We spent a little too long picking out outfits, Holly fussing over my clothes in particular. With my new ‘crush’ on Emilio, she became my personal cupid. When she had her mind made up on quests like this, she never gave up until her preferred outcome happened. It was annoying but also charming with how persistent she could be.

My alarm went off right when I was rushing to finish Holly’s eye shadow, her image an important part to her since she became a well known influencer. I wouldn’t say she was famous, but when she was at conventions and such, she would get flocked by fans who spotted her from across the room. We share a similar golden retriever vibe about us, always open to making friends and helping any way we can. It melted people’s hearts when we were out and about.

I turned off the alarm quickly, using my finger to blend the eyeshadow together one last time before we got our things together. “Can’t believe we just wasted over an hour getting ready for a couple photos before we go to the gun range.” I sighed, plopping my butt down on my bed harshly, the bed retaliating with a bounce back.

“Oh hush, you’ll thank me later when your friend can’t take his eyes off you.” She wiggles her eyebrows at me through her reflection in the mirror, her back facing me. I rolled my eyes at her, watching her finish up the little details of her makeup. “Okay, we'll take a couple quick photos before we go, it’ll be fast I promise.” She grabs my hand and helps me up from the bed, pulling me into a side hug before pulling up the camera option on her phone screen. “Say cheese!” She grins into the camera, my smile just as wide.

After we finish, I get the text from Emilio that he’s parked outside of our dorm building. We grabbed our bags and jogged out the door, a smile stuck on my face as we approached his van. Holly gave me a ‘I know what you are’ smirk before sliding open the side door and taking a seat. I went to the passenger side and hopped in, placing my bag in between my legs. Emilio waited patiently for us to get settled and buckled before driving out of the parking lot and towards the gun range.

It was pretty quiet in the vehicle besides the soft tunes playing on the radio. I leant my head on the window, feeling tense with no conversation happening. The quiet made me feel out of place and every time I shifted I wanted to hold my breath. It was confusing to me, but only because I was finally noticing my anxiety weighing me down. Before, I always ignored it. Gulped it down and smiled like nothing was bothering me. But something new has made it impossible to ignore. It was like my body fought back and made me want to puke out all this unease.

Digging deeper into this new feeling, it made me think back to the distraught I felt in the restaurant minutes before it was attacked. I felt something shift in the air. My stomach clenched when the sudden thought of how unusual it was for me to guess a timing like that. There was nothing unusual outside before they came crashing in, they were probably speeding down the street opposite of where we were sitting, so I couldn’t have seen them. 

I shook my head a little to try and shake my paranoia, thinking back to what Emilio said about the gem. It only worked if it entered your bloodstream, so why can’t I drop this feeling that it might be connected to our heist?

I jolted up right with this nauseous feeling racking my body, my mouth moving before I could process what I was saying, “Emilio, watch out!” He slammed on the brakes at my warning, a truck zooming past the front of the van as it ran the red light. If it wasn’t for my warning, we would’ve been t-boned. Holly and I probably would’ve been killed on impact with how fast that truck was going. We all were shocked at what happened.

Emilio slowly turned towards me, confusion and concern on his face. “How did you know that truck was coming?” I shook my head in reply, not sure myself. There were tall buildings covering the right side, where the truck came gunning, from my view. “I just..felt like something was wrong.” Was all I could sputter out. The van went quiet, my head turning to check on Holly who stayed quiet the whole time. She was sitting behind me with her eyes wide and her hand on her chest, trying to calm her heartbeat.

Emilio let out a deep sigh before turning back to the road and driving past the light after a red cycle turned back to green. The radio kept singing away soothingly while we sat in silence again. I stared at my hands, remembering where the gem had creased purple marks into my palms. It never broke skin, I kept reminding myself. So why was I suddenly psychic to trouble coming my way? I never was able to sense a football flying towards my head when I crossed the courtyard or a kid on a scooter sliding down a hill right towards me. But now I can sense speeding death machines and gangs busting in places? It just didn’t make any sense.

I put my hand in my letterman jacket pocket to rub my thumb on my lucky penny, the texture helping me calm down and clear my mind. I always flipped it when I wasn’t sure what to do when stuck between two options. I haven’t really paid it any mind with Emilio around, his presence making me so reassured. Maybe he was turning into my new lucky penny, maybe I was going insane, but I glanced his way and searched his face. He was extra focused on the road and the cars around us now.

He reminded me of someone, but unable to think of the right person, I ignored it, a blurry and disfigured face trying to puzzle its way through my mind. I know we haven’t met before the coffee trip, so what about him struck me as familiar? Was it his attitude or maybe his attire? I hadn’t thought about the person he reminds me of in so long I had trouble remembering their name, let alone why they had appeared in my head out of nowhere.

I bit my tongue and swallowed the train of thought, not wanting to unleash memories buried for a reason. I had worked for years to forget the past I had before Uni, going to countless therapy appointments to help cope with what I had been through. What if trying to remember this faceless person ruins all the hard work? I wasn’t going to test it now.

When I finally gave up, Emilio was pulling into the parking lot of the gun range we were going to use. It was an average looking place, the building made out of concrete and a handful of colors painted on the walls to make it fit in with the other buildings around it. We all got out and gathered what we needed before heading inside.

While Emilio talked with the secretary, I checked in on Holly, my hand on her shoulder grabbing her attention. “Hey, are you okay? Earlier was pretty scary.” She nodded her head before smiling reassuringly at me.

“Yeah, all good. Just a mini heart attack is all.” We chuckled together, huddled away from Emilio and the front desk. “How are you? You sensed that perfectly.” She gapped, still as surprised as I felt. I shrugged my shoulders in response, telling her the mini heart attack woke me up better than a cup of coffee, our chuckling turning into nonsense giggling.

We soon were booked in a couple of stalls, Emilio being our guide to the firearms since he’d been here a lot to practice. We wore safety glasses and chunky headphones to not burst our eardrums when firing, Holly and I glancing at each other and having to look away quickly before we both burst into laughter with how dumb we looked.

Emilio explained how we stand: legs aligned with our shoulders, one leg a step forward with our arms straight out and locked, our back ending up a little hunched with the spread of our limbs, but it helped absorb the knockback from the firearms. He mentioned how Denmark messed up on their stance once and got a big bruise on their nose bridge and double black eyes on the inner part of their eyes, all because their gun got launched back into their face. That was enough for us to take the stance instructions seriously, Emilio making micro adjustments when we replicated what he told us.

It was a standard gun lesson, learning the safeties and replicating the steps before we even thought of shooting the guns. I was proud with how thorough this first lesson was. He didn’t mention if we would be actually testing the guns today, but it was nice to hold them and feel the weight. It felt powerful just holding onto the firearms, so the thought of shooting them was both exciting and scary with how dangerous this object just existing was.

Our country had made it mandatory to learn gun safety after Holly and I graduated, so there was a gap in generational knowledge with firearms. With us having this opportunity to learn, that made us a step above our peers.

After our time was done, we safely put everything back and exited the building for some lunch. We all were more than peckish, none of us having time to grab a snack before the gun range.

After what happened in the restaurant, both Holly and I needed a break from sit downs for a bit. We all agreed on some greasy ma-and-pa burger joint to fill us up. It felt nice to take a break from routine healthy food and chow down on something I knew I shouldn't indulge in. But the change of pace was nice for my body. After everything changed so fast in my life, a day without worry was the best vacation no matter the length of time.

Eating in Emilio’s van felt fun and like a secret shared between the three of us. It sounds dramatic but for us three it was a breath of fresh air. Always cherish the little things in life.

What was that box of chocolates quote again?