Meant to Be (14 page)

I couldn’t remember a time that I was as
terrified as I was at this moment. I had never admired kids that
buckled under peer pressure, but here I was a victim of myself. I
squeezed my eyes closed and gripped Mark’s hand on my knee. The
emotions I was feeling were just another downfall to being
oversensitive. Luckily, Mark’s touch distracted me enough that I
was no longer sure if my heart was beating wildly form the ride, or
the fact that his hand was on my knee. The ride was over within
seconds and I was proud of myself for not throwing up.

“You made it,” Mark whispered in my ear. I
turned my face and felt his lips graze my cheek. My knees started
trembling again and it had nothing to do with the ride.

“What should we go on next?” Sam asked as she
bounced along beside us.

“I’m out.” I said finally, deciding not to be
a follower.

“What? Are you kidding?” Sam asked, like I
was nuts.

“You guys can go on whatever you want, but
these kinds of rides scare me,” I said with more conviction than I
felt.

“We should take a break anyways,” Mark
interjected before Sam could protest. “Besides, we’re really here
for another reason,” he said, looking pointedly at the beach in
front of us.

“Oh yeah, I guess I got caught up in the
moment,” she said, grabbing onto Shawn’s hand.

We had all decided that the best starting
point for figuring out what tied us together was to go to where it
all seemed to have started. We needed to see how we would all feel
being on the beach together.

Mark and I walked a few paces behind Sam and
Shawn as we headed toward the concrete stairs that would lead us to
the beach. I could hear Sam’s excited chatter, but could not
distinguish the words.

We all paused about 10 feet past the concrete
wall. There was no mistaking the surge of electricity that seemed
to shoot up through the sand and into our bodies. I looked at the
astonishment on the other’s faces and knew I was wearing the same
expression on mine.

“This is insane,” I mumbled to Mark.

“This whole week has been insane. First, we
find out that the people we have dreamed about our entire lives
really exist, and then we all end up in the same city, at the same
time.”

Mark’s words did little to soothe me.

What other surprises could we possibly
discover? I thought to myself as I removed my flip flops.

“I have something I want to show you,” Shawn
piped in. “I was waiting until we were all here together, at this
spot. It’s a picture I’ve had since I was little. Sam has already
seen it,” Shawn said, revealing yet another surprise.

My thoughts were interrupted by Mark. “What’s
so special about the picture and why did you want us to see it
here?” He asked.

“See for yourself,” Shawn said, digging
around in his knapsack. Shuffling clothes and toiletries around, he
finally extracted a big yellow manila envelope. Pulling the tabs
open, he carefully removed an object covered in bubble wrap. He
gently peeled the wrapping away to reveal a plastic Ziploc baggie
with a faded worn picture inside.

“I put it in a baggie a few years ago after I
discovered that my constant handling was ruining it. I knew it was
important to preserve it the best I could,” he said as he gingerly
handed the picture over to Mark.

Mark reached out to take the picture.
Curiously, I looked over his shoulder to see what would make him
treat it like it was some kind of crown jewel. I gasped when I saw
the picture.

It appeared to have been taken exactly where
we were standing, with the same Boardwalk in the background. There
were four couples standing side by side. They all looked relatively
happy and the women were obviously very pregnant, judging by the
size of their bellies. At their feet were four little boys that
appeared to be about one year old. They looked so care-free,
digging in the sand with brightly colored shovels.

“Why are you showing us this now when…?” Mark
said in a voice laced with anger.

I could relate to his feelings. We had spent
the entire week trying to find something that linked us together
and Shawn had this picture the entire time.

“Look, don’t be mad,” Shawn said,
interrupting Mark’s tirade before he could build steam. “I wanted
to make sure you guys felt the same pull to this place as Sam and
I. Sam wanted me to show you earlier this week, but I had to be
sure that we were all really connected.”

“Shawn thinks they might be our parents,” Sam
said in a quiet voice.

I swallowed an unexpected lump in my throat
as I grabbed the picture from Mark’s hand and critically studied
it. Could Sam be right? Were these our parents? They don’t look
like the type of parents that would abandon their children, I
thought to myself. As a matter fact, the way they rested their
hands on their bellies conveyed a feeling of love for the unborn
babies they carried.

“Well your right about that,” Mark said with
certainty. “That’s my dad, and I recognize the picture of my mom
from a picture I saw a few years back in my dad’s desk drawer. I
was going to ask him for the picture, but never worked up the nerve
because I know he doesn’t like to talk about her.”

I started to feel a wave of unease approach,
but I quickly stifled it the best I could before it became an
issue.

After a few minutes of silence, I finally
asked the obvious question that they were all struggling with. “Why
are we all drawn here?” I asked, spreading out my arms.

“I don’t know, but I want to know what the
connection is with this place. What happened here to make all of us
feel the need to be here?” Mark answered.

“Your forgetting something else that is
important?” Sam said.

“What’s that?”

“Look at the couples, there’s four of them
with four little boys and four babies on the way.”

Understanding dawned on me. Sam raised a
valid point. Only four of us were standing here now. Which meant,
somewhere out there were four more people that could be just like
us. Maybe the others in the picture were normal, but it seemed
highly unlikely. Some force connected all of us, and it had started
here.

“I think we need to do some research and find
out if anything happened on this beach eighteen or so years ago,”
Shawn said.

“Like what? A UFO sighting? That’s crazy,” I
said.

“All of this is crazy, but if not UFO’s, then
maybe something else paranormal. Or if not any of those things,
then maybe something more scientific, maybe they did nuclear
testing here or something like that. I’ve read in books just how
detrimental radiation poisoning can be.”

“You’re right, we need to find out everything
we can about this beach, and the Boardwalk,” Mark said.

Sam and I exchanged a look. This was
insane.

The guys were talking like we were involved
in some kind of crazy movie.

Mark and Shawn continued to hash out ideas as
we all sat on the beach; they soon became engrossed in their
conversation, throwing out one crazy harebrained idea after
another.

While the guys hashed out ideas that could
have been an episode of X-Files, Sam and I drifted away a little,
so we could share some girl talk more openly.

“This is hard to believe,” I said, still
trying to wrap my brain around the ideas Shawn had thrown out. I
sifted sand through my hand and watched as it cascaded through my
fingers.

“I don’t know. I’m kind of relieved that
we’re starting to figure things out. I would rather it be something
crazy, than never knowing what happened. I hate not knowing where
we’re from or where our parents are,” Sam said.

I felt a small wave of guilt for forgetting
that Sam had always been by herself. Of course she would want
answers. She had not been as lucky as me. I was loved and raised by
two caring people.

“I’m sorry. You’re right. Even if it’s crazy,
we still need to find out the truth.”

I decided to change the subject. “So, what
does Shawn think about this whole situation?” I asked.

“Well, like all of us, he wants to get to the
bottom of all this, but I think he feels similar to me and just
wants to find out what happened to his real parents. He had it
pretty tough growing up too, but puts on an ‘I don’t care’
attitude, so no one can see just how much it influenced him. His
foster dad died five years ago, and Shawn hit the road. He said his
foster dad was mean as a snake, and he wasn’t taking the chance of
being placed in another abusive foster home.”

Our conversation was interrupted by the
guys.

“Shawn and I think it’s imperative that we
start aggressively searching the internet to find out exactly what
happened on this beach to tie all of us together.”

“We don’t have to leave right away though if
you girls still want to ride more rides,” Shawn added.

Though we were anxious to explore the
internet to find out some answers, we voted, and decided it could
wait a while. Sam still wanted to ride some of the rides at the
Boardwalk. It was decided that we would play for a few hours and
then get down to work.

I couldn’t help my nagging feeling, like we
were wasting time, but they had a point, the internet would be
there later.

Sam lightened the mood as she dragged us on
all the rides. I tried to balk when Sam headed back toward the
“Giant Dipper,” but she talked me into it.

The second time on the ride seemed to be
faster than the first, and I my legs were quaking from the
adrenaline rush by the time the ride screeched to a halt.

Mark laughed at my shaky legs when I tried to
stand. He put his arm around me, to steady me. I took advantage of
having him so close and snuggled in even closer. He didn’t seem to
mind; in fact he tightened his hold on me. As we made our way
toward the exit of the ride, Sam started clamoring to ride the
“Double Shot.” The same ride mom and I had made fun of. It was hard
to believe that just last week we had mocked the ride, and how
lonely I had felt. Now, I was surrounded by people that felt like
family, and that I could trust.

“No way,” I said as Sam turned, pleading eyes
on me.

“I think she needs to sit this one out Sam,”
Mark said.

Sam looked at my slightly green face and must
have agreed with him, because they headed off by themselves to give
the giant rubber band like ride a try.

Mark led me to a bench and sat down next to
me. I laid my head on his shoulder and looked down at our linked
fingers. Though his was much larger, our hands fit together as
snuggly as a puzzle piece in the right slot. Usually, public forms
of affection mortified me, but I just couldn’t seem to find a
problem with this.

“I love you,” Mark said quietly.

“What?” I said, still wrapped up in what his
touch was doing to me.

“I love you,” he repeated a little louder
this time. “I know it may be too soon to say it, but I needed you
to know how I felt.”

I sat in silence for a few moments.

“I’m not trying to rush you,” Mark said,
sounding slightly panicked.

“It’s not what you said. It’s just, are you
sure? I know we’ve shared the dreams all these years, but aren’t
you slightly disappointed at how I turned out?” I asked, feeling my
cheeks blaze up in embarrassment.

Mark laughed. “Are you kidding me? You’re
everything I imagined and more. I feel like the luckiest guy in the
world.”

“Are you sure? Even with all my flaws?” I
persisted, pointing to my red cheeks to prove my point.

Mark ran his hand down my cheek. “I love
everything about you; your smile, your quirky sense of humor, but
most of all your sensitivity. We are a match.”

Love
. He had said the word that I
craved to hear the most. Sure, I heard it growing up, but I always
felt my adoptive parents had to say the words. I knew that not all
people loved me, case in point, my own real parents obviously had
not. To think that just this morning, I had been tempted to throw
in the towel when I thought he might leave me, but instead he was
professing his love for me.

“I love you too.”

Sam and Shawn joined us before we could say
anything else. Sam’s cheeks were flushed from the excitement of the
ride, or maybe it was from being with the guy she was in love
with.

Sam was able to talk me into going on the
“Haunted Castle,” which was just cheesy enough that all of us were
laughing when we got off the ride.

We ended our day at the Boardwalk by going on
“Loggers Revenge,” which was a ride where you sat in a wooden log
drifting along on the water until finally you drop off a hundred
foot decline splashing at the bottom, so the water completely
drenches everyone on board.

I put an end to the rides after that. I felt
like I had left my stomach at the top of that drop, and now that I
was soaked, I was ready to leave.

We decided that it would be best to do our
research on the internet at Mark’s house, since I still hadn’t told
my mom about Mark.

Sam and I called our mom’s to tell them we
were going to the movies, and out to eat afterwards.

I felt terrible about lying to my mom yet
again. I was not the type of person who lied and the guilt was
eating through me until Mark hugged me. I marveled at the warmth
that spread through me at his touch. All the guilt seemed to flow
away to make room for his warmth.

“Thanks,” I said, he knew instantly what I
was talking about. “I figured out yesterday that we neutralize each
other’s abnormalities. When I was angry at Matt yesterday, you
touched my face and it was like a blanket being thrown over a
fire,” he told me.

Shawn and Sam were listening to our
conversation, but didn’t look surprised.

“We figured out the same thing when we first
got together. It’s almost like we were put together to even the
other person out. I’ve discovered that when I’m at school away from
him, I am almost in physical pain. This week has been especially
tough because I’ve been with you all week, but at least the dreams
seem to replenish us during the night.” Sam said, looking at
me.