Convergence

Chapter 2 continued

He chuckled. I was beginning to get used to his weird insights into my thoughts. It didn’t feel intrusive, as it probably should have, it just felt natural; like he should know.

          “I’m starting to think that you're my long lost brother or something.”

          “Ha, yeah because we look so much alike.”

                     At this I had to laugh. We looked like total opposites: my skin was white as a sheet and splattered with freckles, while his was a smooth glowing caramel color. Sam let out a breathy laugh and stared back at the road. We were silent for what seemed like a long time.

                     “So, what’s your last name?” it suddenly hit me that he knew a lot about my life, but I knew nothing about his.

                     “Bellenger, and before you ask, I have two brothers, we live with our mom.”

                     “Bellenger? Are you—“

                     “French? Yea, my dad was, but my mom’s from Spain.

                     “Was?”

                     “Yeah.” His position stiffened. “He died five years ago, cancer.”

                     “Oh, I’m sorry.” I felt bad; I shouldn’t have asked.

                     “It’s ok. I’ve had a long time to come to terms with it. It was his time to go you know? In the end, he was so sick that it was almost a blessing that he went when he did.”

I didn’t respond. I didn’t need to. I watched his expression change back from grief stricken to peaceful and then he changed the subject.

                     “So, my family’s really excited to meet you.”

                     “What?! You told your family about this?”

                     “Well yeah, as soon as I started having the dreams.”

                     “Did they think I was real too?”

                     “Well not exactly…”

His pause made me anxious.

                     “What do you mean not exactly?”

                     “Well, it’s kind of a long story…”

                     He sighed uncomfortably as a look of guilt came across his face.

                     “I have plenty of time.”

He looked out at the road, trying to avoid eye contact.

                     “Well I mentioned that I was having recurring dreams about a girl a few weeks ago and no one thought much of it.” He paused and looked over at me, his guilty expression becoming more dominant with every word. “And then last night when I told them I had to leave to rescue you… well…”

                     “Yes?”

                     “Well. They all sort of made a bet on whether you were real or not.” He spoke quickly as though he were trying to escape the words. He looked back over to me expecting a quick reaction, but I wanted to let him dangle on the edge for a little while longer.

                     “And?” I said.

                     “What do you mean and?” He looked confused.

I lifted my left leg onto the seat and shifted my torso toward him. This motion seemed to make him uncomfortable, like he thought I was going to attack him or something.

                     “What were the bets?” I asked calmly. His face contorted into a shocked expression and then he looked away from me, back at the road.

                     “Well…” he began hesitantly, “Adam, my oldest brother, bet twenty that you weren’t real, and my youngest brother James bet five.”

                     “Huh. They don’t seem to have much faith in you do they.”

He looked relieved. I think he had been expecting me to be offended, but I was actually amused by the bet. My family would never let me go off on my own to find some imaginary guy, and his made a joke of it.

                     “My mom does.” There was a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

                     “She bet too?” I was astounded. I leaned forward in my seat and scooted back so I could sit upright.

                     “Yeah.” He laughed. “She bet fifty that I would find you and bring you back.”

                     “So it runs in your family.”

                     “What does.”

                     “Psychic powers!” I leaned over and wiggled my fingers at him. He pushed me back and we both laughed. I started to get excited to meet his family. They seemed interesting; they countered my own idea of family.