From Conundrums to Kisses | ONC 2020

Chapter 18: Fun with Friends

Colton's POV

Colton found himself waiting at the bottom of the stairs, listening to Teagan make the reservation on the phone.

Ire walked up to him, giving him a weak smile. "You're afraid of haunted houses, aren't you?"

His knuckles turned white as he clenched both his hands, turning his head to the side.

"Hey, it's okay." Ire said, rubbing his shoulder. "It's nothing to be embarrassed about."

Colton turned to look at her. "I thought you of all people would be the first to laugh at me."

Ire scoffed. "You must be crazy if you think I would make fun of you for that." The two thought in silence. "So, when are you going to tell Teagan?" she asked, wincing as Teagan skipped from room to room.

Colton grit his teeth. "You saw how happy she was. I just gotta suck it up for her sake. I'll be fine."

Ire looked at him with a bemused smile. "Whatever you say."

Teagan ran down the stairs, grinning from ear to ear. "You guys will never guess what just happened! So, I just got off the phone with the organizer of the event, and they said that we could come in tomorrow afternoon. Isn't that awesome?"

Colton gave her a weak thumbs-up, not trusting himself to speak.

"Aw, I knew that you would like it." Teagan turned her head towards Ire. "What about you, Ire? Are you up for it?"

Ire smiled. "You know I'm always up for some fun. But the minute that we see an ax or something like that, I'm out," she warned.

Teagan engulfed her friends into a hug. "I'm so happy that we're doing this together, you guys," she replied.

"...me too," Colton said, looking up into the sky. He whispered a quick prayer up to the heavens, hoping that it would rain tomorrow so that they wouldn't be able to go.

The next day, Colton woke up in his bedroom, groaning when he looked outside his window. The sky looked clear as the sun peaked out from behind the clouds. He let out a sigh, pulling the covers over him. A buzz from his phone alerted him that Teagan was awake, ready to start the day off right.

He chuckled to himself. Teagan was always an early bird, unlike him, who slept until twelve in the afternoon on weekends. He pushed himself up from the bed, willing himself to get ready to go out into the world and face what it had to offer.

A few hours later, he found himself on Teagan's doorstep. Ringing the doorbell, he felt his nerves start to get the better of him. Was it too late to back out? He nearly slapped himself on the forehead. Of course it was.

The door soon opened, with Teagan being the first one to greet him. "Hey, Colton. You ready for today?" she asked, giving him a bright smile. She had worn an outfit composed of a white top with mid-length shorts. It was simple, but cute on her, nonetheless.

Colton looked into her eyes, a sparkle of excitement shown through them. He couldn't say no even if he wanted to. Teagan would be crushed.

"Ready as I'll ever be," he said with a small smile.

Teagan kissed Colton's cheek. "Don't worry, it'll be fine."

Teagan walked towards his car, opening the car door and softly shutting it from behind. Ire slowly trailed after her, getting into the backseat.

"Everyone ready to go?" Colton asked, looking back at the two girls. He really hoped that they would change their minds about the whole thing.

"Yep! Come on, no time to lose," Teagan added in, which was her way of letting him know that she was getting impatient. Excited, but restless.