Phoebe’s future was less certain. She loved her career and she was good at it. Great actually. Tonya joined her a few months ago as a partner. How the two of them managed to organize anything was beyond me. Maybe it was because after leaving her position at the bookstore, Lily took on the temporary job of secretary for them and organized them to the point Phoebe probably had an appointment scheduled to brush her teeth every morning.
There was a knock on the door and I opened it a crack to reveal Bianca.
“Are you girls ready yet? My sister is about to bust her fingers open with the amount of playing she’s doing, and I’m about to tear the violin for her perfect little hands.”
“Almost.” I peeked around her then opened the door enough for her to sneak in.
“Do you think anyone would notice if I took my shoes off?” she asked as she sat on the window bench. “I remember now why I refuse to dress up.”
Of all of us, Bianca seemed the most unchanged since high school. She still rebelled against her parents by opting for less traditional hairstyles and colors. This month, her naturally black hair gradually transitioned into a bright blue at the tips. It suited her and her job at an edgy hair salon. She just started as the receptionist, but was planning to become a stylist.
She’d change her mind before she followed through and after a couple more years of challenging every parental expectation, she’d give up and go to college for graphic design. That is of course only if the future where she travels to Australia to pick grapes in a vineyard didn’t happen.
“Can I have this?” Hannah asked, holding up a giant piece of melting chocolate.
“No!” Phoebe and I cried out in unison.
I took the chocolate while Phoebe held Hannah’s hands out and away from her pale pink dress. I grabbed a tissue and dampened it in the sink before wiping Hannah’s hands. The little girl looked devastated.
“Only a few more minutes until the ceremony and picture, then you can stuff your face with chocolate and smear it all over your pretty little dress, okay?” Phoebe said, her head nodding encouragingly.
Hannah gave her a doubtful look. “Why would I want to get chocolate on my dress?”
“She’s teasing, Hannah,” Lily said, reaching over to give the little girl a tickle.
“I think I’m ready,” Phoebe said.
“Great, but how about the bride?” I replied.
Lily turned and I finally took in the whole picture. She looked more beautiful than any vision I had. She wore our mother's antique lace wedding dress, though with some alterations. Lily had removed the sleeves, around the waist, she added a sash and then shortened the train so it whispered along the floor.
Her hair spilled over one shoulder in a loose braid that allowed her wild curls to spring forth and she wore a crown of wildflowers. She looked so at peace and I knew she was taking in all of the happiness around her.
“I’m ready, too.” She took a deep breath and then let it out with a slight laugh. “Is it crazy that I’m nervous?”
“No,” Phoebe said just as I said, “Yes.”
“It’s not crazy.” Phoebe stuck her tongue out at me. “This is the biggest moment of her life. Every woman should be nervous on her wedding day.”
“It’s crazy because she and Micah were meant to be. Do you really think I’d let her marry him if I knew something bad would happen?”
“You let me date Nathan when you knew we’d break up again.”
“If I’d told you, it would have only made you more determined to do it.”
“Guess who’s here,” Bianca interrupted, successfully distracting both of us with the absolutely certainty that whoever it was would be juicy.
“Who?” Phoebe asked.
“You haven’t even guessed.”
Phoebe and I groaned in unison.
“Owen?”
“Too obvious,” Phoebe said. “He lives down the street from Micah and Lily and he’s my fake date.”
“Fake date? Never mind, I don’t even want to try to understand that.” I thought for a moment. “Andrew?”
“Shush!” she commanded. We all paused straining to hear what she heard. The music had changed. “This is it! Bianca, get out of here!”
Things moved quickly then, one minute I was listening to Phoebe give Dad orders and the next I was walking down the aisle behind her and Hannah. I scanned the crowd trying to figure out who Bianca’s surprise guest was. About halfway I spotted Andrew.
He didn’t look much different from the last time I saw him a few years ago. His hair was cut and he’d put on a bit of weight, though it suited him. Beside him was the girl he would marry. For a moment, I wondered if they would still divorce later on, but so many things had changed. I couldn’t say for sure if this Andrew made those same choices.
I stepped up to my mark and watched Dad and Lily walk toward us. He was trying not to cry. Lily was his baby. Not because she was the youngest, but because she’d always been the one who seemed the most fragile. She’d clung to Dad for years when she was little. It wasn’t until she met Micah that I’d learned she’d done it not to use his strength but to give it to him.
Micah stepped forward and took Lily’s hand. Dad kissed her cheek and then sat in the open spot reserved for him. Beside him sat Gabriella, our new stepmom. It was still weird to think of her that way.
When the ceremony ended, there were photographs and then we went home for the reception. Having the reception at the house had been a huge arguing point between Phoebe and Lily, but Phoebe caved with a quick touch on the shoulder from Lily.
I went down to my old bedroom and slipped off my pumps, exchanging them for a pair of comfy slippers. I made my way back up to the party and into the kitchen. I poured myself a glass of water and then turned to lean against the count. That’s when I saw Bastian.
He looked…like Sebastian, except completely different. His hair had grown longer and his lanky frame had filled out into one even more familiar to me.
My heart raced. This was my moment. My life-changing, never going back, everything will be different moment. Our eyes met and every piece of my future fell into place. Sebastian was my future.
I knew it the day of the shooting and when I held his hand at the hospital. I saw so many images of our future together I’d struggled to contain them, knowing the only way for us to have that future was to not be with him right then.
Both of us needed these years to grow and figure out who we were and what we wanted out of life. I needed the time to live and experience change, so I could decide if a future with him was better than all of the other possible lives I could have. He needed it to decide if a life without love was what he wanted.
“You’re looking slightly stalker-ish,” he said.
“Is that still hyphenated?” I asked, unable to hold back my smile.
“Of course.” He cleared his throat nervously. “I’m preparing a new experiment.”
“Really? Does it have anything to do with my ability to see the future?”
“The possibility is there. I was actually hoping you’d be able to help.”
My eyes narrowed. “I’m intrigued and slightly unnerved. You asking for assistance isn’t something I would expect.”
“It should be quick. Less than a minute. In the backyard.”
“And you were unable to find another test subject?” I asked as we made our way out the back door and into the yard. The slight drizzle was keeping everyone else indoors.
“It’s kind of specific to you. Trust me, all you have to do is stand right here and close your eyes.”
“I have to say that the lack of details is a bit concerning.”
“All you need is a little faith in my ability to conduct a valid scientific experiment.”
“All right. I just close my eyes?”
“Yep, that’s it.”
My eyelids drifted shut and I waited. When nothing happened I was tempted to peek, but Bastian was too concerned with following protocol. Openi
ng my eyes would end this before it had a chance to play out.
His fingers skimmed along my cheek, brushing a loose strand of hair behind my ear. Tingles exploded throughout my body. His lips pressed softly to mine before he pulled back. My eyes flew open.
“You’re negatively impacting the experimental data,” he said.
“I apologize, please continue.”
He kissed him again, properly this time. That’s when the feelings I had waited five years for came back. The absolute rightness of his lips and the butterflies circling my stomach.
“What was the experiment?” I asked when we finally pulled apart.
“I was verifying the validity of your statement that the future is worth waiting for.”
“And?”
“I’ve concluded that you have a sound argument.”
He slid his hand into mine. I loved the rough callous that told me he still had a passion for drawing.
“You asked me what I saw in my future. If it would lead me to the life I dreamed of.”
“And has it?”
The temptation to sneak another peek into my future was there, tugging at me, but I didn’t.
“I don’t know. Someone once told me I needed to take the future one vision at a time.”
“This person sounds extraordinarily wise,” he said with a smirk.
“Wise and annoying. It’s a good thing I know that underneath all of the weird things he says, he’s an amazing person.”
“Amazing, huh?”
I reached up on my tiptoes, leaning forward until my lips were a mere breath away from his. “Amazing enough that he waited for the future to be ready.”
“I didn’t want to.”
“Neither did I, but the future needed us to.”
“You could have changed it.”
I searched for anger in his face, yet found only curiosity. “Sometimes the risk of changing everything is worth it, and sometimes it isn’t.”
“And the possibility of us wasn’t worth it?”
“No. It was. The possibility of us was exactly why I couldn’t risk changing it.”
###
About the Author
Angela Fristoe grew up in Alberta, Canada. She dreamed of becoming the next Dian Fossey or Jane Goodall, until she realized she wasn’t all that keen on the outdoors or animals. Instead, she went into education and focused on elementary education and helping struggling readers. Her passion for writing grew gradually after being ignited with The Hunger Game and Twilight crazes. Angela lives in Washington with her husband and daughter, where she is pursuing her Masters degree while continuing to write and serve as an instructional coach.
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Other Books by Angela
Songbird
Lie to Me (A Touched Trilogy, #1)
Heal Me (A Touched Trilogy, #2)
Waken (The Woods of Everod)
Watch Me: Teen Paranormal Romance (A Touched Trilogy Book 3) Page 23