virtual connections

Chapter 4

Paislee

Night 1

We arrive at the Airbnb first, as all of the lights are turned off. Me, Kennedy, Tanner, Larry, and Grunk are the first car, which we have nicknamed the "Party Car." The entire drive was filled with storytelling, silly arguments, and karaoke. Our driver was really nice, but I felt a little bad for shouting for almost 2 hours straight. I tipped him well and joined the rest of the group. We walk into the house, giving ourselves a tour. There are 8 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a living room, kitchen, and dining room. Wow. It was truly gorgeous.

"I'm claiming the master bed!" Larry shouts, running to put his stuff down. We all grab our bags and start to fight over the rooming situation. Too bad the other car isn't here to choose. First come first serve I guess. After we settle in, Kennedy runs to the living room, grabbing the TV remote.

"What are you doing?" I ask, genuinely concerned about what she is about to do.

"I'm putting on some music," Kennedy responds. She opens YouTube and begins to search for songs. After about 2 minutes, the song "Shake It Off" by Taylor Swift begins to play.

"I love this song!!" Larry cheers. The five of us gather in the living room and start a roaring karaoke session.

"I STAY OUT TOO LATE! GOT NOTHING IN MY BRAIN!" Kennedy starts. Tanner joins her, and the two of them start to dance with each other. It was a really cute sight. Grunk starts to jump around, not really knowing the lyrics until the chorus. I finally join in and the song plays on. Larry shushes everyone so he could sing the bridge.

"Hey hey hey! Just think, while you've been gettin' down and out about the liars and the dirty, dirty cheats of the world, you could've been gettin' down to this sick beat!" We all lose it as he struts across the room, perfectly in sync with the song.

We hear a knock at the door, and I quickly turn down the volume. I look through the peephole on the front door and see Sawyer, Isaac, Nick, Blake, and Ellery standing in the doorway. I open the door to let them in. "Welcome to our humble abode," I say, gesturing for them to come inside. Ellery sprints into the house and goes straight to the bathroom.

"This place is really nice!" Sawyer says encouragingly, although she looks exhausted.

"So there are 8 bedrooms and 10 people. A couple of people will have to share," I state, trying to get everyone in order for later. "The five of us have already claimed our rooms, so you guys can sort out the rest." Silence falls. I guess nobody wanted to sleep in the same room, because they all just stood where they were. Around 7 pm, we decided to order dinner. It's a bit frustrating because nobody can agree on a restaurant. I want Chinese food, but Sawyer won't eat anything from there. Tanner suggests Wendy's again, but we had it for lunch earlier. Finally, we decide on Italian, and we make Nick call in the order. Isaac grabs the food when it arrives and brings it into the living room. We pass out everyone's food and I put on a movie while we eat. Everybody said they didn't care what we watched, so I put on Clue. 

I start to notice a couple of things while scanning the room. I am sitting at the end of the couch, with Blake next to me. Every so often, I can feel his gaze switch from the TV to me, which I don't mind. Next to Blake are Grunk and Larry, completely mesmerized by the movie we are watching. On the floor are Kennedy, Tanner, Ellery, and Nick. They are all laying against the couch, having small conversations with each other. The last two, Sawyer and Isaac, are on the opposite end of the couch, sitting unusually close to each other. I don't want to stare, so I try to glance over every once and a while. Isaac is on the end, sitting normally, and Sawyer has her knees pulled to her chest, leaning ever so slightly toward him. She's talked to me before about how she likes to be very subtle when trying to flirt or make a move. Does she like Isaac? Oh my god, that would be so cute. About an hour into the movie, I check to see if someone had made a move. Perfect timing. I watch as Isaac slowly wraps his arm around Sawyer, waiting to see how she reacts. I let out a little gasp, and quickly cover my mouth to shut myself up.

"What?" Blake asks, looking a little worried.

"Nothing!" I chirp. I kind of wanted to see what would happen next, but I focus my gaze back on the movie.

"Hey, Paislee?" Blake questions.

"Yeah?"

"The dimples you get when you smile are cute. I've never noticed them before." Did he just compliment me? I feel myself start to blush.

"Aw, thank you!" I didn't really know how to respond. I shimmy a little closer to him, trying not to make it obvious. It felt so comfortable to be with these people. I don't think it has sunk in yet that I'm really here with them. Of course, I've known them for over 6 months now, but the dynamic in person is different in the best way.

Sawyer

I was still exhausted from the trip here, but I was so happy. Paislee put on a movie for everyone to watch while we ate. I sat on the couch first, choosing to sit closer to the center. This allowed for someone to be able to sit on either side of me. By little surprise, Isaac chose to sit to my left. I smile, which he doesn't seem to see. I only have a small plate of food, so I finish relatively early on in the movie. I was sitting so close to him, and my heart was beating insanely fast. I start to feel really anxious, so I pick at my lips. This is probably the worst habit I have, and Isaac notices. 

"Stop picking," he whispers. A chill runs down my spine.

"Ah, sorry," I respond, fighting the urge to fidget.

"Don't apologize," he says sternly. I know I have a problem with apologizing for everything. "If you're anxious, just let me know." He slowly wraps his arm around me, finally placing his right hand around my waist. I could feel my face growing red. Holy shit. I readjust my position to where I am laying against his chest with my legs in his lap. I can't believe this is happening right now.

Isaac

I can't believe this is happening right now. She moves her legs onto mine, and I can't move. I wanted to comfort her because she was doing her nervous tics. Because of the car, I assumed she would appreciate it, but I didn't know it would go this well. I grab a blanket from the basket next to the couch and cover us. She looks so peaceful bundled up in the blanket. I keep getting looks from Paislee. I know she thinks that she's being subtle, but she definitely is not.

I look at my phone and realize that it's almost 10 pm. Everyone was tired from traveling all day, so at this point, we wanted to go to bed early. Paislee is the first to leave the couch, with Grunk, Larry, and Ellery not far behind. Yumi has fallen asleep on the couch and starts to snore loudly. Kennedy goes to the kitchen to search for ice cream, and Nick joins her. Tanner soon realizes that it's just him, Sawyer, and I, and rushes off to his room.

"Sawyer?" I say, as gently as possible.

"Yeah?" she replies, looking up at me.

"Since there aren't enough rooms for everyone to have their own, would you want to share one?" I know it's a bold move, but I really just wanted to be with her.

"Oh," she says, getting up from our comfortable position. She stands up from the couch, stretching her arms out. Fuck. I blew it, didn't I? She starts to leave, walking towards the stairs, but not before saying, "Aren't you coming?"

I let out a sigh of relief. I was so scared she wouldn't want to. We both grab our bags and head up the stairs. The only room left has a queen-sized bed, a Jack and Jill bathroom, and a TV. It's perfect. We place our bags in the corner of the room.

"I'm going to shower," she states, walking into the bathroom. I nod in acknowledgment. I'm still in awe of what has happened over the past 6 or so hours. I can hear her start to sing, probably forgetting that she's not alone at home anymore. I change into my pjs and crawl into bed. I hear the water turn off in the bathroom and anxiously wait for her return. She walks back into the room wearing a baggy t-shirt and comfy shorts. She wiggles under the covers, inching her way towards me. Her arms slowly creep around my torso as I grab her waist and pull her towards me. We fall asleep like this, in a warm embrace that I never want to end.