Destiny
By
Mitchel Grace
Other Titles by this Author
Wrong Place
Wrong Time
Wrong Life
Wrong Regrets
Wrong Fortunes
Wrong Mission
Wrong End
Strange Visions: The Beginning
Strange Visions: Yesterday’s Sins
Strange Visions: False Endings
Strange Visions: The Calm
Strange Visions: The Storm
The Divide
Wrong Visions: Lost Memories Vol. 1
Wrong Visions: Lost Memories Vol.2
Wrong Visions: Lost Memories Vol. 3
The Unseen: A Broken Mind
The Unseen: Shadow Wars
The Unseen: Watchers
Destiny
By Mitchel Grace
Published by Mitchel Grace
Copyright 2015 Mitchel Grace
License Notes
This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to the author and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
I want to thank everyone who has supported me along the way. I’ve written many books over the past couple of years, but never have I set out to do a project like this. I feel like this is the culmination of a lot of time, hard work, and creativity that would have never been possible without the love and support my friends and family have given to me. This one is for them. I hope you all enjoy Destiny. It’s been incredible taking this journey with Eric and Olivia.
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1: Crashing But Not Burning
Chapter 2: Puppy Love
Chapter 3: Finding Confidence
Chapter 4: See You Later
Chapter 5: Changes
Chapter 6: Reunited
Chapter 7: Friends And Enemies
Chapter 8: Fight!
Chapter 9: The First Date
Chapter 10: Back Up Plans
Chapter 11: Passion
Chapter 12: Grief
Chapter 13: Futures
Chapter 14: Broken Beyond Repair
Chapter 15: A Deal With The Devil
Chapter 16: The Morning After
Chapter 17: The Perfect Sin
Chapter 18: The Last Time?
Chapter 19: Letting My Heart Go
Chapter 20: Complete Denial
Chapter 21: Heart Stops Beating
Chapter 22: My Destiny
Chapter 23: An Old Flame
Chapter 24: An Unexpected Spark
Chapter 25: Should I Stay?
Chapter 26: The Draft
Chapter 27: Friends?
Chapter 28: When It All Catches Up To You
Chapter 29: A Stroke of Luck
Chapter 30: The Pursuit of Happiness
Chapter 31: My Uncle’s Secret
Chapter 32: The End of My Story
Chapter 33: A New Perspective
Chapter 34: My Dream Life
Epilogue
Destiny Notes
Prologue
It’s 2:30 in the morning on a cold Saturday, and I’m standing outside of a house that I’m absolutely terrified to walk into. That’s not even the worst part. In the last hour, I’ve been punched . . . twice. Did I mention that my car is in the lake, too? Yeah, it’s been an eventful night. I would love to tell you that my story consists of an epic hero’s journey to some type of resolution that helps the world on a macro scale. This isn’t that kind of story, though. In fact, it’s all a bit funny . . . and a little sad if you’re me.
Someone once told me that life is about being satisfied with what you have. The things, the area, and the people who choose to love you, even if their way of showing that love is frightening, are supposed to be enough for us. Me standing outside of this house tonight with a black eye while I’m literally freezing to death is my way of rejecting what I’m supposed to be happy with. It’s certainly not working out right now, but it’s been one amazing ride. All that’s left is to walk into the house and see what the last twelve years have been about. Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself, though. Let me tell you where it all started. I won’t lie. This is going to be a bit embarrassing. You might even laugh at me. At other times, you might just find yourself moved to tears.
Oh, I almost forgot. My name is Eric Wilson. This is my story from the beginning. It all started on a trip with my family twelve years ago.
Chapter 1
Crashing But Not Burning
Twelve years ago, my family and I were going on a trip to Wisconsin to see my aunt and uncle. We lived in Miami at the time, and Wisconsin was the last place most of my family members wanted to go. I, on the other hand, didn’t care either way. To give you some perspective on where a fourteen year old me was at that point, my dad made more money than I could ever dream of, and my sister was the perfectly tan intelligent teenager. In fact, she was everything my mom and dad could ask for. My mom didn’t have to work because of what my dad did, which oddly enough, we never seemed to talk about. I’ll tell you more about that later. In the midst of our perfect life, there was me - the kid who was pale, average in every way, and completely lost. Now, I know what you’re thinking. This just sounds like a story about a rich kid who whines about rich people problems. I’ll admit that it might come off that way, but there’s a lot more to it than that. I was wrapped up in this world back in Miami where I didn’t fit at all. Where everyone in our community saw the perfect paradise, I saw dysfunction. They saw private schools, beautiful people, and cash . . . and I mean a lot of cash. What I saw were people putting on a show. Beautiful people were driving beautiful cars, and they were right beside a gorgeous beach. It was skin deep, though. Nothing, and I stress nothing, was beyond the surface.
So that was my story up until that point. I was the oddball who never quite got with the program. On that day, everything changed for me. It didn’t come without some growing pains, though.
“Get on your side!” I heard as I awoke in our vehicle and felt an arm push me back over to my side of the car.
That was my sister, Catherine. Let’s just say that we didn’t get along. Apparently, I had fallen asleep, and my head had drifted over to her side of the vehicle. For some reason, that infuriated her.
“Relax, you two. We’re almost there,” my mom said. Her name was Mary.
As we pulled up to my uncle’s house, I had absolutely no enthusiasm about this so-called vacation. That all changed when we got out. As I opened my door, I looked across the street to see a person who would change my life. There on her front porch, in the biggest and only snowstorm I had ever seen, was a girl who made my heart skip a beat. Her dark hair and blue eyes perfectly accented each other, making just the sight of her mesmerizing. Then there were her perfectly shaped lips. They seemed so far away for someone like me. Her expression made me even more interested. She looked sad. In that moment, I wanted nothing more than to fix whatever could have possibly been wrong for this amazing girl.
Suddenly, she spotted me, and I looked away. By now, my dad, Jerry, had seen exactly what I was looking at. Up until that point, I had never shown much interest in the opposite sex. Actually, I had never shown much interest in anyone
. I think he saw it as an opportunity to bring me out of my shell.
“So why don’t you go talk to her? I can get the bags,” he said.
“What are you talking about?”
“You know who I mean. You were just looking at that girl. We’re going to be here for a week. It might not hurt to make a friend.”
“Yeah, I think Dad’s right. Why don’t you give it a shot? I’m sure she’s looking for someone who’s athletic. Wait a minute . . . that doesn’t sound like you. Maybe she’s looking for a smart guy . . . no, that doesn’t sound like you either. Well, if nothing else, you should go over there just so I can watch how badly this plays out,” Catherine said with a smirk.
“Why do you always do that? What makes you think that you’re . . .” I managed to say before she cut me off.
“I’m just trying to lower your expectations a little, but who knows? Maybe I’m wrong. Stranger things have happened. None come to mind, but given enough time, I’m sure I could come up with something,” she said and walked away.
As my mother and father followed her into the house with the bags, I was more determined than ever to prove her wrong. I could do this. What was so hard about making a new friend? That’s all this was, right?
Without hesitation, I turned and started walking across the street. When I got a few steps into the road, I heard the sound of a car skidding and turned to see a vehicle only feet away from me. One thing was certain. This was going to hurt. It smashed into me, and I rolled surprisingly well over the hood and windshield. When I hit the ground on the other side, it took my breath. As the pain subsided, I looked down at my legs and then to my hands. Everything seemed to be in order. The only thing that was seriously injured was my pride. I stood and stumbled into the next lane. That’s when I heard a car sliding again and felt yet another vehicle connect with me from behind. Then everything went black. Yeah, maybe my sister was right. What were the odds of me actually succeeding now?
I awoke several minutes later in an ambulance. I was in pain, but it didn’t feel like anything was majorly wrong. Well, there was one thing seriously wrong. Back in Miami, I wasn’t exactly popular, and in my first five minutes of being in Wisconsin, I had completely stared down a stranger, been hit by two cars, and now I was on the way to the hospital. Could things get any worse?
“Oh, great. He’s awake,” I heard one of the EMTs say.
It didn’t feel great. In that moment, I was wishing that one of the cars had killed me. Things would get better, though. After my family saw that I was okay, a lot of teasing went on. By the time I was finally released that night, all I wanted to do was go to bed. That was no problem either because it was already late. We had been on such a long trip already, and after all the hospital business, everyone was ready to call it a night. As they retired to their rooms, my uncle hesitated for a moment. His name was Gary, and he was a big man, to say the least. I remember his 6’5” 300 pound frame looking gigantic to me back then. You have to realize that I had never met my uncle until that night, so when he asked me to wait a second before going upstairs, I was a little worried. What were his intentions? Was he angry because of all the trouble I had caused that day? If so, did I really want to get on this guy’s bad side?
“Hey, wait a minute,” Uncle Gary said.
“What is it?” I asked shyly.
“I’m just wondering what you were doing in the road today.”
“I was going to talk to someone.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know who she is. She lives across the road from you. It was stupid. I’m really sorry that . . .”
“Don’t be sorry. You know, she’s sitting on her front porch right now, if you still want to talk to her,” Uncle Gary said while glancing out the window.
“I don’t know. I . . .”
“Come on! You got hit by two cars trying to talk to the girl. You’ve got your opener right there,” he joked.
“Okay . . .” I said hesitantly and walked toward the door.
I had no idea what I was going to say. I had just embarrassed myself in front of this girl. Should I really go talk to her? As my head started to feel foggy, I heard my uncle’s voice snap me back to reality.
“Eric, remember to look both ways this time,” he said with a smile.
I returned a smile of my own and walked out the door. In a way, I was just relieved that my uncle turned out to be a gentle giant. As I went toward the road, I was brought back to the situation right in front of me. I was walking toward what could be the girl of my dreams, and I had no idea what to say. What was she like? What was her name? For that matter, why was she sitting on the front porch in the blistering cold? Had she been there this whole time? Without even thinking, I spoke as I walked up to the front porch.
“Do you always sit outside during a blizzard?”
“Do you always walk out into the middle of traffic?” she asked with the hint of a smile.
“You’ve got me there. Seriously, though, what are you doing out here?”
“You first. Where were you going earlier, and do you not know how to look both ways? I thought for sure the second car was going to kill you,” she said and laughed.
“Actually, I was coming to talk to you. Maybe that wasn’t such a good idea, though. Now I don’t know what I was even going to say.”
“You’re doing good so far. At least I have some company for once. What’s your name?”
“I’m Eric. Me and my family are here from Miami visiting my uncle.”
“Miami, huh? It must be nice.”
“It’s a little overrated.”
“How can you say that? You guys have warm weather year round and some of the most beautiful beaches possible. All we have are blizzards and a couple of sports teams that everyone around here can’t be quiet about.”
“I like it here already. Just trust me. There’s nothing real to see back there.”
“All right. I’ll take your word for it, Eric. I’m Olivia, by the way. I’m out here right now because it’s better than being inside with my mom.”
“Why?”
“Let’s just say that I don’t fit in my current situation. I’m sure a guy who manages to get hit by two cars in less than a minute wouldn’t understand anything about not fitting in,” she said sarcastically.
“I’m never going to hear the end of that from anyone, am I?”
“I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m pretty much going to remember it for the rest of my life. If you think about it, I almost killed a man today.”
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, come on! I saw you looking at me from across the street. I know why you really tried to come over here,” she flirted.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I was just looking to make a friend while I was in town.”
“Uh huh. I’m sure your intentions were perfectly pure,” Olivia said with a smirk.
“What? They were.”
“Okay. That’s really a shame, though. I need to go back inside. If you haven’t noticed, it’s freezing out here.”
“Wait a minute. Why would it be a shame?”
“Never mind. I’m sure you wouldn’t be interested in that with all your pure intentions,” she said and walked toward the door.
“You can’t just say something like that and then leave.”
“Oh, can I not? Give me a reason to stay then.”
“What? I . . .”
“Hmm. I don’t think that’s going to be good enough. You might be able to try again tomorrow night, though . . . that is, unless you don’t feel safe crossing the road. I can always come over to your uncle’s place.”
“Very funny. I look forward to it.”
Olivia smiled as she started to walk into her house. She stopped just short of the door and turned back.
“Oh, and Eric, I don’t know what things are like in Miami, but this is not a blizzard to people here. This is just routine December weather. If you promise not to walk out in fro
nt of any cars or freeze to death in this blizzard, I’ll show you the one good thing about this area tomorrow night.”
“I’m fine in the cold. I make no promises when it comes to cars, though,” I joked.
At that point, she walked inside, and I went back to my uncle’s house to find him waiting at the kitchen table. He didn’t say anything, but he looked happy for me. Here I was, this awkward and very bruised kid who didn’t seem to have much hope for anything good. Just when I needed it, though, there was a ray of light. If I had known getting hit by two cars could change everything, I would have done it long before then. In that moment, I thought that Olivia was just going to be a bright spot in my life. I couldn’t have known just how much she would alter everything about who I was. She would end up being my joy and my sorrow. For now, she was only a girl who actually saw me. Back then, that was enough.
Chapter 2
Puppy Love
The following morning, I awoke to the sound of my aunt making breakfast in the kitchen. I slowly rolled over and attempted to get up. It was too early. A lazy Sunday morning sounded like the perfect thing for me. I closed my eyes for just a second before I heard a knock at the door.
“Hey, sorry to wake you up, but do you want to join me this morning?” Uncle Gary asked.
“Join you?”
“Yeah, it’s kind of a tradition around here for us to tailgate before the game. Some friends from college and I have been doing it for over fifteen years. We normally don’t invite outsiders, but you seem like you would be all right. What do you say?”
“I don’t really watch football, but I wouldn’t mind going.”
“Great! You’ll fit right in. Just wear this,” he said and threw me a green and gold jacket.
It was impossible not to know what those colors stood for. Even though they were on the outskirts of Green Bay, everything in the surrounding area seemed to be decorated with those colors. It was bizarre, but at the same time, comforting. Everything was so orderly and normal for me back at home. For once, bizarre sounded like a good thing to me. I got ready and joined my uncle for their tailgating party. How difficult could it be to fit in, after all? There’s a question that I never would have asked before. The answer always seemed to be nearly impossible, but my luck was changing lately. I had hope, and that was a really rare thing for me back then.
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