Never Underestimate Destiny

Part 3

(Friday, October 20)

Zan barely slept.

He'd been up practically the entire night thinking about the unexpected events at The Crashdown Café, and trying to figure out what he should do.

After he and Ava had left the Café they'd checked into a motel, and he'd lain awake, excited but cautious. He'd never been in love before.

Of course he'd thought about love. Everyone wanted to find someone they could be happy with, and he'd been told from the time he was a child that Ava was his love, his destiny.

He'd known almost from the beginning that it wasn't true, and he had waited for the woman he could truly love.

Last night he'd found her.

He didn't know anything about her, not even her name, but he knew it was meant to be. Some cosmic force had brought him to Roswell, and to that Café where she worked so he could meet her.

He longed to discover everything about her, but he had to be careful and not scare her. It was probable that she knew the other clone who looked like him, Max, and it would be difficult to explain their identical appearance.

So when Zan had gotten up, he'd gone back to the Café to simply observe from outside. But he was disappointed that his dark – haired girl wasn't working.

He'd known it was unlikely since she'd closed the night before, but he hoped he might see her. He also thought she might be in school. She had appeared to be about his age, and most seventeen year olds were in school.

Zan had dropped out when he was fourteen, preferring to study and learn on his own, and he'd gotten his GED when he was fifteen. He was curious about everything and until recently he'd felt it was his duty to learn as much as possible to make himself a better leader when he eventually returned to Antar.

But now he knew he wasn't the king.

The informer had told him that fact, along with his other revelations, and Zan knew it was as true as all the other information he'd been given.

Suddenly, a door on the side of The Crashdown opened, and his dark – haired girl emerged into this bright, morning sunlight.

Zan was surprised. He'd thought he might see her working, but he instantly took in her clothes and large book bag and knew she was heading to school.

He couldn't figure out what she was doing at the Café, and then he had a sudden thought. Did she live in the building?

She walked quickly down to the corner and turned, and Zan kept her in sight, following behind her on the other side street. He wondered if she walked to school but she went directly to a bus stop.

Zan jogged back to where he'd left the Mustang and pulled around the block, parking in the shade of an alley so he could see the bus when it came. He knew it was stupid. His dark – haired girl was going to school, and he couldn't follow her inside, but he just needed to keep her in sight as long as possible, and he needed to see where she spent her days.

As she stood waiting, he was able to take his time looking at her. She was small, and not just short. She was a tiny person. Her long hair was loose today and cascaded down around her shoulders. Even from the distances he could tell her skin was like porcelain, and he wished he could see the color of her eyes.

She was beautiful, but that's not why he was drawn to her. There was something unusual about her, something he'd never seen or sensed in anyone else. He wanted to get closer to her, to talk to her, and maybe he'd be able to figure it out.