Secret Jewel of the Ocean

Chapter 5

A mere image of an elderly version of Jewel stood directly in front of me.

"Who-Who are you?" I stuttered, instinctively backing away from an older Jewel.

The lady smiled and tilted her head to the side. "Well, take a good look at me," she said matter-of-factly. Her blue eyes glistened exactly as Jewel's always did.

I didn't say anything. Neither did Jewel.

We continued to stare at the woman, completely perplexed.

The elderly lady did not leave us alone. "Come on, now. I know you know who I am..." As she said this, her blue eyes were glued to my light brown eyes. I glanced away awkwardly.

"Maybe she's a friend of your grandma's," Jewel offered in a hushed voice.

I shook my head. I didn't know any of my grandmother's friends, and I highly doubted that any of them knew me either.

"Her name is Jewel."

Jewel and I whipped our heads towards the deep voice to see a man who appeared to be in his fourties. He was wearing jeans and a button-up dress shirt. I noticed that he wasn't drinking or eating a thing. "How did you know my name is Jewel?" Jewel asked cautiously, terrified of the answer she'd receive.

The man stood up and sauntered towards us. "I didn't."

"Wait, what...?" I asked, completely lost in the conversation. "You just told me that her name was Jewel. How did you know that?" I demanded, needing an answer to these weird coincidences.

Jewel looked at the guy expectantly. "I wasn't referring to your friend here," he said, looking down upon Jewel and me as though we were little ants racing across the floor.

Jewel furrowed her eyebrows and l turned towards the lady. "Wait..." Jewel started, cocking her head to the side. "Is...your name-"

"Jewel," the woman answered quickly, extending her fragile arm to my Jewel. "Nice to meet you." She beamed as though nothing out of the ordinary was occuring.

I stepped in, demanding explanations. "Woah, woah, woah..." I said, shaking my head. "What is going on?" Jewel nodded slowly in agreement, looking to me for help.

"There is nothing going on, kid," the man told me simply.

"What do you mean there is 'nothing' going on? Who are you? Who is she?" I pointed to the elderly Jewel.

"My name is John. Her name is Jewel."

I stood there with nothing to say. The man and the old lady made things seem so normal, but something was off. I could sense it.

"But Jewel is a really rare name. I go to a huge high school back at home with about five-hundred kids per grade, yet none of them are named Jewel. Besides me..."

Older Jewel smirked with a closed mouth and nodded softly, as if to understand something that I didn't even know was taking place. "Ah, it was bound to happen," she said quietly.

"What was bound to happen?" Jewel and I said in unison, looking at each other warily.

"You mean for her to actually find someone else with the same name as her?" I continued, confused as ever. Things were getting more and more complicated to figure out on that vacation within seconds.

The lady looked up at the man, then back at Jewel and me. "Something like that."

"Wait a minute. Are you 'The Jewel'?" my Jewel asked. "As in, the owner of this ice cream parlor?"

"I sure am."

I sighed. I still found the entire situation sketchy.

"Speaking of..." Older Jewel continued. "I'll let you two eat in peace." She smiled with agreat look of pleasure on her face.

I looked around the store a bit and noticed that John was gone.

"Wait, where did-" I began to ask.

"Remember." Older Jewel looked deep into my eyes. "It was bound to happen. It is bound to happen. It will happen."

"What will happen?" my Jewel piped in, full of a mix of curiosity and concern.

Older Jewel shook her head. "You'll always have your sweet escape," she told my Jewel and walked away before we could even ask one more question.

I gulped. "What do you think that was all about?" I asked my Jewel after Older Jewel had left.

She waved her hand carelessly. "Oh, it's nothing, I'm sure. You know old people. Very confused and dilusional."

"But what about you guys' sharing a name?" I demanded on, tucking a stray peice of my hair behind my ear.

"Oh, I'm positive that was just a coincidence..." Jewel said, although I knew she was unsure as well. Whenever she felt mixed feelings about anything, she always hid it. Especially for my sake. "I think it was kinda funny, actually."

I narrowed my eyes. "How is this funny? It's freaky! I mean, first it's the story my grandma told us, then the name of the store, a mysterious man who appears and disappears out of nowhere, an elderely woman who resembles you way too well and has the same name as you, plus random words of advice given to us from people we don't even know...And you think it's a coincidence?" The words stumbled out of me so quickly that I had to catch my breath. There were two boys, both about ten-ears-old, who started chuckling at my desperation. I shot them a dirty glare.

"April, calm down! Everything is fine! Nothing is going on...I'm sure of it. I mean, how would two random people know so much about our future? And don't tell me they're psychic. I don't believe in fortune tellers and that such."

"How can I help you?" a teenage boy voice asked from behind the counter at Jewel's Sweet Escape. I almost forget what we were there for until I examined the ice cream flavors in front of me.

Without looking up at the boy, I ordered two rootbeer floats, Jewel's and my favorite snack. Especially during the summer. "Anyways, this whole thing is stupid. Nothing to worry about," Jewel finished.

"Here you go, girls," the boy said as he handed us our floats.

"Thank y-" I stopped mid sentence because when I looked up at the boy, I couldn't speak.

There was something about him.

I didn't know what it was. All I knew what that I sensed some type of vibe from him. Positive? Negative? I didn't know.

But it was a strong vibe.

The boy laughed as he handed us back our change after paying. "No problem."

I turned away from the mysterious boy with dark black hair and bright green eyes, Jewel right by my side.

"Enjoy you're sweet escape."