“Alicia! Is that you? How’ve you been?” I turned to face an old high school friend, Caroline.
“Hey, Caroline. I’ve been pretty great, actually. Hey, can we talk somewhere else?” I glanced around nervously at all of the people milling about around us. “You know crowds make me uneasy.”
“Sure, let’s go to Bert’s or something.” Bert’s was an old cafe on the corner of Fifth and Main that Caroline and I used to hang out at, years ago.
Caroline babbled as we made our way to Bert’s,; talking about her new boyfriend, her graduation from Cornell the year before, her parents’ recent divorce, anything that popped into her head. I acted like I was listening, but in reality I really wasn’t.
Caroline had a tendency to blabber. It was always a problem of hers, ever since she flipped in seventh grade. By flipping, I mean her personality. She went from quiet, conservative Caroline to loud, outgoing Carrie. Not only was she loud and outgoing, she was slightly annoying. She would ramble on and on for hours if you let her, adding pointless details to stories and dragging out her side of the conversation as long as she could.
I had learned to just smile and nod as if you were listening, even if you weren’t.
When we finally arrived at Bert’s, I was sure Caroline had completely exhausted every topic she could talk about. However, I was very, very wrong.
Carline blathered on and on for over an hour before finally pausing and asking, “So, Alicia. Tell me, what’s been going on in your life?”
I was pretty sure Caroline knew a lot about my life lately. In fact, anyone who paid any attention to magazines or blogs or any sort of celebrity gossip, knew.
I’m sort of famous. I mean, I’m a famous author. And actress. And currently, I’m famous for being the girlfriend of Jesse Grady, the world-famous actor. He’s every teenage girl’s dream guy, but he’s my guy.
Anyway, back to Caroline. A few weeks ago, when we met accidentally and went to Bert’s, I told her what the paparazzi didn’t know: Jesse had proposed to me. I begged her not to tell anyone because Jesse and I wanted to announce it at his movie release party.
“No way!” Caroline exclaimed. “When are you getting married?”
“Keep your voice down, please?” I watched her nod, then went on to say, “Well it’s September now, so we’re thinking early April. Around my birthday, but definitely NOT on it. That gives us, oh, seven or so months to plan it.”
“Is it going to be a big wedding or a small one? Where are you going to have it? Have you started dress searching yet? You definitely need a dress. First thing. And don’t forget to start looking for-“
I cut her off. “Caroline, I know. I’ll answer all your questions later. Hey look, I’m sorry for losing touch after high school. I got busy with the book writing and such. But I really have to go. Here’s my number.” I wrote it down on a napkin and handed it to her. “But I seriously have to go, Jesse’s expecting me at the airport in an hour. We’re flying to Ithaca to visit his parents.”
“Alrighty then! I won’t forget to call, I promise! Bye now!” Caroline waved as I rushed out the door.
I took a deep breath as I pushed the door open. Fresh air always was, well, refreshing. I hated being inside buildings, or cars, or any small space. And I especially hated being in crowds.
I’ve always been claustrophobic. Ever since I was little, I’ve hated small spaces. It used to be so bad that I couldn’t even go into a closet to get anything out of it. Now, I can deal with small spaces, but I don’t like it. I always prefer to walk instead of driving places, even if it takes a lot longer. When I moved into Jason’s home, I was glad to see it was much like my own; open, airy and light.
There was one downside to my preference of walking over driving, and that is paparazzi.
I heard a camera click behind me, and all at once they swarmed around me. I’ve developed a technique to deal with the swarming, hungry creatures: stand still, don’t speak and wait it out. When they stopped taking pictures and started to disperse, I continued to stand completely still until all but that one, lingering photographer was left.
I walked towards the airport, and then glanced at my watch. It was already four o’clock, and our flight was at five. Knowing I wouldn’t make it, I called Jesse to come pick me up. The airport was only ten minutes away by car, and Jesse already had my luggage.
Jesse arrived and pulled over to the side of the road, where I was standing. Motioning for me to hop in while reaching over to open the door of his cobalt-colored Porsche, he smiled.
“So, I see you caved.” He looked at me with a goofy grin.
“It was either cave and make the flight, or be stubborn and miss it.” I slid into the seat next to him. “Plus, your car isn’t that bad. It is a convertible, after all. Now drive or we’ll be late.” I stuck my tongue out at him, and he did the same before putting the car into gear and leaving the paparazzi chasing our car in the dust.
That’s something I loved about Jesse. We could be silly with each other, tease each other, and play pranks on each other. In fact, we had an ongoing prank war. I was up by one, my last prank being putting temporary hair dye into his hair gel. His hair was bright pink for all of three days. He wouldn’t leave the house until all of the dye was washed out, and spent numerous hours in the shower with a bottle of shampoo and pink water.
He hadn’t pranked me back yet, even though my prank was over two weeks ago. I was just waiting for his next prank, because I knew it was going to be bad.
“Hey, Jes. Can I ask you something?” I turned towards him, my face serious.
“Yeah? What is it, Leesie?” He kept his eyes on the road for the most part, but quickly glanced over at me. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” I replied. After a long pause, I said, “No. Not really.”
“What’s wrong, hun?”
“It’s just… Your parents.”
I could hear him sighing before taking a slow breath. “Leesie, they don’t hate you. They love you! Maybe they don’t approve of you marrying so young, but they wouldn’t hate you for being in love with me.”
“But you know they’ll disapprove of our marriage.” Jesse had only proposed two nights ago, and this visit to his parents’ house was to inform them of our engagement.
“Alicia.” When he used my full name, I knew he was serious. “They will get over it. I’m their only son, and they want me to be happy. They might be a little concerned at first, but they will get past it. I promise.”
I didn’t know what else to say except for, “I love you.”
“I love you.” He turned and smiled at me, but quickly turned back towards the road in order to avoid an oncoming car that had swerved into our lane. Probably a drunk driver, if you asked me.
By the time we got to the airport and through security, it was almost time for our flight’s departure.
Jason and I boarded the flight, and soon we were off the ground. I looked out the window, seeing my hometown grow smaller and smaller as we ascended into the air.
