Colliding with Fate (Published under Pop Fiction)

Maybe Someday

The day before thanksgiving, the guys are busy packing their things to go home. I don’t want to let them know that I’ll be alone. They will just stay in the house with me, or worse, invite me to go with them.

Zeke is unusually cheerful for the past couple of days since we got back from their tour. I notice that he’s carrying his phone with him wherever he goes, and he’s always smiling while using it.

“Hey, slaphappy!”

He grins. “Hey, you!”

“Are you going home?”

“Yeah!”

“You look excited,” I observe.

“I am!”

I smile at his enthusiasm. “What’s new?”

What I meant is, Who put the smile on your face?

Zeke looks like those guys in television series when they’re attracted to the female protagonist. He playfully dodges the question and says, “I don’t kiss and tell.”

I roll my eyes. Why are guys so secretive?

He pats my head and says, “Patience is a virtue.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

If you ask a girl about her love life, she will tell you everything. Her story will be too detailed; she won’t leave a space for a question.

That’s the difference about guys. They don’t enjoy telling people their romantic life. For them, it isn’t manly.

I leave him after that because he still needs to prepare. And he’s too busy staring at his phone to have a proper conversation with me. I’m not jealous or anything. As a matter of fact, I find it cute. I don’t have a brother and I only have few male friends so I don’t know how the minds of men work.

Maybe Zeke is dating someone. A celebrity; maybe a Hollywood actress. Or maybe a singer. My curiosity is killing me. I want to know her.

Maybe she’ll introduce her to us. I hope. And then we can be friends.

The thought of having a famous friend excites me. Not that I want to be friends with her just because she’s popular.  But I want to experience being in a room full of celebrities.

Ah, I’m getting ahead of myself.

I shake my head. These thoughts are stupid.

I don’t need an actress for a friend. I have Naomi, and the guys.

Instead of locking myself in my room to mope at being alone, I go to the entertainment room. I find Lance sprawled on the couch, playing a video game, while Nate is strumming his acoustic guitar.

This is weird; even though I’ve known them for months, I have no idea where they live.

I ask Lance first.

“Kyle is my neighbour.”

“Are you serious?”

“We formed a band when we were in high school,” he says as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

And yeah, it is obvious. Of course. They live in the same town. That’s when I realize something; that was my dad’s hometown as well. Oh, what a small world.

“I heard them jamming in KY’s garage,” Lance continues, pointing at Nate who’s too busy with his chords. “I got curious so watched them. Back then I was not interested in music.” He grins. “But here I am.”