Operation M.I.A: Missing in Action (IN NEED OF REVISING)

Chapter V

On the way to boarding the plane, we spot our parents waving goodbye to us. We all wave back to them on our way up the ramp, and then proceed to climb aboard.

-

The ride itself is a very peaceful and relaxing one. Most people either talk with whoever's sitting next to them or sleep. Mia and I choose to watch funny videos on Mia's phone.

While we're watching a YouTube cringe compilation, one of the flight attendants comes by and asks us, "Are either of you interested in having a quick meal while on your flight?"

Both of us shake our heads no, and then turn our attention back to the screen. The current clip being played in the video is of a 12-13 year old boy playing online Monopoly. He rolls the dice and ends up landing on "Go to Jail", and then proceeds to throw a hissy fit, screaming and thrashing about like a madman. Despite the stupidity of the scene, Mia and I burst into hysterics, getting the attention of several passengers seated near us, including Heath and Luke, who are right next to us. The flight attendant even shakes her head, mutters, "Jesus..." to herself, and walks away.

-

Our flight from Missouri to New York City is roughly just a little over two hours. Mia fell asleep about a third of the way through, so when our plane lands at the LaGuardia airport, I have to unplug an earbud from her ear, shake her, and whisper, "We're here," to wake her up.

It takes around a half hour for everyone to retrieve their luggage from the terminal. Afterwards, our group meets up outside the front of the airport, just a couple blocks away from the Big City itself.

"Well, we're here in the Big City. We can't just spend a night here and not take in all the sights," Mia says. Nobody even has to reply to her this time to make it clear that we're all in agreement.

"First things first- we need to catch a cab to into the city. That being said, we won't all fit into one cab," Shanna then adds.

"Good thing I brought this bad boy," Sam smirks, pulling the hovercraft out of his jacket sleeve.

"Seriously? You brought that on a vacation with you?" I sigh. By the time she finishes that statement, Sam, Elle, Heath, Luke, Skylar, and Avery have already boarded the craft and are cruising toward Times Square.

"Welp, I guess we'll meet them there," Shanna mutters as we make our way to the cab pick-up area.

ELLE

I will say this much: Walking down Times Square is easily one of the more riveting experiences I've had in quite some time. Our group of ten (plus the hovercraft) is walking through the crowded streets. All around us are tall buildings and billboards advertising a variety of different kinds of products. The streets are filled with cars and people walking about like we are.

Several of us take note of the different kinds of advertisements shown. Heath and Luke irrationally freak out over an advertisement for Pibb. I find myself glancing at one billboard showing off a brand of shoe. I nudge Sam (who I'm hand in hand with) with my elbow to get his attention focused on this ad, and he just nods (he's not really into that kind of stuff). Hell, even the hovercraft is impressed with taking in all the sights around it.

Once we pass by a group of Broadway posters, Mia, Sean, and Shanna become ecstatic. "Everyone, shut up," Mia hisses as they scan the posters for any shows that spark their interest (as if we have the time or money to see them).

Mackenzie is continuously taking pictures of the scene with her phone. Now, this is normal for a person to do, but she's being a bit... excessive with it. She even keeps asking people to get in selfies with her.

"So, which way to the hotel, Avery?" Skylar asks once we reach an area where the sidewalks are quite literally lined with hotels.

Avery scoffs at Skylar's question. "No friend of mine is going to stay in a shitty hotel while we're in the Big City!"

"Well, where are we gonna stay?" I ask.

"I happen to know a family friend who can give us a free place to stay for the night." With that, she turns to Sam, and Sam gets the message pretty much right away. He motions to the hovercraft and it lowers itself to the ground to allow all of us to step on. Avery then gives him a location to fly to, and off we go.

-

Did you know that there are actually normal-looking neighborhoods in the Big City? I didn't either, until today.

We park in front of a salmon-colored house with a triangular roof and two different garage doors on one side. The front of the house contains a porch with a swing and a ton of vases with flowers in them. Avery runs up to the front door and knocks on it a few times, with the rest of us trudging behind slowly.

The front door opens, and a girl who seems to be our age (or at the very least, one or two years older) is standing in the doorway. Her face lights up when she sees Avery

"Avery!" she exclaims, and the two girls wrap each other in a hug.

"Emilia! It's so good to see you!" Avery replies. The two girls then do some sort of secret handshake or something.

"My, that's quite a group you've got with you," Emilia says when she sees the rest of us.

"Yeah, I know. I was hoping you'd have enough room for us to spend a night here," Avery replies.

"Of course! We've got plenty of room! Come on in, everyone!" Emilia says, a big smile on her face.

As is the case with most houses, the very first room you walk into is the living room. And it's a pretty basic living room, at that. A simple green couch with two pillows sits across from a widescreen TV on top of a desk. Between the two is a light green, ovalish carpet with a red circle in the middle of it. Simple white curtains cover a window to the right of the couch.

"Dibs on the basement?" Sam asks Heath, Luke, and Sean. All three of them nod, so the four guys locate a set of stairs leading downstairs and leave the living room.

Meanwhile, on the stairs leading upstairs, a much older woman- probably in her late thirties or early forties- walks down them. She seems taken by surprise when she spots all of us girls standing there in the living room, most of us with luggage in our hands.

"Emilia, who are all these people?" she asks.

Emilia stops chatting with Avery so she can answer. "Avery and her friends are wanting to stay here just for tonight. They're all going to the national dance competition tomorrow."

Strangely enough, Emilia's mom is perfectly content with this. "Well, then you girls can make yourselves comfortable upstairs! We have a guest room that should be good enough for all of you."

These are some weird people.

Emilia proceeds to lead Avery upstairs to the guest room, with Skylar, Mia, Shanna, Mackenzie, and I following in suit. "You didn't have to do this, Avery," Shanna says when we locate the guest room.

"Well, I did anyways, so you're welcome," Avery replies, a bit snarkily. "Now, we have to be up pretty early tomorrow, so let's just get some rest." Several of us have sleeping bags with us, and Mia and Mackenzie decide to share the one bed with each other.

"Yeah, and hopefully Mia and I can stand being in the same room together this time," I snort. Mia shoots me a glare, and to compensate I let out a half-convincing chuckle.

I'm just not going to go into detail on that one.

And it's that part of the story where I have trouble describing real life places. Probably doesn't help the fact that MC knows NYC much better than I do and can be a bit distracted at times... oh well, we're working it out. :)