Riley and Devin

Chapter Thirty-Five

I think I'm ready to leave Florida. Ready to leave behind the memories. Try to forget what happened. When I'm packing up my stuff my eyes keep wandering to the one wall. "You ready to leave?" Devin asks me, his hand brushes mine as he reaches for the book on the bed.

"Huh?" I ask him.

"I asked if you were ready to leave," Devin repeats. I mage a weak nod. "I'm going to keep reading this," he says. He's holding my book. I nod again. I grab my messenger bag and my other bag. Devin walks out, leaving me.

I take one last look around, to make sure we haven't forgotten anything before I take one last look at the wall. I shut the door and join the others in the hallway.

We're all going to the airport, but Ellie is taking a flight back to where she lives with her parents. Her flight is slightly earlier than ours. We have an hour and a half flight, and then a three hour layover. And then another flight. So, that should be fun.

I'm dressed in ripped jeans, a tank top, a zip up hoodie and sneakers. Devin's dressed in dark Levi's and a formfitting long sleeve.

I don't know why I notice.

Devin and I cram into the very back of the taxi, Nick, Theo and Ellie go into the middle row. We drive to the airport. Once we get there, we go through baggage check and then through security.

Ellie, Nick, Theo and I have all gone through security without a problem, and Devin has yet to go. He makes it through fine, but his bag gets stopped. He looks panicked as one of the people working security starts to search his bag. The person pauses.

"Sir, is there anything in this bag that is a liquid, or a metal, or a jewellery of some kind, that I should be aware of?" the person asks him. He swallows and darts another panicked look at me.

"No," he says. He digs in the pocket of his jeans and hands me a twenty. "Riley, for some reason I'm craving one of those coffees that you always get. Will you get get me one?" he asks. He looks over at the security person.

"Don't expect any change," I say. He nods and the guy continues to root through his bag. I start walking away and turn around to say something, I see a flash of gold. I shrug and walk to one of the coffee shops. I get myself a large coffee with a shot of hazelnut and two shots of espresso. I get Devin a mocha and pay. I pocket the rest of the money and walk over to where they are.

"So what'd you have on you? Steroids?" I ask Devin as I hand him his coffee.

"I had a small bottle of water that I forgot about," he tells me.

"Mmmhmm," I say.

"Where's my change?" he asks me as we start to walk to our flight gate.

"Coffee was really expensive," I say. "What gate are you?" I ask Ellie. She looks at her hand.

"Uh, I'm at F2," she says.

"We're at G4," I tell her. She nods. We stop at her gate. "Well, it was really nice to meet you. Have a safe flight," I tell her. I hug her. I step to the side and Nick and Devin both do their goodbyes. Theo goes last. They talk for a couple of seconds before hugging. She boards her plane and we walk to our gate.

Our flight boards in a half hour. I sit down in a chair and stick my earbuds in. I watch people go by. Theo and Nick leave to go get breakfast. Devin sits down next to me. I remember that I saw a flash of gold.

"Hey, what was that gold thing in your bag?" I ask him.

"Chocolate," he says. I nod.

"You want one?" I ask, handing him one of my earbuds. He nods and sticks it in his ear. Theo and Nick come back. We have to board the plane in a few minutes. They announce that our plane is now boarding.