An Even Better Idea - 1. Chapter 1

An Even Better Idea

"Oli, am I going crazy, or is my pinky toe both swollen and three different colors?" I asked my brother as I lifted my left foot so he could confirm.

Oliver slowly set his phone down and met my panicked brown eyes with his indifferent hazel ones.

“That tends to happen when you stub it while grabbing the deliveries the day before,” Oliver said in a neutral tone. “What was it you yelled out, Ro? ‘¡Ay puñeta! Hijo de la gran-’”

I held both my hands up in a halting gesture to stop him. “Right. I remember now.” I glanced down at the tender toe and murmured. “You think I broke it?”

“Does it hurt when you wiggle it?”

I wiggled it. “No.”

“Then I wouldn't worry too much.”

“I'll try not to.”

Oliver went back to his phone, and I forced myself not to peek over his shoulder despite the burning curiosity.

“A-hem,” I began. “Has Phil gotten back to you yet?”

Phil was a blond childhood friend who always managed to land us both in trouble. Whenever he began a sentence with “I've got an even better idea,” it usually ended up with either one or all of us injured.

“Karl talked him out of it,” Oliver responded with a relieved sigh. “Said we should wear sandals today due to the heat.”

“Right,” I drawled, rolling my eyes. “Next you'll tell me that Karl also convinced Phil to get that Optimus Prime tattoo on his left butt cheek.”

“I'm only relaying Karl's message. Go find your sandals. Your swollen toe will thank you.”

I folded my arms across my chest but didn't argue. With how much more the two of them hung out, a part of me was shocked that Oli didn't know Phil as well as he should. Karl couldn't talk Phil out of anything.

“When are we meeting up, then?” I asked instead.

“In the afternoon. Karl's gonna pick us up.”

Before long, my brother and I grabbed our phones, keys, and wallets and headed out the door. Phil was already in the passenger seat, his blue eyes locking onto mine. I clambered into the back behind him, while Oli sat behind Karl.

“How is it that we're all not boarding some small plane over The Bermuda Triangle right now?” I prompted, eager to clarify the claim that Karl convinced Phil otherwise.

“That plan's been put on hold,” Phil said. “Karl's grandma is a soothsayer, and she'll only be visiting this weekend. You guys mind if we pay her a visit before we hit the arcade?”

“She's staying over at my uncle's house,” Karl explained, giving his auburn braid a guilty tug. “I told Phil I couldn't jump into any of his rash plans without spending some time with her first.”

I raised a brow when I saw the whole picture. So, it was less that Karl convinced Phil to do anything and more that Phil became curious about a soothsayer grandma. When I opened my mouth to say something, my brother pinched my arm.

“Hannibal hamsters, Oli!” I hissed. He shot me his “if you've got nothing good to say, say nothing” glare. I mouthed back a “fine,” and crossed my arms, trying to dissimulate how much my arm still stung.

Karl put on his usual playlist, which featured everything from hard rock to K-pop, and the drive to his uncle's house was full of Phil's usual chatter, this time about what he wanted to ask Karl's grandma to look into.

I barely swallowed back my words when the Bermuda Triangle trip was one of the things he wanted to ask about. My eyes narrowed deviously as I sent my brother a “told you so” glance, but he waved it off. Oli didn't seem to be in the mood for our shenanigans.

Considering we all had our ups and downs, I didn't worry about it.

We parked on the sidewalk when we saw the four cars in the driveway and followed Karl into his uncle's house. We greeted his family members along the way, as they treated us like an extension of Karl, given how long we'd been friends. Then Karl's mom slid open the back glass door and screen so we could step out into the backyard.

Karl's grandma was talking to his great-aunt Matilda, who we all cherished as if she were blood, but they both stopped as we bent down to greet Matilda with hugs.

“Quilla, this is young Karl and his best friends: Phillip, Oliver, and Roland,” Matilda introduced, and I tried not to wince at hearing my full name.

The only time I usually heard it was when I was in trouble.

“What an adventurous lad,” Quilla remarked as she held Phillip's hand with both of hers. “Your most loved one will make sure you don't go too far.”

Phil stepped back with a frown as Quilla moved on to Karl.

“My, why is there so much doubt in you, Karly?” she said, suddenly reaching out an aged hand to tug Oliver closer. “You both were meant to be together. Look down, see how you're tied?”

All four of us looked down at the ground and let out surprised sounds at what we saw. Whenever I heard tales about soulmates being tied by a red string of fate, I always thought they meant their ring fingers. But it was Oli and Karl's toes, tied by a red string.

What the hell?

“And why are you two so shocked?” Quilla questioned as she reached for me and Phil.

“Ow!” I hissed when something constrictive wrapped around the same pinky toe I had injured.

With a shiver of sheer fear, I glanced down to find that my swollen pinky toe was tied to Phil's with a red string of our own.

Phil and I lifted our heads and stared at each other. I knew my face was full of shock and disbelief. I didn't expect to see Phil's face glowing red as he avoided my gaze.

Let's visit the soothsayer grandma, they said.

It'll only be a moment, they said.

Finding out one of my best friends was my soulmate was not on my Bingo card!

Phil ran off and, for a moment, I worried the string would tug tightly on my poor pinky toe again, but the second his hand left Grandma Quilla's, the red string disappeared.

“Oh, it's always there whether you perceive it or not,” Quilla said, answering my question before it came out of my lips. “Take your time. He'd never rush you into anything.”

When she let go of my hand, I swallowed down a dry lump in my throat.

“Uh, thanks for letting us know, Grandma,” Karl sputtered. “You really gave us a lot to think about.”

I saw Oli take hold of Karl's free hand and, for the first time, felt like a third wheel.

“I'll, er, go see where Phil went,” I said as I made my way back through the house and out the front door.

I found Phil with his head down on the arm he had draped on the top edge of the car door.

I hesitated before approaching any further because my mind was dizzy with confusion. But I shoved my feelings aside and checked on my friend.

“You feeling alright?” I asked.

Phil lifted his dangling hand and raked it through his hair, clapping the back of his neck.

“This wasn't exactly how I wanted you to find out.”

I couldn't help the frown that formed on my face.

“Were you ever going to tell me?” I pressed.

“No,” he confessed. “I was going to take that one to my grave.”

“Do you hate the thought of it that much?”

“I hate the thought of ruining our friend group that much,” Phil countered. “Could you imagine what Oli would say if I told him I wanted to steal his precious little brother away? This coming from “good ol reckless troublemaker Phil?”

I swallowed past the lump in my throat again. I understood where Phil was coming from, but my mind kept returning to how he admitted he wanted to steal me away. How had I never realized he felt this way?

“So what?” I responded. “Oli has his own soulmate to deal with now, not that he could do anything to separate us in the first place. It's been, what, 15 years?”

“You really don't mind? You'd go out with me?”

“On one condition,” I said.

“What?”

“Promise me we're never hopping on a plane or cruising through The Bermuda Triangle,” I insisted. “I know you love exploring, but I'd rather not risk losing my soulmate and be featured in an episode of Unexplained Mysteries.”

“Deal!” Phil said, rushing over to hug me tightly.

I returned the hug with just as much force. Then, I pressed a kiss to his cheek.

“Where'd you like to go on our first date?” I asked.

“I heard about the Green Lightning escape room, but I’ve got an even better idea…”

I had a feeling my pinky toe would soon be the least of my problems.

END