Synonyms For Better

Chapter 9 - Trust Me

"PSST. YO. DUDE. Finn, my guy. I know I'm lacking sleep plus some brain cells, and that the drinks were heavy last night, but...am I seeing things or is that Cora-bean?" I heard Renzo whisper super-loudly out of the corner of his mouth. 

I hid a smile as I moved away from the ticket booth. I caught the eye of the trek host and instructor, a friendly Asian woman named Yumi Kai, mouthing thank you to her, and she shot me a thumbs up, beaming.

"Carol?" Finn's eyes widened when he caught sight of me, and his lips parted in surprise. 

I bit my lip, holding in a grin at seeing his shocked expression. "It's Cora," I chastised instead.

He ignored that and let out a disbelieving laugh. "What are you doing here?"

I coughed. "Um, I wanted to do this trek thing too. Anaril, was it? I know it's so last minute but...I don't know, I thought it'd be cool."

Finn's shock vanished and he shot me a huge grin. "Well, well, well. Look who decided to embrace spontaneity. By the way," he asked innocently. "Did you bring your inhaler for your allergy to the concept of last minute plans?"

I rolled my eyes. "Very funny. I am still allergic to last minute things, but I've brought my EpiPen for it," I said sweetly. "And, Not-Neel, I'll have you know, I'm totally― "

"Perfectly―"

"―absolutely―"

"Positively―"

"―tremendously capable of being spontaneous. I even packed without a checklist."

In the background, Renzo grumbled, "Wow, look at the two of you morning birds. Can we please take a minute of silence to acknowledge that it's three in the morning? By the way, Cora-bean, do you have any snacks on you?"

"Front pocket, smallest," I told him, giving him my bag. His eyes widened and he took it hastily, sighing, "And this is why I love you. Jolene's inside the train already, finding our spot, and she took the food with her. Selfish little toad."

I chuckled at Renzo's ranting, and Finn shook his head, amused, before he turned to me again. "So you've actually packed quite thoroughly," he said, gesturing to where Renzo was ripping into a double chocolate and banana granola bar. "And that too without a checklist. Who are you and what have you done with my Almond Baba?" He looked me up and down in a totally normal, funny, and casual way, but my totally abnormal and over-dramatic face still heated up. 

I needed to stop. Like, yesterday. 

"I know it's totally shocking, Not-Neel," I'd managed to reply (even though I wanted to cartwheel to the nearest ice cream vendor so I could cool down my face via ice-cream-facial method), "but desperate times call for desperate measures. I'm not completely hopeless, you know."

"Impressive," he said, the corner of his mouth quirking up. "So you did accept my invitation to run away with me to a foreign land at four-thirty in the morning, after all, huh?"

I shoved at his arm (and much to my chagrin it was a futile attempt, may I add), to which he just laughed. "I thought about it," I said sarcastically, "but I couldn't let you have all the fun, could I?"

"Ah, so you're here to keep me in check. Got it." He raised his eyebrows. "So... what's your game plan for all this?"

"Um, it's a work in progress," I grumbled. How could this guy get to me so easily? 

"Seriously, though, Cora," Finn added, looking sincere. "I'm proud of you, really―"

"Aww."

"And just to make sure..."