pieces | ethma

coincidences

Ethan

I can't tell if I love or fucking hate coincidences.

Coincidences sometimes confuse the hell out of me. There's a lot of coincidences I wonder about.

Is it just a coincidence that I'm currently in this lifetime?

How does the universe choose the life we're living? How will it choose the next one? How does it choose who we are, when we live, where we end up, and why we are the way we are?

Is it a coincidence that one of the people in my life that I loved dearly was kidnapped when she was in Kindergarten? Why was she the one being kidnapped? Who chose her to be a victim, and why?

Her name was Layne Robertson, but I called her Laynie. She was my Laynie. I was half a year older than her, so I was in first grade when she was in Kindergarten. I can't believe I lost my best friend in first fucking grade. That's so unfair. Life is unfair sometimes, but why this level of unfairness?

Laynie and I were next-door neighbors. She lived with both of her parents, who weren't really the best. Her father was an alcoholic who was also abusive to her mother (although I have no idea if Laynie suffered from his anger issues), and her mother was deeply depressed due to the way Laynie's dad treated her.

Then one day, Laynie just disappeared. She didn't get off the school bus with my brother Grayson and I. Apparently her teacher assumed she'd been picked up for a doctor's appointment or something when she didn't return from recess.

She was five fucking years old. I still miss her so much.

I'm a high school senior this year, which means Layne would've been a junior. She would've loved singing in the choir, or being the star of a drama production. She used to make Grayson and I practice "shows" with her in our backyard, and she'd always have the lead role.

I refuse to believe that she's dead. I feel it in my heart and soul that Laynie is out there alive. Grayson's the opposite. He won't budge from his opinion that she's been missing long enough that wherever she is, she's gone. The county deemed it a cold case after five years. I'll always still look for Laynie. Even if it means watching for someone who looks like her.

Grayson thinks I'm insane whenever I say that Emma Chamberlain could play Laynie in a movie. He always tells me to stop analyzing her every time one of her movies gets released.

Emma's eyes are exactly like Laynie's were, and Grayson won't admit it. Other than that, she doesn't look much like Laynie. Maybe I'd know if she was Laynie. Emma can't be Laynie. She can't be. We would've known.

Emma made her acting debut when she was nine years old, and she was in a family sitcom. She played the youngest daughter (out of three kids), and she was an awesome actress from the beginning. Her career shot up to huge success when she was in a movie with Pete Davidson and Colin Jost. She played Pete's daughter, and it was a great movie. She started acting in numerous tv series', and a bunch of movies.

People our age love Emma. She's the actress every girl at school wishes they could be. They all dress up as her characters for Halloween. The theater is usually packed whenever a new film of Emma's premieres.

My personal favorite movie she's been in was one from last year, where she played a badass teen race car driver. It was called The Chase, and it got her two Oscar nominations.

And her seventh Oscar. She's sixteen fucking years old, and this girl has seven Oscars. Some actors don't even get one in their entire career.

Emma's not even an adult yet.

The first day of school this year is like any other, most people in my grade celebrating the fact that we're seniors this year.

My first class of the day is an elective that any grade can take, but it usually ends up being mostly juniors and seniors. I walk to the back of the classroom, sitting down in the second to last seat available. I'm not really paying attention to the person who sits in the desk next to mine until I see the whole class turn to look at her in my peripheral vision.

I look up, then to my left and I see Emma Chamberlain. Or a girl who could pass as Emma's clone. Or her twin. I just know this girl is exactly like the girl from all of Emma's movies.

Her eyes travel the room as if she's used to people staring at her. I look back down at my notebook, minding my own business. I'm sure she came to this school to have somewhat of a normal experience, so I'm not going to be the one to make it un-normal.

When the teacher asks if there's any new students in the class, Emma looks at me as if she's asking me what to do. I nod, so she raises her hand. The teacher tells her to introduce herself, so she stands up.

"Hi, everyone. My name is Emma, and I recently moved here to New Jersey from West Hollywood, California. I'm a junior this year, and I'm seventeen years old. I grew up acting, but I'm currently taking a break to live my last teenage years strictly as me."

"It's nice to have you, Emma," the teacher says. Emma sits back down, and the class erupts in questions, but the teacher shuts it down.

"Class, now is not the time to bombard Miss Chamberlain with questions she probably doesn't want to answer. I'm going to be going over the syllabus, so pay attention."

"Hey," Emma whispers. "Do you know where the science building is?"

"Yeah," I say. "My next class is there, so you can walk with me if you want."

Emma nods. "Thank you so much. And thanks for treating me like a human being."

I smile and furrow my brows at the same time. "What do you mean?"

"You're the only one who didn't stare at me for five minutes when I sat down."

"You deserve to be treated like a normal person, because you are. You've just been through different experiences as everyone else. There's no reason I shouldn't treat you like a person."

She smiles. "Thank you. What's your name?"

"Ethan," I say. "It's nice to meet you, Emma. I promise I won't ask for your autograph."

She laughs this time. "Thank you. Do you know how many phone cases I've signed in the last year?"

"I can only imagine," I say. "I've never signed a phone case."

"If you're lucky, maybe I'll let you sign mine."

I smile. "Are we becoming friends?"

"As long as you don't sell my private information online. What school I go to, where I live. My social security number," she says. The smile on her face tells me that she likes being funny.

"Emma, if I had you social security number, that would be your fault."

She laughs. "True. So, I guess I just made my first school friend."

I jokingly roll my eyes, pretending to be annoyed. "I guess I'm stuck with you, Chamberlain."

"Yep," she says. "You can run, but you can't hide."