Ethan looks at me, deep into my eyes. Grabbing my hand he says, “Don’t fall for it,” he looks down at our hands. I can see in his eyes this is the most vulnerable he’s ever been. How can he be so sure now when it all changes in a second.
“Fall for what?” I ask only half confused, I think I know what he means.
“For him,” he says, tilting his head towards Mitchell.
I open my mouth to object, to say that I wouldn’t, but the look on his face tells me words can’t convince him.
I put my hand on his cheek, lean in, and kiss him. I start to pull back when he wraps his arm around my waist pulling me in. Too soon I feel him start to pull away and let go of my hand.
“You have nothing to worry about,” I whisper then kiss the corner of his mouth, wishing it wasn’t the last one, wanting to really kiss him, not just pretend it was a regular goodbye. My words echo in my head. You have nothing to worry about…but I do...
I turn and head out the door, knowing well that soon, too soon, he would leave me for her. Veronica. It’s hard to even think about it. The vision. I close my eyes as the vision tugs at me, pulling me away. I close the door of my car the second I’m swept away by it.
I’m standing on a bank near a waterfall. It’s the same waterfall where we first met. The water flows the same way it always does, the rocks look the same and I find myself becoming jealous of them and their inability to feel the emotion that I felt here. I almost wish I could take it all away. All the love. Then I see him, Ethan. I wish I could say he looked different or at least a little less happy. His brown hair falls into his eyes as he looks over at her, grinning. His eyes the same blazing color they always are. I can’t help but watch as the vision plays out my future.
I’ve seen this happen every night in my dreams for the past week but it always gets to me. The same details are stuck in my mind, his blazing eyes and her black bathing suit. For some reason these things are glued to the inside of my eyelids. And I can’t help but think about it constantly.
He takes her to the top of the waterfall, to the spot where we jumped off together, grabs her hand, kisses her, then they jump off. Water splashes and waves cascade towards me. He swims towards the bank in front of me and picks up his phone. He studies the screen then laughs saying, “Mia wants to know why I haven’t been calling her. What should I say?” I can tell by the way he says it that I mean nothing to him. I can tell I lost him and I won’t ever get him back, he won’t ever love me again.
Veronica throws her head back laughing, “tell her she isn’t worth your time and that,” she puts her finger on her lip thinking, “and tell her to stop calling you because your over her and onto better things,” she smiles malevolently.
He smiles at his phone as he types his message, ending the one real love I’ve ever had. He tosses his phone down on a towel then jogs to the edge of the water where Veronica swam up to. He reaches for her and kisses her and I finally can’t stand it anymore and I have to look away or at least get out of this vision. If only there was a way I could change it. If I could figure out what I did wrong, what I did to make him leave me for Veronica. I close my eyes as tears start to slip down my cheeks, “Ethan…,” I whisper his name and for a second I swear he hears me saying it, “Ethan I love you and I wish you could love me too.”
I feel myself being tugged backwards, falling…falling…falling then I feel the sturdy door of my car and the seat beneath me. I’m safe, I think to myself. Then, my worst nightmare.
I’m sitting in my car in front of Ethan’s house about to pull away when Veronica pulls up in her car, gets out, and then walks to the door, wearing shorts and a black bathing suit.