Great Escape
It’s All Fun and Games Until You Run Out of Coins
Mobile games became such a welcome distraction from my life that, soon, I didn’t have one
The first time I meet Katherine, I’m impressed by her poise. She wears her brown ponytail low and loose and radiates a farmhand-next-door vibe. Austin explains to me that she’s an old friend, though by the way his parents gush over her, it’s obvious they wish it had blossomed into something more. And maybe she does, too; the girl next door is now a woman grown, with seemingly nothing to do but stalk about Austin’s shabby family mansion as he attempts to restore it, to middling results.
After a grueling week spent revitalizing the treehouse in his parents’ backyard, Austin asks Katherine up for a nightcap — a seemingly adult invitation for two childhood “pals.” This is it, I think as Austin turns on the string of lights adorning the treehouse, unleashing their sparkly magic as Katherine claps with delight. They’re gonna bone.
Instead, Austin offers to walk Katherine home. The pair heads off into the night; what happens next is not for me to know. What I do know is that when Austin wakes up alone in his twin bed the next morning, the implication is that nothing sordid occured. There will be no bones in this friend zone…
