Page 33 of You've Found Oliver

We park near the footpaths. Ben follows me onto the trails, through the shortcut in the trees.

The mountain air smells of pine and fresh snow.

In the spring, the ground is usually blooming with wildflowers.

Now it’s covered with twigs and leaves. “We’re almost there,” I say, guiding us deeper into the woods.

I’ve only been here a few times before, but I know every step from memory.

It’s completely dark by the time we break through the trees.

An endless field stretches before us, touching the line of mountains in the distance. The dried barley cracks beneath my shoes. At least it’s easier to walk through now.

“It’s prettier in the spring,” I admit.

Ben takes a few steps out, brushing his hair back. He looks around and says, “What do you mean? It’s beautiful out here!”

I smile and take his hand. Then I lead him farther down the field.

It doesn’t even matter that the ground is cold—we lie down next to each other and stare up at the sky.

The stars are so bright out here, illuminating everything around us.

It always fees like another world out here. We’re miles and miles from town.

“I’ve never seen the sky this clear before,” Ben says, breathlessly. He turns his head, squeezing my hand. “I can see why you wanted to take me here.”

“I knew you’d like it.”

I run my fingers over his cold cheek, down to his warm lips.

Then I lean forward to kiss him. I close my eyes, feeling his hand move across my neck.

Then we untangle and cast our eyes upward, sharing the sky again.

The constellations seem so close, like we could almost reach out and pull them down.

“Feels like we’re the only two people in the universe,” Ben whispers.

“I was thinking the same thing.”

“Maybe we entered a new timeline.”

“Honestly, at this point, that wouldn’t surprise me.”

A silence passes. Then Ben looks at me again. “Do you think you’ll ever go back? To your own timeline, I mean. I know we haven’t talked about it yet.”

“I don’t know,” I answer. “I have no idea why I’m still here. But it’s been almost a week now. Maybe this is my new reality and I should just get used to it.”

“This all must be weird for you. Having to experience everything a second time.”

“It’s not that bad.” I take in a breath and let it out.

“But the last few days have been confusing. I don’t know if I should re-study for finals I’ve already taken.

I’m actually worried I might fail a second time around.

” What I don’t say out loud is that the worst part is that Mom is still not talking to me.

I wish I could fix that somehow. I wish I could take back the stupid choices I made the other night.

“At least you’ll have Julie now,” Ben says.

“Yeah. I guess that’s true.”

“You must be happy she’s staying. I know you really missed her while she was gone.”

“I actually can’t believe it.” I look at him again. “Do you think that happened because of me? Maybe coming back changed something.”

Ben considers this. “It’s certainly possible. Some things are bound to be different, right? It’s Newton’s third law—for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. There’s no way you can control everything.”

“I guess you’re right. But I still feel guilty about it. She was so happy studying abroad, you know? She would light up telling me about all of her experiences in Copenhagen.”

“Well, I’m happier with you here,” Ben says.

I smile at him. “I’m happy with you , too.”

Who cares what timeline we’re in. All that matters is we have each other. Maybe it was destined to be this way. Of course, there are still questions turning in my head. I look at Ben and ask, “Do you still think about how any of this is happening?”

“How could I not?” he answers.

“There has to be a reason for it, right? Why we found each other. Like, maybe there’s some invisible string that connects us or something. No matter what timeline we’re in.”

“Not necessarily.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t really believe in things like that,” he says, placing one arm behind his head.

“That some people are destined to meet, if you know what I mean. What if you and I were just in the right place at the right time? I mean, isn’t that more meaningful, if you actually think about it?

Out of all the billions of people in the world, across all the different timelines, we chose each other. What’s the probability of that?”

“I guess you’re right,” I say.

We look at each other. Then he leans forward to kiss me again. I wish I could freeze this moment so we could live in it forever. But time continues to move, despite everything else. And we can’t stay out here all night.

“I hate that we both have class tomorrow,” I say.

Ben sighs. “I know. I would skip if I hadn’t just failed a quiz.”

“You failed a quiz?”

“Yeah it’s not like me, huh? I haven’t been able to focus recently.

I guess I fell behind more than I thought.

Didn’t realize how quickly it would catch up to me,” he sighs.

“Even worse, I forgot to turn in the fellowship application. Apparently, I mixed up the dates and missed the deadline yesterday.”

“Wait, the one you’ve been talking about?”

Ben nods.

“But you won that—”

It slips out before I can catch myself. I checked last week, but I wasn’t sure if I should tell him. How would I know he’d forget to turn it in?

Ben blinks at me. “What do you mean?”

I swallow my breath and say, “I looked it up recently. There was an article that said you won the fellowship.”

“And you were hiding that from me?”

I don’t know what to say. “No, I just wasn’t sure if I should tell you or not. I mean, you said you liked surprises when we last talked about it. I didn’t think this would happen.”

He thinks about it. “I guess I did say that.”

“I’m sorry,” I say.

Ben sighs. “It’s alright. It’s my fault for falling behind.”

That’s not completely true. After all, he wouldn’t have forgotten if it wasn’t for me. “I feel like it’s my fault though. For spending so much time distracting you.”

Ben squeezes my hand again. “Don’t say that. I’m here because I want to be here. I promise. I wouldn’t change anything about these last few weeks.”

“I still feel bad about it.”

“It’s not the end of the world. I can always apply next year.”

The he kisses me on the cheek. I smile back at him, but I don’t stop thinking about his fellowship. I think of the image of him in the article I found. Ben has worked so hard toward his future. Am I getting in the way of that?

A bright streak of light shoots across the sky.

Ben and I turn our heads to look. A few seconds later, another streak appears. Followed by another one. And another one. The next thing I know, there are hundreds of them illuminating the night sky.

“This looks insane,” I say.

“I wonder what it’s from.”

“You mean, you don’t know?”

“The Geminids meteor shower happens around this time of year,” he says. “But I’ve never seen it like this before. It has to be something else.”

I suddenly remember something. At the club fair, the girl mentioned they were hosting a stargazing event for a rare meteor shower. “This must be Roy’s Comet,” I say.

“Roy’s Comet? How do you know about that?”

“Someone from the astronomy club mentioned it last week. They invited me to come see it before it disappears. It’s supposed to be gone for a while, right?”

“If I remember correctly, it’s orbital period is twenty-nine years.” The shower continues, casting blue lines across his face. “I think I remember reading about that…A chunk of it broke off, which would cause a larger meteor shower than expected. But that wouldn’t happen until May.”

“Right. Then this can’t be it.”

Ben stares at the sky again. “Wait a minute…” He pushes himself up a little. “That’s weird. That looks like the Leo constellation.”

“What’s weird about that?”

“It should only be visible in the spring,” he says, tilting his head a little. “And it shouldn’t be next to Cepheus…It’s like the skies have merged or something.”

I push myself up for a better look. There is something slightly off about the stars. I can’t put my finger on it though. “Are you saying you can see some constellations from the spring ?”

“I don’t really know what I’m seeing.”

“So it could be Roy’s Comet, then?”

“It shouldn’t be, but honestly, nothing’s making sense anymore.”

We’re both silent for a long time. Maybe this has something to do with what’s happening between us. The reason our timelines are connected and why I can’t go back. Streaks of light continue to burst through the sky as we lie in the fields.