Chapter 5: The Future Beckons

Things had gotten better and more stable between my family members as I neared my high school graduation. The conversation between Julian and me wasn't as awkward anymore, and Vanessa couldn’t be happier. 

One morning leading up to graduation, we were all happily eating a smorgasbord that Vanessa had put together for breakfast. While we were eating, I saw Julian caress Vanessa's hand atop the table. They looked at each other all moony-eyed, then proceeded to kiss right at the kitchen table.  

Usually, I would have been bothered by this, but I wasn’t anymore. As they continued kissing, I just sat there nibbling on my toast while scrolling social media. 

Eventually Vanessa broke the kiss and looked at me, perplexed. “You know, most kids get disgusted at the sight of watching their parents kiss.”

I shrugged. 

“True, but I have it on good authority from Dad that I made quite the fuss as a baby, whenever you two got the least bit intimate,” I explained. Consider the peace I offer now as my way of saying sorry.”

Julian smiled and nodded.

“Apology accepted, son! You have no idea how lonely those nights were for me. My stash of Tenga Eggs [PC1] [MS2] kept me warm, though.”

My parents burst out laughing at the sight of my disgusted face.

The doorbell cut through their laughter. 

“Oh, thank God,” I muttered. 

I went and opened the front door, to find Summer, looking as bubbly as ever with a bright smile on her face. As soon as I let her in and closed the door behind us, she spun around to hug me and planted several kisses all over my face. 

I couldn’t help but smile at her as I pulled away from her. “You’re overly excited today.”

Summer's smile grew even bigger as she chimed: “That’s because I get to spend the day with my amazing boyfriend—and I finally got my cap and gown in the mail!”

“Cool! I received mine a few days ago,” I added,smiling. 

"Why aren't you more excited?”

Not thinking, I blurted out, “This isn’t exactly my first high school graduation…”"What do you mean?” She cocked her head to the side as she scrutinized me. 

I tried to recover as best as I could: “That came out wrong! What I meant was that after our middle one, graduations aren't that special anymore. At least not until college. That's the true end of the road for me.”

Her expression changed to an understanding one, but she clearly couldn’t hide her disappointment at my lack of excitement. “Ah, I get it. For a moment there, I thought you were going to tell me something crazy like you’ve isekai’d or something like that, and that this is your second, third, or one-hundredth life.”

We shared a laugh, with my laugh trailing off nervously. She is dangerously sharp. 

As our laughter died down, Summer’s mood dipped again. 

“What’s wrong now?” I asked her. 

“I’m still a little vexed about not getting accepted into the same college as you,” she said, looking at me sadly. “I guess you have the superior intellect between us.” 

“As if there was any doubt,” I said smugly, trying to make her laugh.

That earned me a playful punch to the shoulder. When she tried again with her other fist, I caught her and pulled her in for a kiss.

Her eyes were closed.

I kept mine open, as I questioned the growing intimacy of our relationship. 

Was it common to feel this way? I felt sane when it came to Summer, and hadn't been obsessed with her every waking second. 

This is how mature love feels… right? 

We broke our kiss, and headed down into the kitchen, where Vanessa and Julian were still leisurely eating breakfast and sipping their coffee. 

“Hello, Summer!” they said in unison as they saw us. 

“Hi!” Summer greeted them, always warm and the perfect girlfriend.

 “Are you two going to the literary convention that’s in town today?” Julian asked.

Knowing the answer, I shook my head no. “No, we’re going to the amusement park with Grandpa.”

Julian snapped his fingers as if he remembered something that moment. “That’s right! I forgot that he told me that the other day. He’s very excited about it.”

Vanessa chimed in: “Was it Grandpa’s idea?”

I nodded. “Yeah. I wasn’t expecting an amusement park to be his poison[PC3] [MS4] [MS5] .”

Vanessa remarked. “He just wants to spend time with you. So, take it easy on him, okay?”

“I agree,” Julian cut in, nodding. “He’s getting up in the years.”

I scoffed and gave my parents a dismissive wave. “Oh please, Grandpa can take on anything.”

But Vanessa gave me a stern look, the look that always meant I had better not be up to no good. "We'll be gentle,” I assured her. 

Realizing her message got through, she smiled at me, and I smiled back. I didn’t think much of the interaction, but Summer sure did. She was watching our interaction closely, sizing up Vanessa. Julian noticed Summer's reactions to every microexpression exchanged between us, but he didn't know what to make of them. 

I turned back towards Summer. “Are you ready?”

She brightened. “Yeah!”

Julian threw the car keys my way, and I caught them. With my arm over Summer’s shoulder, we headed to the car, to pick up Dennis.

When we got there, I beeped the horn several times to tell him that we were there.

Knowing him, he was probably playing a video game with his headset on. But if he didn't come out soon, I was heading in to get him. 

But it turned out to be unnecessary, as I caught sight of him looking at us through the window. Not long after, he was strolling towards the car, and I got out to meet him halfway.

“Old man Dennis.”

“Young Lee.”

We smiled and hugged one another, then Dennis glanced at Summer, who was waving from her seat in the car. We decided that I should still be driving, so Dennis sat in the backseat while Summer and I stayed up front. 

We chatted all the way until we got to the entrance of the amusement park, which was overcrowded with other cars and people. “I guess everyone decided to come today,” said Dennis. 

“I know! I was hoping that we would have the park to ourselves,” said Summer, clearly annoyed. 

“This is exactly why I invested in premium tickets. We get to bypass all those long lines for any ride we want[PC6] [MS7] [MS8] [MS9] ,” said Dennis in a matter-of-fact manner.

Summer started dancing in excitement. 

As we walked through the park, deciding which ride to go on, I spotted a UFO saucer ride, and told them that I wanted to go on that one first.

Summer looked at the ride, confused. “Is this like, Roswell, the ride?”

“Even better. This is where I lost my ride-ginity,” I playfully answered. 

At least, in this life. 

Summer turned to Dennis in confusion until he explained, “This is the first ride that seven-year-old Lee asked to go on when we first came here.” 

“Aw, in that case, you two should get on that one together. For old times’ sake,” Summer suggested.

Dennis and I glanced at each other, sharing a look of excitement. We hurried along to the UFO ride. 

***

The saucer spun, along with the room. The force of the ride had us pinned to the wall.

Suddenly, Dennis said, “Lee, there’s something I want to talk to you about.”

I looked over at him, barely able to move my head. “Sure, what’s up?”

“Are we all right?”

That’s an odd question for him to ask. “Yeah! Of course!”

My reassurance didn’t seem to ease whatever was eating at Dennis’s mind. “It’s just that you don’t come over as much anymore.”

Ah, now I get where he’s going with this. “I know, and I’m sorry,” I replied solemnly. “Since I’ve decided to live this life fully as Lee, I didn’t want to carry the weight of a dead man. It can be confusing, you know, being Lee but remembering the life that I used to live.” I frowned. “It’s confusing because you’re Wes’ best friend and Lee’s grandpa. And I don’t quite know who it would benefit Lee to view you as.”

Dennis struggled to raise his arm against the force of the ride, but managed to do so anyway, and rested his hand on my shoulder.

“I understand. Your situation is definitely a strange one. No, scratch that, it’s f***** up, really. And it requires a bit of nuance.”

I smiled gratefully at Dennis.

“I’m glad you’re happy in this relationship with Summer,” he added. “You seem so different—less intense, perhaps. At least when it comes to your old idyllic view of romance.”

“Thank you, I am trying,” I said as the ride began to slow down.

I felt bad for not hanging out with him as much as I could have. I really should have made more time for him.

***

Nauseous and light-headed, we exited the ride. 

Summer already knew which ride she wanted to go on next. Grandpa opted out of riding the teacups with us, and grabbed a cheeseburger while we finished the ride. 

Summer and I were laughing happily, until I caught a glimpse of Dennis on a nearby bench. 

My heart dropped. 

Dennis was clutching his chest, and he fell off the bench to the ground.

I yelled for them to stop the ride, and when they did, I jumped out of the teacup and ran over to him. By the time I made it over, there was a crowd of people already surrounding him. 

I crouched down and tried to lift Dennis closer to me, begging for him to wake up. I could hear Summer yelling for someone to call an ambulance. 

The next several hours went by in a horrific blur as Dennis was rushed to the hospital. We called Vanessa to let her know what was happening as we followed the ambulance on the way to the hospital. Vanessa and Julian met us there, and we sat vigil while waiting for news on Dennis’ condition. 

***

It was evening by the time a nurse came out to the waiting room to give us an update. I was on the edge of my seat until she finally said that he was awake. 

In unison, we let out sighs of relief. 

“He needs rest, but would like to see you all,” the nurse informed us. “Which of you would like to go in first?”

I turned to Vanessa. “Mom, you go first.” 

“Are you sure?” she asked with hesitation. 

“Absolutely,” I said, trying to be as optimistic as possible. 

I couldn’t keep my leg from shaking as we waited for Vanessa to return. Summer, the kind and caring girl that she was, put her hand over mine and reassured me that Dennis would pull through. I hoped she was right. 

Soon after Vanessa returned to the waiting room. “He’d like to speak with you, Lee,” she said.

I headed off to Dennis’ room, and when I got there, I was shocked to see how haggard and frail he looked, with all sorts of tubes and wires attached to him. 

“Don’t feel sorry for me,” Dennis rasped. “I ate like an ass my entire life.” 

“But…” 

“I brought this on myself.” 

“You’ll pull through, right?” 

“I don’t know. A lifetime of damage just hit me all at once. In the event that I don’t make i—”

I cut him off. “—No, don’t speak like that!” 

“You know me. I operate from a place of absolute truth. This is the reality of the situation. In the event that I don’t make it, I stashed something away for you. There’s a key at my place, on top of the bookshelf, it will open a safe box in the basement past my collectibles. I’m leaving what’s in it to you,” he explained. “Truth be told, it’s always been yours.” 

“What is it?” 

“You’ll see. It’s something that I’m not sure I should be giving you. Mostly because of all the progress you’ve made in this life. But it’s yours, and I believe you should have it. I tried, but I couldn’t bring myself to destroy it. I held onto it as a memento of your passion. Decide whatever you will wi—” 

All of a sudden, Dennis’ body contracted, and he grew visibly tense. I panicked and called the nurse right away. 

A medical team quickly arrived and asked me to leave. I really didn’t want to and tried to push back.

“Please, for your own sake,” the nurse implored[PC10] [MS11] . “You don’t want to remember him in this way.”

I was disappointed and incredibly worried about Dennis. But I appreciated her consideration for me, and reluctantly left the room, unable to take my eyes off the tiled floor as I made my way back to everyone. 

***

Summer tried to comfort me as best as she could as we sat before a closed casket and a picture of Dennis from when he was younger. I couldn’t stop crying, nor could Vanessa, as Julian held her. 

The second stroke, so close to the first, was what took Dennis out. 

The funeral went by in a blur. 

It was pouring down rain as we drove home, and I asked Julian if he could stop at Dennis’ place. We pulled up to the front of the house a few minutes later. As I got out of the car, Summer stuck her head out and asked if I wanted her to come with me. 

“No. I’ll be okay alone. Thank you.” I really didn’t want an audience as I retrieved what Dennis left for me. 

I headed in and located the hidden key in the living room. It was exactly where Dennis said it was. [PC12] [MS13] 

Down in the basement, I scanned past crates of comics and Gundam collectibles, looking for the safe that Dennis described. I opened the box, and was shocked by what I found. 

***

Later that night, Vanessa knocked on my bedroom door, but I was out cold, still wearing my funeral clothes. She came in anyway and covered me with a blanket. As she headed for the door, she spotted the letter I retrieved from Dennis' house on my dresser. She picked it up and read it, line by line, face growing pale in shock. She mumbled the last line aloud— “Yours sincerely, Wes Stokes.” 

Her shock quickly turned to confusion, as she held the bloodstained letter out in front of her. She stared at me as I slept, with so many questions.