The next morning, I went for a walk with the twins; I used to take my dog for walks every morning and night, but she passed away a few months ago. The walks are kinda nice, though, so I still take them sometimes.

We were walking—well, Rain was skipping a few feet ahead of us—and talking about random things.

“...Which is why chicken with rice is better!” I remember grinning at Alex, who just shook his head.

“But mashed potatoes are so good!” Rain pouted at me. “Aleeex, tell him!”

“Aleeeex, back me up man!” I whined.

“Nah.” He rolled his eyes, but I could see him trying not to smile. “Call Eli if it’s that big of a deal.”

“You’re right! He’ll definitely take my side!” I whipped my phone out, only for Rain to speak up.

“Is he awake yet? It’s Saturday…”

“You know how his dad is.” Alex grumbled. “Probably made him get up early.”

“Oh, yeah…” She got her phone out as well.

We both sent him texts, but he didn’t reply. Not that he had to, but we’re so used to him replying right away that it’s weird when he doesn’t.

But hey, as long as he’s okay…

“I had another weird dream last night,” I decided to change the subject while we waited. “This time, we were on a walk—kinda like this, but we were in this garden—”

“Ew,” Rain muttered.

“Unrealistic.” Alex rolled his eyes.

“I know! But we were dressed all fancy again! And apparently I was a prince!”

“Should’ve been a jester.”

“Aleeeex!”

“I had a dream like that too,” Rain frowned. “I was getting dressed up by a creepy woman. And then Alex—at least I thought it was Alex—came in and we talked for a little bit.”

I hummed.

“Hey, maybe you were getting dressed up for our walk!”

It was her turn to hum at that.

“I think they said there was some kind of ball, actually.”

“Oooh…”

I could tell that she seemed a little freaked out by the dream, so I tossed an arm around her.

“Hey, maybe our next dreams will be us burning our fancy outfits and riding horses off into the sunset!”

That got me a giggle, at least.

________________________________________

Later on, we went to the mall with Sarah; none of us really like the mall that much, honestly, but it’s the only real place in town that our parents will let us go without a time limit.

Sarah and Rain were looking at clothes while Alex and I were looking at bystanders to make sure nobody was being a creep; I also kept an eye on my phone in case Eli messaged me.

*Doesn’t he work today?* I thought to myself. *He usually texts me when he can…*

Eli works at MeteorDoes, that coffee chain, on Saturdays. He hates it, but it gets him away from his dad for a few hours…

Alex snapped me out of my thoughts by grumbling about some nearby guys talking about “the cute redhead over there,” and going to put his arm around Sarah.

“D’awww!” I exaggerated my yell not only to embarrass them, but also to get those creeps away.

They’re so cute, I love them. I spent almost eight years trying to get them together! But then Elliot came along and suddenly—

—I got a text from him.

Tigerxx1: sorry. rough day.

Tigerxx1: busy here too, might not be on for a while

That explained it…

LukeaDuke: Aww okay TigerEli

LukeaDuke: We’re at the mall, wish you were here

Tigerxx1: me too…

After that, I put my phone away; Sarah came up to me with a bright pink dress.

“This would look super cute on you,” She grinned.

“We should get him matching shoes,” Rain giggled.

I rolled my eyes, but I still grinned.

“You’re just teasing me ‘cause I’d look better than you.”

Alex choked on the soda he was drinking out of; he immediately tried to act like he wasn’t laughing.

All in all, it was a fun day, even if our group wasn’t complete.