"No one forgot anything, right? You have your toothbrushes, socks, everything?" Camila asks as she backs out of the driveway.
"We're all set!" Luz nods. "Amity, Gus, are you doing okay in the trunk?"
"Gus fell asleep but yeah, all good." Amity gives a thumbs up.
"We've been in the car for two seconds." Willow laughs.
"We're running late, our flight starts boarding in an hour." Camila announces.
"Sorry, it was harder to wake up since our flight is so early." Luz yawns.
"Well, we are flying across the country. I just wanted to make sure we had some time when we got there. It's about a six hour flight so we should get there around twelve." Camila explains.
"I can't sit still for six hours." Luz complains.
"Sorry, cariño. Driving would've been forty four hours." She shrugs.
"It's okay. May-haps the pilot will let me go into the cockpit!" Luz cheers.
"Maybe five years ago." Camila jokes.
"Accurate." Luz accepts it.
"We have to go through security as quickly as we can. All you have to do is take off your shoes and belt, put them in a bin, and put your bags up there too. And make sure your little animals are in the wood form or whatever." Camila explains.
"Who are we sitting with?" Vee asks.
"The seats are in rows of three. It's Willow, Gus, and me in one row. The next row is Vee, Luz, and Amity. And then Ellie and Hunter, I hope it's okay that you're sitting alone. I figured since you're both older it would be okay. And so every group can have one human." Camila goes on.
"That's okay, thank you." Ellie smiles.
"We're almost to the airport, everyone!" Luz says excitedly.
"Vacation time!" Vee cheers.
"My cousin works for the airline so we didn't have to pay much for these tickets." Camila smiles.
"We're flying first class in my heart." Luz sighs.
"At least we're flying. With so many people, we're staying at Days Inn." Camila laughs.
"At least it's not a Motel 6." Luz jokes.
They continue the rest of the drive tiredly chatting. The streets are basically empty because it's five in the morning so it really doesn't take long. Being with each other for the past two weeks has made them all much closer. Like they all know now that Luz sings in her sleep. So a plane ride should be no big deal. Only assuming that Luz doesn't fall asleep.
Even Camila is tired as they park and start to unload the car. Everyone has a small suitcase and any other personal item they wanted. Just obviously no weapons. The shuttle ride isn't too bad other than Gus letting his bag go and it slid to the back of the shuttle. But once they make it to the airport, they only have fifteen minutes until boarding starts.
Hunter, Gus, Willow, and Amity look around the airport in awe. They can't see everything for too long because Camila, Luz, Ellie, and Vee are running to get to security. They get their boarding passes scanned and all get ready to go through security. Camila waits in the back to help everyone if they need it while Luz and Ellie go first so everyone can copy them.
They stare in shock as their bags go through the machine and get sent right back out. But they couldn't be less trusting of the metal detector machine. It just looks sketchy. Amity's especially distrusting as she side-eyes the TSA agent telling her to walk through.
Somehow they all manage to get through with seven minutes to spare. Camila goes back to the front and starts running to the gate with everyone following after her. Gus is too tired and is barely making it along so Hunter grabs his hand. He starts basically dragging Gus to keep up and it works.
The gate was all the way across the airport but they make it with time to spare. Only five minutes but time is time. They all take a minute to catch their breaths as Camila passes out their boarding passes and gets them in order of where they're sitting. She also explains how they're gonna put their suitcases in the overhead bin.
They're in the fifth boarding group so they have a few extra minutes to calm down. But once it's time to go, everything is perfectly organized. They scan their boarding passes without any problems with Ellie leading the way since her and Hunter are sitting furthest away.
"Do you want the window seat?" She asks as they walk through the entrance of the plane.
"If I have the window seat, I think I'm gonna be sick." He laughs.
"Alright, then. I have a surprise, I'll tell you when we sit down." She says as they walk down to find their seat.
The person sitting beside them isn't there yet so they have more space to put their bags up. Ellie lifts hers first and sets it on its side before taking Hunter's bag. She then takes her seat by the window with him closely behind her. Instead of TVs, they have holders for your phone now which amazes Ellie on its own.
"What's the surprise?" Hunter asks with a smile.
"I downloaded Back to the Future on my phone so you can watch it on the plane. But beware that Marty Mcwhatever, as you call him, does kiss his mom." She smiles.
"No way! Now I can finally put faces to the names." He laughs.
"Also don't be alarmed but the plane does a little loop when it first takes off so you need to hold onto your things." She lies.
"Okay, got it. Hold onto my things and go back to the future." He smiles.
"Hey everyone, this is your pilot speaking. We will be taking off shortly. Please be patient while the crew does their final cabin checks." The intercom goes off.
"Are they getting ready for the loop?" He asks.
"Definitely. They need to make sure all of the bags and drinks are secure for when we go upside down." She tries not to laugh while talking.
"What's the mile high club?" He asks out of no where.
"Excuse me?" She widens her eyes.
"The guy behind us is saying he's gonna join it." He shrugs.
"Um, it's a...credit card! If you fly enough times, they give you a credit card to spend inflight." She nods. "But if you see the guy get up, don't go to the bathroom until he comes back."
"That can't be a sound business practice but whatever. But yes, no bathroom until credit card guy is seated." He sighs.
"Now you're getting it." She laughs.
"I'm taking a nap after Back to the Future. As long as you protect my unconscious body perfectly." He jokes.
"Oh, with my life." She assures with a bigger smile than before.
"Why are they so harsh about weapons anyways? What's a good flight without my girlfriend's hidden daggers?" He asks.
"Because someone brought weapons on the plane once and it didn't go well." She shrugs.
"Interesting. I hope Flapjack is safe in my bag. I left it partially unzipped in case he wants some air." He sighs.
"He'll be okay. He's got the Hollywood spirit." She assures.
"You think? Anyways, are you nervous to go back to your home-state?" He asks.
"A little. I just don't wanna run into anyone. We still have things to do back home." She admits.
"What? Saving the world? That's no big deal. We could probably do that in our sleep." He tries.
"Everyone please looks to your flight attendants for the safety instructions." The pilot announces.
They go through the safety junk while Hunter watches intently. He nods and even follows along with the safety manual. But that's exactly what Ellie expected with Hunter. Not long after that, take off begins. They start off driving along the runway before they go faster and the plane goes into the air.
He watches through the window anxiously. He has a tight grip on the neck pillow on his lap. All of his attentions is devoted to waiting for the loop. He takes a deep breath and continues staring until he notices Ellie laughing.
"There's no loop, is there?" He asks.
"No loop, I was just messing with you." She laughs while pulling out the headphones.
"I trusted you." He shakes his head while laughing. "Let's just watch the movie."
"Already on it, blondie." She nods and hands him one headphone.
It takes everything in Hunter not to react. That's always been one of his issues while watching things. He wants to yell, stand, and make never ending comments. But he still lets out some gasps and some laughs. But near the end they can both feel themselves falling asleep.
As the credits roll, he leans his head on her shoulder. She just smiles and leans in too. But not before putting on some music to listen too while they sleep.
"But I wanna play! Mamá made you bring me here so we could play." A little girl whines.
"We're playing scary games, you wouldn't like it anyways. And I didn't ask mom for you to come with me." Ellie rolls her eyes.
"Please?"
"You wanna play a game? Okay. Here's how this one works. Sit on the couch, very still. Got it?" She asks with a smile.
"This is gonna be so much fun!" The little girl squeals.
"Okay, now wait here! I'll be back soon." Ellie nods before walking off.
"I'm finally being included!" The kid giggles.
"Okay guys, all good. Sorry about that, my kid sister wanted to join." Ellie says while closing the door.
"Don't you think you're a little too harsh on her?" Marsha asks.
"Nah. She's alright but she's a total snitch and she'd tell my parents what we're doing." She laughs while sitting down.
"Mija, estas bien? You never skip school." An older woman tells her.
"I'm all good. We had to dissect a baby pig, that's totally gross. And the teacher's an absolute idiot. It's just a waste of my time." Ellie shakes her head.
"Don't say that. I'm so sick of this attitude. Maybe if you tried once in a while you'd be a good role model for your sister."
"I have tried and it's not good enough either way. Give me a break." She rolls her eyes.
"Go to your room and don't even think about texting your little girlfriend. You think I'm the bad guy, it's always mom!"
"Fine. I don't care anyway, you can run off with your little boyfriend. You're terrible at hiding it and dad comes home in one month." She scoffs while walking away.
"Please keep your seatbelts fastened until we're no longer in motion." The pilot comes back over the intercom as Ellie wakes up.
"What's going on?" Hunter asks before rubbing his eyes.
"We're here." She says with a small frown with the dream fresh on her mind.
"Did you not sleep okay?" He asks, noticing her frown.
"It was alright. But since we watched Back to the Future, I had a dream about it." She lies with a big smile.
"No way, really? What happened in the dream?" He asks happily.
"You and I were just hanging out and then Marty pulls up with the DeLorean! But we were already friends with him I guess and then the guys started chasing us so we went eighty-eight. But get this, instead of the fifties, we went to the eighties to match our clothes. Because the first part was modern day, you know?" She builds it up.
"Wow, that's cool. I never dream of anything cool." He laughs as the plane fully stops.
"It'll take a minute to get the doors open and stuff and then we can start getting out." She explains.
"You deceived me with the loop thing but it's okay. I just can't believe I believed it." He shakes his head.
"You should've seen how hard you were gripping the pillow." She laughs.
"This pillow was pointless, I just ended up on your shoulder." He snickers.
"You always say my hair is so messy but it's there for you when you need it." She jokes.
"I said that one time when I was in my phase of hating you." He rolls his eyes.
"Still said it. But don't worry, I forgive you." She assures jokingly. "I think I wanna bring Willy something back from California. That's my way of being hopeful that he'll receive it someday."
"Darius hates everything so that's gonna be hard." He laughs. "Can we stand up now?"
"Yeah, we have to get our bags once this line moves." She nods.
Everyone starts exiting the plane but it takes a little longer since they're in the middle. The guy sitting beside them gets out first before they can grab their bags. After they get them, it's pretty quick getting out of the plane.
The group waits for them outside the gate when they get out. That's when everything gets fast-paced again. But not as fast as before. Camila says she rented a car so they need to head that way first. But since they didn't check any bags, they don't have to wait. They follow the big signs that tell them where to go when you rent a car.
It's a long desk with the different companies that just tell you where to pick up your car. The kids just wait bored as Camila stands in the line. She received the key from the counter and walks back to the group. It's only a four-day trip so they'll be back at the same airport soon. They follow Camila to the place where all the rentals are. All she has to do is lock and unlock the car for it to make a noise. Everyone looks around for the car which is only a few feet away.
It's an SUV that manages to almost fit all of them. Only Gus has to sit on the floor again but he doesn't seem to mind. The hotel isn't too far from the airport. Despite just going to the hotel, there's a lot to see on the way to the hotel. They have a nice view of the city, especially while sitting in the traffic to get out of the airport. But they all get to wait in the car as Camila checks in at the hotel.
She comes to get everyone once she does to go find the rooms. In one room, there's Camila, Luz, Hunter, and Gus. In the other, there's Ellie, Amity, Vee, and Willow. Vee and Willow have kinda become friends in the two weeks they've been in the human realm so it works. But the rooms are connected so it doesn't really matter, it's just about the beds.
"Everyone get settled and then we can go
to the store in a few minutes to get snacks for the rooms!" Camila announces happily.
"Is this free?" Amity asks while pointing to the disposable cups by the TV.
"Yeah." Ellie nods.
"Is this free too?" She points to the coffee machine.
"No, the hotel owns that."
"What about the little soaps in the bathroom?" Amity asks again.
"Those are free too. Almost all of the bathroom stuff is free." Ellie laughs.
"So we can't take the TV remote when we leave?" Amity asks slightly angrier.
"What? No, don't take the TV remote."