I woke up at eight in the morning.
It's now almost nine and I'm brushing my wet hair after my shower before I apply product in it.
I was so anxious I could barely sleep. I've never been on a plane before. How big is it inside? How many people will I sit next to?
I'm scared.
I hear the doorbell ring so I set my brush down and head downstairs. Opening the door, I tilt my head in confusion when I see Elijah.
"Hi. Um, last time I went through your window I walked in on you naked so, I made a smarter choice this time," he explains.
I stare blankly at him.
"Okay. Anyways, I bought you something." Elijah hands me a reusable bag and I take it, hesitating to look into it. "There's motion sickness patches in there. You stick them behind your ear and it's supposed to take away your nausea. It takes a while to kick in so I'd put it on like four hours before. I know you've never been on a plane before so I'm hoping that'll help with your anxious stomach."
What in the world?
My lips part, not knowing what to say. This is so sweet.
"I— Um, thank you, Elijah," I find my words.
"My Mom also offered to drop us off at the airport so you can leave your cars here. Is that okay with you?"
"Sure, yeah." My heart is beating so fast. My mouth feels dry, I need water.
"If you need anything let me know. I'll see you later, okay?"
I nod and watch him walk back to his house. Subconsciously, I shut the door and head straight to the kitchen.
Grabbing myself water out of the fridge, I rest against the counter.
Oh crap.
—
Sage helps me roll my suitcase over to the Rivera's house. "Holy shit, what's in here, Lav?"
"I was limited to one big suitcase, I like to come prepared.
We arrive at Mrs. Rivera's car and Sage sets our suitcases down for Elijah since he's already loading the trunk.
"You do realize they weigh them. They're going to charge you extra," Sage smarts, wiping his hands on his black hoodie.
"I'll just pay it. Now that a stalker paid for us, we have the extra cash now," I mumble under my breath because Elijah's right there.
I jump slightly when the trunk slams shut.
"Ready?" Elijah asks.
"Um, sure." I awkwardly nod my head.
He returns the nod and heads inside to get his Mom.
"Ew, you're so weird around him dude."
I turn to Sage, offended. "No."
"Yes."
"No, I am not."
"Yes, you are."
"Let's go! I'm so excited for you guys!" Mrs. Rivera comes out, holding her belly.
Sage and I climb in the backseat as Elijah sits in the passenger seat next to his mom.
"You guys got everything?"
"Yes ma'am. I made Sage and I triple-check everything," I explain.
"More like a million times. She gets so annoying every time we pack, Mrs. Rivera."
"Excuse me for making sure you're prepared."
"Excuse me for making sure you're prepared," Sage mocks me in a high-pitched voice.
I glare at him before rolling my eyes.
Mrs. Rivera laughs. "Alright then, let's go."
The airport is about an hour away so I relax into my seat and lean my head back, looking out the window.
"Do you kids like Taylor Swift? I love her, do you mind if I play some of her music?"
I smile to myself. "Anything you like, Mrs. Rivera."
"Yes!" Sage exclaims. He likes anything at this point.
About thirty minutes into the trip, I open my purse and grab the motion sickness patches. Peeling them off the plastic sheet, I stick one behind each ear.
I really hope this works.
I glance up and notice Elijah watching me from the rearview mirror. As soon as he catches my eye, he looks away and out his window.
I furrow my brows and stare out my own window.
Mrs. Rivera pulls up to the drop-off part of the airport and we all get out. I watch Elijah as he unloads the suitcases out of the trunk like it's the easiest job in the world.
He rolls mine over to me and I quickly thank him before turning around to stare at the building.
I've never been to an airport before.
"You'll be okay." Elijah throws his arm around me.
Mr. 'Valedictorian' can kiss my ass.
"Bye, Mrs. Rivera. Thank you for driving us," Sage says from behind me.
I brush Elijah off and go up to his mom. "Yes, thank you so much."
"No problem. I am so excited for you guys. Have the most fun and send so many pictures." She claps.
The corners of my mouth turn up as I pull my suitcase up to the sidewalk.
Elijah says goodbye to his mom and she pulls him into a giant hug.
A sad smile clouds my lips. They have such a good relationship, it's cute.
I wish things were different between my mom and me. It's nobody's fault really. She could've been a better mother and I could've been a better daughter.
"Ready?" Elijah says, pulling me out of my thoughts.
I nod and we all roll our luggage inside. Sage and I freeze, looking around. It's huge. Holy crap.
I see Mr. Know-It-All look over at us as he laughs. "It'll get less intimidating after we go through security and stuff."
"You guys have passports right?"
I nod. "I made us get one at the start of senior year just for the trip."
"I don't know why, we never go anywhere," Sage grumbles.
"Let's go check in then."
We all walk to the check-in and wait in line.
I groan and sit on top of my suitcase. "How long does this usually take?" I ask, looking up at Elijah.
"The whole process takes about two hours, love. This part will only take about thirty minutes though."
I pull out my phone and check Harper's location. I gasp when I realize she just pulled up too.
"I'll be back, Harper's coming in!" I get off my suitcase to head back to the entrance but a hand tugs me back.
"You're going to get lost," he warns.
"Um—" I shake my arm away—"There's a giant sign that says 'check in', I think I'll be fine."
I scoff and head outside as I call Harper but as soon as I hit the call button, I see her unloading her pink suitcases.
"Need help?"
"Hola mami! Are you so super excited?"
"I am so super nervous!" I mock, shutting her trunk.
"You'll be fine," she drags then goes up the passenger window. "Gracias, mamá. Te quiero."
"Hola, Ms. Solana!" I squeeze next to Harper.
"Lav! How are you, honey?" She smiles, her thick Colombian accent coming out.
"I'm good, thank you. How are you?"
"Good! Okay, I must get going I don't want to get charged. Take muchas fotos. Te quiero!"
"Bye," Harper and I say in unison.
I grab her hands and clap them inside my own. "Let's go, Elijah and Sage, are waiting at the check-in."
"You came with Elijah?"
"Yeah? His mom offered to drop us off."
I see her bite back a smile as I roll her suitcase and she carries her duffel bag.
I admit, I did get lost. If it wasn't for Harper and the evening glasses she's wearing, I probably wouldn't have found it.
We find our spot back in line and we're a little closer to the front.
"Hello everyone, I am here, you can start the party," she hoots.
"Enjoy waiting in line for a half hour," Sage grumbles.
I look around at the people and watch them.
"What's behind your ear, Lovey?" Harper brushes my hair off my shoulder.
"Motion sickness patches. They're supposed to help my stomach," I say.
I glance over at Elijah as he mindlessly scrolls on his phone.
"Can I have one?" She asks.
I nod and hand her some out of my purse.
"You know, when I flew here from Columbia, it was a very smooth ride. No... um— shaky plane."
"Turbulence?" Sage adds.
She reaches over and squeezes his shoulder. "Yes, thank you. There's nothing to be scared of."
I hum in approval as I continue to look around.
Eventually, we do get to the front of the line and check-in, showing our passports and stuff.
Next, Elijah guides us to the baggage check where they do exactly what it says. Then we go into security and wait in another line.
I groan, throwing my head back. "How do people travel every weekend?"
"Patience," Elijah remarks.
I put a dismissive hand up. "Don't talk to me right now. I will punch you."
I cannot believe he is in line for valedictorian. Who in that office made that decision? How high is his GPA? Wait— is his GPA higher than mine? Oh hell no.
We safely get out of baggage security and are finally allowed to find the rest of our classmates.
We spot some of them by the gate and go sit.
"Hello! I'm glad you made it," Madame Monet exclaims.
Harper and I take a spot next to each other. I pull out my phone but I can feel my friend staring at me. "Yes?" I look over at her.
"Elijah looks so good in his sweats, don't you think so?"
"I am not doing this with you right now."
"The more annoyed you get with each other the more hot you guys get, I hope you realize that." Harper bites her bottom lip to hide her smile.
"I'm gonna drop-kick you next. Nothing is happening. Nothing will happen. Ever."
"That's what you think," she mumbles, going back to scroll on her phone.
"Unbelievable," I grumble.
-
I don't remember falling asleep but everyone woke me up saying it's time to board.
I anxiously walk into the plane holding Harper's hands. "I'm scared."
"Don't be scared, mama. We got seats in the back, they're supposed to be the safest."
I take a deep breath and sit in my seat. My leg bounces up and down and the inside of my cheek has never been bitten so hard.
Sage and Elijah take their seats right next to us since it's four in a row. Elijah sits closest to me as Sage wanted the outside seat.
I can't sit almost eleven hours straight next to Elijah.
"I literally want to vomit."
"You're okay, Lavender. I swear, honey," Harper tries to comfort me.
Everyone eventually boards and the captain and flight attendants explain the safety precautions or whatever. I've been on edge since I stepped foot on the big plane. I swear I'm going to break out from the stress.
They explain we'll be taking off very soon.
I stare at my lap. I can't look anywhere else. The plane is crowded and I'm right in the middle seat so I feel claustrophobic.
The plane begins to take off and I cross my legs. I am so scared right now. As we go down the runway, there's a little bump making me flinch and I accidentally grab Elijah's hand that's laying on the armrest.
I grabbed his hand because I'm right-handed, no other reason.
"It'll be much smoother when we're in the air, I promise," he leans down to tell me.
I study his face. He has nice features.
Snapping out of it, I clasp my own hands together and set them gently in my lap before staring at the floor.
———
Sitting next to Lavender for almost eleven hours has to be the best thing but the worst thing ever.
Every sigh, every movement, every word she says or does catches my attention.
Of course, she looks beautiful in even the comfiest outfit.
We've been in the air for almost a whole hour. Harper keeps trying to keep Lavender distracted but I don't think it's working. She keeps fidgeting and looking around.
I would give anything to just be able to comfort her. Hold her hand or something.
Lav leans her head back on the seat and closes her eyes. I watch her as her chest heaves up and down. She's so pretty.
I relax back in my seat after reaching for my backpack. Opening it, I search for a book. Only when I take it out do I realize it's a princess coloring book. I furrow my brows.
I hear a quiet laugh next to me. I look over and Lavender smiles. "Do you get that bored?"
"Actually, I packed it for you, Your Highness."
Her smile fades as she rolls her eyes and looks back over at Harper.
I search more in the bag to pull out a crayon box with a pink sticky note on it with the message 'FoUr YOU' in sloppy handwriting.
Giselle.
"I'll use it if you don't. I forgot to pack something to do." Sage groans.
The corners of my mouth quirk up. "Have at it, man."
-
It's been five long hours and I just woke up from a small nap.
I look beside me and Lavender's not there. I'm about to ask Harper or Sage only to see they're both asleep.
I sigh and carefully get up to go to the bathroom. There are about four in the back. All of them say occupied except one so I reach for the handle but it opens before I could reach it.
Behind the open door stands Lavender. She jumps when she sees me and I smile, staring down at her.
"Don't do that." She smacks my arm. "Move, I have to go back to my seat."
I shift to the side and she squeezes past me. I watch her get back to her seat safely before locking the door behind me.
-
"Can you two manspread somewhere else? There is no room for you to be doing all that," Lavender argues.
"It's comfortable, Lav. You wouldn't know," Sage fights.
"That's interesting because I don't care. Find a different seat or find a different seat."
"It's assigned seating, Quinn."
"It's assigned seating, Quinn," she mocks me in a deep tone. "Close your damn legs."
-
"Give me the coloring book, I wanna color Elsa and Anna," Lav orders.
I do as she says and hand her the book and crayons off the floor.
-
Lavender gets up and attempts to crawl over Sage and me.
"Lavender," we both scold in unison.
"Oh shut up, I have to pee."
"Go over Harper," her brother suggests.
"She's asleep, I don't wanna wake her up. Be smart," she protests as she smacks the back of Sage's head.
A couple of minutes later, she scoots back in. Doing so, she gives me a full frontal view of her ass. Oh jeez.
She plops back down in her seat and I watch her every move.
Turning over, she gives me a nasty look. "What? Stalker."
-
I'm reading my book when I suddenly feel a weight on my shoulder. Looking down, Lavender's head comes into view. She's asleep. I smile and be careful not to move.
I continue to read my book until I eventually rest my head on hers and fall asleep as well.
-
"Wake up my sleeping beauties!" Harper's voice talks in my ear.
I groan and sit up. My neck is so sore.
Lavender does the same as she rubs her eyes.
"We landed! We're in France!" Harper claps.
———
A/N:
We're in France!!!
I hope you enjoyed this fun little chapter.
🩷🩷
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