Fated (Escape Spin-Off)

Chapter 4: Something Brewing

“I just… I’m not sure how to feel. I want to do something more than what we do but I also want everything to stay the same. You know?” I said to her after I took a quick sip. I felt the familiar tingle of the hot liquid travel the length of my throat, leaving my entire body warmed instantly. I smiled at her once my mug was secured on the table to reassure her that I wasn’t completely gone.

“I guess I get it. Our lives do get a little boring sometimes but what can we do about it? Looks like I’m playing life coach as well as matchmaker.” Lauren replied.

“Why would you be playing matchmaker?” I asked her as her features turned from content to shock. I laughed lightly, shaking my head from side to side. I knew what she was on about by now.

“That’s not funny Kat. You guys are clearly in love with each other. We’re gonna make it happen no matter what.” She said, her voice taking on an unknown edge at the end. I saw the determination in her eyes and decided to look at my drink. I wasn’t completely objecting to her idea but at the same time I didn’t want to risk things getting awkward. It’s all so cliché if you think about it.

“Okay. Whatever just don’t expect me to do anything too out there and if this doesn’t work out just leave me wallow in self-pity for a few lifetimes please.” I said to her making her roll her eyes. I giggled at the dramatic thoughts that came to my head. Sometimes I don’t even know how I come up with these things.

“Alright. Now to the next thing on our agenda. What can we do that’ll make things exciting. It seems to me like you’re just tired of doing what we usually do. We all could use a little more adventure honestly.” She mentioned and my head nodded subconsciously.

We sat and brainstormed ideas. Some of them were really out there; she wanted me to dye my hair green and orange and I suggested to her that we should get piercings. After a couple of debates and some very weird looks from the couples around us we finally gave up and settle for laying back angrily.

“Who knew it would be so hard to do something fun?” She said to me after wiping the crumbs from her muffin off her top. I rolled my eyes at her comment. People don’t have a hard time finding something fun to do. It’s when you want to do something life changing that things get difficult.

“How are things doing guys?” We heard Regan say to the side of us, her face bright as she noticed our exhaustion. I attempted to return her smile, settling for something above a grimace as her smile dimmed. “Why the long faces?”

“We’re trying to get Kat out of her little rut so we want to do something creative or at the least more fun than our daily lives and so far we’re coming up with absolutely nothing.” Lauren said to her, face shoved into the side of her jacket as she reached for her bag. I saw her take out her phone and begin typing quickly and looked back at Regan.

“Want to sit?” I asked her politely as I made room on the side I was sat. She placed herself next to me, folding her hands in her lap before looking toward us both.

“Well you know, when I turned eighteen, I traveled across the country. I just got all my money together and grabbed some friends. It was an amazing experience too because you really get to bond with everyone and things are just so carefree. What do you think?” She said, her head turning to me when she was finished with the story. I smiled and looked at Lauren who had a twinkle in her eye. That was an amazing idea! We could grab the guys and just travel across the nation. They had their licenses so everyone could alternate and we could all be together.

“Amazing! That sounds like exactly what we need! Dude, it’ll be so awesome for us to just drive and not have any worries.” I said out loud, bouncing in my seat. Regan and Lauren laughed at my excitement while equally looking happy. I couldn’t wait to just be with the open road and make memories.