[ WP ] You swear that you keep seeing the same woman in blue every time you go on family vacation , when you turn 18 , you are introduced to her .


 `` Ash! Here!'' 
 
 Jack is calling for me from somewhere in the crowd. I prop myself on tippy-toe and scan the room. A sea of drunk, fantastic strangers. My favorite part of cross-country biking is stopping in these weird little towns and hanging out with the locals. Tonight it's a comet-watching party somewhere in central Oregon. I'm reminded for a moment that we'll be riding up the fucking Cascade mountains this week, and my calves get sad. We ca n't miss this comet, though, it's a once-in-a-lifetime thing and this seems like a good place to make the memory of it. The bar has set up a little telescope on the back porch for when the comet comes. There's booze and music and laughing, and a motel bed for later. 
 
 I finally find Jack's hand flailing in the air and head toward it. I emerge to find him wild-eyed and electric. He dives into my personal space, his mouth at my ear, and says, `` Holy shit check this out.'' Jack sweeps his arm in the direction of a nearby stranger. 
 
 `` Ash, this...'' 
 
 Jack is making a what-in-the-fuck-is-happening dramatic pause. It's too long. I hope this is n't going to be embarassing. I flex my eyes at him, then follow his gesture to a woman in a blue dress. She sticks in my eye, and now I'm also not sure what's happening. 
 
 ``... is Amelia'', Jack completes the sentence and now he's staring at her too. She's wearing this bemused look and miming, `` What am I missing? Is this about to get weird?'' 
 
 It's her. It's that same blue dress, the same pink-and-black hair, the same weird shoes, the same person. Still looking the same after all these years. And she's just standing there with a cheap beer like it's no big deal. She either does n't remember us, or I should be scared. I ca n't believe I'm actually going to get to the bottom of this. I never expected to see her again. 
 
 Jack and I have seen this woman a dozen times throughout our entire lives, and she always looks exactly the same. She has a very unique and brightly-colored look, and after the third time, we were sure it's the same person. Each time we've seen her, she's been in the middle of an accident, a fight, or some other kind of commotion. When we saw her at the airport in Honolulu, she was being arrested. She was hit by a car in Denver. She never notices us, but she's unmistakable. 
 
 I ca n't help it. `` OH my god Amelia. It's you!'' She still has no idea. How do I even start to explain to this poor woman? 
 
 But now there's some incredibly loud noise going on. It started like mic feedback and I tried to ignored it, expecting some local band to start ruining the atmosphere. But it's just getting louder and meaner and it's like there's a jet on the roof. Something is wrong. Everyone is paying attention now, and panic is spreading quickly, but nobody is freaking out yet. Should I be freaking out? I could freak out. I'm looking around for the crowd to signal that we should be running. 
 
 I remember Amelia and lock my eyes back on her, desperate to keep her in my sights. I'm not going to let her get away this time. Her hair is literally standing on end, an impossible pink fan. The look on her face is terrifying. Something weird is happening. There's lightning outside all of the windows. The light bulbs are brighter than they should be. 
 
 Holy shit. What? Why do I taste pennies? 
 
 Something small and incredibly fast just shot down through the roof. It hit Amelia and now she's gone. I mean, it hit where she was. She's just gone. There's no blood, or a crater, or anything. I'm scanning the room, looking for her, but everyone in the room is staring at me now. I ca n't focus. It smells like ozone. Am I glowing? 
 

