Into the Light

26

I watched Anna go through security, and it was killing me. She looked terrified. I wanted to go to her, comfort her, or something, but that just wasn't the way it worked. "She'll be fine," Sam said, nudging me with his arm. "I know," I breathed out. "I just hate seeing her so nervous and alone." I put on my biggest smile for her, when she started our way. "Oh my God, that made me want to ralph," she said, then stuck her finger into her mouth, like she was gagging. "You did great," I replied. "I was wigging out though," she said, twisting her fingers. "The hard part is over," Sam said. "The others are already waiting for us at the departure gate. We still have about 40 minutes before we can board. Do you guys want to get something to eat?" "Yes!" Anna almost shouted. Her love for food never ceased to amaze me. She looked at me and turned on the puppy dog eyes. "Pleeease," she begged. I sighed and nodded. "Anything you want." "Yay!" she squealed, jumping up and down like a child. I loved seeing her so carefree and happy. "Where does everyone want to eat?" After some mild discussion, we agreed on Cantina's. Anna ended up getting an Everything bagel with cream cheese, and a bottle of water. "That's all you want?" I asked. "After you acted so happy to get something, that's all you want?" She took a long sip of water, and nodded. "Yep. Doesn't matter how my belly gets filled, as long as it gets filled. Bagels make me happy." "I'll be sure to remember that," I laughed. We made our way back to the departure gate, and I took a seat next to Corey. "I was just about to text you," he said. "Why? What's up?" I asked. "Just making sure you knew what time it was. We're supposed to start boarding in about 10 minutes. "Oh yeah, I know. Just stopped and let Anna get something to eat. I'm ready to be on that plane though," I replied, with yawn. Apparently, being anxious and excited about everything could make you really tired. "Sam said that we were going to a retro-" "We're going to Sacramento," I said, cutting him off, quickly. I motioned my head towards Anna, who was definitely eavesdropping from beside me. "Oops. I forgot it was a surprise for her," Corey whispered. "You'll have to tell me why you chose that place though. When there aren't any LISTENING EARS!" He spoke the last two words loudly, and Anna looked up, just as her cheeks started to flame up. "It's for me, so I should have a right to know," she replied. Her emerald eyes were shining with laughter though. "Nope, uh uh," Corey said, shaking his head. "Miss Ma'am, this is not about you. I need to know what's going on. This is about me right now." He moved his hand over his shoulder, like he was flipping his hair with attitude. Anna giggled, and looked back down at some entertainment magazine that she had randomly picked up. When they made the announcement that we could begin boarding, we all stood up and grabbed our bags. We didn't need much for a one night trip, so we all had carry on luggage. Since I had bought all of the tickets at the same time, the seats were all together. In my row, I had the window, Anna had the middle seat, and Brennen had the aisle. Behind us was Sam, Kat, and Corey, then Jake and Tara were behind them. Sam and I usually rode first class when it was just us, but since there were so many of us, we opted for coach. It was only an hour and a half flight so there was no point in wasting money on the extra amenities. I would take Anna somewhere one day, and we would go first class, just so that I could treat her and show her how nice things could be. I didn't think any of the materialistic things mattered to her, but I still loved to see her face when she saw something that was new to her. I took out my phone to scroll social media and check on our room reservations. While I was on Twitter, I saw a pretty funny meme that was posted by one of Sam and my fans. "What are you laughing at?" Anna asked, leaning over my arm to look at my phone. "This," I said, pointing it out to her. "Is that you?!" she shrieked, grabbing my phone. "Why are you in a DRESS?! You're such a goober!" "Okay, okay," I replied, taking the phone back. "I know I look like a dork. It was for a bit. Just to be funny. Her name was Colleen." "She had a name? I mean, you had a girl name?" she asked, with her face completely lit up with laughter. "Yes. Sam did too. Her name was Samantha. We had a short little series called Samantha and Colleen. It was a dark time," I joked. "Please, for you maybe," Sam said in a high pitched voice, from behind me. "You were just always jealous because I was more...blessed than your pancake chest self." Anna practically howled with laughter, and started holding her stomach. "See what you started?" I groaned, and rolled my eyes. I guess I had to give in. Using a high pitched voice was a lot harder now than it used to be, but I gave it my best shot. "Excuuuuuse me," I said, whirling around to face Sam. "Big boobs McGee really thinks I'm jealous of HER? No honey, you are dead wra-ong." I snapped my fingers to emphasize my point. Anna had tears of laughter streaming down her face, and was snorting into her hand. Brennen was just watching us with a giant smile on his face. Samantha and Colleen argued for a few minutes, before we both did a hair flip and looked away. "Fucking A," Anna gasped out. "That was amazing! Please do that every day!" I laughed, and shook my head. "Not gonna happen. That was the one and only return show. Samantha and Colleen will now rest in peace." Just then the stewardess came over the intercom and started giving us basic safety measures and information. I saw Anna tense up just a little and buckle her seatbelt. I reached over and took her hand. "You'll be fine. I promise." She smiled at me, gripped my hand tightly, and took a deep breath. "I'm fine. I'm gonna close my eyes for a little while," she whispered.