We Found Each Other

'Trusting him?'

I knew from the moment I gave my hand in his, I was taking a risk. My life would never be the same. My destination could be unpredictable, erratic, beautiful even.

If my thoughts could be visible right now, it would be an inverse explosion of questions and confusions. Only one idea was clear in the midst of those crazy flashes of chaos:

He is not an ordinary human nor am I.

I rummaged through my wardrobe and picked out a pink round-neck knotted T-shirt. Paired it with cut off shorts and my white Adidas sneakers.

While doing my hair, I tried to call Emalie several times but strangely enough, she didn't pick up.

'Is she still sleeping? No that can't be, We are meeting at the subway in a few minutes. She must be caught up with applying her eyeliner.'

A car horn disturbed my thoughts and I scurried to peer out of the window. Leaning against the car door of a familiar silver Ford SUV, stood Tyler with his arms folded on his chest.

As he looked up in my direction, I instinctively hid behind the thin white curtains, trying to calm my quickened heartbeat.

Why did I hide from him? My purpose was undoubtedly not stealing glances at him. It was out of pure curiosity. Or that's what I convinced myself with.

Letting go of the fabric I had clutched of the curtain, I glanced back hesitantly. His gaze faced the ground and an insignificant smile set on his lips this time.

In a haste, I ran down the stairs, skipping two steps at a time. From the main hall, I could discern Tyler talking to my Mom while chuckling and smiling at the front porch. I headed near them too.

Mom swivelled towards me noticing my footsteps. "Here she comes!" She said.

"Okay then, Rosie, I'll drop her after 7 pm," he said with a broad smile.

'Do we have other plans except for lunch? For what reason would it take so long?'

"No problem, I know I can trust you with Linnet. you kids should have fun!" Mom smiled.

"Oh Linnet, I'm so happy that finally you've made some good friends and you're going out like kids your age do." She thought while I gave her a quick goodbye hug.

Tyler led me to his car and with such elegance that would make anyone fall head over heels for him, opened the door of the passenger seat for me.

'Playing gentleman now, huh?'

The engine sang in a soft and low revving as he started the car. Splendid noon sunlight beamed from the car window, getting absorbed in my flesh and bones euphorically. The bliss of cooling summer breeze greeted my skin as the white puffs of clouds moved along with us.

Gazing outside, I got succumbed into my reverie. 'Why is everything seemingly normal between us? Was all of it a dream?' I questioned myself but the way he talked about my existence was a proof that he knew something. In fact, He was something.

'If what I remember is correct, I need so many answers from him. A serious discussion is so vital right now and we are going to hang out normally... f**k NORMAL! WHAT EVEN IS NORMAL IN MY LIFE RIGHT NOW?'

As I brought my s**t together, it instantly hit me that he had changed routes. We were now headed to a highway.

"Are you sure it's the right way?" I furrowed in unrest, trying to keep my calm. "I don't think the Subway is in this direction."

"Relax! Are you still threatened that I'm going to kidnap you?" He glanced at my expression, laughed and went on, "We're not going to the subway."

"What?" I panicked. "Are you kidding me? They'll be waiting for us!"

"They drank too much last night to be there right now," He shifted his attention to me, his gaze intensifying, "and I think we have something important to discuss, don't we?" The corners of his lips pulled upward in a smile.

'So, he lied about that and I bought it? Wow. Yeah, it's possible because I can't hear his thoughts.'

"Where are we going?" I was rather calm now.

'We do need to talk, let it be anywhere.'

"To my favourite place, " he said with a brink of excitement in his voice.

"Great." I tediously spoke. A series of verdant trees flashing by didn't seem to be ending anytime soon. "And how long will it take to reach there?"

"I'm not sure. It's my first time driving there," he replied in a monotonous voice.

'Is he bragging that he can teleport?'

"Yeah, yeah, I know you must always travel through that black hole kinda thing," I said.

"You mean portal?" He chuckled.

"Yeah right, portal. If I remember it correctly, We travelled through that last night. We can reach there in an instant, right? so why waste our time?"

"I guessed you wouldn't be comfortable with that. Last night–all of it must've been too surprising for you. So, I decided I will not startle you anymore." He politely explained.

For one second, the tender and sluggish tone of his voice caused me to believe that he was being considerate. But the very next second my subconscious shook me up making me realize that I, too, was beginning to fall for his beguiling charms. Even though, I had just discovered how much of a capable liar he was. If only I could hear his ungroomed thoughts, I wouldn't be plummeting for his cheap tricks.

"It didn't surprise me that much." I said, looking the other way.

"Well, you're different. According to what I remember, you didn't get scared for even a moment, not from me, not inside the orb. But the portal, it scared you didn't it?"

His question caught me off-guard. No matter how much I denied, he was, indeed, right. I was scared of that portal. Heading in there was a challenge for me.

"So if you tell me what exactly frightens you to go through a portal, we can use it." He killed the engine right there.

'Should I tell him the truth? Even if I lied, why do I feel like it won't help?'

"What if I get lost in that thing? What if I accidentally go somewhere else where I'm all alone?" I told him what actually freaked me out.

"Linnet, look at me!" He demanded.

"You need to believe in every step you take. You need to believe in me. As long as I'm with you, I won't let anything bad happen to you. Even if you are stuck in another realm, I'll come find you." Every one of his words were drenched in sincerity.

"Is it... a promise too?"

"Promise." He smiled.

Despite fearing to be left on my own, I was accustomed to being alone amidst people. Except for mom, even the ones I trusted and opened up to only added some contribution to increasing my trust issues and building my walls up high. My suspicions didn't vanish away, I was still doubtful of him. Yet something about his words made me feel like he cared.

'Trusting him? How about taking that risk too?'