Colliding with Fate

~Ten~

The next Monday, Claire needed a ride home. We waited in the library, making small talk while we waited for Fate to arrive.

"Do you still have that dream?" Claire inquired, flipping pages in a book that I knew didn't interest her.

Claire didn't read. She was more of a movie person and always dreaded reading. Surprisingly, she picked up the book and skimmed through it a bit. I was shocked that she didn't avoid it like it was a plague.

I swallowed. "Yeah, sometimes." I replied, drifting farther down another aisle of books.

I, on the other hand, loved reading. Something about curling up with a blanket draped over me, coffee next to me, and a book in my hand calmed me. It was like all my nerves just died down.

I always found a way to sneak out of classes in the past to sneak into the library.

Claire lifted her head from the "boring" pages and followed after me. "How often?"

I shrugged, picking up a stranded book that had fallen over. "About the same..." I trailed off awkwardly.

Claire gasped. "Three times a week? Still? Come on, Evan, it's been a month."

"I realize that, Claire. It's not like I pray that I'll have the dream before I go to sleep. I just... I think I'm having this dream for a reason." I huffed, putting the book back where it belongs. I stood up, wrapping my arms around myself.

Claire laid her hands on her hips. "So, are you, like, a psychic?" She teased eyeing me teasingly.

I couldn't help but laugh at her explanation. "Well, no, I just feel like something is wrong and I don't know how to prove it." I replied.

I had this feeling in my stomach. The feeling of knowing something is wrong, I just don't know what.

The feeling was eating me alive.

I was beginning to get even more worried about Fate.

Claire took a breath, seeming like she was about to say something, but she stopped at the sound of a door shutting sounded from behind me. I whipped around to see Fate in his usual attire.

"Hey, is it okay if Claire tags along?" I asked, jutting my thumb out behind me, pointing to Claire.

Fate's eyes traveled from me to Claire, giving a curt nod in response.

"Great! Let's get going!" I clapped my hands together and marched out of the library.

In the car, Claire sat in the passenger seat, having called shotgun. Fate didn't reply, just wordlessly climbed into the backseat.

Claire thumbed through the radio stations before finding one she liked. We mostly drove in silence, Claire trying to occasionally come up with something to say.

When we pulled up in front of the familiar house, Claire gasped. "Wow, nice house!" She exclaimed as Fate climbed out of the back seat.

When he shut the door without replying, I sighed and mentally face-palmed the girl. "Claire, that's not Fate's house." I groaned.

Claire turned to me questioningly before I pointed to Fate as an explanation. We watched him walk all the way down to the stop sign.

"Where's he going?"

"Home, I assume."

Claire whipped her head back around to me. "You don't know where he goes?"

I shrugged, shrinking into my seat. "No... I didn't want to invade in his privacy."

"Well, I do!" Claire pouted, crossing her arms over her chest.

I scoffed. "Claire, I am not about to follow him!"

She gave me a grin. "Not yet, you aren't. But give him about ten minutes to get home, then we'll follow him."

I sighed in defeat.

Of course, I was curious, but I also knew that where he lived was none of my business. That fact always prevented me from following him, but this time I couldn't resist.

I had to.

It was driving me crazy.

And with Claire beside me, I knew I didn't have a choice. She wasn't going to let me back out on this one. Not this time. She was always the one that made me do things I didn't want to do.

But what else is new?

I waited ten minutes before putting my car in drive, following the direction I last saw him at.

Sure enough, when I turned, I saw Fate walking far down the road. His stature was unmistakable. His hoodie was thrown over his head as he walked, taking long strides.

I slowly crept, keeping my distance.

Surprisingly, Fate never caught us.

Suddenly, he turned right. Through the trees and cars, I made out that he went inside the house located there. I waited a few minutes before I parked a couple of houses away, trying to make sense of what was in front of me.

Fate's house wasn't that. It was anything but that. It was an old abandoned factory that used to store extra products our paperclip factory across town produced. But the place became a dump when this part of town went downhill. It was now filled with druggies, drunkards, and abusers.

My eyebrows furrowed together, trying to imagine why someone like Fate lived here. It just didn't add up.

The exterior was all metal, only it was now rusted and surely not in code. This place was not livable. No way did it carry the necessities a home must have in order for it to livable.

Then it hit me like a truck.

It made complete sense in the worst way. I hated myself for knowing what was going on here.

The fact that Fate sometimes reeked of stench, how his clothes didn't fit him, how his cheeks were hollow. I assumed Fate didn't have the home life he should have, but I never thought this was possible.

The large 'Keep Out' sign said the rest of it.

Fate Westbrook was a squatter...

---

Poor dude!

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