Page 2 of Waiting For Fate

When we’re almost up to the entrance I see Leah wrap her arms around herself and her jaw chattering fiercely.

“Cold?” I shove my hands into my pockets as I slide up next to her.

“Freezing,” she chatters through her teeth. I shake my head and chuckle as I come to a stop, making her steps halt right along with mine.

“Here, take this.” I slide my arms out of my denim jacket and hold it out in front of her.

“Can’t. It’ll break my wings.” She turns around, letting the feathers that line her angel wings brush along my now bare arm.

“Alright, trade then.” Her eyebrows knit together in confusion.

“What?” she laughs.

“Yeah, give me the wings and you can wear my jacket.” I take a step closer and motion for her to give me her wings.

“Oh, I can’t wait to see this,” she snickers, pulling them off and sliding her arms through my jacket. She rolls her lips to keep from laughing when she sees me struggle to get the elastic straps over my broad shoulders.

“Here, Moose, let me help you.” She rolls her eyes playfully, walking behind me to pull them the rest of the way up and adjusting the straps. The tingle that runs down my spine from feeling her slender fingers brush against my back catches me off guard, but when she walks back in front of me and brings her fingers to her lips to keep from laughing, I push the feeling aside.

“How do I look?” I clear my throat, holding out my arms to strike a pose.

“Totally angelic.” She shakes her head, clearly being sarcastic.

“Looking good, Sawyer.” Someone says from beside us. When I look over, I see one of my old classmates practically trying to undress me with her eyes. I glance back down at Leah to gauge her reaction—though I’m not entirely sure why—but she’s not even paying attention. She’s looking in the opposite direction and for some reason, that bothers me.

Something that feels a lot like disappointment settles in my chest over the simple fact that she didn’t scowl at Angela for hitting on me in front of her.

Am I actually mad that she isn’t jealous?

Why would she be though? We’re just friends, and she has no idea how I feel about her. I shake away the feeling, ignore Angela, and I throw my arm around Leah’s shoulder.

“You look ridiculous,” she giggles as we walk closer to the entrance of the trail.

“Are you warm?” I ask, as she hugs the jacket closer to her body.

“Very. Thank you.” When she smiles up at me, I can feel the warmth from it spread through my entire chest.

“Then it’s worth looking a little ridiculous. Let’s go, it’s our turn.” I nod towards the entrance as she takes a deep breath, nodding in agreement. Leah is not a fan of spooky things. She will watch any movie in the world, but if it has a jump scare in it, she’s immediately out. So, the fact that she continues to come to the haunted trail every year is a true testament to her commitment to her friends and their traditions.

Well, our traditions, I guess.

When we reach the front Taylor, Shane, and Lauren all turn around and face us.

“There you guys are. We lost you for a minute.” Shane locks eyes with Leah first, then tilts her head and looks at me.

“Glad you decided to dress up after all Sawyer,” she snickers, drawing attention to the wings I’m now wearing. Taylor and Lauren both laugh, and Taylor quickly snaps a picture of us just before the ticket attendant calls for us to go through.

“Come on, Le.” Taylor waves her over to link arms with her and the four of them walk through the entrance together.

The beginning of the maze is basically a small shed with worn out tarps covering both the entrance and the exit. As soon as we walk through, a strobe light flashes and a clown pops out of the corner, making all the girls run out screaming as fast as possible. I can’t help but laugh as I walk behind them through the tattered fabric hung on the threshold to the maze.

I hear them scream again in the distance and follow the sounds until I can see them, but before I can catch up, the actress dressed as the girl from The Ring starts speed crawling towards them and the girls start falling all over each other. I snicker at how ridiculous they look until I see them all scatter, and Leah falls to the ground. I’m already walking a little faster to get to her but when the girl starts crawling towards Leah, causing her to scream louder than I’ve ever heard someone scream before, I’m there in a matter of seconds.

“Come on, I got you.” I bend to help her back to her feet.

“Sawyer, thank God,” she sighs, dusting herself off. “I’m gonna kill them for leaving me like that.” We make it around the next corner with only a scarecrow hanging on our right, but as soon as we turn again a chainsaw starts in the distance, prompting Pinhead and Michael Myers to pop out of the field. Leah screams as she backs into me, and I instinctively wrap my arms around her. She turns to bury her face in my chest as the sound of the chainsaw gets closer and closer. She frantically grabs my T-shirt, digging her nails into my sides as she screams.

“Sawyer!” Something happens in that moment that completely alters my brain chemistry, and my heart skips a beat. Suddenly I feel the magnitude of her presence, and it’s nearly enough to knock me on my ass.

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