CHAPTER 29: SATURDAY PLANS
The best memories were rarely planned.
Nobody sat down and decided:
"This will be the day I remember years from now."
Most of the time, they started with a random message.
A stupid idea.
Or Kai being bored.
Which, unfortunately, was exactly what happened on Friday afternoon.
The final bell rang.
Students poured into the hallways like prisoners escaping freedom.
Liora was halfway through packing her bag when Kai appeared beside her desk.
He looked unusually excited.
Which was never a good sign.
"I have an idea."
Jaden immediately looked concerned.
"No."
"You haven't even heard it."
"No."
"Have some faith."
"I've known you for years."
"Fair."
Mira closed her notebook.
"What is it?"
Kai pointed dramatically at all of them.
"We're going out tomorrow."
Silence.
Then—
"We literally do that all the time," Mira said.
"Not like this."
"Then like what?"
"A movie."
"Oh."
"A movie?"
"A movie."
Jaden blinked.
"You interrupted my peace for that?"
Kai looked offended.
"This is culture."
"This is a shopping mall."
"It's the same thing."
Liora laughed.
Across from her, Evren shook his head.
"You've already planned everything, haven't you?"
Kai grinned.
"Maybe."
"Meaning yes."
"Meaning yes."
By the end of the conversation, everyone had somehow agreed.
Saturday.
Movie.
Lunch afterward.
No excuses.
No cancellations.
A proper friend-group outing.
Kai celebrated like he had won a national award.
Nobody understood why.
The next morning arrived bright and sunny.
The kind of weather that made the city feel alive.
Liora stood in front of her mirror, deciding between two jackets.
After several minutes, she chose one randomly.
The decision-making process was exhausting.
Her phone lit up.
A message.
Not from the group chat.
Rowan.
A small smile appeared.
Rowan
weekend plans?
Liora
movie with friends
A reply came a minute later.
Rowan
have fun
Liora
i'll try
She slipped her phone into her pocket and headed out.
The mall was already crowded when she arrived.
Families.
Teenagers.
Couples.
Everyone seemed to have chosen the same destination.
Near the entrance, Kai was waving his arms like an airport worker directing traffic.
"Over here!"
"We can see you."
"I know."
"Then why are you doing that?"
"For dramatic effect."
Mira looked ready to leave.
Jaden looked ready to disappear.
Nothing had changed.
A few moments later, Evren arrived.
"Lio."
"Ren."
The familiar nicknames slipped out automatically.
Kai pointed between them.
"See? This is why people think you're siblings."
"We look nothing alike."
"Exactly."
"What?"
"I don't know."
The group ignored him.
As usual.
Soon they headed inside.
Buying tickets took longer than expected.
Mostly because Kai somehow managed to choose the wrong queue twice.
Nobody was surprised.
Eventually they made it into the theater.
Popcorn secured.
Drinks secured.
Sanity mostly secured.
The lights dimmed.
The movie began.
For the first half, everything felt perfect.
The film was funny.
Not amazing.
But funny enough.
Kai laughed at the wrong moments.
Mira threw popcorn at him.
Jaden pretended not to know them.
Liora laughed harder than she had all week.
At one point, she nearly spilled her drink because Kai made a joke so bad it somehow became funny.
Even Evren laughed.
A real laugh.
The kind that reached his eyes.
And for the first time in a while, things felt normal again.
Like the months before.
Like the version of their friendship he knew best.
Halfway through the movie, the lights came on for the interval.
The group immediately started talking over one another.
Discussing theories.
Making predictions.
Arguing over characters.
Kai's theories were especially terrible.
Everyone agreed on that.
The break ended quickly.
The lights dimmed again.
The second half began.
For a while, everything continued normally.
Then Liora's phone screen lit up.
A message.
She glanced down.
Rowan.
The movie continued playing.
She quickly replied.
Then looked back at the screen.
A few minutes later, another message appeared.
Then another.
Nothing important.
Nothing dramatic.
Just conversation.
The kind she'd gotten used to.
Without realizing it, her attention slowly split between two places.
Half on the movie.
Half somewhere else.
The jokes on screen became background noise.
The action scenes blurred together.
The phone remained in her hands longer than before.
Across from her, Evren noticed.
Not immediately.
Gradually.
The way people noticed a song changing halfway through.
At first he ignored it.
Then he looked again.
And again.
The disappointment wasn't sharp.
It was quiet.
The kind that settled gently into your chest.
Because earlier, she'd been laughing.
Talking.
Present.
Now it felt like she was somewhere else.
A hand suddenly landed on his shoulder.
Evren flinched.
Turning slightly.
Kai.
The movie screen flashed across his face in shades of blue and white.
Kai didn't look at him.
His eyes remained fixed on the screen.
For a few seconds, neither spoke.
Then Kai leaned closer.
His voice barely above a whisper.
"Focus on the movie, bro."
Evren frowned.
Kai continued watching the screen.
"You've looked at her more than the movie."
For a second, Evren forgot how to respond.
The words weren't teasing.
Not really.
They were too accurate for that.
The movie continued playing.
Light flickered across the theater.
After a moment, Kai spoke again.
Still looking ahead.
"You know..."
A pause.
"She's still here."
Evren glanced toward Liora.
Her eyes were fixed on her phone.
Her fingers moved across the screen.
Kai noticed too.
"Just not completely."
The words settled heavily between them.
For once, Kai didn't laugh.
Didn't make a joke.
Didn't ruin the moment.
He simply understood.
Then, after a few seconds, he nudged Evren's shoulder.
"Anyway, stop staring."
Evren blinked.
"What?"
"It's getting weird."
A laugh almost escaped him despite everything.
Kai pointed at the movie screen.
"I paid for this."
"You didn't."
"That's not the point."
"You're an idiot."
"Correct."
The conversation ended there.
The movie continued.
And for the rest of the screening, Evren forced himself to focus on the screen.
Not on the messages.
Not on the growing distance he couldn't explain.
Just the movie.
When the credits finally rolled, the theater lights returned.
Everyone stood.
Stretching.
Complaining.
Discussing the ending.
The usual chaos resumed.
And from the outside, nothing seemed different.
Five friends leaving a movie theater together.
Laughing.
Talking.
Making plans.
A perfectly normal Saturday.
Yet somewhere beneath all that normalcy, tiny cracks were beginning to form.
The kind nobody noticed until much later.