String of Fate

Chapter Twenty Five

When we all met up, we talked for a little bit before deciding to all walk together to the bowling alley. Tom and Duncan tried to play the game together as they walked, but they were walking really slowly and almost walking into people, so, I ended up confiscating the games consoles from them to make sure they weren't walking into anyone. I slipped the games consoles into my backpack and decided that they could have it back when the bowling was over.

We headed inside the bowling alley and spent the next few hours playing ten-pin bowling and hogging two lanes since the eight of us couldn't all fit on one, but, we were playing against each other, deciding that teams would be the best option and the team with the highest score would win. Somehow, I had ended up on the team with Percy, Natalie and Johnathan, so, we actually had a chance of winning because Percy was on our team.

I was delighted when my team did win after the whole game by roughly twenty points overall. Still, I didn't want to go home already, and it turned out that the feeling was mutual throughout the group, so, we all piled in the nearest Burger King because we were all feeling a little bit peckish after playing bowling. Luckily, we were able to find a table big enough to fit all eight of us, which was rare if we didn't reserve a place.

Halfway through the meal, my mind started to wander and think about stuff that was not happening at the table. I was thinking about the next morning, which was my birthday. I was starting to wonder about what would happen on my birthday. Would there be a string on my finger? If there was, who would be at the end of it? Would it be a guy? Or a girl? Will they be tall? Short? Blonde? Brunette? Green eyes? Blue eyes? Brown eyes? Would they like the same thing I do? Would they get on with my group of friends?

I guess what they looked like didn't matter to me, and I didn't really mind what gender they were. I just hoped that they wold be able to get on with my family and my group of friends. I had been friends with them for at least five years, so, I wasn't just going to drop the friends that I had made. The person that I would end up with would have to get on with my group of friends. That would need to be the main thing.

"Hey! Earth to Eve!" JJ's voice wrecked my thoughts, and my mind wandering. I looked around to see them all staring at me and I started to wonder how long I had been daydreaming for. I sat up from leaning on my hand on the table. "Are you okay? Are you spacing out about something?"

"I'm fine. I'm just over thinking about tomorrow." I explained to them, messing with my tray a little. "I mean, it's just one of those 'will it happen?' things that really like to mess with my brain. I was just wondering if a string would appear or anything."

"We know the feeling." Natalie said, reaching over and squeezing my arm. "You'll be okay. It'll all work out in the end, even though it doesn't feel like it. It's just worrying for you since your birthday is tomorrow. It should be fine, though, because if the string does appear, it would lead to the perfect person for you."

"You do always say that everything will turn out fine, though, Natalie." Duncan pointed out.

"Even coursework." Tom added.

"Well, I say it where it applies." Natalie objected.

The next morning, I woke up on my birthday with a red string on my finger and the feeling that something was really wrong. The first thing I did was check my phone to know the time and to check for any notifications. Sure enough, something was dreadfully wrong. A post in the group chat from Artemis caused me to freeze for a second, staring at my phone screen, before I jumped out of bed and flung open my bedroom door. Luckily, my gramps was coming out of the bathroom but I scared him a little. "Gramps, can you take me to the hospital, please?"

It took me an hour total to get dressed and get to the hospital because traffic was the worst. It seemed that every red light was against me. I sped walk to where Artemis said he was in the hospital, being the last one to arrive. Artemis looked a wreck, and the first thing I did was hug her. Then I looked at the bed, seeing Percy lying there. Bruises were already forming on his face, seeming to spread out from the band aid on his cheek and making his eye black. His leg was in a plaster, slung up in the air and I could see that his chest was bandaged up, too, a little of it visible over his shoulder through the neckline of the hospital gown. The beeping of the monitor proved that he was alive.

The last thing I noticed was the red string on his left hand. I realised that Percy was at the end of my string. It was the best and worst thing because I couldn't bear to see him so hurt like this. The fact that he had been hit by a car this morning, on his way to see me, was the worst thing ever.

Then I started to cry, too, hugging Artemis close as I looked at Percy on the bed.

"Eve, why are you crying?" Artemis asked, the tears also strolling down her face as she kept her arms around me.

"Because I almost lost my soul mate before we even had a chance to be together. Percy is at the end of my string and ..." I trailed off. I couldn't say that I had almost lost him the same way I had lost my parents, making a choking sound as I started crying again.

"It's going to take a lot more than a little Nissan Leaf to take me away from you." Percy spoke, making my head move so I could see his face. He was smiling at me and he reached out to me. I walked over and took his hand, bending down a little so my face was close when he spoke. Still, I stopped a couple of inches away. "Eve, I know you like the French language, so, 'je te aime'."

Then he closed the gap between us so he could kiss me.