Serendipity

None of This Is a Coincidence

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She stared into the beams of sunlight with disdain. The pounding within her skull no closer to dissipating as she grew accustomed to the rays, which she soon came to realize were only being emitted from the fluorescent lighting fixtures above her. No other soul surrounded her, the only company in her presence the ever pulsating beep of the heart monitor that watched her closely.

“She has no one else to act as guardian.”

“The only one registered is an... Andrew Wiltern – her father.”

The hospital door was opened delicately, the girl's eyes training themselves wearily upon the figure in the doorway. A nurse in baby blue scrubs entered with a clipboard in hand, checking the name on the bed twice before turning any actual attention to the patient within it.

The woman's brown eyes widened and a smile graced her features. “You're finally up!” She mused aloud for all to hear. “I'll go fetch the doctor.”

Seconds later, a physician followed by the same aide made their entrance. The doctor checked upon the girl's well being, asking questions that she answered with a hazy mind. The entire time she was watched upon by another figure that stood towards the back of the room, the figure thinking about what arrangements were to be made for the girl's future.


The silence was deafening, the situation bringing upon them a sort of awkward tension that made her feel the weight of being crushed by it. The only thing giving her a sense of relief was the view that flew by before her, guaranteeing her the ride was nearly over.

Had it always been so hard to breathe?

The black sedan she had been stationary within for the past three and a half hours finally rolled to a stop. The woman she had come to know as Joanne for the duration of the journey pulled out the keys and instructed for her to grab her few belongings.

She disembarked the vehicle, her knees slightly buckling beneath her after having been off her feet as of late. Even now, a few days since leaving, she could still feel the drugs from the hospital lingering about her system.

She took her suitcase and duffel bag from the trunk, following Joanne shortly afterwards up the unkempt grass and towards the front door of the two story house. The red paint on the home was chipping, mud and dirt splattered across the lower half as if it had been kicked up by the unpredictable rains of Washington state, and a few shingles from the roof dangled upon the edges, threatening to fall altogether to the earth after having their condition disregarded for so long.

Joanne knocked upon the door after finding the doorbell out of service, and they waited in the moist air of La Push for a sign of life to show itself.

The door seemed to shudder violently a minute later. The heavy duty locks on the door undoing themselves as the door swung open, the old hinges groaning loudly.

A man probably twenty years her senior appeared, and while she could see the differences between them, she could see the similarities as well. They shared the same caramel toned skin, matching brown eyes, and the same type of nose. This man before her – Andrew Wiltern – was indeed her father, even if it didn't
feel like it.

The truck they rode in came to a sudden jolt of a stop before the school's curb, the young teen grabbing her seatbelt for even just a sense of security – false or not.

She didn't need to be told to get off the car, her fingers immediately going for the handle and opening the door for her to jump out through, her body twisting round to shut it after leaving.

Through the open window, Andrew turned to her. “I got stuff to do. You can find your own way home, can't ya?”

Before a response could be given, he drove off, dust picking up and mixing with the exhaust of the rickety old junker that choked not only her but all those around her as well.

She was sure she could find her way home.

The real question: Did she want to?

Kentucky Fried Chicken sat in the greasy bucket upon the dinner table, both father and daughter awkwardly sitting across from one another in a steely silence. He didn't pay much attention to her or the situation they were in, opting for food instead as he served himself a generous portion of everything available.

She hadn't spoken a word to him since Joanne left the pair to be on their own, and she soon realized that this was probably the best thing she could do while in this house.

“You're living with me now so here are the rules.”

She looked to him and waited for him to elaborate.

“Mind your business. Keep out of my stuff. No leaving your room after ten till morning.”

Andrew picked up his recently opened beer bottle and took a swig of the alcohol, setting the glass down with a hint of force to get his point across.

“And when you're eighteen, get your shit and get out.”


The unfamiliar halls of the campus filled her with a newfound sense of anxiety. If not for the painted red line on the floor that was guiding her to the school's main office, she would probably end up on the wrong side of the establishment.

She walked inside the double doors of the office and was greeted by an indifferent secretary in an all black business suit attire as if she were attending her own funeral. They exchanged words and names, bits of information to ascertain her identity.

The printer hummed as it provided a warm piece of a paper that now had her schedule stamped onto it. The secretary handed it to her, pointing out that first period was to start soon, and bid her a forced farewell.

In the middle of the night, when her stomach awoke and her along with it, she tiptoed to the bathroom to relieve herself.

As she ascended the staircase to return to her room, Andrew turned the corner from the kitchen to the main hallway behind her. His brown eyes were darkened from his drunken stupor, his mind fogged from a mixture of excessive amounts of alcohol and tobacco.

They focused in on the unfamiliar figure that reminded him of his ex-wife, and he grew agitated.

“Didn't I tell you to stay in your goddamn room?!” He bellowed, his hands swinging down the emptied bottle in his hand and shattering the glass across the floor.

She jumped and gasped, rushing up the stairs and into her room locking the door though not hearing the man come for her like she had thought he might.

Her heart hadn't raced so violently since the night this all began.


Her brow furrowed together as she realized she had gotten herself lost. As if that hadn't been enough, it had already been a good five minutes since the first bell of the day rung, announcing first period was well underway.

She gave a sigh of defeat and figured she should probably return to the office and ask someone to escort her to her class if at all possible.

Turning back around, a large figure collided with her own and she was sent stumbling back a few steps till her balance was thrown off completely, the young girl falling to the floor in shock.

The rest of the sleepless night was spent thinking about her mother.

If only she hadn't gone to the homecoming dance and stayed a little longer than she should have. Only then would her mother have been saved from the drunk driver that shattered their lives and separated them permanently.

Rather, at the very least, it should have been her in that grave instead of her mother...


Two pairs of eyes made contact.

Two hearts seemed to stop and restart in sync.

Two pairs of lungs had the air stolen from within them.

And two people seemed to realize that something had just happened between them.

The boy before her, with russet skin and chocolate brown hair, seemed to draw the first breath.

“Hello...” was all he could breathlessly muster.

The both of them could only feel that none of this was a coincidence...
♠ ♠ ♠
Aaaand it's finally coming out!

I've had the outline for this story completed on my laptop for so long, and I've been putting it off forever, but as I'm in the writing cup, I decided that I needed to get on this otherwise it would never get done. More chapters are to come soon!

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