String of Fate

Chapter Twenty Four

"Morning, all." I cheered as I walked into the kitchen. I could smell my mum cooking pancakes for breakfast. They were my favourite and she always cooked them on my birthday. My brother was already sitting at the table and my little sister was in her high chair.

"Did you get your string?" Lee, my brother, asked, earning glares from my mum and dad. Since he was nearly twenty-one and still didn't have a string, he was panicking and annoying everyone else about it. Mum and dad were trying to reassure him since their string didn't appear until mum and dad were both twenty-one, so, he had nothing to worry about. The string would appear when it was ready.

"My string has appeared." I admitted, taking my usual seat at the table. They all seemed surprised that I wasn't that bothered about following it and I felt them all looking at me as I poured some orange juice for myself. "What? I'm not that fussed. There's a part of me that's scared about who I'm going to find at the end of it so I'm really not in the mood to follow it."

"Honey, of course you're going to be scared, but it's not like the other person isn't scared, too." My mother told me, looking at me from the stove as she finished making the first batch of pancakes. She plated them up and put them in front of me with the bottle of maple syrup. She squeezed my shoulder lightly. "I'm pretty sure that you're going to be really happy with who is at the end of your string."

"Probably, but I worry about stupid things, so, I'm going to worry about stupid things." I told them, picking up the bottle of syrup and dumped a bunch of it on the still warm pancakes. I took a bite of one and they were all still looking at me when I swallowed. "Right, I get it, I shouldn't worry about my string. Can we please just let the subject drop?"

Still, they wouldn't let the subject drop all day. I would be trying to read my book in the living room where my mum was working and she'd ask me about it every few minutes. My dad popped in and asked me if I had any intentions to follow my string. My brother then decided to bring up the subject every time he died within his game.

Then, Kat decided to drop by during the afternoon since she had some free time, and to wish me a Happy Birthday. We decided to chill and watch a movie, kicking Lee off the PlayStation to have control of the living room TV. We settled down to watch the movie with a bunch of popcorn, but Kat decided that she needed to know about my string, too. Thankfully, she waited until the end of the movie in order to ask me. "So, Mia, any sign of the string or has your birthday been a bust?"

"It has not been a complete bust. My string has appeared, but I don't want to follow it because I'm worried about it." I rambled, picking at the popcorn in the bowl. I looked at her to see her staring at me. "What? Are you going to tell me that I'm worrying about nothing and the perfect person is just waiting for me at the end of my string?"

"No, I was not going to say that." She replied, but I knew that she was lying and she had been planning on saying exactly that. "But now that you've said it, you're right. You need to follow your string. I mean it, Mia, you need to follow your string."

It wasn't long after that that Kat left and she left me alone with my family, having to deal with them trying to convince me to follow my string. This was starting to get really annoying.

In the end, I pretended to follow my string with every intention to just go to the café and read to get away from them. Sadly, I seemed to be following my string every step of the way. The person at the end of the string must have just been a customer. I couldn't get my hopes up and think that it was Logan at the end of my string. I didn't look at the faces, or the hands of anyone in the café, just taking my usual seat on the comfy settee in the corner, as out of the way as possible.

A cake and a cup of tea were put on the table under my nose. I notice that the birthday cake had 'Happy Birthday, Mia' written on it. I also noticed that the left hand ring finger had a string attached to it. It was the person at the end of my string.

My head snapped up, seeing kind eyes and an ecstatic smile looking down at me. I was too happy for words, giving him a smile too as I stood up and just hugged my destined person, letting my book drop as the one person for me squeezed me back. "I love you, Mia."

"I love you, too, Logan." I replied as he let me go enough that I was standing back on the floor. "I'm honestly so happy that you are at the end of my string."

"I'm so happy that it's you. I have to get back, but there's an hour until closing, so, can you wait until I close up and then can I treat you to dinner as a little birthday treat?" He asked. I nodded, smiling, making him smile at me. "Great. I'll be back in a bit. Let me know what you think of the cake, too."

"Thanks, Logan." I answered as he headed back up to the counter. I picked up my book, sitting back down on the settee and pulling my phone from my pocket to message my mother that I wouldn't be back for dinner because I was going out with the person at the end of my string. She quickly replied and told me to bring them back to meet my parents. I rolled my eyes at that and opened the messenger chat that I had with Kat, telling her that she had in fact been right and I had been worrying over nothing.

My string appearing and linking me with Logan was the best thing ever.