The Royal Commoner

Back home

Katie paced back and forth along the length of her room muttering gibberish to herself.

Sarah stared at her wide-eyed, sitting cross-legged on the bed. They had returned from the hospital two hours back and since then Katie had been formulating weird schemes to get the boys to stay or for them to sneak away.

She suddenly snapped her fingers as yet another crazy idea hit her. She turned to face Sarah and, bouncing excitedly on the heels of her foot, she sprouted, "Let's steal their mobiles! We can see their flight's name and can book the ticket there ourselves!"

Sarah sighed. Here we go again, she thought. Out loud, she said, "And what will explain to them when they notice we suddenly popped in their flights?"

Katie waved a dismissive hand. "Oh, we'll tell them that we're surprised to see them there. We'll say we planned our holiday trip ages back. But now that they're there, they can accompany us." Katie nodded vigorously, clearly delusional that her idea was a complete genius.

"Yeah, no," Sarah said, exasperated.

"But think about it! It's perfect!" Katie exclaimed, trying to convince her.

"Katie... You know we can't do that. And besides, we don't even know them so well so as to follow them to the ends of the world. I don't even know if Noah thinks of me as more than a friend," she said in a soothing tone.

Katie's lower lip wobbled as she sat down on the bed, her shoulders drooping in defeat.

"But I really like Mark. He's so amazing, unlike any of my other hookups. He's... different. Maybe we could have been something more... Something other than just a casual fling," Katie said, her voice trembling.

Sarah moved over and pulled her best friend close to her. She hugged a shaking Katie tight as they both mourned for relationships that could have been.

Sarah pulled back and held Katie at arm's length.

"Look, we still have six days with them. Let's enjoy those to the fullest," Sarah said.

"But what about after they leave, Sarah? What if we fall in deep with them?" Katie asked.

Sarah said, "We must promise to ourselves to do just exactly what we intend to do... have fun. No strings attached."

Taking a deep breath, Katie nodded. "You're right. We'll rock the six days we have with them. And then we'll let them go. No strings attached."

Pulling Katie back into a hug, Sarah promised, "No strings attached."

♛❃♛❀♛❃♛

"My favourite gals!" Martin screamed upon seeing Katie and Sarah saunter in the store, pulling them into a tight hug.

"Oh, how I've missed you two," he continued, practically crunching Sarah and Katie under his weight.

"Yeah Marty, we've missed you too. A little air please?" Sarah said, wheezing.

"Oh right, sorry," Martin said, pulling back. He looked over Sarah in concern. "Katie called to inform me of your poisoning. Are you okay?"

"Yupp, shining as bright as a diamond," Sarah said twirling around. She was glad to be back in her element, back to her friends.

Martin chuckled. "Sorry I was not able to visit you in hospital. Was busy with the shop, now with all those tourists bustling around."

"It's all fine," Sarah said, waving her hand. She walked over behind the counter to begin her work. Katie settled herself over the counter, yawning.