Fated

Chapter 17: Donald Duck Doesn't Need A Towel When He Doesn't Even Wear Pants

A X E L

Knowing that Juliet was okay filled my body with relief it had never felt before.

But I could still physically feel the after-effects of the incident and I didn't even tolerate nearly as much pain as her.

If I start thinking about what she's going through, I'm pretty sure I'll get sick.

I just needed to see her. Somehow. Anyhow. I needed to see her for myself and now she wasn't even picking up the damn call! Same goes for Mason! Both those dipshits should learn to charge their cells.

An ominous sensation churned inside of me. Max just finished texting Stella, keeping her upto date. Or well, hour.

Here's the part I was dreading, telling Parker, who had the fortunate fate of sleeping through this.

The Hastings siblings, heavy sleepers I tell you.

"You're gonna tell him, right?" Max asked me, taking a swig from his bottle of Bourbon.

"Yeah, no, I'm gonna let you take the lead on this one." I whistle lowly, strolling off to my room.

"Oh no, you don't." He drags me back, tugging at my collar.

"C'mon man! Please. You already have liquid courage!" I defend myself.

He loosens his grip on me, intently staring at the bottle of alcohol.

Then he chugs the whole thing down.

Oh wow.

"Let's go." He shakes my shoulders dramatically.

Just then, the guest room door opens and a shivering Parker meets our gaze causing Max to jump about a foot in the air.

"Sweet mother of Godzilla, you scared the shit out of me." Max exclaims placing his palm over his heart.

"Something doesn't feel right. Can you guys contact Juliet? I've been trying her number for a while now and she won't pick up. I feel sick. But I know I'm fine, something is seriously wrong with her." He says wrapping his arms around himself.

"About that..." I drawl.

"I feel like I just died and came back to life." Parker admits.

Max bursts out in laughter, "Haha that's ironic 'cause you know." He clutches his stomach in laughter.

We stare at him weirdly.

"Wait, that's not funny at all." Now he looks like he's about to cry.

"Finger on your lips, buddy." I say and he obeys.

"Is anyone gonna tell me what the hell is going on?!" Parker demands.

Here we go.

***

"I need to see her." Was Parker's first reaction after I told him what happened.

"They're driving over. They'll be here in a while." I reassure.

I look into my best friend's eyes and I see his whole world fall apart. And what sucks is that I can do nothing to help him.

"You know guys, Donald Duck doesn't need a towel when he doesn't even wear pants. Like Disney should really think that through." Max starts to randomly rant from next to us.

We ignore him.

"Something's still wrong with her, alright? I can feel it!" He exclaims, burying his head in his palms.

"I love Stella." Max randomly bombards us with his heavy revelation.

Parker and I stare at him in shock.

"Yeah, she's smart, kind, funny, always says the right things, and her nose becomes a little red when she laughs too much, her hair's always a wreck. Ooh, and this one night the both of us were alone and then we decided to-" His monologue is interrupted by him running off to the washroom.

Lovely!

***

"I'm never drinking again." Max groans, sprawled lazily across his bed.

"That's what you said last month, buddy." I admit and Parker manages to chuckle half-heartedly, his mind elsewhere.

"I'm a 117 years old, Ax. Sue me, I get bored sometimes." Max gets comfortable, keeping the blanket only over the left half of his body.

"You do realize that Mason's gonna kill you once he finds out you chugged all his Bourbon down?" I point out the obvious.

"Don't worry about that," the soon-to-be-dead man laughs, "All siblings kill each other a couple of times, at least."

Parker nods in agreement. This makes me wish I had a sibling. It'd be nice to know you have a support system like that.

Parker tosses me an apple flavoured juice box. What? We're growing boys! Both of us gulp a couple of sips down.

"I'm thinking of calling Stella and telling her I love her." Max admits and I choke on my juice just a little.

He grabs his cellphone from the side table where it lay majestically and dialled her number quickly.

No! What?! Okay, bro code. Never let your friend drunk dial his potential girlfriend and profess his undying love for her.

I jump on the bed, attempting to snatch the phone out of his grip. He's stronger than me, obviously. I tug at the phone with all my strength while he stares at me completely still and unfazed.

So I move onto Plan B. The Tickle Monster. I tickle my way to victory. Once the phone is in my palms, I accidentally press the speaker button instead of the 'end call' button, exactly when Stella picks the call up.

Out of nervousness, I toss the phone to Parker, who looks at me frantically as though asking 'What the hell should I do?'

"This is ridiculous, guys." Max whispers angrily, his brownish blond hair falling over his right eye just a little.

"Umm," Parker starts, fidgeting with the phone in his grip, "Did you know that Donald Duck doesn't need a towel when he doesn't even wear pants?"

The silent response from Stella prompts Parker to check the screen.

"She hung up on me!" The brown-eyed boy exclaims.

And we all burst out in laughter.