Visions of Fate

6. BEYOND REASON

There was a knock on the front door, about five minutes after Mrs Müller's departure. Mom had scurried off to her room to freshen up for her work while I was in the kitchen, preparing an all too sugary cereal for breakfast.

I strolled to the front door and opened it to meet a weary faced Ethan who smiled at me with a hand tucked in his pocket. His disheveled blonde hair laid damp over his eyes and I assumed that they had just been washed. But what really caught my attention was the eerily familiar uniform he had on, consisting of a deep red pants and blazer that overshadowed a white button up.

His shoe glistened against the morning sunlight as the school bag he clutched resonated too much of a student ambiance, everything coming together to bring an uncomfortable feeling that didn't settle well at the pit of my stomach.

"Hey babe," he greeted with a brief kiss on my lips, before allowing himself in. I shut the door behind him and trailed at his tail as he settled himself on a couch, dumping his rucksack beside him.

I sat on the opposite couch, eyeing his figure warily. I tried not to linger too much on the odd familiarity of his outfit. "What did you tell your parents?" I spoke up.

"Don't worry, everything's covered," he replied brushing his hands through his hair in impatience. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

I opened my mouth to give my reply, when Mom's voice increasingly echoed from upstairs as she gradually made an appearance. "Hey honey, I'll be off to work now," she seemed too fixated on an item into her tote bag as she spoke. "I left some lasagna in the fridge, so you can just microwave it later and–" she cut herself short when at the end of the staircase, noticing Ethan's presence for the first time.

"Ethan!" She shrieked, seeming more shocked than delighted. "Why aren't you in school today?"

My heart raced in my chest as I looked over at Ethan for his answer, knowing fully well we hadn't gotten enough time to discuss the contents of his excuse. Ethan however, didn't skip a beat in his response.

"I'm so sorry to have frightened you Mrs Walker. My school announced a brief lockdown a little too late, due to some disease breakout. Having nowhere else to go from there, I decided to head over here to see my lovely girlfriend," he threw me a sheepish smile and I gave him a discreet nod of approval. I was impressed.

"Oh I'm so sorry about that, dear," Mom, being the nurse she was, handled the situation with empathy. "You can go ahead and enjoy your day, then. Just don't do anything I would advise against." She walked over to the living room and planted a kiss on my forehead. "Love you honey. See you later. Bye Ethan," and then she was out the door, leaving Ethan and I buried within a familiar weight of silence.

I tucked my hair behind my ear and waited for Ethan to speak up first, still unsure as to whether he wanted to revisit the topic at hand or just shy away from it entirely. I picked the edges of my chipped nail, biting my lips in agitation.

"You still haven't answered my question," five years later, Ethan spoke up and I glanced up at him again to meet his piercing blue eyes gazing right into my soul. "What dream did you have about me that was so important?"

"It wasn't about you, Ethan," I shook my head. "It was about your dad." I paused, allowing my words to sink in turn by turn. If I was willing to win him over, I had to fight against his skepticism with good enough tactics.

"I don't understand," he adjusted himself on the couch, irritably. "You don't even know how my dad looks like in first place, and I don't suppose these vision of yours identified every unknown individual just for your own clarity–"

"He's not too tall," I cut in. "About 5'9 give or take. He has a round belly and a faint stubble on his cheeks. And he looks exactly like you, just slightly chubbier and older." I added, watching as a swirl of emotions danced on Ethan's face.