Renegades: KotLC

Best Day Ever-11

Are you sure everything's okay?

Kenna flinched, whipping her head around to face Sophie.

Sorry. I just want to make sure you're okay.

I'm fine. Didn't I say that before?

Sophie nodded, fiddling with her fork. They'd ordered, and were simply waiting for the food to arrive now. Koen and Evander appeared to be betting on if they could get the waitresses number, while Rajni settled the loser's punishment.

You did, she told Kenna. I just wanted to make sure.

Kenna's mind went silent, all except for the background thoughts. Sophie ignored them, pulling out of Kenna's mind. It wasn't her business, anyways.

Sophie's attention turned back to the boys and Rajni, where she found Evander and Rajni cheering Koen on as he... Sophie facepalmed. Boys...

Some corny pickup line left Koen's mouth and the waitress rolled her eyes, returned to the kitchen, and a male waiter now delivered their food. Koen banged his head on the table in defeat, while Evander and Rajni laughed.

"I'd like to see you try!" Koen told Evander, who's face then turned pink.

"Me? I-I'm not doing it! Tell Rajni to do it!"

"Why me?"

"You're a girl," Koen explained.

"And?"

Koen sighed. "Fine. You win."

Rajni and Evander whooped, while Koen sunk into his seat.

"You're all idiots," Kenna told them, sipping from her water.

"Language," Rajni warned, before taking a sip of her own Fanta.

"You're such a child, Raj," Koen teased.

"It's pronounced 'Ray', if we're going with nicknames. The 'J's always been silent. 'Rain-ee'."

"... Huh," was Koen's only reply. Kenna snickered.

"You've known her for what? Three years now, and you still don't know how to say it? You are an idiot!"

"Are we going to get back to the 'you're such a child', now? Why is Rajni a child?"

"Fanta? It's a child's soda! There's Coke, Dr. Pepper, Pepsi, Mt. Dew, and literally any other drink!"

"Root Beer?" Kenna tried, and Evander shook his head.

"Except that. And Spri-- y'know what? The only drinks that aren't child-like, are the ones I've listed. Pick from that, next time."

"Fanta tastes better, though..." Rajni frowned. "Especially I like it with Sprite mixed in. It's extra spicy, that way."

Kenna nearly choked on her water. "'Spicy'?"

Rajni's brow furrowed. "Yes?"

Shaking her head, Kenna said, "Never mind."

://

The meal ended when Rajni finally finished her three chocolate chip pancakes. Sophie had started to follow Koen out when Kenna's plate caught her eye. While she'd ordered the eggs and bacon, the entire plate had gone untouched. Kenna was already out of the building, and Sophie didn't feel like pressing the matter further, lest Kenna grow angry with her, so she dropped the matter.

"Should we race home?" Koen suggested.

"Home? We're not going home! Sophie needs the full Best-Day-Ever experience!"

Everyone stared at Rajni, until Koen eventually spoke up. "So... where are we going?"

"The mall! We saved up our money, right? Might as well spend it!"

Did they have leftover? If they did, they must've really worked hard to get it. Another sense of guilt washed over Sophie. They'd had to work because of her. No, Sophie told herself. They'd done it for her. And, they'd done it of their own free will. Instead of worrying about them wanting to help her, she should be appreciating it. It wasn't like they'd betray her the second they had a chance. Then again... she'd never thought Keefe would hate her either. She'd never figured any of her friends nor family would have done that to her... She'd been wrong about that. The council though? Oh, she definitely should've been more prepared. It was obvious they'd try and exile sooner or later. Leaving the Lost Cities like she did must've left a bigger impact on her than she'd thought.

The rest of the day was spent jumping from store to store, where one of the siblings would end up buying something they thought Sophie would like. Koen had gotten her a pillow, Kenna had bought some anime shirt from Hot Topic (again), and told Sophie to watch the anime sometime. Evander had gotten her a locket, a small golden heart.

"Open it later," he told her. Sophie nodded, though she hated the thought of waiting. Still, she kept her word and followed Rajni to the last store, where Rajni found a pair of "best friend bracelets" with a single rose-gold elephant charm on it.

"We're twinsies now!"

Sophie pulled the bracelet over her wrist, unable to keep the smile from her face.

"I sorta dug through your stuff and found your stuffed animal. She's really cute. It's also how I thought of getting you some clothes!"

Tears welled, heart filled to the brim with the warmest feeling she'd felt in a long, long time. After that, everything felt brighter. Her shoulders were light, as though she'd been carrying the weight of the literal world across her shoulders all up until that moment. Despite having almost died many times in her life, she truly felt the most alive. She could trust them. Truly.

As Rajni skipped off to tell Kenna of what she'd gotten, Sophie remained in place, unable to pry her eyes from the two elephants. "Twinsies."

"Foster!"

Sophie jerked out of her daze, looking ahead to find Koen, Evander, Rajni and Kenna. Each wore their own bright smiles, waving her over.

"Get over here! Quickly!" Evander gestured behind them, and Sophie looked past the siblings to see a photo booth. She'd never used one. A childish grin crossed her face, and she raced past them.

"Last one in has to do a dare!"

Kenna was the first to acknowledge this, spinning on her heels. Koen and Evander followed next, pushing and shoving each other to such a point where Rajni was able to easily pass them.

"How do these things work?" Rajni asked.

"You insert the money, and the thingamabob takes your picture." Kenna had said it with such confidence, she almost sounded like a genius. Almost.