Page 1 of Waiting For Fate

PROLOGUE

SAWYER

10 YEARS AGO

“Sawyer, you’re so lame. Where is your costume?” my younger sister, Taylor, asks from her bedroom as I stop in the doorway to see when they’ll be ready to go.

“I’m an off-duty hockey player. You’re just unobservant.” I smirk at her, and she rolls her eyes.

“Whatever. You’re still driving tonight, right?” She leans closer to the mirror as she continues to dab some gray shit on her eyelids. Her three best friends, Shane, Leah, and Lauren are all scattered around her room putting final touches on their costumes as well.

“Yes. When the hell are you going to be ready?” I look down to check my watch. We’re supposed to go to the haunted trail, like we do every year, before going to their senior class Halloween party at the McCallum property. At the rate they’re getting ready, we might not even make it to the party before midnight.

I still can’t believe they’re seniors already. It seems like just last week the four of them were sitting at the kitchen table working on their 6th grade class project—the thing that brought them all together in the first place.

“I’ll be ready when I’m ready.” She scowls at me.

“You know, you should really switch costumes with Lauren.” I nod to where Lauren stands dressed as a devil. I’m sure there was some adorable strategy behind them picking their cat/mouse and angel/devil costumes, but I simply don’t care enough to ask.

Being three years older than Taylor, it’s no surprise we grew up doing everything together. What shocks most people is to find out that we still do. A lot of times with siblings you expect them to grow apart the older they get, but that wasn’t the case with me and Tot. Since I was a senior their freshman year of high school, I felt like it was my duty to lookout for her and her friends, who in turn, have become my friends as well.

“If I were going to switch costumes with anyone, it would be Leah.” Taylor smiles at me sarcastically, bringing my attention to the angel in the room.

“Nah, Dove’s costume suits her best of all.” I wink at Leah, noticing the way her cheeks turn red as she rolls her eyes at me. Over the years I’ve grown the closest to Leah. I’m not sure how it happened or when, but the two of us just clicked. She’s always the one I’ve felt most protective over too. Taylor is what a lot of people would call unhinged, whereas Leah— she’s the gentlest soul I’ve ever met in my life.

My Dove.

God, she looks beautiful. With her brown locks, porcelain skin, and a smile that could relight the sun if it were to ever dim—all things that match her personality perfectly.

I’ve viewed Leah as one of my closest friends for as long as I can remember, but I’ve been looking at her in ways that push the boundaries of our friendship for longer than I should admit. When she tucks a strand of her long brown hair behind her ear, turning to look in the mirror once again, I regain my focus and realize just how long I’ve been standing here staring at her.

“Hurry up. I don’t want to be standing in line all night.” I look back at Taylor and tap the top of the door frame before disappearing downstairs. I can hear Taylor groan as soon as I walk away and then their giggles echo through the hall at what I’m sure was a sisterly jab at how much of an annoyance I am to her.

When they finally come running down the stairs my eyes immediately land on Leah. It’s like an involuntary response to her presence for my eyes to find her. She has on a simple long sleeve white dress, fitted on the top with a silk skirt that flows right along her thighs, knee high white socks with sneakers and her long brown hair is set in loose waves—why she always covers up her natural curls with hand crafted ones has always been a mystery to me. The wings and halo only add to her already angelic persona.

“Hello? Earth to Moose.” Hearing the nickname the four of them gave me years ago brings my mind back from wandering. Taylor waves her hand in front of my face, making me aware of how fiercely I was just staring at Leah. Again.

Shit, I have to stop doing that.

“What?” I snap, glaring over at her.

“Take our picture.” She presses her phone against my chest. My face drops in annoyance as I open the camera app.

“1...2...3…” The camera shutters several times before I hand it back to her. “You better like one of them cause I’m not taking any more.”

“Rude.” She glares at me. “JJ would let me check and make sure I liked it,” she mumbles under her breath—referring to our older brother, JJ, who hasn’t lived at home since he went off to college for nursing two years ago.

“Well, JJ isn’t here, so you get to deal with me.” I smile back at her before grabbing a piece of paper from the counter.

“Dove, come here.” I nod Leah over to me, handing her the paper. “Read this out loud,” I whisper in her ear. She glances up at me and I give her a wink, loving the small giggle that falls from her lips when I do.

“Shotgun!” Leah smiles as she turns the paper around.

“Dammit, Sawyer!” Taylor groans as I finish putting my jacket on and snatch my keys from the counter.

“Let’s go!”

When we pull up to the haunted trail, I’m pleased to see the line isn’t too long to get in. We’re always in there far past the temperature dropping and I’m left with four iron deficient girls whining about being cold by the time we get back to the truck. Because God forbid, they wear jackets over their costumes because it doesn’t “fit the vibe” as Taylor always claims.

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