Determined Fate

As I got home from school one bright and sunny Monday afternoon, I was on cloud nine. Mondays were usually terrible, but today had been one of the best days. My classes had all gone well, and it was sunny, something that wasn't normal in the winter in Michigan. But the best part of it all had been when my best friend Ben, the guy I was secretly in love with, had walked me home and we'd talked and laughed the whole way.

I shut the door, calling goodbye to Ben as I did so, then leaned my back against the door, breathing a little happy sigh. Dropping my backpack off of my shoulder, I was going to go up to my room to get on my laptop when I stopped dead in my tracks.

Sitting in the kitchen were my parents, talking quietly to one another. Their voices were serious, so I knew something must be up. Especially since my dad usually never got home from work until dinner time, so what was he doing home at 3:00?

I slowly made my way into the kitchen, greeting my dad with a cautious hug, then going up to my mom and kissing her on the cheek. "Hi..." I said. The look on my mom's face was already telling me what she was going to say, so without even waiting for it, I took a seat.
I was getting more and more worried by the minute. What would be so bad my dad had to come home from work early? Had one of them lost their jobs? Was someone sick? Had someone unexpectedly died? Were we moving?

My dad chuckled when he looked at me, and I knew my face must have been portraying the terror I was feeling. "Yes, this is big news, but it's not bad news." He said with a smile, glancing over to my mother. I glanced at her as well, seeing she was smiling too. "It's good news, in fact. So, you don't have to worry. Jill, do you want to tell her?"

Okay, so, it wasn't bad news. That was good. I wasn't so worried anymore, but I was still confused. What could be so good that was for me? I was only a freshman in high school, it wasn't like I'd gotten accepted to a college or anything. Eyebrows raised, I turned to my mom. "Mom?" I asked, prodding her when she didn't respond right away.

My mom was almost squirming in her seat from excitement. She could hardly keep the news to herself, but she managed to calm down enough to tell me just what was so exciting. "Okay, so, before I tell you the actual news, there's a little bit of a back story to it. I don't know if you remember him, but when you were little, maybe three or four, you were best friends with a boy that lived next door, named Zayn Malik."

I looked down at the table, thinking back. The memory wasn't very vivid, but I definitely remembered it. He was my best friend, and then he'd just left. My mom explained to me that he'd moved, but I still had never really forgiven him. It wasn't his fault, and I knew it, but it was just a grudge I'd held for a long time. We hadn't spoken since he'd left. "Yeah, I remember." I said softly, looking back up at my mom. "What about him?"

"Well, when you and Zayn were still friends, you two would play all the time." My mother's eyes looked a little misty, like she was reminiscing over the old days. "So when you two would play, your father and I would hang out with Zayn's parents. You and Zayn looked so cute together, and we would often daydream of what would happen in the future."

She paused for a second, looking at me to see my reaction. I was mostly blank, not sure why she was telling me all of this. "Well, when we were daydreaming, we would often daydream about you guys... falling in love. We even made a 'deal' with his parents saying that you two would get married." My mom said, chuckling.

My eyebrows furrowed almost immediately. What was she trying to say? Why would my mom be suddenly telling me all of this now, and still at the same time say that they had super good news for me? My mom didn't go on, so finally I said, "Yeah?"

"To this day, we've stayed in touch with Zayn's family, even with him going on tour, because he's in a band now. He's home, which is why we're having this talk. Zayn's parents are having this talk with him right now." My mom continued.

I swallowed thickly, not liking what I was hearing. They'd stayed in contact... Zayn was getting this same talk... was she saying what I thought she was saying? I stayed silent for a second before finally saying, "Mom, what are you saying?"

Her eyes practically glowed with excitement. "Melissa, you and Zayn Malik are getting married!"