Variation - W.M.

Chapter 73 - January 20, 2017

The night after my fight with Wanda I found it impossible to fall asleep, spending an hour laying in the dark before deciding to watch the Air Bud movies. I wasn't exactly sure why I was struggling to sleep although I had narrowed it down to either the thoughts flashing through my head or the noticeably empty spot beside me where Wanda usually slept.

I spent the most of the next day watching the seven subsequent movies that followed Air Bud's puppies, deciding to avoid any chance of an encounter with Wanda, or anyone else for that matter. Eventually I realized I would have to sleep so I made use of the sleeping pills in my bedside table for the first time in a while and sent myself to sleep.

The only problem with falling asleep at five in the afternoon, though, is that I was up and rested at three in the morning, leaving me stranded in the dark pondering the fight I had been distracting myself from.

Those early morning thoughts soon snowballed and by the time noon rolled around I found myself shifting anxiously in front of an old woman, biting my lip as I tried to remind myself how stupid this was. I had only meant to pass by the school and continue on my way but I blinked and found myself walking into the front office of the elementary school with my face altered to match the version of me in this timeline. I couldn't seem to stop myself as the request to pull Oscar for an appointment left my mouth in a rush of words and I simply watched as the woman clicked a few things on her computer and looked me over before picking up the phone to call whatever class he was in, handing me a piece of paper to sign out the boy.

"Livi!"

I froze at the sound of the small voice, my heart forgetting how to beat as he popped into view. His hair was wild and a mess of blonde curls fell into his face as he gave me a lopsided grin that showcased the gap in his top teeth from a missing tooth. A small binder was gripped tightly in his hands and I felt a wave of relief rush through me as a memory of my own brother gushing about the avengers surfaced. The boy didn't seem to register my shock as he moved past me and towards the door, rambling distractedly about school and friends. I quickly caught up to him, a small smile drifting onto my face as I listened to him, my heart warming from the proximity to him. Deep down I knew that he was different than the brother I had raised but that little boy hadn't made it to this point. He had never gotten to be in second grade. So I let go of the differences and let myself fall into the blonde's chattering monologue, allowing myself to believe that this is how my brother would have been, even if it wasn't true.

"Why did you take me out?" Oscar asked, breaking my dreamy daze and I smiled at him, shrugging.

"I just wanted to spend the day with you. I thought maybe we could get some lunch and go to the arcade" I proposed and he nodded happily, clearly not about to argue when it got him out of school. I bit my lip, hesitating a little before clearing my throat. "Also I want to play a game with you."

He furrowed his brows, looking up at me questioningly. "What game?"

"Pretend I'm from another universe and I came all this way to meet you and you have just this one day to tell me everything about you before I go back to my own world." I said before quickly throwing in "and part of this game is that we can do anything you want to do today."

"Can we eat ice cream for lunch" he asked eagerly, his eyes sparkling and I laughed, nodding. He had always loved eating ice cream when it was cold out, something I never quite understood.

"Alright, alright. Ice cream for lunch it is."

Oscar grinned widely, reaching out and grabbing my hand before swinging it as we walked. "Did you know that I'm the best in Spanish class?"

"Wow, really?" I asked, blinking the tears out of my eyes quickly.

"Uh-huh. Do they have Spanish in your universe?"