AMY

I bend my head low and play with the hem of my sweater as I mutter, "I have the ability to envision nonexistence."

In all honesty, I actually enjoy hearing those words come out of my mouth. To others I used to tell this to, they thought, because of using this choice of words, that I have a really profound vocabulary. But let's get the facts straight: Despite that, I now very much dislike telling people of my unusual prowess.

When I reveal deep dark secrets after wanting to for so long, it feels as though these super heavy weights have been lifted off my shoulders. Sometimes they're hard to get out, the secrets, but once they are, I feel this wave of relief. Like now.

TYLER

That was probably the most amusing thing I've ever heard. Why would someone be so terrified about such a rare yet amazing talent?! And she looked so scared when she told me.

No, wait, this cannot be the reason for her being so introverted, can it?

"Amy, you are not serious." My lips curl into probably the goofiest grin to ever show on this face. "Why would you be so scared of sharing that with people?"

She shakes her head too harshly as she bites her lower lip. I'm scared I've said something wrong again. 

"No, no, no. You don't understand, Tyler, not at all." Amy starts pacing around the room, mumbling statements like "I was right," and "I shouldn't have told him," and "He'll be the death of me." That last part she repeats much louder before stopping dead in her tracks. Under different circumstances, I would've actually asked her to say "He'll be the death of me" over and over again until I get tired of hearing it, which I don't think I ever will.

"Wait a minute." I stride towards her and hold her shoulders. "Just clear something up for me, will you?" She nods slowly, looking in my direction now, but once again, not right at me. "Why are you so terrified of something so harmless?"

Her expression changed completely with one simple question. "S-stop it! Why a-are you asking me so m-many questions?" her voice cracks. Amy is shaking in my arms, now staring down at her bare palms. "What do you want from me? Are you going to use me too?! Is that what this is all about? The meeting, you moving directly across my house out of all houses in the neighborhood? And your niceness? Is this all some sort of elaborated plan for you to take advantage of me?! Well I won't be easily persuaded anymore, because I have already learned my lesson!"

And there goes perhaps my only chance of ever trying to help her. This is not at all how I imagined today to play out.

AMY

I storm out of the room and slam the door shut as I exit.

I should have known better. No one has ever been this nice to me since... not since then.

What a stupid question: "Why are you so terrified of something so harmless?" Harmless?! You probably don't even have any idea as to what harmless means!

Why did I even give in? It's not like he gained anything from me admitting that to him,right?

His footsteps are echoing behind me, the sound of his shoes against the wooden floor growing louder, so I hasten my pace. Tyler is calling out to me but I tune him out, not wanting to listen to whatever he has to tell me. It's probably just another halfhearted apology I have heard much too often, just like from those other people. You know, the ones who wanted to get me to answer their almost always similar questions.

TYLER

"Amy, wait!" I grab her hand but she doesn't look back. She tries to wriggle her hand out of my grasp but I don't allow her to do such just yet. "What did I say wrong?"Her body goes stiff and her hands twitch. She turns her head slightly to catch a quick glimpse of me. "You won't understand, even if I tell you. Just like everyone else still doesn't. This thing I'm dealing with is not harmless, Tyler." Amy takes a deep breath before continuing.

AMY

I have no idea why I am going to tell him. Why do I keep on spilling my secrets when in fact I already know that there is no need for me to?

"Being able to envision nonexistence makes me cease to exist," I say convincingly enough that he needs to process what I just said. I take the opportunity to shake free of Tyler's grasp and run into the dining room where Frank and Danny are waiting for us.

"There you are! Breakfast is ready. Well, has been for a while. It's not too fresh anymore, but take a seat anyways." Frank motions to two seats across him and his younger son. He wants me to sit next to Tyler, but I'm not in the mood for that right now. He and I exchange quick looks at each other, meaning to say that we both feel the same way about the situation. Despite the awkward tension between us, we take our assigned seats without verbal argument."

Oh, I won't be eating. You all can go ahead. I did just a while ago before I got here," I say with a forced smile. I notice from my peripheral vision that Tyler just raised an eyebrow.

TYLER 

I am pretty sure that her excuse is just so that she doesn't have to sit next to me at the table. However, after what I just did–although I have absolutely no idea what I did so wrong–I understand why she would feel that way. Amy is probably just really delusional and is overreacting about telling me. She is making such an enormous deal out of it and she cannot think straight because of that.

"What did you eat, Amy? Surely it couldn't have been as great as my homemade waffles and bacon," Danny tries to persuade. 

"Nobody can resist this bacon," Dad adds with a nod of his head. "Or any bacon, actually. Unless you're not human, that is."

"Dry cereal," Amy replies softly.

"Dry cereal?!" the three of us repeat in unison. "Surely you can't be that full yet," Dad says with a concerned look on his face. He is either worried about Amy not having enough nutrition in her system or that all this extra food on the table would go to waste. From the looks of his facial expression, perhaps both.

AMY

"Oh, my apologies," I say, realizing how insensitive that must have sounded. "Did Mrs. Olsen cook this? Is she still in the kitchen? I would like to meet her." I try to change the topic because previous one was going nowhere.

But then Frank's face crumbles the moment I mention his wife's name. Danny's eyes widen and his mouth parts slightly. "Um..." Danny's voice trails off.

"No, Dad cooked the food," Tyler answers for his father. "Mom is–"

"She died of a heart attack six years ago," Frank finishes, speaking a tad too fast.

The thought of a dead mother makes me think of my dead father. Part of me wants to know more about her but the other doesn't want to hurt any of their feelings, especially Frank's. (And another little part in the deepest darkest nook of my heart wants to kill myself for remembering Papa, while another part wants me to kill him again for leaving me with her.)

"My condolences," I say softly but loud enough for them to hear. I get a few solemn nods in response. Another topic needs to be raised so I ask, "How has it been since you've moved into your new home?" to nobody in particular. I only realize now that I just started two new conversations to escape awkward tension. When and where did I learn how to talk to people, I wonder.

Before replying, Frank looks at his two sons and chuckles. "Well, you see, yesterday morning..."

＊＊＊

TYLER

The rest of the day goes by pretty fast and much better than I initially hoped it would turnout to. Amy ate her food and chatted with my dad for a while, Danny stuffed his face with bacon,and I watched her profile as she explained how school was and as she listened to Dad tell her about our "big move" for two whole hours.

The only thing I could think of the whole time they conversed was how she looks so much more stunning in person.

"Ah, it's almost ten, you better get to work, Ty." Dad turns to me, raising his voice.

"Then I better get going, too," she speaks up, getting out of her chair and pushing it into the bottom of the table. She waves to Dad and Danny goodbye then strides toward the door. I, like the obvious gentleman I am, escort her to her exit.

"You never answered my question," I say right before she exited. My hand somehow gets itself gripped onto her right shoulder, and she stares at it. "About your name."

A grunt of hesitation. 

A sigh.

An answer:

"I have no idea what you're going to need my full name for, but it's Amelia Nelson."

I smile. "Why are you always so hesitant? Your name sounds nowhere near bad, trust me." I give her a knowing look. There is more to this than just the hatred of a name, and that is much too evident.

"You know my curse and my name. There's a connection between them." She scratches the back of her neck and looks away momentarily. She looks up at me with an after-I-explain-everything-you-will-think-that-I-am-a-lunatic look. I don't show any sign of hesitation nor regret, which lets her know that she should continue. 

"You've heard of Earhart, right? Amelia Earhart?"

No. Way. Somebody please don't tell me that all of this fuss is because her name is the same as some woman's, and a woman who has disappeared without a trace of all people.

I respond with a slow nod. To be honest, I want to speak my mind but I'm afraid it will hurt her, and I've already done enough damage to Amy today than I should.

"We all know that she disappeared on her first flight. So to put it simply, I think I will too. But not into thin air like she did, more like..." Amy's voice trails off as she tries to find the right words to finish her sentence, even though I'm sure that whatever she will say still won't make any sense to me. "... I think I will disappear in installations. One day, I might become so sick until I die--or maybe my insides will deteriorate until my body turns into nothing--or maybe I will..."

I'm pretty sure she notices that I am not listening attentively anymore, because she is about to say something more when her lips part but seal themselves again. Her face twists into the same face she wore before telling me her secret. I don't like where this is going. Amy lets out a long sigh then finally speaks. "Oh, Tyler," says in a tone that makes me like her saying my name better than I do, "I'm sorry. I know you really want to help me, but you can't. No matter how hard I try to explain how I feel and what I'm going through, it will always be too difficult for anyone who doesn't have the same issues as me to fathom."

AMY

"No," Tyler says in probably the sternest voice he's used today.

"Were you not listening just now? You cannot help me!" If only he could stop insisting. I appreciate his determination to help me, really, but why can't he understand that when someone refuses an offer, there is a higher probability that they will not change their mind about it. "No one can help me," Is ay, hoping to end this conversation.

"That's not what I meant. You are only half right about what you said." I am in complete shock. He does not have the slightest idea how it feels to be me, so why does he think he knows more than me?!

"You said that anyone who doesn't have the same issues as you cannot understand you, when in fact nobody can understand you except for yourself, even if someone was to be put into your shoes."

I shake my head, although, deep down, I believe that he does have a point. "I'm sorry Tyler, but thank you for trying," I say with an apologetic look as I open the door to leave. "I appreciate the effort, really." I force a smile and leave before he can say any more.

As I walk home, I replay the whole scene in my head. "Nobody can understand you except for yourself," Tyler said. Just now, absurd thought just pops into my head: maybe he is the one who can cure me, after all.

No one's ever tried so hard to get to know me, and we've only met today. Could it be that he sincerely cares about me?

I turn around and run back to his house with haste and a spark of hope.