Beach Boys

“Avery, pizza’s here!” My dad hollered from downstairs.

“Coming!” I responded as I slid the zipper of the suitcase back into place, ready for my adventure.

~ ∞ ~

“Okay darling, my plane is about to take off for Hong Kong, but here is the address for the apartment you will be staying at, and here is a credit card for food and things,” My dad reminded me as he kissed my forehead quickly goodbye.

“I’ll be fine, and I’ll call you when I get there,” I assured him.

“No, no, don’t call. Much too expensive, but you have your computer, so e-mail me. Bye dear.”

I called after him as he ran off, but it was too late. He had already boarded the plane. With a sigh, I sat down at my terminal to wait for mine.

By the time I finally boarded, the plane had been delayed for almost an hour! I hurriedly found my seat amongst the swarm of people, and politely smiled at an older lady sitting on the aisle seat of my seating unit. The plane was just about to take off, yet the middle seat hadn’t been occupied yet.

“Goodness! You would not believe how hard it is to get through security these days!” A girl in a long sweater that covered her shorts sighed loudly. She scanned the plane, and looked directly at the seat besides mine.

“Oh! There it is!” She plopped down on the seat rudely besides me, and turned her attention towards me.

“Hi there, my name is Evan.”

“Hi Evan, I’m Avery,” I replied nervously with my hand out to shake, but she just slapped it and laughed.

“So, why you heading to LA?” She asked.

“Well, for vacation. My dad kind of just put me on the plane and left.”

“Oooh, that’s interesting! I live there. My boyfriend and I are renting out a beach house for the summer. I can’t wait to get back to it!” She explained excitedly.

“That sounds great. What were you doing in Washington, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“I was there for my cousin’s graduation from high school. I could have done without the rain though.” She scowled.

I laughed at her disapproval, “I know, the weather is horrible–be glad you don’t live there.”

“Well, fret no longer mi amiga, you’re going to one of the sunniest places in the nation.”

I smiled at Evan as she turned to ask the older woman besides her about her knitting techniques. Evan seemed to live life with a sense of outrageous humor, an outgoing personality, and open friendliness. Maybe, if I stick with her for a while, I can learn a bit or two about how to be so open.

“So Avery, what do you think about us becoming friends?” She asked with a bright smile.

“That would be really great, maybe we can meet up again in LA,” I offered.

“Totally, let me write down your number.”

With that our friendship blossomed, we laughed and joked our way straight to LA.

~ ∞ ~

“Call me when you’ve finished gettting set up, and we can plan a date,” Evan waved as I hopped into a nearby cab.

After giving some ridiculous directions to the driver and working my way through a significant amount of traffic, I finally arrived at the complex.

“Thanks!” I smiled at the driver as I exited the cab.

He scowled.

“Oh right!” I handed him twenty dollars and he drove off speeding. Shrugging my shoulders, I walked up the stairs to my apartment for the summer. This will be it, the end to my boring everyday life to the exciting life of an LA inhabitant. I was so thrilled by the idea of freedom and fun that I didn’t realize that I hadn’t obtained a key to my room. I was at the door, room nine level three, yet I could hear people inside it. I knocked on the door, maybe it’s the landlord setting up for my arrival.