ESCAPE

Chapter One

"I think it's down here," I say as I look up from my phone and turn us into the side street.

"Why is this place so hard to find?" Bella asks, huffing with annoyance.

All I can do is point ahead and nod encouragingly as I lead my friends down the street, hoping that we've found the right place. We've been walking around Central London for far too long now and are about to miss our entry time for the escape room.

Luke playfully nudges his big shoulder into Bella. His overbearing six-foot frame sends her off-balance. "It's meant to be a challenge, right? Makes sense that the place is hard to find." 

Beside me, Chia nods, shaking the long dark hair that frames her face. "Maybe we've already started the game." She widens her eyes in mock horror.

"Right," I say. "Then we're definitely screwed." After another attempt to make sense of the Google map, I see a tall black gate on our right. "That's it. The email said the entrance is a black gate."

"Great," Bella says, excited now. "Now we can finally resume the Birthday schedule."

I smile at her, thinking how great it is to spend the day out with my friends. The summer holidays had been pretty uneventful so far, on account of a lot of rain and enough clouds to make us forget what season it was meant to be. But we'd always said that we were going to make the most of today, my birthday, and somehow it seemed like the weather gods had blessed us with some decent sunshine. Although we were about to spend the next hour locked in a room, anyway.

I had chosen an escape room as I figured this was my last chance to do something that could come across as childish for my birthday. Next year I was going to be twenty, and so would probably have to start doing more mature things from here on out. Plus, I always liked an excuse to hang out with my friends.

Bella's curly hair shakes as she bounces and claps her hands together. "I can't wait."

Luke puts a large arm around her and kisses her lips. "I love it when you get excited, baby."

That sounds funny coming from Luke, who hardly ever shows anything other than indifference and boredom, let alone excitement. It's one of the odd things about him and Bella that make them somehow work well together.

As I scan through the confirmation email to check our next steps, I can't help but feel that familiar, quiet pang of loneliness that's been eating away at me all summer. It looks nice to have someone wrap their arms around you. Luke and Bella look so happy together. 

A hand slaps my shoulder and grips hard. I jump and yell as a jolt of shock shoots through me.

"Oh, sorry," someone says. "Didn't mean to scare you."

A tall boy with blond hair comes into view in front of me. I try and steady my breathing with a hand to my chest.

"Will, you made it," Luke says, shaking his hand. It's one of those manly hand slaps that shows off muscled arms, which they both have.

"Sorry I'm late," Will says, nodding a hello to Bella and Chia.

I'm still trying to control my breath from that stupid squeal I made. Why did I have to look so lame in front of Will? He looks as gorgeous and humble as always, in a light-blue jean jacket and white t-shirt. The one good thing about Bella dating a gym-buff like Luke was that he could make gym-buff friends and invite them to my birthday days out. I didn't believe Luke when he'd told me that Will said he was actually looking forward to seeing me again. I hadn't really talked to him that much before - but here he was.

"Thanks for letting me join you guys." Will's blue eyes settle on me. "Happy Birthday, Andi. Welcome to the nineteen club."

My huge smile doesn't begin to express the warmth that spreads through me. "Thanks."