Serendipity
finding something good without looking for it

"Okay, I'm gonna go." Ariel sighed as she got up from the bed. "I don't want to be driving over that bridge at night."

"Crash here in your bed, Ari." Willow yawned and turned the TV off with the remote. "Dads left it for a reason."

"You okay with that?" She raised her eyebrows and looked past Willow to me.

"Yeah, Gabe is probably gonna crash with Robbie or go home." I shrugged and cleaned up the trash before exiting the room to the kitchen. I was washing the dishes and loading the dishwasher when Ariel came out.

"So what's going on with you and Gabe?" She took over washing the dishes. "Are you dating or something?"

"Or something." I hopped up onto the island next to Ariel's purse and crossed my legs at the ankle. "We decided to become friends with benefits a couple of weeks ago," I added when she motioned for me to elaborate.

"Really? Didn't think either of you would be the causal sex kind of people." She shrugged and finished washing the dishes and loading them into the dishwater then running it.

Right as I went to answer her, the front door opened and voices flooded the silence. Dads and the boys were back.

"Hey, girls." Dad smiled at us on his way to his bedroom while Papa came into the kitchen to start dinner; it's his night to cook.

"Hey." Ariel wiped her hands off before grabbing her purse. "I'll be back after I get my things, okay?"

"Okay." I frowned as she darted out of the house without waiting for my answer or looking at the boys even though Robbie said hey. "How were your days? I was stuck with a sick Willow."

*****

"Hi, I'm Sophia-"

"Hi, I'm Sophia, and today-ow!" Gabe rubbed the back of his back. "What the fuck did you throw at me?"

"An eraser." I glared at him, laying on my bed before turning back to the camera. "Shut up, I need to do this video."

"You won't die if you don't review Carrie, Soph." He told me. "Also, I can see your bra through your shirt."

"No, you can't." I looked down at my shirt, and sure enough, my bra was indeed visible. "Seriously?"

"Seriously." He stripped his plaid button-up off and tossed it at me. "But that's better than your nipples being visible."

I laughed and caught his shirt; I slid my arms through the sleeves and buttoned it up before going back to making my video. "Hi-"

"Why are you doing a review of Carrie?" Gabe asked me as he walked over to the little reading nook. He just shrugged when I glared at him again.

"Be quiet, or I'll make you make a video with me," I warned and tried yet again to do my intro.

"You didn't answer my question." He closed his eyes and sighed when he realized he had spoken out loud.

"You fucker." I tossed Carrie onto my desk. "That's it, come here and put your mouth to use."

"Sophia!" Gabe turned bright red at my words.

"Get your mind out of the gutter, Gabriel." I rolled my eyes and grabbed a couple of random books from my shelves. "You know that's not what I meant."

"Sorry, that's where my mind instantly goes these days." I set the books on my desk and smacked the back of his head.

"Why are you like this?" I asked him right as he asked, "What are we doing?"

"Book cover tag thing." I shrugged and turned to face the camera to do my intro, Gabe stayed quiet this time.

"I know nothing about the books you read," Gabe said once I finished explaining the rules to him.

"You don't watch my videos? Fake friend." I laughed and grabbed the top book on the pile. Starting off easy with The Secret Life of Bees. "Also, you're supposed to guess what the book is about from the cover."

"I do watch your videos, Soph. I just don't pay attention."

I lightly pressed the back of the book to his cheek and pushed against him, causing his face to turn towards the camera. "Fake Friend."

"Stop." He grabbed the book from me and looked at it. "Secret Life of Bees? Really?"

"What do you think this book is about?" I asked him. "If you get this wrong, our friendship is over."

"It's about a girl who runs away with the housekeeper person." He paused and stared upwards. "She's all about finding out what happened with her mom, and they end up living with three sisters, one is a beekeeper. I don't remember anything beyond that."

"Good enough to keep our friendship intact." I tried not to laugh and set the book on the shelf near me. "Next one."

"How many of these do I have to do?" He asked.

"As many as I say, Ba-"

"Are you replacing me?" Willow asked from the doorway, cutting me off and making us look away from each other.

"No, how was the date?" I asked the girls as they enter my room.

"It was fine." Aurora shrugged. "Doubt either of us is gonna go out with either of them again."

"Wanna do a video with us?" Gabe asked them and moved over to give them space.

"Is there enough room for all of us?" Aurora and Willow walked to us, and I moved behind the camera.

"There is now!" I handed Aurora the next book. "You two know how this works, right?"

"You asked us to do this forever ago, Soph." Aurora showed the other two the cover, and Willow nodded.

"Oh yeah."

*****

"Hey, I'm going for a drive." Ariel walked into the living room the following day. "Wanna come with?"

"Can't, I have work soon." Willow didn't look up from her laptop. "I need to finish filling this form out before then."

"I'll come with you," I said to her, then got up from the recliner and went down the hall to get a pair of shoes. "Just give me a sec!"

"I'll be in the car," Ariel yelled, the front door opening and closing soon after.

"Don't burn the house down!" Willow rolled her eyes and flipped me off as I run out of the house after Ariel.

"Where to?" I asked her as I hopped in the passenger seat and buckled in.

"Thinking about getting some ice cream." She backed out the driveway and drove down the street. "Wanna go over the bridge to MickeyD's?"

"As long as you're buying because I didn't bring my wallet." I leaned back against the seat. We were quiet for a few moments.

"So you're crushing on Robbie, but sleeping with Gabe?" Ariel asked, turning the radio down a little. She isn't beating around the bush today.

"And?" I turned my head towards her slightly but kept my eyes on the road.

"You're planning on telling Robbie you like him, though." I saw her look at me out the corner of my eye. "Why do that if you're sleeping with someone else?"

"You know how I feel about what-ifs," I told her. "They're evil and a waste of time. I don't want to spend time on how Rob could've reacted."

"What if he wants to go out with you?" She asked, turning onto the road that led to the bridge. "Gonna stop sleeping with Gabe?"

"I don't want to be in a long-distance relationship." I sat up and pushed my hair out of my face. "He's moving to California for college."

"Where in California?"

"Near L.A., I think." I tried to remember what Robbie told me about where he was going. "UCLA or USC."

"Huh." She nodded. "Hey, did I ever tell you about the stalker I had in high school?"

"No." All thoughts of Robbie and Gabe left my mind at this question. "What the fuck? You had a stalker?"

"Yeah, some kid who would leave little letters in my locker and tiny gifts that could go through the slits on the top." She shook her head once. "It was some underclassman boy, never figured out who he was though. I graduated and moved out west, so I didn't care."

"Did you ever say anything to anyone?"

"I thought it was you or one of our friends, so I didn't make a big deal until I saw a guy I didn't recognize slipping a letter into my locker." She looked at me again before going back to the road. "That's why I switched lockers."

"Creepy." I felt a shudder ran through my body and changed the subject to something more pleasant. "So, what are you wearing to the wedding?"

Ariel let out a quiet laugh, and the road turned into the bridge. "A dress."

"Smartass." I grinned and messed with the ends of my hair. "Like what color? I can't decide between the two I have. Willow's wearing a peach-colored strapless."

"I too am wearing strapless, but it's blue," Ariel answered me. "So does that help you with your choice?"

"No, because I'm choosing between purple and pink." I groaned and changed the radio station to something, not playing ads. "Ugh."

"Why don't you ask Wills or Aurora?" She raised an eyebrow meant for me, I think. I doubt it's for the nearly empty road in front of us. "They help you with this, don't they?"

"They can't decide which one is better, hence why I asked you what you're wearing." I tapped my fingers on my thighs. "I'll ask Gabe when we get back home."

"Oh?" She smiled. "His opinion means that much to you?"

"He's one of my best friends, Ari." I rolled my eyes and let my hair fall in front of my face to hide my pink cheeks. "Of course, I care about his opinion. He knows the difference between the red-purple and the purple-red Crayola crayon."

"And that's it." She said before changing the subject away from Gabe. "So about Maggie being my wedding date..."

"You need a new one because she decided to fly back to the West Coast and leave us all alone?" I crossed my fingers and prayed it was true.

"No." Ariel was quick to respond but slowed down for her next words. "She wanted to come back for closure. It's weird, I know, but she isn't planning on stealing Dad back."

"You know me too well," I muttered under my breath and pushed my hair out of my face then turned my head to look at her profile. "How do you know she isn't gonna try anything? Dad said she was always jealous and wanted to be number one."

"She has a boyfriend back in Cali and zero desire to get back with Dad or move back here." She got off the bridge and took the exit that led to McDonald's. "She knows Dad is head over heels for Papa and would never take her back. She accepted that when she left."

"Still have a bad feeling about this." I sighed as I let my feelings out. "I, uh, made an appointment with Doctor Henry for later this week."

"Yeah?" Her voice was soft as she spoke and pulled up to the drive-through.

"Yeah." I nodded my head and looked away from her. "So how's your job going? Becoming CEO any time soon?"

"That's not how it works." She rolled her eyes and tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. "I could be getting a promotion soon, one of many candidates."

"You're gonna get it because you're awesome and a hard worker with a great work ethic." I gave her my best smile.

"Uh, huh." She shoved my shoulder playfully and pulled up further when the car in front of us moved up. "The only exciting thing in my life besides the wedding, and it's not my wedding."

"We're living such epic novel worthy lives, aren't we?" I joked around as she ordered the ice cream. "Can we get Wills a sundae? She likes them better than McFlurries."

"And one sundae, please. That'll be all, thank you." Ariel ordered and got her wallet out of her bag as the person told her the total and to pull up to the second window. "She's so weird."

"Sundaes are awesome." I reminded her. "Sundaes and books were the motivation behind me getting a job."

"Are you up for any promotions at your job?" She asked, waiting for the car in front to finish getting their order.

"No, but if I have certain classes and training by twenty, and if there's a position open at the time," I told her, and the car drove off, so we pulled up to get our order. "I can apply for an assistant manager or manager."

"Thank you." Ariel smiled at the girl handing her the two McFlurries and sundae. "Have a nice day."

"You too." She returned Ariel's smile, and we drove off.

"So, are you gonna see if you can take those classes alongside the classes for your major?" Ariel asked me.

"I can probably since I don't have a major at the moment." I started eating my ice cream to avoid talking about my college plans.

"You should major in Creative Writing or something like that." She drove back to the bridge. "With all that reading you do, you gotta have some stories rolling around in your head."

If I wasn't already avoiding the topic, I sure as hell would be now.

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-Brianna