"Wait..." Rae said, stopping Elissa.
"What is it...?" Elissa asked.
"You said...the little boy's name was...what again?" he asked her, his eyes wide.
"His name was...Ryan..." Elissa sighed, looking down at her feet. "Let me just say right now...I'm sorry...very, very sorry, Rae."
"And the oldest brother...was named Matt?" he asked.
Elissa nodded, saying, "And the mother was...Mrs. Irving..."
Rae sat there for a little while, not moving, not saying anything. He finally looked up, and looked at Elissa. "Looks like...we were actually connected before I came over to you at lunch," he said, smiling at her.
"You're not...mad?" Elissa asked, looking at him confused.
"It was destiny. That's all I have to say," Rae said, looking down to the floor.
"I'm sorry, Rae...I didn't..." Elissa started.
"Quit apologizing!" Rae yelled, standing up suddenly.
Elissa jumped back a little when he said this. Her eyes grew wide, and she stuttered, "B-but...Rae...I didn't m-mean to..."
"Just...stop," Rae said.
"I'm sorry..." Elissa muttered without thinking, and then realized what she said, and then apologized for that.
"Elissa...!" Rae yelled, just to snap her out of her mumbling state.
Elissa looked up at Rae, her eyes still wide, and she didn't say anything.
"Listen...I'll be back, okay?" Rae said, leaving his room.
Elissa slowly nodded her head, and said, "Okay..." in a very silent voice. She watched Rae leave, and she sighed. "Why...why did it have to be his brother? Was it really destiny? Or was it...just a coincidence? Maybe it wasn't even supposed to happen to begin with...Maybe my whole life is really just screwed up. Maybe I was just an accident..." Elissa thought to herself, and by the time she finished her last sentence, tears were starting to fill up her eyes, and pour down. She heard a knock on the door, and she got up, and wiped her tears away, but more kept coming. "H-hello...?" she asked in a shaky voice.
"Elissa...?" Elissa heard a sad, feminine voice come from behind the door.
"Y-yes...?" she asked, still trying to wipe away all of her tears.
"May I come in?" the voice asked.
Elissa went to the door, and opened it, looking down to the ground. "I know...you don't want me here...I'm sorry, but Rae insisted on me staying. I'll be leaving in a little while. I'm just going to finish telling Rae something, and you won't ever see me again..."
"Oh, honey..." Mrs. Irving said, going towards Elissa, and swallowing her in a warm embrace. "Don't leave, okay? You mean the world to Rae. And maybe my husband and I just jumped to conclusions before finding out the whole story. We're very sorry, and you can stay here as long as you want."
"But...it's my entire fault..." Elissa started.
"No...no it's not..." she comforted, pulling back a little, and wiping Elissa's tears away. "Why are you crying?"
"Just...it's nothing..." Elissa said, pulling away, and gathering her things.
"You dont have to leave, you know?" Mrs. Irving said. "You do know that if you leave, you'll be breaking my son's heart, right?"
Elissa stopped what she was doing, and looked back at Mrs. Irving, with tears still in her eyes. "I don't think...it'll hurt him too much right now..." Elissa sighed.
"Why do you say that?" Mrs. Irving asked, confused.
"He just now...found something out..." Elissa started.
"What happened...?" Mrs. Irving asked, going towards the bed, and sitting down on it, motioning for Elissa to follow her.
Elissa sighed, and sat down next to her. "Your son, Ryan..." she started.
Mrs. Irving smiled, and a tear started forming in her eye. "So, you know who he is, now?"
"You...don't remember anything?" Elissa asked, confused.
"I don't remember what? I remember almost everything exactly. There was a girl who came to warn me about it, but I just thought she was some cra-..." Mrs. Irving started, and then her eyes grew wide, and she didn't say anything.
"You remember now, don't you?" Elissa asked.
Mrs. Irving nodded her head, and finally said, "You...tried to warn me...Why didn't I listen to you?" She started breaking down crying.
Elissa sighed, and hung her head. "I'm sorry...I tried my hardest to change his mind...he's just so...stubborn."
"Why didn't you come over, and talk to me about it when I offered it at first?" Mrs. Irving asked, now getting a little angry.
"Because...he threatened that he would kill whoever I told...I couldn't let anyone die because of me...but looks like it happened anyway..." Elissa sighed, tears now streaming down her cheeks.
Mrs. Irving just stayed silent for a while, and then finally got up, and went outside the room, where she leaned up against the wall, and started bawling.
Elissa looked down at the floor, and clutched a shirt she had had from gathering her things. "It won't even hurt him...or his family...if I left..." she sighed through tears, and stood up, once again gathering her things. "I was just a mistake...none of this should have happened. That little boy should be here now, instead of me. There's no way that everything that has happened was actually supposed to...there's no such thing as fate or destiny. Even if there was...it got screwed up when that little kid saw my father beat me. It'd be better if I just left this place, and walked out on their lives. But what would it change? It's not like he will take my place or anything..." Elissa thought out loud. For a few minutes, she gathered her things, and thought about all of the different things going through her mind. She heard someone come in through the door, but it didn't faze her. She just kept gathering her things until she felt a hand grab her wrist when she was throwing a pair of pants behind her, near her backpack. Her eyes grew wide, and she didn't move or say anything.
"Stop..." she heard a voice coming from behind her.
