The Certain Someone

"Woah dude! You look a lot like me, but a bit taller." said Clay, completely ignoring whatever the man said.

"It's because I'm you Clay…, we are same…" said the strange man.

"Listen dude, I've just been insulted before my juniors and done something against my wills so you better not mess with me, I'm in a terrible mood." said Clay annoyed.

It was the hottest time of the day and Clay really was getting annoyed standing there in sun, bareheaded.

"Okay so how about we talk over an ice cream? Sound good?" The man offered him a kind of peace treaty.

"I'm fine with that." And he happily accepted the offer, forgetting basic rules to not accept anything from strangers.

"So you were talking about some shit, about us being same. What was it again?" Clay said as they started for the Ice-cream parlour.

"Why the sudden curiosity?"

"Well look, you come out no where, tell me something weird, and now you expect me to walk silently without talking?" He continued to reply in annoyed tone.

"Fine if you insist, I'm your twin from parallel universe and I'm here to…"

"What the hell, you want me to believe this shit?" Clay didn't let him complete his sentence.

"Well, we're here, go and purchase the ice-cream."

Clay stared him silently.

"What? Go purchase it!!" Exclaimed the men.

"Give me the money idiot, it's supposed to be on your tab!" Clay exclaimed back.

"Did I ever mention, it'll be me who will purchase it? Remember buddy remember…" He said giving a wide grin.

"You're a scammer!" Clay exclaimed again.

Suddenly Clay noticed people in parlour were staring him weirdly. He assumed they were staring the projection and hinted him.

"Ahh well, I forgot to tell, but no one except you can see me in this world so, for them you're shouting at air, hehe." He grinned.

"HUH!!" Clay gave a sudden shocking reaction and burst inside the parlour.

"Can you all see this man? He's standing right behind me…"

There was a sudden silence in the parlour, everyone was staring Clay in a shocked manner and some started murmuring.

Clay's face became beet red and as he tried to run out of the

parlour and bumped his head in the door which said "PULL".

His embarassment was crossing its limit, and tears welled up in his eyes, he opened the door and ran ignoring everything.

But it was the hottest part of the day, so his already low stamina, ran out too quickly. But at least he managed to get near his favourite spot, the tree.

As usual, he sat on the guard rail and took a breathe to calm down his body.

"Are you tired?" The man suddenly appeared out of thin air.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA, WHAT THE F…" Clay almost got a jump scare.

"Calm down, calm down, it's me, we just met." The man said calmly.

"How the hell can you pop out of air and expect me to be calm in this situation?" exclaimed Clay.

"You'll get used to it, don't worry."

"You know, you sound like a villain."

"You can take me as a villain if you want, but I'm sure I'll be your saviour." The man said smiling.

"Okay, since you've put on so much of drama, tell me the rest of the stuff you are up to!" said Clay in a tired manner.

"You still don't believe I'm you from future?" Asked the man.

"Nope, I don't!" said Clay.

"Okay so looks like I've no choice!" And the man moved towards Clay.

"H-H-Hey, you going to use force? Okay! I know martial arts too so come at m…" Clay said taking punching position.

The moment he raised his hand to punch the man, he passed through Clay.

"HUH!", Clay stood there dumbfounded.

"You forgot, I'm a projection so I can't interact with any objects here." said the man, doing a leaning pose over the guard rail.

"You know, this place is my favourite location too. And they were going to cut this tree so I bought the land and saved it hehe."

"You…, you sound sad for some reason…" said Clay.

"Oh so you noticed? Well anyways give me a chance to prove, it's me, you from future." Said the man, smiling.

"Do whatever you wanna do, I'm just gonna sit here." Clay said, relaxing on the guard rail.

"Hmm so, the password of your laptop is 'gesamtkuntwerk' and there's a batch script file which asks for password, and upon entering 4 asterisks, a hidden folder pops up which has around 97 por…"

"HOLD ON, SHUT UP, PLEASE STOP YOU HACKER, WHAT DO YOU WANT!!" Exclaimed Clay, not letting him finish his sentence.

"Hmm so… You believe me now?" Asked the Man grinning.

"You're a hacker, a hacker" Clay kept on repeating that phrase.

"Okay so if I'm hacker, does Kylie knows you are the one who

broke her watch which she left in the clubroom?" He asked, moving his eyebrows upwards.

Clay was silent, not a word came out of his mouth. He was just staring at the air as if he had seen death.

"Uhmm don't worry, Kylie won't come to know. She can't even hear me so don't worry haha." The man tried to cheer him up.

"You… You really are me from future?" Clay spoke, still not

recovered after hearing his sins from someone else's mouth.

"Yes, I am you, I have done everything you're gonna do and I've came here for a certain reason."

"And what it that reason?" asked Clay.

"I need your help to save someone, she's gonna die four months from now." Elder Clay said in a low tone.

"And who is she?" asked Clay.

"Your girlfriend!" said the man.

"Oh I see, fine fine!" Clay replied agreeing.

"It's fine? I thought you'll have many questions!" said elder Clay, raising his eyebrows.

"What's wro… WAIT!" and there was a sudden pause when he recalled what he heard.

"MY GIRLFRIEND? I DON'T HAVE ONE." he exclaimed.

"Here we go." said elder Clay with a sigh.

"You're making joke of me?" asked Clay in a sad tone.

"You gonna listen to me? We're going to meet the girl today who will be your girlfriend, so get ready." said elder Clay.

"MEET HER? This is too sudden." he exclaimed.

"We just have four months you know, so we've to act fast."

"Fine but…"

"Nothing now, c'mon get up and let's go home, get ready." elder Clay interrupted him.

"Fine fine, let's go!" He jumped off the guard rail and headed home.

He returned home and hurried to the shower, elder Clay followed him and both started staring each other.

"Ahh sorry sorry, I was just thinking of checking the difference between OUR growth… hehe"

"GET OUT RIGHT NOW!" Clay exclaimed.

"Something happened to you?" Clay's mom shouted.

"No, No I am fine." he replied.

While he was in shower, Elder Clay looked around his room. It was mess as always, everything in the room was hither thither. The only clean place was the table where he used his laptop.

Clay came out of shower and got changed in his usual clothes and elder Clay gave him a look which showed he looked disgusting.

"What do you want? I always wear these." said Clay annoyed.

"But this time you're gonna meet a girl, dress good, wear that white T-shirt with long sleeves, any jeans and shoes."

Clay did as he was told and they headed out.

"Clay you are going out?" asked him mom in a surprise.

"Uhmm, yea, I am going out, maybe I will come a lil late."

"Come back whenever you want, there's no restriction. And enjoy yourself!" she said, waving him goodbye happily.

It sure was a miracle for her, seeing her son going outside after so many days. All he did was slept in his room or played games so she was really worried about him.

They were finally in city and the sun had went down and streets were crowded with people.

For Clay, who experienced the scorching afternoon, it seemed like the city was back to life.

After walking for quite a bit, they stopped before a restaurant which was small but looked good. It has small trees around it and some chairs for those who want to enjoy the meal outside in open air.

The lighting there was calm and elegant. It will probably be first choice for high schoolers due to it's outer representation.

Any high schooler will at least want to try the food there once.

They both went inside and Clay found an empty seat in corner, perfect for him. And as expected, the restaurant was filled with mostly high schoolers and college students.

"What's the time?" Asked elder Clay after they found the seat.

Clay told him the time, and was asked to hurry up and order a pizza, and to leave the phone on the table.

Clay did as he was asked, and returned to his table.

"Whenever you leave the table, please don't take your phone with you!" elder Clay warned him.

"Okay…" Clay replied in affirmative, with a confused look, "BTW, you haven't told me anything about future, we are free right now, mind telling me?" Clay asked, sensing the silent environment.

"Uhmm, Clay?" He asked after not getting a reply instantly and saw elder Clay looking at the door, as if waiting for someone. He sensed a strange feeling and chose not to interrupt him.

A few moments later, the door finally opened and a group of girls entered the restaurant. Clay realised, the girl they are gonna save is present in the group. He tried to find out who

elder Clay was looking at but didn't wanted to make wrong assumptions so he gave up and waited for him to speak.

"Okay, so you see the girl in yellow top? She's the one who we are gonna save…" said elder Clay.

Clay looked at the girl, she looked calm, sensitive, someone who takes

stuff seriously.

She was almost same height as Clay and was adorable. She didn't seem too fancy because her clothing, unlike other high school girls, were not appealing at all.

"Go and take your order when she leaves her seat, and leave

your phone here!" elder Clay spoke as Clay was adoring her.

"What's up with the phone?" Clay asked annoyed.

"Just do as I say or you'll regret it!" elder Clay winked.

"Fine!" he exclaimed, and stood seeing the girl leaving her seat.

He received his order and headed back to his table when his feet went on a ketchup packet and slipped.

Clay didn't fall but the pizza was already in air, so he leaped to save that precious pizza and since his eyes were fixated on it the whole time, he

jumped without seeing what's ahead and suddenly felt a soft squish in his palms.

He turned his head to find the source of this heavenly feeling and felt a massive force with tight pain on his cheeks.

All of this happened too fast for him to understand, he just knew that he slipped and the pizza went to waste.

He took some time to recall whatever happened and finally realised that his first meeting is completely ruined.

Elder Clay waved at him from outside and signaled him to get out. Too embarrassed to do anything, Clay silently went out.

They were walking on an empty road, with dim street lights, The path was covered with trees from both sides.

"My first meeting with her is completely ruined isn't it?" He asked in a sad tone.

"What if I say it went just how I wanted it to go?" said elder Clay.

"Than I will think you are here to bully me…" said Clay who was on the brink of crying.

"Don't worry everything went perfect, wait for school tommorow, it will work out perfectly." elder Clay tried to calm him.

"School? She's in the same school as me?" Clay asked, amused.

"It's coming from you so I'm not surprised anymore."

"So, which class is she in?"

"Dudeee!" elder Clay said, stretching the E, "She is literally your class rep."

Clay stopped walking, and stood there dumbfounded.

"Look, it's not your fault okay so chill." elder Clay tried to calm him once again.

"How does she die?" he asked this question out of nowhere.

"She don't dies, she goes in a coma, and still hasn't woken up…" he replied.

"So, how did she get injured?" Clay kept on asking, standing there.

"It was our first official date as lovers, and she got hit by a vehicle…" he replied, in a low tone.

"So, how will saving her here solve the problem there? Because if you really wanted to save her here, in this world, you could have left the situations as they are and she wouldn't have ever been my girlfriend and have never gone for that date…" Clay asked, still standing there.

"You are suddenly worried about her?" elder Clay said, with a forced smile on his face.

"What are you up to you bastard, is my theory correct or not?" Clay shouted and tears burst out of his eyes.

A sudden silence sorrounded them and all they could hear was frogs and beetles.

"The theory you gave that day is WRONG, I will explain everything at home, let's go!" elder Clay tried to calm the situation.

Clay stood there, sobbing. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, calmed himself down and wiped his tears.

"Hmm, that sounds good, but I need an explanation okay!" He said, still wiping his tears.

They started walking back.

"Hey!" Clay spoke.

"Hmm?" elder one replied.

"What's… her name?"

"Hmm, curious?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Just tell me!!" Clay exclaimed in an annoyed tone.

"Fine fine" he took a breath, "Her name is Erica."