String of Fate

Chapter Seventy Nine

When I got to the shop, Kai was already waiting outside. It was weird to see him in casual clothes – he'd picked a pair of jeans and a branded t-shirt. It suited him really well. He glanced down at the present I was carrying. "What have you got there?"

"Well, I can't turn up to a birthday party without a present, so, I picked one up." I explained, shifting the pink present that was tucked under my arm. "I hope she likes Barbie's."

"Oh no, now you've done it." He said, pushing off the wall that he was leaning on. I was worried for a moment, before Kai smiled at me. "She loves them. She actually asked for a ton of them for her birthday. I think she's trying to collect them all."

"Does she think they're Pokémon or something?" I asked as we started walking together to wherever he was taking me. He actually laughed at me. "What?"

"I just never thought of that joke before, that's all." Kai answered. I looked at him, and he glanced down at me. "What? It's a good joke."

"Oh, right. Thank you." I replied, not really sure how else to respond to him.

"You're welcome." He laughed, turning us down a corner.

It didn't take us long to get to the party, which was being held in the little community centre that was around the corner from the beachfront. When we went in, the first thing I saw was the guy setting up the bouncy castle, so, it seemed like we were a little early. I leaned over to Kai a little bit. "Do you reckon we could get away with going on the bouncy castle, too?"

"We could most certainly try. We'd have to try not to squish any kids." He replied, giving me a big grin.

"Oh, Kai, good, you're here! I need you in the kitchen." A woman called from a doorway to what must have been the kitchen. I realised that I recognised her from the ice cream parlour, and now I noticed that she had the same eyes as Kai. "Oh, you've brought a friend. Hi, I'm his aunt Katherine. Aren't you the girl he bought to the ice cream parlour the day before yesterday?"

"Um, yes. I'm Elena. I'm in school with Kai." I replied, smiling. I noticed a pile of presents to the side of us and added my gift to the top. "Come on, then, Kai, we're needed in the kitchen."

I led the way over, following Katherine back into the kitchen, which was a decent size. There were two apple crate boxes full of multipack sweets and small party-bag toys. Katherine moved them so they were on their own bit of worktop. "Kai, can I get you to pack the party bags for me, please?"

"Of course. I do get to keep any spare sweets, though, don't I?" Kai asked, giving his aunt a cheesy grin. Katherine shook her head a little, knowing that Kai was joking, and headed over to the other side of the kitchen. Kai shrugged and started pulling the party bags from the box. He leaned down to speak quietly in my ear. "I always end up having some of the sweets anyway."

"As long as you fill all the party bags required, is it?" I joked, grabbing the second packet of party bags. He looked a little confused as I started to help him. "What? It will be quicker if we both do it. Plus, how can you just expect me to just stand and watch you struggle?"

"Of course you're not mean enough for that." Kai pointed out, bumping my shoulder gently. I smiled up at him and saw him smiling down at me.

The next day, I woke up with a string on my finger. I headed down to the kitchen and found my parents there already, a couple of presents already wrapped on the table. "Mum, dad, would you two mind if I had breakfast later so I could go and follow my string?"

"Go on then. Don't be too long – and bring them back with you." My dad told me, smiling.

"Thank you!" I replied, grinning back at them and heading out of the house. I followed my string, which led me in the direction of the shop, my eyes glued to the pavement as I looked at the string. I accidentally bumped into someone as I walked past the shop. "Oh, sorry."

I continued walking ahead of me before I felt myself be yanked back. I turned to see my string held in the right hand and attached to the left. This was it. I looked up and saw the soft smile of Kai. "Hi."

"Hello." I responded, smiling at him. I stepped a little closer to him, actually glad that he was at the end of my string. I wasn't sure what to say but then I heard his stomach growl. I laughed a little. "Hungry, are you?"

"Yeah. I may have skipped breakfast to follow my string." He pointed out. "Did you want to go somewhere to grab breakfast?"

"I have a better idea. Why don't we go back to mine?" I asked, pointing him towards my house and looping my arm through his. He immediately fell into step beside me. "My dad makes an amazing cooked breakfast and you need to try my mum's pancakes. Plus, they're dying to meet you."

"This is going to be interesting." Kai laughed.

I thought it was going to be great.