Swipe Right for Catfish

Chapter 17

Ron took a sip of his drink, then he explained the plan. "So, first, we are going to send Bella an alert through our safety app saying I hurt myself really bad, causing her to rush over here as quick as she can. When she gets to the roof, that's when she'll see the decorations. The guests will wear red and will be grouped together, standing side by side. Blocking her view of me, I will scream, 'You. Shall. Pass!' and the crowd will split in half. That's when she will see me dressed in a wizard robe and hat, with a staff in hand. After seeing her shock and amazement at our glorious work, I'll get down on one knee and pop the question."

"As weird as this plan is, I'm sure she's going to love it." I coughed, trying not to laugh. "I mean. Very thoughtful."

"Well, you know me, clumsy but quite the thinker. Although I'm upset I had my tie eaten away by chemicals today," he said, waving his half-eaten tie at me. "I'll be switching to bow ties from now on. Anyway, plowing ahead, we did the easy part of the planning. Now we just have to figure out who we are going to invite."

It was pretty difficult to decide who would be at the engagement since each person had a big family, but we decided just to invite immediate and close friends. Settled with our plans, we kept the original date of the engagement for Sunday night. We parted ways, for now, to get what we needed for the party.

When I pulled into my driveway, I heard a message go off on my phone. It was from Ruth. It had just occurred to me we'd been talking for a while, but I had completely forgotten to check if she was a real person! I mean, you know all those horror stories you hear about online dating. What if I was getting catfished, or if I got kidnapped and went missing, or worse, what if it was another person after my toes? I was not about to be like one of those people on that show.

Looking around my car, I grabbed a book and placed it on my head. "Hey, you know we have been talking for so long. I just realized we never verified if we're the same people from our profiles. I have to be sure the person I've been talking to is really a beautiful girl or if you're a fraud named Carl that enjoys playing with people's emotions." Sending the message, I took the book off my head and got out of the car.

"Hey there." I looked up to see Summer walking over. Surely, she wasn't talking to me, but as I looked around, I couldn't see anyone else. She chuckled. "Yes, Autumn, I'm talking to you. I know we haven't talked in a while, but I think it's time we bury the hatchet."

Oh no, have I been transported to the twilight zone? There's no way this could be happening. I mean, the Summer I remember was not too keen on forgiveness. Something must have happened to her. "Oh my gosh, Summer, are you okay? What happened? Did you lose your memory? Did something traumatic happen? Did you find God, and now you want to forgive all the people that have wronged you? I'm sorry, but I don't want to go to Sunday mass with you. Just consider me a lost cause and let the devil take me."

"Force you to go to church? What are you talking about?" She chuckled. "Nothing happened, and no one is forcing you to go to church. Vin talked some sense into me, and he explained enough time had passed, and I should extend an olive branch. I spent some time thinking about it, and he was right. Also, I'm jealous our moms still have girls' night without us."

Wow, I have to give Vin the best armor I have and some gold. That kid not only works quickly but has some really good persuasion skills. For now, I should probably apologize for everything I did. "Really? That's uh... great! Um, I'm sorry about everything I did back then––"

She interrupted before I could continue. "Don't worry about it. Let's not bring it up anymore," she said. A car backed out of her driveway. It was the same car that was there when Ron visited. It must have been the same guest from that night. Shortly after, Summer's parents and Vin left the house with suitcases. Summer's father finished strapping the ski equipment to the top of their car. Her parents waved at me, then got in the car, and Vin walked over.