Wishful Thinking

Chapter Three

chapter three

               I'd brought Carter up to our hotel room, and despite how dirty that sounds, he'd practically insisted. At first, we'd sat around the hotel lobby for about half an hour talking about random foolishness. Carter seemed to avoid telling me why he was staying at the hotel, but I had brushed it off, not wanting to seem invasive. We'd discussed who we were staying with, Carter his mother and father, being an only child, and I, my best friend's family.

               Ava, to my surprise, didn't approach Carter in a flirtatious manner. She treated him like she would treat a new friend, not a potential boy toy.  I wondered if my best friend had forgotten about her hopes of a summer fling.

               Lynn stared down at her phone, most likely texting Kat, and gracefully raised an eyebrow as she blew a bubble with her gum. When the bubble popped, she spoke up. "We should play twenty questions." Lynn suggested.

               Ava's, Cater's, and I's eyebrows flew up in shock. Lynn chewed on her gum a few times before looking up at us, her default facial expression morphing into one of disgust and disappointment. "Come on," she whined. "Ugh, get your mind out of the gutter. I meant a simple casual, and friendly game." We all chuckled sheepishly, embarrassed.

               Ava sighed and smacked her hands onto her thighs. "Alright, how are we gonna do this?" She asked.

               Carter sat up. "There are four of us, yes? So we each write five questions on a sheet of paper. Then, when everyone's done, we collect all the questions and each of us answer them all."

               There was a silent agreement between our group and I stood to gather the hotel stationary. I returned to our spot on the floor and threw a pen and note paper at each of my friends before dropping myself onto the carpet. While everyone else jotted down their questions, I thought about what I should ask. I assumed Lynn's and Ava's questions would be targeted at Carter, but I genuinely liked learning things about everyone. After moments of contemplation, I jotted down five questions:

               Frozen yogurt or ice cream?

               What's your favorite part about yourself?

               What bad habits do you have?

               Are you smarter than a fifth grader?

               Isn't Teagan amazing?

               I added a teasing smiley face to my last question and beamed at my finished list. I placed the page underneath the small pile that consisted of Ava's and Carter's questions. Lynn scribbled a few more words onto her page, then added it to the the pile.

               Ava wasted no time picking up Lynn's page and read off the first question. "'Virgin?'" She quoted. She rolled her eyes and slapped her sister lightly. "Lets do the next question instead." Her lightly colored irises scanned the rest of the paper then widened as she ripped up Lynn's sheet, rolling the scraps into a ball.

               "Wow, Lynn, so much for a 'casual, friendly game,'" Ava mocked with air quotation marks. Lynn grinned widely, obviously pleased with herself.