The Mediator

Chapter 10

I woke up the next morning to the sound of my alarm clock. I groaned in protest. I was in a daze until it hit me that today was the first day of spring break, a full week in sunny California was only a few hours away! I stretched my arms over my head with a yawn and got out of bed. It was five-thirty in the morning. Hailey's dad was driving us to the airport in about two hours, where we would meet up with Ashley and Justin. Conner and Dan left Thursday night and drove to L.A. so when the rest of us got there we would have a ride from the airport. We also wouldn't have to worry about taking public transportation. I just hoped they were in L.A. when we got there. I wouldn't put it past those two to get lost or something.

I gathered my clothes for the day and my bathroom supplies and headed for the shower. I had spent all night with Kyle, and I was too tired to take a shower when I got home. I hated taking showers in the morning. I'm not a morning person what-so-ever.

After a very quick shower I blow-dried my hair straight, put on some make-up, and went downstairs for breakfast. Normally I don't eat breakfast, but I had a three hour flight to California ahead of me and complimentary peanuts were not going to hold me over. I poured myself a bowl of cheerios and sat at the table. It was six-fifteen and Claire would be on her way downstairs soon. Even though I was on spring break my mom's school was still in session. Her spring break wasn't until next week. That's probably one major reason why she was allowing me to go on this trip so I wouldn't have to sit home alone all day while my friends were having all the fun in California.

Claire left for school a half hour before Mr. Taylor, Hailey's dad, came to pick me up. My mom said her goodbyes and told me to behave myself while I was gone. "What trouble can I possibly get into in Los Angeles?" I asked sarcastically.

Claire didn't approve of that rhetorical question. There was that motherly stare again.

"I'm kidding Mom." I assured her. I gave her one last hug and then she left.

It was a three hour drive to Chicago's Midway airport. We planned to arrive at Midway around ten-thirty, and our flight didn't leave until noon. I don't know why we chose to depart from an airport that was as far away from us as the time it would take to get to California by plane. I blame Hailey. I'm not complaining though. I slept most of the way listening to my ipod while Hailey chattered on about everything we would do when we landed in L.A. I think she thought I was listening. I kind of was. I gave her a few uh-huh's and mm-hmm's while she babbled, until I dozed off.

I woke up when I felt the car start to slow I figured we were almost to the airport, and when I looked out the window, I was right. We were just pulling up to the entrance. I turned off my iPod and put my pillow in my lap, looking around to make sure I hadn't dropped, or forgotten anything. We pulled up to the sidewalk and Mr. Taylor popped the trunk open for us. Hailey and I slid out of her dad's black Chevy Cobalt and walked around the back of the car to the trunk, we got all of our suitcases, waved to Mr. Taylor, and strode into the building.

It was just after eleven a.m. when we arrived. We looked for our plane on the departure board and then wandered around until we found our departure gate. I let Hailey navigate I had never flown before, and I had no idea where we were going.

After going through security, we spotted Justin and Ashley sitting on a pair of plastic chairs, near the terminal, facing a T.V. that was displaying CNN. Their backs were to us so as we approached them Hailey called out, "Hey guys!" She beamed. Justin and Ashley both twisted in our direction.

"Finally," Ashley grumbled. "I thought you guys were going to miss our flight."

Of course she did, I thought to myself. Imagine that, Hailey and I miss the flight and then what's poor Ashley supposed to do with three guys all to herself in California. I know Dan and Conner wouldn't give her the time of day, but I wasn't so sure about Justin.