LOVE BUG ➵ 𝘵. 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 ( DISCONTINUED )

18 | welcome to new york

her so called dating life was practically nonexistent and the last time she'd had a crush on anyone was jonah ramirez in the seventh grade.

it had been a long, lonely time, but after her parents, and her friends tragic dating history, the idea of liking anyone or being friends with anyone new was truly revolting.

some would call her a closed off, cold bitch, but to her friends, and to anyone who she still knew, she was just damaged.

they weren't that far out and that made things even worse. it wasn't their first trip there but realistically, new york was a brand new place, with brand new people, and brand new sights. she knew nat and hailey had been wanting to come out here for ages, talks about even possibly moving out here had been discussed more times than lina would like.

she was happy in their little three room apartment on the edge of town. the one with an array of flowers on the balcony, the one where they fed stray cats through their fire escape and rescued the tiny mice that found themselves in the buckets under the sink.

it wasn't perfect but it was home.

"you look like you're about to scream." a sleepy hailey notes yawning.

lina frowns. "i do not, i'm just thinking."

"thinking of ways to get out of tonight?"

"no." it wasn't a complete lie.

"sure." she responded, her tone light and teasing.

"i'm not," lina continued, trying to convince her. "i just hate flying, you know that."

hailey nodded, taking the hint and shut her mouth.

there wasn't much talk as their conversation came to an end. nat continued to sleep all the way through the landing until the flight director was walking through, waking up the sleeping passengers. she settled in happily and rubbed her eyes, pausing the music she must have been listening to since they took off.

she smiled at them with a nod and reached up to grab her bag from overhead, pulling it into her lap as they waited for it to be their turn to get off.

it only took twenty minutes for them to exit. the chilly air was the first thing she was greeted with as she stepped off.

pulling her jean jacket closer to her body, lina shivered. cold weather wasn't something she was used to. much like every other aspect in her life, the new temperature was not a welcome change.

"cheer up, lina." nat tossed an arm around her shoulder and hailey's. "we're meeting z in an hour."

lina forced a smile. "you're right."

"there's my girl!" she cheered and steered her in the direction of the conveyor belt where their suitcases were.

seeing her childhood friend after almost a year was a feeling she just couldn't explain. she had basically thrown herself in zendaya's lap as soon as they made it to their hotel room where she had been chilling, waiting for them to arrive. lina was, clingy. that was probably the best word to explain it as she dug her head into her friends next and refused to let her go.