The One He's Not

An Epilogue

 An Epilogue

I watched her as she ran through the field, bundles of flowers in her hand. I could hear her mother calling out to her from the house, but the little spit fire decided to ignore her all together.

Man, they really were like twins.

I hadn’t been by lately, but nothing really had changed much. The Wall was down to rubble, Pretty Boy still visited from time to time (maybe a little too much) and our dream home was still in the works.

Gingy had decided to build the antique haunted house right in the middle of our field and even from beyond the grave, I was weary. She made this decision when she was as big as a beach ball and I told her that it wasn’t a good idea. She didn’t listen to me…

My mother was over for lunch and I could hear her yelling for little pipsqueak to come inside.

“Aria! Come in dear, your mother made dinner!”

Pipsqueak smiled at the sound of her grandmother’s voice and with one drop of the flowers, she ran towards the house. I chuckled at that. So much like her mother.

I walked though the old field and listened to the family’s conversations. My mother was talking about Aubrey’s second child, Freddy, and how it was his third birthday tomorrow. They were going to throw a party and that was something that I was planning to crash. I wouldn’t miss a good party and besides, it wasn’t like I was going to go unnoticed.

“Mom, can I go now?”

“Aria, please. Just eat lunch and sit for a second, will you?”

“But please mom, I’m supposed to meet someone!”

Her mother paused and a silence fell throughout the house. “Who are you meeting?”

I could sense Aria’s nervousness, but I was hoping that she used that little brain of hers (and the plan that we made up for when her mother would start asking questions).

“Nick!” Aria chirped. “I’m going to meet Nick!”

“Haven’t you been seeing this ‘Nick’ a little too much?” Kat was skeptical, just like I knew she would. Come on pipsqueak, on to plan B.

Aria didn’t miss a beat. “He’s my imaginary friend mom, he’s not real!”

I smiled. Atta girl, just like we rehearsed.

I could hear Kat’s defeated sigh from across the field. “Dear, you’re thirteen. Aren’t you a little old for… imaginary friends?”

Plan C, Aria. Report to plan C!

“Mom seriously, let me hang on to my youth for just a little longer, okay? I’m not going to do drugs in the forest, so you’re safe.”

Well, okay, that wasn’t plan C, but it was close enough. Man, that kid was too smart for her own good. That’s something that she also inherited from her mother.

Kat hesitated, but I could already hear Aria leaving the house. “Please be careful. And Aria, I trust you okay? I’m just worried that-“

“Mom, I’ll be fine. See you guys later!”

Aria hopped down the steps and picked up her now limp flower bundle off of the ground. She walked over to the oak tree, also known as ‘The meeting spot’, before popping a squat to wait for me. I didn’t want to keep her waiting, so I came out of view from the neighbouring trees and smiled when she didn’t even flinch at my presence.