Crow

Ch. 19

Toying with the purple beaded keychain that hung from the button of one of her purse's many pockets, Echo glanced around from where she stood leaned back against a rusting lamppost. Her eyes flitting across those who passed her, she waited, in search only two faces in particular.

When she spotted them at last, a satisfied half-smile crept it's way over her lips, and she raised one arm, waving her hand vigorously to grab their attention. A head of vibrant orange hair swung to face her, simultaneously along with that of two elegant mahogany twin braids, bright red ribbons fluttering at their ends.

Wren and Aria jogged the remaining distance between them, each greeting her with a content smile of their own when they reached her.

'Sorry for taking so long; I almost got lost on the way here...' Aria gave a sheepish grin.

"And I lost track of time after getting home from school, so I wound up being a bit late as well." Wren sighed apologetically.

'I guess I kinda got lucky when I bumped into Wren, because I had just been about to turn down the wrong street again, like I did last time.' Aria added informatively.

"How is it that you always manage to confuse Parker Lane with Baker Street, anyways?" Wren cast her a sideways glance, raising an eyebrow.

'Well- They both have an '-a' and a '-ker' in them, you know?' Aria signed back defensively, a faint blush coloring her cheeks.

"Whatever you say, O Great Explorer." Echo replied teasingly, leaning forward and extending her arm in an exaggerated bow.

With an annoyed huff, Aria crossed her arms and sulked silently to herself, though she made no attempt at a comeback. Echo giggled at her friend's reaction, Wren chuckling in amusement at her side as well, and with that, they began walking.

Echo took the lead, skipping ahead of them enthusiastically. Her two friends trailed after her, Wren in exasperation, and Aria in equally high spirits, which could most likely be attributed to the fact that this outing had given her the chance to ditch her homework. Ever the scholastic one, Wren had already finished hers in class, and since Echo didn't have any of her own for once either, she'd decided to call the two of them up for a walk around town, just for fun.

To make things even more convenient, the town was in the full swing of its annual 'end-of-summer' festival preparations, so lights and decorations were strung up at every building, which were sure to light up the streets like fire once dawn settled in. The event was always held a few weeks or so after school started back up again, as if to see to the departure of the summer season. Though it wasn't akin to a major holiday or anything of the sort, but it had somehow, sometime, made itself into a much anticipated part of the yearly agenda.

As they walked aimlessly, turning down yet another street with no particular destination in mind, Echo noticed Clark Street Clinic nearing in the distance. Smiling warmly to herself, she saw that it too was outfitted with the season's bright colors, falling into place amongst the rest of it's festive neighbors.

Her sense of delicate happiness lasted only as long as it took them to pass by the storefront, an overwhelmingly flustered feeling instead forming in its place, when through the front window, she caught a glimpse of dusty brown hair bobbing around in one of the back rooms.

Her pace increased as drastically as her heartbeat, not slowing again until she'd long passed the clinic and sped past several more shops down the row. Wren and Aria chased after her, each throwing her weird looks when they finally caught up.

Echo's embarrassment must have shown on her face as bright as day, because Wren then proceeded to inquire, "Did something happen between you and one of your coworkers; you're blushing like crazy now."