Finding Olivia

Chapter 26

"Avery, we're only going to the beach for five days. Do you really need to pack so much stuff?" I glared at my roommate as she tried to squeeze 'one last thing' into her already overflowing suitcase.

"Yes!" She cried. "I never know what I might need!"

"Still," I shrugged, "it seems like you could make do without it."

She gasped. "Olivia!"

"What?" I asked innocently.

"I swear," she shook her head, her red hair swishing around her shoulders, "sometimes, I wonder if you're a girl."

"I'm a girl," I assured her with a smile as I sat on my bed, my packed—not-to-the-brim—suitcase, sat on the floor by the door. "I just don't need as much stuff as you seem to need."

"This," Avery pointed to her face, "takes time, Livie. I need all my makeup, and my flat iron, and-"

"I get it," I held up a hand to shut her up, "your highness."

Thirty minutes later, the guys were outside waiting for us, and Avery still wasn't ready.

"Hurry up," I begged, desperate to leave, and start the almost five hour drive.

"I'm almost ready," she insisted, trying to close her second suitcase.

"Ugh," I groaned as I flopped back on my bed. "You said that an hour ago."

"Done!" She announced a minute later.

"Thank you, Jesus!" I cried, sitting up, climbing from my bed. I wasn't wasting any time. If Avery said she was ready, we were leaving, because I knew if we lingered a minute longer, she would think of something else she needed to bring.

I rolled my suitcase out the door and then picked it up to carry it down the steps. Thank goodness I hadn't packed much and it was light and easy to carry. Avery didn't have the same luxury.

I heard her cursing behind me as she fumbled with her two large suitcases.

"I'll tell Luca to come help you!" I yelled and my voice echoed through the empty dorm. I was sure that Avery and I were the only ones that still hadn't left for Spring Break. Damn her and her need to over-pack.

"That might be a good idea!" She called back.

I stepped outside and spotted Trace leaning against a gray Toyota 4Runner.

He grinned when he saw me, pecking me on the cheek, taking my suitcase to load it in the trunk.

"Luca's going to drive," he informed me, "we figured everyone would be more comfortable riding in an SUV than a car."

I nodded in agreement.

Trace held one of the back doors open, and I slid inside, tapping Luca on the shoulder.

"Hey," he smiled, showcasing a chipped tooth that I hadn't noticed before.

"Avery needs some help," I told him.

He sighed. "How much is she bringing?"

"You don't want to know," I mumbled.

"Shit," he cursed, getting out of the car, and striding into the dorm.

Trace slid into the seat next to me in the back. "Are you excited to go to the beach?"

"You know I am," I buckled my seatbelt. "I'm probably the only twenty year old on the planet, who's never been to the beach."