Heterochromia ● a.i

26

(Ashton's P.O.V.)

At four a.m. six alarm clocks go off and the room fills with groans. Dylan stands from the bed, walks next to the door, and turns on the light switch. Calum throws the blanket over his head and turns over on his pillow. I sit up, stretch, and yawn. Dylan walks into the bathroom and closes the door. Michael stands up to go downstairs and get Violet and Luke from the couch. Laith stays asleep at the head of Dylan's bed and groans when her snooze goes off again. I don't bother changing into day clothes because we're going to be driving all day. Dylan steps out of the bathroom and Aubrey takes her place. Michael comes through the door and collects his and Laith's blankets and pillows. Aubrey gets out of the bathroom and wakes up Calum by sitting on his back and giving him a little massage. Michael doesn't bother waking up Laith, he carries her down the stairs and out to the car.

By four forty-five, the cars are packed and the drivers have had three cups of coffee. Dylan made it clear to me that I will be driving first and I let her know that it's okay. We all stand in the kitchen, Violet, Dylan, Aubrey, and Calum half asleep, while Luke, Michael, and I are wide awake. Dylan writes a note to let her parents know that we left and she'll be back on Sunday next week.

We pile into the cars, get out our GPS', and begin our trip to Florida. By the time we are on the highway, I have had my fifth cup of coffee. We left the house at five and should arrive at six or seven this evening.

Dylan has a blanket covering her body, her chair is reclined, and a pillow rests below her head. The sunrise was half an hour ago but it is slowly shining through the trees. She wakes up at about eight and flutters her eyes open. She rubs her eyes lazily, stretches as much as she can, yawns, and gazes up at me. A small smile dances on her lips and I can't help but think about how adorable she looks when she wakes up. She rolls over so she's facing up and pulls the seat so she's upright. She throws the pillow to the backseat and finds her phone.

"Where are we?" She asks sleepily.

"Somewhere in Kentucky," I say.

She nods and begins typing on her phone, "we are going to exit on the next ramp and stop at McDonald's."

I nod and change lanes, "cool. How did you sleep?"

She shrugs, "meh. It was okay."

"I slept great, thanks for asking," I say sarcastically.

She rolls her eyes and quietly laughs, "shut up."

The group meets at McDonald's, we order and go sit in a long booth. No one says anything while we gulf down the greasy breakfast. The girls are makeup free and try to hide their faces as much as the can. Dylan doesn't care and eats like a pig, I can't help but laugh. She looks at me with half her sandwich in her mouth and laughs. We both bust into a fit of giggles and when we slowly come to a stop, Dylan gives a look to the rest of the table. I turn around and see Laith and Aubrey staring at Dylan with wide eyes.

"What?" She snaps.

They quickly shake their heads, shrug their shoulders, and return to their food.

We pile back into our cars but this time with a different driver. I sit in the front seat and watch as the small town is taken over by open fields.

...

I wake up around noon and realize that I have been sleeping while sitting up the entire time. I notice that music is quietly playing and I don't recognize the song. I stretch and turn to face Dylan.

"Good morning, sunshine," Dylan glances at me.

"It's noon," I say while grabbing my phone.

"It's a figure of speech."