For Forever (A FirstPrince Story)

Alex

4:17 am

June banging on the bedroom door knocked Alex and Henry up. "Y'all up?"

Henry hadn't even realized they had fallen asleep. The sound of Nora's voice caused them to wake right up. "Morning, love," Henry whispered. He was going to miss saying that.

"Morning," Alex muttered. "What time is it?"

Henry checked his phone. "It's almost four twenty," Henry answered.

"Give us a minute," Alex called. Henry turned on Alex's bed side lamp so they could find their clothes. It didn't take them long to get redressed. "You can come in now!"

June and Nora entered the bedroom, wearing different clothes than what they wore last night. "Well, the snacks got cold," Nora said.

"We didn't mean to fall asleep," Henry admitted.

"No, it's okay," June said.

"We've actually been building itinerary," Nora added.

"An itinerary?" Alex asked.

"Yeah," June said. "Nora and I have been researching all the best ways to spend a final day."

"I thought the plan was to spend the day in," Henry said. "Besides, wouldn't leaving the White House be kind of impossible right now. The President is trying to keep us bunkered down."

"I've lived here for years," June said. "I know how to sneak out without my mom knowing. Most of the media have left the front gate. We have a while before the live reporting starts. Now is the prime time to sneak out. Besides, mom didn't officially ban us from leaving. She just said to bring as much secret service as possible. We'll take Amy and Cash with us."

"What do you think, Alex?" Henry asked.

"If you'd prefer to stay in, that's fine," June said.

There was a beat of silence. "Eh," Alex said. "It's my final day. I might as well live it."

"Okay," Nora said. She pulled up her notes app. "There's the Last Song club. It's a club with twenty-four hour karaoke, and free drinks and entrance for Deckers."

"So, essentially a hundred different renditions of If I Die Young by Perry?" Alex asked.

"That, or Good Riddance by Green Day," June responded.

"There's also this virtual reality last experience center," Nora said. "Though, that place has quite a few one star reviews."

"Yeah," June said. "Some of my other friends did the swimming with sharks simulator, and they said it was not worth the wait. That's the most popular one, along with the hot air balloon ride."

"What else is there?" Alex asked.

"There's the around the world in sixty minutes center," Nora explained. "It's a tram ride that you can get off. They take you to recreations of some of the most famous places in the world."

"That sounds like a good time," Alex said.

"It's also open," Nora said. "Most of these places are open twenty-four hours."

"So, we should start the day there, and see where the day takes us," June suggested.

"I can go along with that plan," Alex said.

"I'll go inform the others about the plan," June said. "Get ready."

Alex picked up the phone. He had only disappeared for about two hours, and the world assumed he was already dead. He had messages from people who he hadn't talked to since he left Texas. He had a bunch of text from his father and distant relatives. Maybe he should start sharing his journey on social media instead of sending the same hundred of texts.

"Half of the original Avengers have posted about you," Nora said. "A lot of celebrities, actually."

"People are acting fast," Alex said. "I should probably make a public statement or something."

June arrived back at the room. "All set," she said. The four of them exited the room. They were stopped by the president on the way out.

Ellen pulled her son in for a hug. "Be safe," she whispered.

"I will," Alex asked. "I love you, mom."

"I love you too," Ellen whispered as the hug broke. She then turned to face Henry. "Take care of my baby."

"Of course," Henry said. After Ellen said her goodbyes to the rest of the group, the four of them were led to a bullet proof van. As they walked, Alex snapped a quick chin up photo of himself for his Instagram.

Thanks for all the messages. Heading out for one last hurrah. #LastDay.