“No, it was just luck.”
“Luck?” Charlie blinks. “I don’t know about you, but I neveraccidentallyrepaired a car.”
“Me neither,” Dario says. “How does it work to repair a car by sheer luck? Do you peek under the hood, knock against something and magically repair it with your presence?”
“Maybe he sings them a song?” Charlie offers.
I roll my eyes. “Very funny.”
Charlie laughs. “Just accept the compliment, dude.”
“What’s our next stop?” I ask, trying to deflect their attention from me.
By the way Dario rolls his eyes, my plan didn’t work, but he still decides to indulge me. “We are stopping at that coast town you had on your bucket list.”
“Right! I wanted to hit the waves there!”
“Don’t forget you promised to show me how to surf,” Charlie points out.
“I’d never forget!” This whole trip is probably the best time I’ve ever had – there is no pressure from school, nothing to worry about, just my brother, my best friend and me. I wasn’t aware of how much I needed this break.
But I guess my parents knew.
Dario is a lot lighter, too, and less gloomy.
“You could join us, too, Dario.”
“I am not sure if it’s something I’d like, but I guess I could try,” he says, much to my surprise and joy. “Just don’t expect too much.”
“Awesome! I will make sure you have a good time.”
I gaze out of the window, watching how the landscape changes slightly. We have been driving through forests until now, but the coastline is truly stunning. “What do we know about the town?”
“I read up on it,” Charlie says. “It’s really small. No packs around, and I don’t think they have many tourists either. Just a typical small town, but they do have a nightclub.”
“Why does every tiny town have a nightclub?” Dario muses.
“I don’t know, but I am certainly not going to find out,” Charlie says.
“Anything else we know about the place?” I ask.
Charlie shrugs. “I don’t have anything else. What about you, Dario?”
“Well, aside from what Charlie said, it’s not a particularly wealthy town. They struggle economically. They do have hiking treks and some nice restaurants. We can check those out.”
“So, overall, just enjoy some calm days,” Charlie adds.
“Sounds good,” I agree. “Oh, any news from home?”
“You mean aside from the group chat Mom spammed yesterday?” Dario asks.
That piques Charlie’s interest. “Why, what happened?”
“Seems like Titan, our sister’s cat, transformed into its demon form again, but only briefly,” I explain.
Charlie snorts. “Never a boring day in our packs.”
“What about you? Any news?” I ask her.
