Yeah, I Hate You Too, Sweetheart.

Chapter 31 - Laila

"Then we'll get a flight out in the morning."

 I was beyond baffled that she would even offer to give up the rest of her vacation, because the Lord only knew those didn't happen very often. The look in her dark brown eyes were a force to be reckoned with, though.

  And as much as it pained me to admit - I really did want to go home. I'd been gone from home for more than a month, and admittedly, I missed my own bed. My best friend Lissa, too. There were a lot of things worth going home for, that was true. But then there were a lot of things worth staying with the Richards for, too. 

  "Get up, Laila," Mom said a while later, giving me an encouraging nudge forward. "Go get some sleep."

  My heart plummeted. I honestly didn't think I could stand seeing Maggie right then, and she wanted me to go back and share a room with her?

   To my intense relief, though, she gave me another nudge towards the bed in the room  as I stumbled my way to my feet. 

   "Thanks, Mom," I mumbled as I fell back against the pillows, practically asleep already.

I barely heard her quiet reply before I was drifting off to a thankfully dreamless sleep. 

   

   Another drizzly, rainy day was dawning on Ouray as I dragged my duffle bag down the stairs around six the next morning. I was dead exhausted and probably still half unconscious, but the shock of Mom waking me around four, saying that we were going to leave in two hours, had been enough to keep me awake. Somewhat. 

  I was more than thankful that someone had gone back into the room I'd shared with Maggie and Emma and had packed all of my things. That definitely saved me another humiliating trip that I somehow had managed to avoid. 

  I just about dropped my duffle bag on the ground in the kitchen when I caught sight of several people crowded around the counters, standing by the front door, looking expectantly towards the kitchen doorway. Kim, Laurence, Emma, Nick, Patricia, and Dimitri were all there, looking exhausted but awake at the same time. 

  The ony ones that were not there were Maggie and Justin.

Saying goodbye isn't always that hard, I silently coached myself, gnawing on my lip. You can do this, no problem.

  "What are you all doing up?" I asked the room, sort of confused.

"You're crazy if you think we'd let you leave without saying goodbye," Emma scoffed, rolling her dark eyes, looking suspiciously moody.

  I grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, Emma."

She tried to glare fiercely at me, but failed half a second later. 

  "Are you sure you want to leave, Laila?" Kim asked tentatively, taking a step forward.

  "Yeah," I answered, lying through my teeth. "I'm homesick. Sorry."

   I don't think anyone in the kitchen was convinced, and I really couldn't blame them.

"But your birthday is tomorrow!" Emma suddenly burst out. "We were going to throw a party and everything!"

  I felt a twinge of guilt at that. "Sorry, Em. Maybe next year."

She hardly looked placated.

  Everyone was saved from saying anything else by the approaching footsteps of my mother carrying her own luggage down the staircase, into the kitchen.

  Mom looked just as surprised as I did at the sight of everyone crowded in the kitchen.

 "Are we saying goodbye already?" she said, eyebrows raised.