I Will Wait

Chapter 9

Our lives depended on making it to the destination before Chris and Joel did. We had snapped all of our pictures and were now sprinting to the last destination where we were supposed to meet back up and compare pictures. We came to a stop in front of Z's Zoomies, the bright light up logo of a dog on a zipline glowing in the light of the shopping mall.

"I think we made it before them." Caleb gasped, looking both behind him and over at the other end of the mall.

I followed his actions and was thrilled when neither Joel or Chris came into sight.

"It's about time you showed up."

All of my hopes deflated. I whipped around where Joel was walking out of Z's Zoomies, the widest most triumphant grin smeared across his face. I rolled my eyes at his arrogance but his smile only widened, he knew I was not angry in the slightest. A little disappointed, sure, I really wanted to win, but not angry.

Caleb laughed, "We ran here so hard! How did you get here so fast?"

"That is our secret." Joel replied. "Now get in here. We're going zip lining."

It was the world's shortest zip lines and when I mean the world's shortest ziplines I mean my feet were the only ones that did not come close to touching the bottom of the floor. I watched and burst with unending laughter as all three boys basically walked themselves along the lines. Me, being in front of them, cruised along without a problem. Z's Zoomies was another hit location for us as kids, there was no way we could turn down going in if my mom had put it as our meet up place, even if the boy's enjoyment was much less than before. Mine, on the other hand, was intensified. Watching them walk around in ziplines was the most hilarious, enjoyable event of the afternoon.

♡♡♡

"We are not going back to Z's Zoomies again." Chris said as the three of us walked away from Chick-Fil-A, to go bags in one hand and milkshakes balanced in the other. I sucked at my milkshake. Was it possibly a terrible idea to have ice cream and milkshakes on the same day? It was fine, Caleb and I only had half a cone anyway.

"What happened to you?" Joel asked. "You both have stains on your shirts."

"Don't forget the shoe." I giggled, flinging my foot in the air to show my pinkish stained light blue vans.

Caleb laughed so hard I was convinced he was about to drop his milkshake, but he managed to keep it in hand, no more spilled food was needed between us.

"I ran into him and demolished our ice creams."

Joel laughed but Chris only shook his head like he was not surprised. He came to the street where the parking lot was and the older boys stopped. Joel slurped down his milkshake, it was already gone. How he did not have a brain freeze was crazy.

"We are parked over here. Where are you guys at?" Chris nodded over to our left, where Joel's bright blue truck stuck out like a bee among wasps.

"On the other side of the mall in the parking garage." Caleb replied.

"You two love birds enjoy your walk back to the car." Joel smiled. "We'll be going."

Chris stopped Joel with his arm. "Do you want us to drive you over there?"

"Nah," Caleb shrugged. "We'll be fine."

"Exactly." Jeol smirked at Caleb. "They'll be more than fine."

I stared at Joel with a horrified expression. What was he doing? I shook my head violently while Caleb was looking away from me. What could he possibly be trying to pull here? I had just broken up with Bert and he was already making romantic suggestions about me and Caleb? And why was he fine with that? He did not like the idea of me and Bert, so why Caleb?

"Bye boys! Enjoy the Chick-Fil-A!" I exclaimed, I hooked my milkshake holding hand around Caleb's elbow and pulled him away from the situation as fast as my legs could carry me. Joel's laughter rang through the air and haunted me all the way across the parking lot. We made our way through the mall and back towards the parking garage.

"Do you want to sit and eat?" Caleb asked before we could exit the food court.

"Don't you need to get back?" I glanced over my shoulder at him.

He had stopped and was pulling a chair away from a small table at the end of the large circle of tables and chairs scattered around the area. "No. I've got nothing the rest of the day."

I contemplated his offer for a second. Eating while sitting down, especially after the ice cream fiasco, was probably the best idea. I wandered over to the seat that he had pulled out, standing, waiting for me to take it. He pushed me in closer to the table before taking the chair across the table from me.

"So." He began as he stuffed a french fries into his mouth and for whatever reason I felt the daunting feeling that he was going to ask me about college and school life was the last thing I wanted to talk about. "How's life?"

"Life?" I mumbled, picking up a french fry between my fingers and then dropping it back down in the container.

"Life." Caleb nodded, smiling.

"It's life." I finally stuffed the fry in my mouth, followed by one, two, three more. They were salty and a little greasy, it was perfect.

"Selah." Caleb tilted his head downwards so that he caught my gaze, staring down at my french fries. The smile had vanished from his lips and I glanced up at him and tried my best to ignore everything in his chocolate eyes, it could crack the truth out of me in a split second.

"Life is like a puzzle with a gazillion weird shaped pieces." I admitted. "I'm not sure where all of them fit."

A slow smile returned to his face and he stuck another fry into his mouth. "Would it be any fun if the pieces were easy to fit together?"

I bit into a chicken nugget and then took my time sipping on the milkshake, pondering his words carefully. What would life be like if it was easier? It would be filled with lazy days and yummy food. No heartache. No pain. No secrets. Or broken promises.

"I am still trying to figure that one out." I replied honestly. Right now, a less complicated puzzle sounded nice.

"When do your parents come back?" Caleb asked, changing the subject entirely. He threw all of his empty containers into the small paper bag before leaning back in his chest and focusing his full attention on me. He was like Chris, unafraid of eye contact.

"The next few days."

"Are you ready to go home?" Caleb asked, I had not even been paying attention to the fact that all of the chicken nuggets along with the french fries were gone. I threw my trash into the bag before nodding. We walked out of the mall in silence, walking side by side like normal people in a normal world. Not like we had the world's longest history together. I wondered what people thought when they looked at us. Did we appear like a couple or more like brother and sister? Was there an air about us? Could people see the lies written all around my brain, the secrets kept and promises broken? I hoped not. But it felt like the whole world could see right through me.

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

New chapter is up now! Sorry this one was late! Thank you so much for coming along for this ride! What has been your favorite part so far? Don't forget to comment and vote! Your support means so so much to me! 

-AVA