𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 • 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐛𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤

five

My alarm went off at 6 a.m. that morning, and even though I had only had about four hours of sleep, I felt wide awake. I quickly brushed my teeth and combed my hair, then packed those items away. I made sure I had my MacBook and drawing tablet in my carry-on luggage and dropped my chargers in there too. As I was changing into clothes - an oversized hoodie and leggings - I realized I hadn't even told my parents.

I grabbed my phone and called my mom, even though it was only nearing 8 in the morning where she was.

"Elisha, why are you calling me this early, is everything okay?"

"Mom! Yes, I'm just calling to tell you I'm going to Los Angeles! It was a Christmas gift from Sam and his best friend, Colby."

"Can I trust them with my daughter? What does Ethan think of that?"

I laughed, "Of course you can, otherwise I wouldn't come with them. And about Ethan, when I get home we need to talk about him."

"Alright dear, you go have fun in the city of angels. Snap a couple pics for me, okay?"

"Yes! Thank you, mom. When you guys get back in Kansas, could you move my car to our parking garage?"

"Will do, sweetie. Have a safe flight, I love you."

"Bye mom, I love you too, tell dad as well," I answered and hung up.

The doorbell rang and I rushed to open the door, that Colby stood in front of.

"Hey, give me a second, just need to put my shoes on real quick," I smiled at him.

"Okay," he nodded, smiling back at me. I left the front door open as I sat down on the chair next to it, tying my black all stars onto my feet as my other shoes were packed away. I shrugged on my long, grey coat while I went to grab my bags. Colby put them into the trunk and I locked my house behind me.

We both stepped into the backseat and I was greeted by Sam's mom, "Good morning, Ellie," she smiled.

"Good morning," I replied. Sam was sleeping in the passengers seat and I chuckled quietly, looking over at Colby. "Merry Christmas."

"Good morning, and merry Christmas to you too," he whispered, trying to be quiet so Sam wouldn't wake up.

I chuckled under my breath and whispered back, "Good morning."

We arrived only a couple minutes later and Sam's mom woke her son from his slumber. We thanked her for driving us and headed towards the entrance with our bags.

"God, I'm going to be glad when I can feel the LA sun on my skin," Sam said. "The cold here is less friendly."

"I'm so freaking excited," I smiled.

About an hour later we had done everything we had to do and boarded the plane. Since my ticket had been bought later, we asked the lady who was seated next to Sam and Colby if she wanted to switch seats, and luckily she did. I was originally seated in the seat next to the aisle but Sam had offered me the window seat, as I had never really been on a plane before. If I traveled somewhere with my parents, we would always go on a road trip, and obviously I had never been overseas before.

Eventually, the plane took off and I was amazed by the view in front of me. Sam and Colby were talking about video ideas, I think, while my eyes were pretty much glued to the window. About half an hour later, they had stopped talking and Sam had fallen asleep again. I had a feeling the boy was tired.

"Enjoying the view?" Colby whispered in my ear. It sent shivers down my spine and I shifted my gaze from the clouds to him.

"Absolutely," I replied, whispering too. "This is great."