The First Flight ❀ COLIFER

Chapter 3 ❀ Jared

❀ I noticed some people were a little confused about this book... So, just to clear things up: she had the dream about Colin (aka the entire first book) when she was on her way to do the screen test with him in 2012. Now it's April 2017 and they're going on a trip to Hawaii with the cast. She remembered that dream because of the movie, Inception. I hope this made it a little clearer if you were confused 🙈 ❀

It was about eleven o'clock local time when we saw the Island of Hawaii on the horizon, which was also ten minutes after I finally fell asleep. It was Lana who tapped me on the shoulder to warn me that I had to put on my seatbelt; when I fuzzily looked up, I noticed that Jared was already glued to his little window. His eyes were about the size of a tennis ball and his hair was a mess from the five-hour nap he'd taken.

"This is going to be lit, I can feel it," he said to nobody in particular.

I reached out to fix his hair, but right after I pulled away Josh chucked his pillow at him, aiming right for his head.

"Of course it is! Have you taken a look at our entourage?"

Jared turned around to stick out his tongue and after he threw the pillow back, he continued staring out his window until the plane touched down. I could feel the buzz of excitement around me, but part of me just wanted to crash down and sleep forever.

We went to pick up our suitcases and we were on our way to the cabs when I felt something bump against my leg. I turned around to see Colin, who looked about as tired as I felt.

"Sorry," he said, apologetically holding up his guitar case.

Of course he brought his guitar.

"Don't be," I said. And then, because for some reason it felt weird, I broke the eye contact.

It wasn't until we were approaching our accommodation that I realized we were in Hawaii. We were in freaking Hawaii, and these two weeks were going to be awesome. I couldn't wait to explore the island with the others and have some time for myself.

Two vans drove us to our destination, a quieter area of the island about thirty minutes away from the airport, and we were all in awe when we stopped in front of the bungalows. We were so close to the beach that we could see the clear blue water and the white sand.

"JOSH!" I screamed when I got out of the cab, staring wide-eyed at the bungalows. "How the hell did you arrange this?"

"I gave them a charm attack," he smirked, obviously very pleased with himself. He was the one who arranged our accommodation, and... well, you could say that he succeeded.

This was absolutely amazing. There were five bungalows right next to the beach, so we split up into pairs before we headed inside with our suitcases. Ginny went with Josh —obviously—, Emilie with Bex, Colin with Sean and Bobby took Jared's suitcase. Jared screamed how excited he was to spend some time with "grandpa" before he sprinted away to the beach.

Lana and I watched him for a second, shaking our heads, and then we ploughed through the sand to our bungalow. There was a path made of wood boards that connected all of our bungalows, but it was still pretty bumpy to drag the suitcases over it.

"Oh my god!" Lana shrieked when she walked through the double doors. I was still blown away by the magnificence of the scenery outside, but my jaw dropped when I walked in behind her.

The inside of the bungalow was stunning. The walls were painted a pastel yellow and natural light entered through the huge windows in the front, instantly giving you that holiday feeling. There were two sleeping areas with queen-size beds, separated by a spacious bathroom with white tiling and a lot of wood accents, and a living area with couches and a TV.

I dropped my suitcase and bag at the end of one of the beds, while Lana did the same on the other side of the bungalow. For a moment we were just too stupefied to say anything, but then she started screaming again.

We both ran out of our bedrooms and embraced each other in a moment of excitement. Right when we let go, Josh knocked on the doorframe.

"Do you ladies like it?"

Lana and I exchanged glances and let out at the the same time, "Heck yes we do!!"

"Good," Josh said, grinning from ear to ear. "Look, I'm going to head down to the beach with Jared. The kid's too excited to wait and Ginny won't let me unpack anything, so... I'll see you guys there."

"Awesome," Lana said. She had a huge smile on her face when she turned around to start unpacking. I went back to my side of the bungalow, too hyped up to take a nap first (which had been my plan since we got off the airplane). It felt so good to unpack everything and settle down, even if it was just for two weeks.

I was finishing up in the bathroom when I heard Sean's voice coming from the living area. I froze with the shampoo bottle in my hand, listening carefully if Colin was with him— and he was.

"Are you coming to the beach with us?" Sean asked Lana.

"Of course I am. I'll go and ask Jen if she's up for it. You coming, Colin?"

There was a moment of silence, and then he replied, "I think I'm going to make a call first. I'll see you guys in a minute."

I still wasn't moving when they were probably already gone, but I snapped out of it when Lana knocked on the door of the bathroom.

"Jen? Are you coming to the beach with us?"

"I— I'm going to finish unpacking first. But you guys can go ahead."

"Alright."

I was really planning on joining them, but once I was done in the bathroom I crashed down on the bed and sighed. The wave of excitement had gone down and now that I was lying on the bed, listening to the sound of the waves in the background, I finally felt every inch of my body relax.

I could just close my eyes for a second...

* * *

Knock, knock, knock.

It was only three knocks on the door, but I immediately shot up— and I instantly knew I'd slept longer than I'd anticipated. The sky outside was a mix of red, purple and orange, which meant the sun was already setting.

How long had I been asleep? I got up, but I had to sit down to let my blood pressure get back to normal before I walked out and saw Sean outside of the bungalow.

"Hey, we are heading into town to grab a bite to eat. You coming?"

I rubbed my forehead, closing my eyes again. "I'm— I'm not feeling too great. Would you guys mind if I skipped this time?"

"Of course not," he said, stepping through the doors and into the living area. "Well, of course we'll miss you, but... is everything alright?"

I nodded when he put a hand on my arm. "Yes, it's probably just the different climate."

He still looked a little concerned. "Make sure you drink enough."

"Yes, of course."

He gave me a hug before he left, and I headed straight back to my room when he was gone. I fell asleep in a matter of minutes, and it was totally dark outside when I woke up again.

This time it was just one soft knock on the door... but there wasn't supposed to be anyone here. I remembered Josh saying something about a cleaning staff that came to clean up the bungalows every morning, but it would be strange if they came at night...

I got up and I was still rubbing my eyes when I walked into the living room, expecting one of the local guys to be standing outside of the bungalow, but it wasn't.

"Colin? Why are you still—"

He cut me off before I could finish my sentence. Only then I noticed the horrified expression on his face. 

"It's Jared. He had an accident."