14. Dallon Weekes orders an extra large mango and pineapple smoothie.

Tuesday morning, I woke up, but I still didn't have a plan. I went to work and soccer practice, but I couldn't come up with a way to keep Dallon from ordering a smoothie without telling him about Gabe's visions, which was out of the question. Luckily, nothing happened that day, and it seemed like the next day would be the same.

I had soccer practice on Wednesday morning, but afterwards, I returned home and played video games for a while. I was looking forward to my day off - I could just listen to my favorite bands, eat pizza, and maybe play a game of tennis. However, my friends clearly had other plans.

Brendon knocked on the door, and although I had no desire to get off of the couch, I let him in. He ran into the house, triumphantly holding up a leather-bound book. "What's that?" I asked.

"I know a thing or two about books, and that's a book!" my little sister said.

"Go away, Hillary," I said. She obliged, and Brendon and I were alone together again.

"It's Dallon Weekes' diary," Brendon explained.

"Where did you get that?" I asked.

"Where do you think I got it?" Brendon said. "I stole it from him, obviously."

"Why?" I asked.

"I'm trying to be proactive," Brendon explained. "The next vision is Dallon ordering an extra large mango and pineapple smoothie, and I saw him write in his diary once that mango and pineapple was his favorite smoothie flavor. If we change that entry, then maybe we can keep the vision from happening."

"That's not a bad idea," I said. "This is easily the smartest thing you've ever done, Brendon. You might actually be that one in a million like your mama said you would."

"My mother has very unreasonable expectations for me," Brendon said. He turned back to the diary and said, "Also, I wanted to see if Dallon said anything about me in here."

"That's more like the Brendon I know," I said.

Brendon rolled his eyes and said, "Let's just start at the beginning." He opened the diary, and we started to read the first page.

January 1, 1981

"When did you see him write the entry about the smoothie?" I asked.

"Sometime last week," Brendon said.

"This is going to take forever if we're starting in 1981," I said.

"Just keep reading," Brendon said.

Dear Diary,

New Years' Day has come again, and my New Years' resolution is to release an I Don't Know How But They Found Me EP this year. I've come up with some lyrics that I could use for the EP.

I hear voices
I see visions
These spirits
Are your prison

I haven't gotten any further than that. I've been bombarded with actual visions lately. I might as well write down a few of them.

A sparkling vampire (Of course, vampires don't really sparkle)

"I don't like lollipops."

"That's not how the Force works!" (I think this one might be related to Star Wars, but the line doesn't appear in Episodes IV, V, or VI)

"Life is like a box of chocolates"

A rodent-like creature with a long snout and black fur that likes shiny things

"I'm the king of the world!"

Something about a Black Widow movie

"I am not throwing away my shot!"

"I'm a little man, also evil, also into cats" (at least that's what I think he was saying)

"I feel the need...the need for speed!"

"Hey, wait a second," Brendon said. "Dallon wrote this entry five years ago, but Top Gun came out last month. How could he possibly have quoted it?"

"He must not have been kidding about the visions," I said. "I think that Dallon might be a psychic like Gabe."

"His visions don't make much sense though," Brendon said.

"That's because he can see further into the future than Gabe can," I explained. "It must be how he got his band name. I Don't Know How But They Found Me is a Back To The Future reference, but the band started before Back To The Future came out."

"I always thought that Back To The Future ripped off of iDKHOW," Brendon said.

"Big Hollywood movies don't rip off of little local bands from Shermer, Illinois," I said. "Between that and the Top Gun reference, Dallon has to be a psychic."

"Let's keep reading," Brendon said.

Brendon and I spent several hours reading Dallon's diary entries, and although there were plenty of nonsensical descriptions of visions, Brendon wasn't mentioned at all. As we approached the end of the diary, I told Brendon, "I don't think he knows that you exist."

"That's not true," Brendon insisted. "There are still a few more entries left. Maybe he confesses that he's in love with me at the end."

"I doubt it," I said as I turned the page.

June 15, 1986

Dear Diary,

I went to the smoothie shop on 4th Avenue today. I ordered a mango and pineapple smoothie, and it was absolutely delicious.

Note to self: get an extra large mango and pineapple smoothie next time I'm there. The medium smoothies are way too small.

"Give me a pen," I said to Brendon, and he gave me one. I crossed out "mango" and replaced it with "strawberry," doing my best to imitate Dallon's handwriting. We then continued to read.

My dad called today, mostly to remind me not to do drugs and that obeying the rules is totally rad. I also ran a few errands and watched a movie with Ryan. iDKHOW still isn't very popular, but we're doing our best. Overall, today was not very exciting.

I had a couple of visions though.

"Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down..."

"You are TEARING ME APART, LISA!"

"To die by your side/ Well the pleasure - the privilege is mine"

"That album came out last week!" Brendon exclaimed. "He predicted the future by one day!"

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"That lyric is from 'There Is A Light That Never Goes Out' by The Smiths," Brendon explained, while I rolled my eyes. "You should listen to The Queen is Dead, by the way. It's such a good album." Instead of listening to Brendon, I kept reading.

Mario in a go-kart (?)

"Aw, I wanted to be ginger. I've never been ginger!"

None of them make sense now, but maybe someday they will.

Love,

Dallon Weekes

"He didn't mention me," Brendon said. "I sang for him that day, and he didn't even bother to mention it."

"I guess it wasn't important to him," I said.

"It was important to me," Brendon said, frowning.

We flipped through the next two pages, but we didn't find anything else interesting until the entry for June 20, 1986.

Dear Diary,

I played a show with Ryan today at the Sunshine Riptide. At first, it was okay, but then I missed a note while we were playing "Do It All The Time." I need to work on my bass playing. The Sunshine Riptide crowd wasn't too impressed with our performance - I'm starting to wonder if it might be time for us to call it quits. I started iDKHOW as a way to make money off of my visions, but I have failed. Nobody wants to hear our songs, and nobody likes the opening band. I might as well get a real job, like my parents always wanted.

Later that night, Ryan and I discovered something horrible. Our merch guy, Mike Pedicone, has been stealing from us. We caught him red-handed and promptly fired him. He said something about how he was moving to New Jersey anyways, but I'm still pretty angry about the whole thing. Ryan and I trusted him, and he betrayed us. If anyone steals anything in my presence again, I'm going to strangle them.

Anyways, the Mike Pedicone incident is just another reason why I Don't Know How But They Found Me needs to end. I'm too old to be dancing around with glitter tears on my face. It's time for me to abandon my dreams and be just like everyone else.

Also, I had a few more visions.

"Stop trying to make 'fetch' happen! It's never gonna happen!"

"Oh well, whatever, nevermind"

"I see dead people"

"Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!"

"To infinity...and beyond!"

Also, I heard a song, but I can only remember the chords, not the lyrics. Ryan helped me figure out the chords (I-V-vi-IV), but that doesn't narrow things down much.

That's all for today. iDKHOW is breaking up, and I have never been happier about a breakup in my life.

Love,
Dallon Weekes

Brendon and I finished reading the diary, but there was nothing else interesting. Brendon was never mentioned in Dallon's diary, much to his disappointment. However, I was just glad that we had found a way to keep Gabe's vision from happening. Dallon's visions didn't concern me too much.

Brendon looked at the clock and said, "My shift starts soon. I should probably go."

"Can you take me with you?" I asked. "I'd like to get a smoothie."

"Sure," Brendon said. The two of us got into his car, and he blasted the soundtrack to The Sound of Music. "I need to learn how the songs go for the show," he explained.

When we arrived at the smoothie shop, Brendon got behind the counter, while I ordered a Strawberry Dream and looked for a spot to sit. I saw Gabe sitting by himself and drinking a smoothie near the back, so I sat across from him. "Hey Gabe," I said. "Brendon and I found a way to keep your vision from happening."

"That's good to hear," Gabe said as he sipped on his smoothie. "What did you come up with?"

"I changed an entry in Dallon's diary so that it said that he should order a strawberry and pineapple smoothie next time he's here," I said.

"Where did you get Dallon's diary?" Gabe asked.

"Brendon stole it," I said. Gabe shook his head as I added, "Don't worry. Brendon's going to give it back as soon as he can."

All of a sudden, Dallon and Ryan walked into the shop. As soon as he saw them, Brendon rushed over to Dallon and gave him his diary. "I found this on the floor, and I think it's yours," Brendon said.

"Oh, thank you," Dallon said as he took the diary from Brendon. "I've been looking for this."

"You're welcome," Brendon said. "Now, what can I get for you today?"

"I'd like an extra large mango and pineapple smoothie," Dallon said. "Ryan, would you like anything?"

"Pete!" Gabe complained. "I thought that you and Brendon were going to keep the vision from happening."

"It's not my fault that Dallon didn't even look at the diary before ordering," I said.

"I don't need anything, Dallon," Ryan said.

"I'll have your order ready for you in a few minutes," Brendon said. He worked on making Dallon's smoothie, occasionally glancing toward Dallon and Ryan, who were talking amongst themselves. Once he was done, he handed Dallon his smoothie, but it was clear from the color of the smoothie that he hadn't made the flavor that Dallon had asked for.

"Are you sure this is mango and pineapple?" Dallon asked as he looked at his purple smoothie.

"I'm so sorry about that," Brendon said. "I'll make you a new smoothie." He made Dallon another smoothie, and then gave it to him.

"Thank you so much," Dallon said, and he and Ryan headed toward the door. Dallon took a sip of his smoothie and then whispered to Ryan, "I still don't think that this is the right flavor. Brendon's not the best smoothie maker, but he's a nice enough guy. Did you know that he sings for tips?"

"I didn't know that," Ryan answered as the two of them left the shop.

Once the line died down, Brendon left his position at the counter to talk to Gabe and I. "I'm so proud of myself," Brendon said. "I kept the vision from happening!"

"The vision was of Dallon ordering an extra large mango and pineapple smoothie," Gabe said. "You didn't keep the vision from happening by making him the wrong flavor." Brendon frowned, and Gabe added, "It was a nice try though."

That was when Brendon started to tear up. "What's wrong?" I asked him.

"It's Dallon," he answered. "I've got a collar full of chemistry from his company, but he just doesn't think of me like that."

"I understand, Brendon," Gabe said. "Unrequited love is hard."

"I don't think you do," Brendon said. He then wiped away his tears and said, "I should just forget about all of this. It's better to face these kinds of things with a sense of poise and rationality. I don't know if I'll ever get over Dallon though. It was always him in this lonely little life, and I'll always love him."

"It's like we've all looked at death in tarot card," Gabe said.

Brendon and I nodded - we hadn't foreseen our own deaths like Gabe had, but these last few weeks had been hard on us too. My mind drifted to Patrick. What would I do if he didn't like me? Would I be any better off than Brendon? What about Ryan? Would he ever find love? Sometimes, it seemed like we were all lost causes.

Gabe was right - he wasn't the only one who had looked at death in a tarot card.

After we finished our smoothies, all of us went home. My heart was breaking for Brendon, loving someone from afar that he could never have. I knew that I couldn't live my life like that, and in all honesty, I wasn't sure that Brendon could either. At least we had done our best to prevent Gabe's vision from happening, even if it had failed in the end. Was there anything that we could have done? I wondered. There had to be something. We probably could have even told him about Gabe's visions - he was a psychic too, after all. If anyone would have believed us, it would have been Dallon.

There was no use in dwelling on the past. I had to think toward the future - that mysterious time when all of those quotes in Dallon's diary would make sense and Gabe would die in an explosion if we didn't act fast. I promised myself that I would find a way to stop Gabe's next vision from happening. Even if I had failed to stop Gabe's first fourteen visions, I could definitely stop his fifteenth vision from coming true.