medics and drove off to the hospital. Another ambulance came to get the dad and the mom. I was still sitting on the porch when the cops came over and told me to go with the medics. We went to the emergency room and they checked me over. They treated the cuts and made me sit in the hallway. The sterilized smells made me want to gag. Olive didn’t come out that night, I’m guessing she fell asleep.

I was wide awake the whole time. I didn’t even feel like changing or closing my eyes.

I heard Olive crying at eight in the morning and she came walking out into the hallway.

I greeted her and hugged her. She hugged me back.

I called my mom and told her to come pick us up, and she was already there in the hospital. The medics said that we could go home for now.

Olive stayed at my house for a few days without saying anything.

We didn’t go to school or anything. I couldn’t sleep a wink the whole time, but Olive did.

Sometimes she slept until three in the afternoon. She would walk out of the room, eyes puffy and red from crying.

Her grandparents came eventually and picked her up. They went to their house.

She didn’t even say goodbye to me.

I couldn’t stop thinking about what the dad said to me, and the dream, and the vision that I had.

“Shattered glass and bloodstained napkins.” I thought. Years ago, I thought that I could have prevented this from happening.

The white rose in the field that one day, which was now in my room, did not make sense. I’m guessing her dad put it there. It sounded like the dad had the same vision/dreams I had. The man, woman, and child. That figure he saw in front of him. Was that me? Were we having the same dream?

I sat on my bed thinking it all over.

I eventually fell asleep. I slept for two days.

A week after the incident, if that’s what you want to call it, the funeral was performed. I wasn’t there, but Olive told me about it. Someone she didn’t know wrote the eulogy and her mom and dad were buried separately.

I met Olive where her mom was buried.

“At least she’s not next to that monster.” Olive croaked.

“Yeah.” I said as we stood there. She started to cry a little bit and I tried to comfort her, but she shrugged me off.

“You could do it Patrick. You could have done it Patrick.” Echoed in my head. I felt like I was going to faint.

“If we hadn’t gone to prom, this wouldn’t have happened!” She cried.

“Olive-” I started

She shoved me hard and she almost knocked me over.

“I told you something was wrong! I knew something was wrong and you ignored me!” She screamed. We were the only ones left in the cemetery.

“I know, I kn-” I tried.

“No you don’t! It’s all your fault! You could have done it Patrick!” She shrieked.

“Done what?” I yelled, and she looked at me furiously. She looked at me like that for a few minutes then spoke in a deadly whisper.

“It’s over.” She said.

“Olive, no.” I pleaded.

“Olive, yes.” She said.

“I can’t Olive. I don’t have anyone else.” I said starting to cry.

“You’ll have to find someone else Pat.” She said. She had never called me Pat before after all those years.

I looked at the ground and she took my hand one last time.

“Goodbye.” She said, and then she walked out of the cemetery.

I was left in the cemetery, alone and deserted. I didn’t scream then, but I think I did later. I walked over to my dad’s grave.

“There she goes,” My dad said, “she left you boy, and do you know why?”

“Why?” I said out loud.

“Because you let her down. You failed her Patrick. It’s all your fault!” He thundered.

“Shut up!” I yelled grabbing my head tightly. My head started to hurt and I started to cry.

“You could have done it Patrick.” My dad whispered and then he was gone. I was all alone again.

I turned around and saw Olive walking back to the parking lot. She walked there this time. For a moment, she stopped at the spot in the baseball field and then she was out of sight.

I wouldn’t see Olive for a very long time.

I did end up going to Virginia Tech. I didn’t go to half of my classes and they kicked me out. So long Virginia Tech. I skipped a year of college and then tried to go to NC State, and that is where I stayed for the remainder of my years in college.

Olive and I never texted. We never talked nor made contact. I didn’t know where she was, or what college she was in, or if she had a new boyfriend or not. I was completely in the dark, and there were no signs of light.

One night, in my apartment in Charlotte, I had a knife in my hand. I was ready to cut my throat and be done with it, but something stopped me. The thought of Olive stopped me. I put the knife down and started to cry like a baby.

The next day, on lunch break, I ran into Dale Palls again. He had changed a lot. He wanted to be my friends, and so it began. I rebuilt my life over the next years and everything was good. I got a degree in teaching English, but I never got another girlfriend. I never did, and I didn’t think I could after what happened with Olive.

I’m flipping through these pages again and it’s all coming back to me. The emotions, and it’s starting to make me upset. I cried a little bit while writing Chapter 11, and it messed up and smeared some of my handwriting. I kept on writing though, and I’m glad that I did because if I hadn’t, neither of us would be at this point in the story.

As I said, senior year was a changing point for both of us. I never thought that I’d see Olive or talk to her again in my entire life.

I was wrong.

I was dead wrong.

Nothing is as it seems reader.

And if you continue to read, you may find the conclusion.

You might find a happy ending.

You just might.

“Alright class, have a great summer!”

     The bell rang on June 6, 2026. School was out for the summer and the kids rushed out of the classroom. A bunch of boys gave me a high five and a few girls gave me a hug. Middle school was an odd place to be a teacher because of all the fresh hormones, but you got used to it after five years of teaching. English was my favorite subject in school, and so, that it was I decided to teach.

     I closed the door, blocking out all the hooting and hollering down the eighth grade hallway. I’m sure a few students would miss me, mainly because my class was fun. Over those six years, I decided to learn how to play an instrument. I learned the trombone.

     Every Friday, I would play a different tune.

     “24k Magic!” The class yelled.

     “Yes.” I said picking up my trombone, and then I started playing the tune. A few of the kids started singing.

     I couldn’t help but laugh at that memory.

     I sorted out all the papers on my desk, and I started to pack some of the pictures I had of my mom, Dale, and grandparents.

     My grandparents were long gone though, but my mom had been doing fine. She went to the doctor that day and it turns out that chemotherapy slowly worked. No more cancer.

     As I picked up the pictures, one little photo slipped out of the picture frame of Dale and I. I picked it up slowly and my stomach dropped when I saw the picture. It was Olive and I standing there in the park. We got a couple that had been walking by and asked them to take a photo on Olive’s old Polaroid.

     I had Olive in my arms in the picture, and I was in mid-laugh. Olive had her hair down that day and she was looking up at me. We looked better together like that.

     The picture made me upset as I stared at it.

     How many years had it been? Six? Or was it seven? I had lost track over time, which made it more upsetting. I stuffed the picture back in the picture frame, packed my laptop and prepared to leave the classroom when a noise behind me made me stop. I was right at the entrance of the door, and I heard giggling behind me. I turned around and saw a little girl. She looked about ten and she was wearing a heavy coat. I looked at her curiously and she waved at me.

     “Hello?” I said.

     She didn’t say anything back, and then she disappeared.

     “You’re close now Patrick,” My dad said in my mind, “you could do it.”

     “No!” I shouted as a teacher walked passed me. She looked at me and laughed a little bit.

     I hadn’t had one of these vision/dreams in six years. That I remember clearly. Why was it coming back? It was a hallucination. It was all from the heat.

     “Nonsense.” I thought.

     “Not today, not ever.” I said calmly and stepped out of the classroom, closing the door behind me. I walked down the hallway and said hi to some of the teachers. I went inside one of the bathrooms and rinsed my face off. It was hot that day, and I was all sweaty.

     I looked at myself in the mirror and almost didn’t recognize what I saw standing there.

     I tall, lanky, twenty-four-year-old. I had a slight beard and I wasn’t wearing my glasses, I was wearing contacts. I had my eyebrow length hair combed back to the right side and my sides were a little faded. My acne was gone completely. I was wearing a Vineyard Vines button up shirt, along with khakis.

     “Here we are again, another school year gone by.” I said to myself. Talking to myself had become a bit of habit over the past years.

     I took out my phone, no text messages, phone calls, or emails. Good. That was just how I liked it.

     I walked out to my car in the sweltering heat and hopped in. It was the same old Jeep I had in high school. Olive’s shoe marks on the dash were long gone. I washed them off the day after she left. I drove home, which was a small little apartment in Charlotte. The same apartment I had in college.

     I walked in, dropped all my school stuff and plopped on the sofa. I turned on the TV and tried to watch a movie, but I couldn’t get into it.

     I got out my laptop and clicked on the story I had been writing over the past years. I had a crazy ambition to become a great writer, but so far it had been a failure. I was only on page fifty in my story, which was about a rogue assassin. I typed a few pages and then gave up.

     There were no dogs allowed in the apartment building, which was ludicrous. There was no one with me, and I was alone.

     Exactly how I wanted it to be.

     Exactly how it should be.

     I got up and fixed myself some cereal and sat down on the couch, eating silently. I turned the music on and listened to some of it. It was opera music, which always calmed me down after a tiring day at school.

     “Hi-ho, hi-ho, it’s off to relax I go.” I thought and smiled. After all those years, that was still my favorite movie of all time.

     I listened to the awesome opera voices while looking at my phone.

     Stephen King dies the other day, and he was my favorite author.

     I had a collection of his books just down the hall in my room. In the kitchen, there was a single chair at the end of the table. All the other chairs were moved out of sight and out of mind.

     I had the towel hanging up on the stove, the only towel I had. There was a single lamp above everything. Good, that was how I liked it.

     That is how everyone should like it.

     I walked into my room after putting the cereal bowl up in the dishwasher. In my room was a bookshelf with the Stephen King books, a drawer full of clothes that I needed, and nothing more. My bed was a solitary twin bed. I had taken the liberty of removing the second mattress out from under it. No one would be sleeping on it anyway.

     The bed fit me just right. A turn to the left and a turn to the right were the only moves possible. I single pillow that I had slept on in college.

     There was a window in my room, with a view of another apartment building across the street. I looked out the window and saw a couple kissing on the street below.

     “Nonsense.” I thought and turned away.

     I walked over to my nightstand and picked up the book I was reading at the moment. It was the newest Stephen King book, and that is how I liked it.

     I sat on my bed, and started to read when all of a sudden, my phone buzzed. I had forgot to turn the ringer off.

     It was a text from Dale. We hadn’t talked in two years. We each had our own lives to move on to.

     “Want to go to the bar tonight?” It said.

     I didn’t have anything to do that day, plus, I did drink a little bit. I had an occasional glass of wine every other month when I ate out.

     “No, pretty busy today.” I replied and then I turned my ringer off. I went back to reading my book.

     Everything was perfect. Everything was in its place.

     No more interruptions.

     Just me, myself, and I.

     No company of a friend, because that is how I liked it. No more heartbreak or drama. No nonsense of the outside of the world. Money and bills and nothing else.

     Exactly how it should be.

     I stopped reading around five thirty and I got up to make some chicken noodle soup. I sat at the end of the table and ate silently.

     The solitude was relaxing after a few years.

     Exactly how I liked it. Exactly how it should be.

The months passed by like the breeze. The apples fell from the trees, and soon enough, the trees themselves started to change color. Orange, red, and maroon.   I walked downtown and the leaves would slap me, and just for a moment, I’d laugh. I was an all-around season guy.

     The school season started and I was ready. All jokes aside, it was probably the worst class I had ever had. The eighth graders never did their homework, and for the first time in forever, I had to yell.

     A new teacher had moved into the school. She was an Algebra teacher.

     “Patrick James.” I said shaking her hand.

     “Rachel Stevens.” She said. She had short, blonde hair. Her eyes were light green and she had the perfect smile. She was almost taller than me in heels. She walked into her classroom and I walked into mine.

     She was nice to me over the year.

     She always came over at lunch and ate with me, and I wasn’t used to it. I thought about dating her, but it faded quickly. After what happened with Olive, nothing would be the same.

     We talked about everything, and I decided that we could become great friends. We saw each other out in public and we laughed whenever we made jokes.

     “Maybe it is time to move on.” I thought, but it was nonsense, just as every relationship was.

     My chances of dating her were crushed when I met her boyfriend at the grocery store just down the street. He was a nice guy, and I didn’t see a mean bone in his body. He shook my hand firmly and smiled greatly. I liked this guy.

     “Judson Cross.” He said.

     “Patrick James.” I said, and we shook hands.

     I met him in April, which meant that the school year would be over soon.

     I still played the trombone every Friday.

     Some of the kids enjoyed it, but a lot of the kids booed.

“You suck!” One of them yelled and threw a paper ball at me as hard as he could.

I gave that kid detention, and he didn’t complain.

Rachel came over at lunch and tried to calm me down.

I had packed frozen pizza I ordered the other night, and it was almost stale from the horrible refrigerator that I had in my apartment.

“I’ve had kids like that before.” She said.

“At this school?” I asked.

“No s-” and she stopped. “No, at another school.”

“Oh.”  I said.

“I like it here better though. It’s nice and it’s in the city.”

“You like the city?”

“Yeah.”

“I prefer the solitude and quiet.”

“Okay.” She said nicely. I guess that gave her a reason to leave my room and eat lunch in her room.

For a moment I thought about going after her, but I thought better not to.

“Nonsense.” I said aloud.

I took out my water bottle and started to drink, but it went down my windpipe and I started to cough and choke. Rachel came rushing into the room and started patting me on the back.

“Thanks.” I choked. There was water all over my shirt and pants. Could this day have gotten any worse? She walked out of the room and the bell rang once more. I went to the bathroom and tried to dry off the wet spots on my shirt and pants. It didn’t help.

“Mr. James peed himself.” I heard one of the girls chortle.

“That’s enough.” I said and started class.

That evening when I got home, I fixed myself some more soup and decided that I needed to go to the store and get some more. I checked everything in my apartment. Everything was in its place. Just how liked it.

Just how everyone should like it.

I closed the door behind me and just down the hall, an apartment door was open. I could hear water dripping inside. I stopped at the door and noticed a purse on the ground.

I didn’t recognize it at first, but then I realized something.

It was Rachel’s purse.

There was blood on it.

I opened the door farther and I could hear more water running. I walked inside slowly.

I walked in the room and there were a few broken glasses on the ground. My shoes crunched underneath them. I looked in the kitchen.

     “Hello?” I asked.

     No response.

     I heard giggling in front of me and saw the same little ten-year-old. She was laughing at me. She ran into the main room and I followed her.

     “What do we have here?” My dad whispered.

     I walked into the main room and the little girl was sitting on the couch. There were spots of blood everywhere and I got scared. Was there anyone in the house other than this hallucination?

     “Sit down.” The girl said.

     I walked over to her and I reached out. She reached out her hand and I felt warm flesh.

     “Shit.” I thought.

     “She’s here.” The girl said, and she started to laugh.

     “Who?” I asked.

     She leaned in closer to me.

     “Your destiny.” She whispered.

     “F you.” I said and got up off the couch.

     “Wait.” She said and she stood up.

     “What?” I asked.

     “You could do it Patrick.” She said and then she disappeared.

     “Nonsense, a coincidence and nothing more.” I thought and walked towards the bathroom.

There was light on and light peeked through the crack in the door. I saw a pair of gloves on the counter and walked into the bathroom slowly. There was a figure in the bathtub, but she was breathing.

It was Rachel Stevens.

I ran over to her and tried not to slip on the floor that was flooded with water.

I tried to wake her up, but she didn’t wake.

I picked her up and put her on the sofa. I called 911 and reported it.

I picked her up and walked her down to the entrance of the building. I was scared for her, but I was mainly scared for myself. What did the cops thought that I did this to her. She had a big gash running down the side of her head. On the other side of the head, I could see a scar.

I opened her eyes, and they weren’t green anymore. I tried to take a closer look at them but then the ambulance came.

I hopped in with them and we drove to the hospital. They questioned me many times and I told them the truth. I was glad that Rachel was alive still.

“So, you just found her.” One of the cops asked at the hospital.

“Yes.” I said.

“Anything else you want to share?” The cop asked.

“None.” I said, and he nodded.

I walked into Rachel’s room. Her parents weren’t there, and neither was her boyfriend.

The medics asked if I was family and I said no.

They told me to leave and I did.

I went home that night and tried to sleep, but I couldn’t. I kept thinking of what the little girl said.

I went to the hospital the next morning and I saw doctors crowded around her. I didn’t know what was wrong, and I panicked. They told me to sit down and be calm.

“So, it’s fake?”

“Yeah, fake.”

“Tricky.”

“How did you know?”

“The evidence is all there.”

“I just can’t believe it was a fake.”

“Neither can I, but we got the real one now.”

“Good, anything else?”

“Yeah.”

“What is it?”

“She’s not going to be awake in a while, so tell the family and friends that there are to be no visitors.”

“Okay.”

All of the words passed through my mind. They were like whispers in the wind, and I was so confused.

“What was fake?” I thought, and then a nurse came over to me.

“How’s Rachel?” I asked, and she looked at me funny.

“Who?” She said.

“Rachel.” I repeated and I pointed into the room where she was laying. I could see her bruised face.

“You must be looking for someone else.” She chuckled.

“No, that’s Rachel.” I said, annoyed.

“No it’s not sir.” She said.

“Then who is it?” I asked.

“That’s not your business.” And then she started to walk off. I caught her arm and she looked at me, surprised.

“Who?” I asked one last time.

“Jeez, you’re desperate” She started.

“Rachel Stevens wasn’t a real person, which was her fake name.” She said exhaustedly.

“Then who is it?” I thundered.

“Olive Lily Hendrik.”

“Have they found the perpetrator yet?” The cop asked.

     “No, not yet.” The other said and they continued to chat while I stood there holding the nurse’s ar. I could feel it flex and then un-flex. I stood there, as if paralyzed.

     “Who?” I repeated.

     “Olive Lily Hendrik.” She said, annoyed. She jerked her arm away and continued on her way.

     “That’s not possible.” I thought while standing there. I probably looked like an absolute idiot standing there, but I didn’t care.

     “It’s someone who happens to have the same name. That happens sometimes.” I thought.

     I went back over to my chair and sat down.

     I kept shaking my head when I thought of it. I put my hands over my face and sat there like that for a while.

     I took a peek into Olive’s room, and there she was. She was awake and her eyes were hazel this time. The last time I saw them, they were green. Her hair was still blonde.

     As I looked closer, I could see the resemblance. I didn’t know how I didn’t see it earlier that year. There were so many clues and yet I didn’t see them.

     “Your destiny.” The little girl giggled in my mind, and she was right.

     No more nonsense.

     No more perfection.

     I had to do something to change, and I needed to do it at that moment. I walked in her room and she smiled when she saw me.

     “My hero.” She said.

     “That’s me.” I said awkwardly. Now I had another secret in my eyes that she didn’t have. This would be fun.

     “Which superhero am I?” I asked, waiting for her to mess up the reply.

     “Super-, no, Batman.” She said stiffly.

     Olive called me Superman half the time we were dating. Now I had evidence that this was her.

     “You can be Lois Lane.” I said.

     “But you’re not Superman sil-,” And she stopped again, “dork.”

     I raised my eyebrows at her curiously. I stared at her for a moment and then decided to tell her a story. She listened closely, and I made sure that she paid attention.

     “Did you know that I had a girlfriend who was similar to you? It’s a funny story. We became best friends in high school, but then a big fight happened, or an accident. Whatever you call it, and her parents died. She blamed me and left. I’ve been on my own or six years now.” I finished.

     She looked at me with unease and said, “I’m sorry.”

     “Yeah, and we haven’t spoken or seen each other in six years too.” I said.

     “Why not?”

     “I tried texting and calling, but I think she blocked me. Plus, I bet she has a new phone number by now.”

     “Do you plan to see her and speak to her again?”

     “Maybe, but it’s all nonsense.” I lied.

     She looked hurt and then said, “What if she wanted to see you again?”

     “I’d nod and move on. What can I say? I saved her life and she blamed me for everything else.” I said angrily.

     “You sound bitter.” She said.

     “I know, but what would you do if that happened to you?” I asked curiously.

     “I’m not sure.” She said and she looked out the window. We sat in silence for a moment and I thought about telling her that I knew her real name. There were so many obvious clues now, it was kind of funny. I wondered if it was coincidence that she found me or not. There’s no way that she could have found me on accident.

     “Maybe I am bitter, but I lied when I said what I’d do when and if I saw her again.” I said truthfully.

     “Okay?” She said.

     “When, and if, I saw her again, I’d grab her by the shoulders and I’d forgive her. I wouldn’t care what happened in the past, I would care about the present. Hopefully she’d feel the same way.” I said quietly.

     “I think she’d forgive you.” She said twisting her sheet covers.

     “Why?”

     “I’m not sure.”

     “C’mon. You know why.”

     “I seriously don’t.”

     “Lying.”

     “Okay, okay. I just think that she would understand. I mean, I think I would.”

     “Really?”

     “Yeah.”

     “Really, really?”

     “Yes!”

     “Really, really, and really!”

     “YES SILLY!” She shouted.

     I sat back in my chair and my mission was complete. I got up and scooted my chair closer to hers. I sat down and tried to hold her hand.

     “Olive used to call me that all the time.” I said.

     “Cool.” She muttered. She knew she had blown her cover.

     “So, Rachel Stevens, that’s not your real name.” I said.

     “What do you mean?”

     “I know your name isn’t Rachel Stevens,” I paused, “Olive.” I added.

     She looked at me and started to cry. I took her by the shoulders and kissed her on the cheek. She looked at me with the same hazel eyes many years before.

     “I forgive you Olive.” I said, tearing up myself.

     She burst out crying and she took my hand. She embraced me and I embraced her back. Her head rested on my shoulder and she wept into it.

     “No more nonsense.” I said out loud.

     “That’s my boy.” My dad whispered.

     “Your destiny.” The little girl whispered.

     I smiled and a tear fell down my cheek. It rolled and rolled until it plopped right on her sheets. It soaked in and stayed there for a little bit.

     It wouldn’t be the last.

Chapter 17-

     I walked back out into the hallway, and I felt much better. Better than I had ever felt in six years. I sat back down and I could still hear Olive cryinmg in her room. I smiled a little bit. I had said goodbye and then walked out of the hospital. I hopped in my car and drove to my apartment. As soon as I got there, I went into my room and pulled out all the extra chairs that I was storing. I put them around the kitchen table. I replaced the extra mattress under my bed and started to fix myself some cereal. I felt awesome.

“You’re a lover and im a runner and we go round and round

And I love you, but I leave you

I don’t want you but I need you

You know it’s you that calls me back here baby.”

Those lyrics were playing loudly in my apartment for a while. I went out to the grocery store down the street and came back with a loaf of bread, spaghetti noodles, meatballs and sauce. When Olive got out of the hospital, I would make her the best dinner of her life.

I visited again late that night. She was asleep, but I snuck past the nurses and got into her room.

She looked at peace. There was a scab where the gash had been, but I still loved her the same.

I stayed in there for a while, while reading my book. I listened to music on my phone and both of us were at peace. I looked out her window for a moment, and I thought I saw something on the street below. It looked like a family of three walking down the street. I couldn’t make out their faces, but they seemed at peace, just like Olive and I. They were dressed in an odd fashion though. The man had on jeans and a coat, and it was in the middle of spring. I knew that it wasn’t cold outside. The little girl, or boy, seemed oddly familiar too. I watched them walk down the street and when they turned the corner, they were gone.

I walked back to Olive’s bed, kissed her goodnight and went on my way.

When I drove home, I passed the family of three. I noticed that the man had something white in his hands. It looked like two white things, but I wasn’t sure.

“Were in the home stretch now son. I hope you can do it.” My dad said cheerily.

“There is something you must remember Patrick. Do not lose that girl, she loves you too much.” My mom said.

“I love you too silly.” Olive said.

“You could do it.” A deep thundering voice said and I almost ran into the opposite lane. I wasn’t expecting to hear that voice.

I got back on track and I got home safely. I walked into my apartment and thought about going to bed. I wasn’t that tired though, so I stayed up listening to music. I was listening to opera again and I thought of Olive.

All of a sudden, I was back in high school.

I was with Olive, and we were, and we were going…

We were going to the park. It was an awesome sunny day and Olive was holding my hand. We were running no one of the swings and I chased her. She was a little faster than me, but I didn’t care.

“Hurry up silly.” She crowed.

I laughed and said, “Alight then.”

I followed her to the swings and I picked her up. I kissed her fully on the lips and then I set her back down on the ground swiftly. She started to laugh.

“You’re a good kisser.” She said.

“I can prove again.” I said smartly.

“Go for it Superman.” And she pushed her chest up against me.

I kissed her again and I had an odd sensation of horror and disgust. I didn’t know why, but I went away as quickly as it came.

“I love you.” I said and we looked at each other.

“I love you too silly.” She said and kissed me again.

“I love you too silly.” Echoed in my mind.

I fell asleep on the couch almost instantly.

I woke up the next morning refreshed and relaxed. I called the hospital and asked about Olive. They said that she would be out of the hospital shortly.

I went over to the hospital and I picked her up.

The nurse waved and the smell of her perfume wafted in my car again, as if it had never left, after all those years.

“Long time, no see.” I said.

“Oh yes silly.” She said and we both laughed.

“You can stay in my apartment if you like.” I said quickly. I was hoping she would say yes.

“Why not?” She said and we both laughed again. We could never stop laughing.

It was noon when she moved into my apartment. I bought a blow up mattress she could sleep on and a few extra pillows. I made the bed comfortable for you. As we walked to the kitchen I bumped into her and she tripped. I caught her and held her in my arms for a slight moment.

“Oh.” I said, accidentally putting my hands in the wrong spot.

“Why’d you stop?” She asked.

“Stop what?” I asked.

“Squeezing.” She whispered and I got really embarrassed. My face got extremely red and she slugged me on the shoulder.

I fixed the spaghetti that evening and she enjoyed it much. We sat on the couch and watched some TV, until he turned it off.

“What?” I said and she looked at me funny.

“You know what we haven’t done in a long time?”

“What?” I said, but I already knew the answer.

We did it on the couch with the window blinds closed.

The couch was more noisy then usual that night.

“You ready?” Olive asked. She was standing at the door with her coat on. It was the winter of 2028. She had on a fur hat and some rubber gloves. Her hair was longer and the blonde dye had washed out many months before. I was standing in the hallway entrance checking my phone.

     “C’mon!” She said. It was almost dark. We were going ice skating.

     “Alright Lois Lane.” I said and I opened the door for her.

     It was her twenty seventh birthday, and I couldn’t mess it up like I had done the year before.

     I drove to the ice skating rink.

     It was pretty cold and there was snow falling, but not as fast as it had been earlier that day.

     I rented us some skates and then we went out onto the rink.

     “You’re going to fall.” She giggled.

     “Maybe.” I said, slipping a little bit.

     It turns out that she was the one who was going to fall. I skated too close to her and she panicked. I laughed a little bit as she did a half split, and then I helped her to her feet. She looked up at me and laughed for a very long time. I bet some people thought she was crazy, but I don’t think either of us scared at the least.

     I kissed her in the middle of the court and she kissed back. I smiled again, like always.

     “A year away now.” My dad whispered, and I didn’t understand what he meant.

     We went home that night on her birthday and made love on the couch.

     After that, I had a sense of horror. A deep down sad feeling and horrid feeling that something bad was going to happen.

     “How did you find me?” I asked.

     “That’s a long story.” She said.

     “I went to your mom’s house one day and apologized for everything. I asked her where you were staying and she told me.” She said giggling.

     “Sounds like my mom.” I said.

“Yep.” She said and rested her head on my shoulder.

“I love you Olive.” I said quietly, dozing off.

“I love you too Patrick.” She said.

“I’m going to the store.” Olive said.

It was Olive’s birthday again.

“Do you want to come?” She asked.

“No, it’s all right.” I said watching her. I had a sprained ankle from where we had skated the other day.

“I’m scared.” She said suddenly.

I got up, hobbled over to her and gave her a big hug.

“You could do it. You could come with me.” She said.

“Why are you scared?”

“I just have a bad feeling.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“It will be okay, I’ll be here when you get back. I will make some of my famous chicken noodle soup tonight to celebrate a special birthday!” I cheered.

She giggled and opened the door a little bit.

She looked back at me with eyes that were soothing.

“Bye.” She waved.

I waved back and the door closed gently behind her…

“Daddy, are we there yet?” Was the most common phrase of my ten-year-old daughter, Olive. She said every now and then as we drove on the highway.

“Almost silly.” I said looking back at her in the mirror. She rested her head back and scoffed. I smiled.

Angie looked over at me and asked, “Are we really going to visit your mother?”

“Yes, absolutely.” I said truthfully. She looked at me pleasantly and then rested her eyes. We still had a few hours until we got to North Carolina. We drove all the way down from Colorado.

We drove on and we soon reached Virginia. I had always wanted to live in Virginia, but it never really was a passion. I looked back at Olive again and was asleep. I put my watch on a timer so I could see the next time she woke up. Olive usually had a schedule of sleep. Every two hours awake and every five hours asleep on the car ride.

My watch clicked and beeped and it was done.

It wasn’t snowing yet, but it would be soon, so I drove little bit slower.

Angie hadn’t driven yet, but I wanted her to. She never really drove on long car rides. I was mainly the one who had to put the petal to the metal.

I stopped at a gas station soon enough because I had to go to the restroom. Over the past hours, we had been living off of junk food and caffeine.

I looked at myself and the mirror, and this time, I was expecting what I saw.

A burly looking thirty seven-year-old with a half a beard. It had taken a lot of grooming and work to grow it out ever since what happened to Olive. It was Olive’s birthday that day, and I wanted to make sure I got to her in time.

She never changed over the years, how could she anyway?

She was still the same, caring, and loving person I knew many and a many years ago.

My hair was back at nose length, just like it had been in tenth grade with Olive.

“With Olive.” I thought, and I smiled.

I would see her again that day.

I was wearing a jean jacket and some dark blue jeans. In my pocket was the poem I was supposed to give her many years before, along with the white rose. The white rose was tucked away in my jean jacket pocket, along with my wallet and phone. I walked back into the gas station convenience store and bought a couple things. I got a bottle of water, crackers, and some earbuds for Olive so she could be occupied the rest of the way there. I got a cup of coffee for Angie because I knew that she would need it, hell, I probably needed some too. I bought a pack of Airheads and was pleased with the flavor.

“Have a good rest of the day.” The clerk said.

“Thank you.” I said and walked out into the bitter cold. I loved the colder weather, don’t get me wrong, but it’s when the wind blows that I get agitated. Olive and Angie were standing outside the car stretching their legs. I figured that Angie had already filled up the gas tank.

“Daddy, how close are we?” Olive asked again.

I sighed and said, “We’ll be there shortly.”

“You said that last time.” Olive moaned.

Angie looked up at me and stifled a laugh. I gave her the mean eye.

“I know I did because it’s true.” I whispered and started tickling her. She started to giggle and squirm.

“Get back in the car silly.” I said, and I stopped tickling her. She went back to the car door and hopped in. I got min and revved the engine up. I turned on the radio and Olive and Angie started to sing my favorite song, Colder Weather.

I took the rose out of my pocket and smelled it, Olive’s scent was still there, after many years, and it was still there. It never left my side.

We drove on and on, and it seemed like forever.

I hadn’t seen my mom in ten years also. She mainly came to us to visit, but Angie and Olive had never been to my house. The last time I was at my house, and the park of course, was with Olive. The cemetery did expand during those years. It expanded so big that it took up some of the baseball outfield. No one ever used that baseball field anyway except teens who wanted to get their car stuck there.

I hummed the song under my breath and listened to the beat of the music. My trombone days were long gone, but I still had it back in Colorado. Every now and then I would play a couple tunes for Olive.

“You could have done it Patrick.” Was still in my head.

I couldn’t help but smile a little bit. It all made sense now. All the visions and whispers in my head, it all fir in. I had waited so many years for that moment, and it finally came right before we drove. After I realized what we were doing, I took in a deep breath of air and shouted. Angie was concerned and Olive started to cry, but I comforted them. I was so happy, and sad at the same time. I felt guilty too.

Angie and Olive didn’t know my real plan when we got to North Carolina. They had no idea who Olive was or what it was all for, I was the only one who knew.

The only one with the secret in my eyes.

I sat back in my chair, and for some reason, I wanted to cry. It had been so long since I’d seen Olive. Too long. I wiped my hand over my face and slapped myself a few times. I needed to wake up.

All of a sudden, I was reminded of Olive and the day she, the day she…

I stopped thinking.

“No, not that, she’s not gone. She’s in North Carolina near my mom.” I thought.

I nodded and kept driving, but the thought kept coming back. It didn’t want to cease.

I sighed and put the car on auto-drive. Auto-drive was a real thing in the future where the car would drive itself for only a few minutes if the driver needed a break. I stretched my legs out and turned around to see Olive.

“Hey there silly.” I said.

“Daddy, what are we doing other than going to see grandma?” She asked nosily.

“How did she know we were doing something else?” I thought. It was very unsettling to hear her say that.

“Well, we’ll go eat out and see a movie with grandma.” I said smiling.

“I had a dream about it Daddy, it was vivid.”

“What was the dream?”

“It was us standing in the snow out in some graveyard. There was another person with us, and she was standing next to you.” She said shyly.

My stomach dropped, “Who was this person?” I asked.

“It was a girl, with long brown hair and hazel eyes. She said that she had the same name as me.” She said.

I turned back around and put the car off auto-drive.

“Sounds cool.” I said.

I looked over at the passenger seat and Angie was listening to us too.

“Is that where we’re going?” Olive asked.

“Going where?” I asked.

“A graveyard.” She said.

I looked over at Angie and she looked concerned. As I said, neither of them knew what the plan was that I had. I was reminded of that day in winter. That day that the accident happened ten years earlier exactly.

The door was closing, closing gently, it closed gently behind…

The door closed gently behind her. I turned back around and started to watch some TV. It was late in the afternoon and the sun was starting to set. My ankle started to throb a little bit and I winced at the pain. I rubbed it gently and turned the TV off, I was uninterested.

“Why did Olive have a bad feeling? What could happen?” I thought curiously.

I sat in the apartment, along with the silence, and then, the silence was broken.

It was broken by a gunshot.

I panicked and I put on my brace. I hobbled over to get my coat and scrambled out the door. I went down the elevator and stopped in the street. Cars were stopping and people were crowding around a spot in the sidewalk. The sidewalk was slippery with ice and slush.

I could see a man running in the distance, and it looked a lot like her former boyfriend. The one that attacked her in her apartment that one day when I saved her.

As I got nearer, I saw a bloody hand on the ground and Olive’s face.

I shoved people aside and knelt down next to her.

She had been shot once and it was in the stomach. Blood was seeping through her fingers and I was frantically trying to stop it. I pulled a few napkins out of here purse that was lying beside her.

“It’s going to be okay.” I said.

People just looked at me, dumbfounded and shocked.

“Somebody, call 911!” I shouted, but people just stood there like statues.

I pulled out my phone but it slipped through my fingers and skidded out on the road. It was crushed seconds later.

“Shit.” I breathed and tried to soothe Olive.

“It will be okay.” I said starting to cradle her.

Her breathing was starting to get shallow, and I could hear gurgling noises in her throat. I was afraid that she was going to die in my arms right there.

It started to snow.

Her hand was cold as I held it in mine.

Then, I felt another cold hand brush up against my face. I looked down and it was hers. It was bloody. She was staring at me with scared and frightened eyes.

“It’s okay.” She choked.

“No, don’t go.” I said and started to cry.

“I… love…-”

She didn’t finish the sentence. I saw the hazel eyes fade and the eyelids closed shut, as if God was making this as slow and painful as possible.

Her hand fell limp and there was blood smeared on my beard.

“No.” I whispered. I cried and cradled her in my arms. I was expecting her to wake up at any moment, but she didn’t. She died right there in my arms. In the cold falling snow.

The ambulance came and took her away.

They told me to stay where I was. I was still on the ground, crying and mourning. A few people started to walk away, and then all of them did. I was alone again.

Alone.

All alone, with no one to comfort me.

“I could have saved her. I could have done it.” I thought.

“You could have done it.” Olive whispered in my head.

I pounded the ground with my fist and cried even more.

I had lost her all over again, and this time, she would not be coming back. Not then, not ever. Nothing the same.

“We’re here!” I shouted and it echoed in the car. Olive started to scream excitedly and Angie calmed her down. I pulled past Olive’s house slowly, trying to catch a glimpse of the park beyond it.

“Finally.” Olive breathed, and I smiled.

As we got closer to my mom’s house, I started to get nervous. What if Olive wasn’t there? What if she was moved?

I turned and we parked in the parking lot.

“Honey, is this your mom’s house?” Angie asked.

“No.” I said, getting out of the car.

I helped Olive out of the car and she stood beside me while I buttoned up my jacket. I started to hum Colder Weather underneath my breath. I thought of the final lyrics.

Olive held my hand and we started to walk down the hill.

 Angie was right beside me with her hands in her pockets. She had her hoodie up and the snow was falling gently.

“Perfect.” I thought.

We entered the cemetery and Olive started to breathe heavily.

“It’s alright.” I said, squeezing her hand. She squeezed my hand a little tighter and we walked on. We soon reached the spot in the outfield. The spot that I had always known about. The spot that was in all my dreams and visions. She was still here, and I could feel her presence. I stopped in front of the grave and kneeled down.

“Who is this honey?” Angie asked while putting her hood down.

I ignored her.

“I brought my family with me today Olive, I meant to bring them earlier, and I hope you can understand that.” I said aloud.

“I know that it has been a long time, but we’re here again. In fact, you never really left. I keep on thinking of your last words, and it brings tears to my eyes every time.” I said, tearing up.

I took out the poem and the rose.

“I never got the chance to give these to you, but here they are now.” I said, full out crying now.

I scoped a spot in the snow and placed the rose there. I piled the snow back, and for a moment, I could have sworn I saw the rose glint gold.

For a moment, I could see Olive’s face in the rose.

I put the poem on top of the grave.

“I’ve tried to live up to your expectations. You always told me to stop worrying and all that stuff. You always told me to live my life.” I said, putting my hands on my knees.

“I don’t know if I will ever live up to your expectations Olive. I don’t know if marrying another has made it different or having a child. I love them with all my heart, and I hope you can understand that.

It’s been such a long day without you. I’ve spent my whole life living up to this moment, and I’m glad you’re here with me.” I said finally.

“I love you Olive, everything the same.”

I stood up and my knees were soaked from the snow.

“Are you alright daddy?” Olive asked, walking up to me.

“Yes silly.” I said and hugged her. She hugged me back. Angie was staring at me with tear filled eyes and I nodded. I stood there for a moment and told Angie and Olive to head back to the car.

It was just Olive and I then. I felt another presence, and it was good.

As I walked back to the car, with Olive and Angie hurrying along in my wake, I could have sworn I smelled something other than the cold. I think it might have been flowers. I think it might have been roses.