Before I knew it, it was time for Hawaii.
And the entire airport was crowded with two hundred excited, crazy and loud teenagers.
My bag was slung over my shoulder, me looking around at the chaos with Gabby next to me. "Oh my god, I can't find him," she murmured, annoyed.
"Huh?" I glanced at her and she rolled her eyes at me, jumping around slightly. "Were you even listening to me, Kit? I was wondering where Cage is."
"Oh," I shrugged. "He's probably around here somewhere, chill."
"That's true, he'll come looking for you anyways," she was smirking now. I gave her a look. "And what's that supposed to mean, eh?" I asked.
"Oh, you know," Gabby put her hand around my shoulders, wiping away an imaginary tear. "How you two would make the most adorable couple ever. And how he's obviously so into you."
I rolled my eyes. "Okay, what, now you're a Cukit shipper?"
Her face broke into a guilty smile. "What? You're the first girl he posted about on Instagram. Actually, first person. Plus, you've gained four hundred more followers since then, so yay."
My phone burst into the song She's Kinda Hot by 5SOS, and I pull it out to see that Cage was calling me.
"Speak of the devil," I said as I soon as I picked up his call.
I heard him chuckle in his boyyish way. I'm sorry but he has a nice laugh, okay.
"You were talking about me? I bet you were talking about how hot I really am and how you're actually crushing on me," he laughed and I could just see him smirking.
"You wish," I rolled my eyes. "What do you want, Loren?"
"I want to see see you, Dawson," he replied without skipping a beat, and I felt my cheeks flare up. Man, that guy thought he could get away with saying whatever he wanted to.
"Well, find me then," I replied before hanging up on him. I slipped my phone into my pocket, feeling satisfied- only to see Gabby peering at me curiously.
"Was that Cage?" she giggled excitedly. "Omg, I told you right! Cukit is so real."
"Go stick to your boyfriend or something," I grumbled, not wanting to continue this stupid conversation.
"Speak of the devil again!" she laughed and I saw Jason make his way towards us. I hadn't seen him in a while, since we hardly had classes together and Gabby never sat with Jason at lunch. He was tall, and weirdly muscular with cropped blonde hair. He was a jock, and he played soccer 24/7. Jason and I had never been close, we had a very awkward relationship.
Gabby smiled at him and he smiled back at her- before he picked her up. They kissed and I rolled my eyes, biting back a smile.
"PDA much, guys?" I asked them, and chuckling, Jason put her down.
"Hello, Kirstin," he greeted and I gave him a nod. "Jason."
"So you girls excited? It's sad that we can't be on the same aircraft babe," he sighed and Gabby pouted. "I know. Even Kit and I aren't on the same plane."
"Yeah, I heard that they had to divide everybody to go on three separate aircrafts," Jason shrugged. "That probably costed them a fortune, I don't know how they're managing."
"Apparently some rich guy donated eight hundred thousand dollars to Finnigan and Avon Highs," I piped up. "I don't know why they decided to blow it on us."
"Hey, it's not like we're complaining!" Gabby laughed. "It's Hawaii!"
"True," I grinned. "Hawaii."
"I found you," a very familiar voice whispered in my ear, startling me. I turned around to meet eyes with those famous indigo gems and I couldn't help but smile.
"You found me," I said softly. He ran his hand through his hair, grinning back. He looked as annoyingly attractive as usual- dressed in a simple black shirt with the top buttons unbuttoned and a pair of white-washed jeans.
He glanced up and smiled at Gabby. "Hey, Gabby."
"Heeeyy, Cage!" Gabby giggled and I saw Jason frown slightly. "Cage, huh," Jason said, stepping forward. "I'm Jason, Gabby's boyfriend."
Cage smiled brightly as usual. "Hello, Jason! I'm Cage."
Jason gave him a tight-lip smile. Cage turned to me. "Which flight are you on?"
"Um, I don't know," I mumbled, pulling my ticket out. Cage read my ticket over and smirked. "I guess we're seven seats away from each other."
"That's perfect," Gabby gasped.
"That's horrible," I said at the same time.
Cage winked at me. "Liar."
I raised my eyebrows at him. "Loser."
"Nerd."
"I'm failing biology."
"Whatever," he gave me a half-smile, the kind of smile that would make a girl swoon. I would have swooned too- but I didn't because he's Cage and I'm Kit.
That made more sense in my head, but whatever.
"I think they're calling everybody on your plane over there," Gabby frowned, as all the students slowly made their way into their respective groups around us.
"That's us," Cage said, tugging on my arm gently. "They're calling for group 3."
"Okay," I ran my hand through my hair, before quickly leaning over and hugging Gabby. "See you in Hawaii, Gabs!"
"How am I supposed to bear five hours without my best friend nor my boyfriend, on a congested airplane full of annoying highschoolers?!" she pouted.
"You'll survive," I laughed, patting her shoulder sympathetically.
"You better survive," Jason shook his head, laughing along. Cage tugged on my arm again. "Come on, Kit, we don't wanna miss the flight," he warned, with a smile on his face. I nodded.
"See you later, Gabby! You too, Jason!" I called as Cage began to drag me away. I spun around, pulling my hand away from his grasp.
"I can walk very well by myself, thanks," I murmured. He gave me a sideways glance as we continued walking, pushing past people.
"Well, I know you like it when I hold your hand," he teased, taking my hand in his, his fingers curling around mine. His hand was slightly bigger and gruffer than mine. It was warm and thank god, not sweaty like most guys.
"Only in your dreams, Loren," I replied, sweetly, rolling my eyes.
I heard him chuckle- before he abruptly froze. I crashed into his back, and swore. "What the heck, Cage?" I mumbled. He wasn't even paying attention to me- he was scowling at something, or someone, by the terminal for our flight.
"Um, hello?" I waved my hand in front of his eyes, but his eyes were still narrowed on the person. I couldn't exactly see who it was- but I was hella curious.
That was when his phone started blaring. I immediately recognized the song, one of my favorite songs by Arctic Monkeys, and I got excited. Sorry, minor fangirl attack.
"Omg, you like the Arctic Monkeys?!" I gasped. He turned to look at me, distractedly. "Huh?"
"Arctic Monkeys? Your ring tone?" I reminded him and that was when he realized his phone was ringing. He pulled his phone out, glanced at the screen before rolling his eyes. He rejected the call, before switching his phone off.
I stared at him, curiously.
His face was expressionless- and it was obvious that he didn't want me to question, so I didn't.
"Yeah, they're super cool," he mumbled, glancing up again, his eyes focusing on someone. I didn't know who, though and it was frustrating me.
"Alex Turner's pretty awesome..." I tried to continue the conversation but by now, it was clear that there was something that was really bothering him.
"Okay, what's up with you?" I put my hand on my hips, raising my eyebrows at him. He looked at me, for a second- unresponsive, before glancing back up.
"CAGE!"
He winced as I shrieked his name, backing away slightly. "God, Kit, where's your chill?"
"Stop ignoring me, then!" I rolled my eyes. "I'm talking to you if you didn't notice."
His eyes softened slightly and he gave me a sympathetic smile. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. It's just, I wasn't expecting her to be here..."
"Who?" I stood on my tippy-toes, looking at the twenty to thirty students from both highschools wait for the airplane to start boarding. I could recognize a couple of faces from Finnigan, but almost everyone seemed to be from Avon High.
"Ugh, she's a nobody," he shook his head. "Just a nightmare."
"Aww," I laughed at him. "Is she an ex?"
He glanced at me darkly, taking me off guard by his sudden annoyance. "Just forget it, Kit."
"Fine," I rolled my eyes, very slightly hurt. "Talk to me when the real Cage is back again."
And then I turned away but Cage grabbed my hand. "Gosh, sorry, babe. I'm just... I just don't want to talk about her, okay?"
I sighed, blowing a lock of hair off my face. "Okay."
He leaned over and ruffled my hair, messing it up. "Good."
"OMG! CUKIT! CUKIT ALERT! I KNEW IT!"
Cage and I turned at the same time as Hayley snapped a photo of us on her cellphone. She was grinning, as if she had caught us doing something very bad. "I knew that Cukit's real! My online friend owes me twenty dollars!" Hayley giggled, rushing over to us.
"Hayley," I said, trying to smile. "Hey...?"
"I can't believe I'M MEETING THE CUPID!" Hayley squealed, totally ignoring me. "Omg, all of my internet friends are going to die from jealousy! Can I have a selfie, Cage?"
Cage laughed, pulling her into a hug. "Of course, Hayley."
"You're so much hotter in real life," she swooned as she took a quick selfie with him. "I'm finally meeting you! All those months of stalking you and talking to you on Instagram totally paid off!"
"Yes, they did, and I'm so happy to meet you too," Cage smiled, a dimple appearing in his cheek. Hayley's eyes widened. "Oh god, you're adorable," she giggled. "AND YOU'RE ON THE SAME PLANE AS I AM."
"What's your seat?" he asked her and she frantically pulled her ticket out. She showed it to him and he smiled. "Hey, you're sitting right next to Tanner! He's my friend," he explained.
Hayley sighed. "Why couldn't I sit next to you?"
I bit my lip. "Trust me, you should be glad you're not sitting next to this guy."
Cage poked me, playfully. "Hey!"
"You two are so cute, I just... my friends are just going to DIE from jealousy," Hayley was slightly jumpy. Fangirls are so weird.
"Wait, wait, we're not dating," I said, putting my hands up. "Tell her, Cage."
He smirked. "Yeah," was all he said. "We're not."
"But you will be," she insisted. "Trust me."
I laughed at this. "I don't think so, Hayley."
"Just mark my words," Hayley winked before she was suddenly being pulled away by one of her friends. "See you around, guys!"
"Yep, yep," Cage grinned, raising his hand in farewell at her.
"The plane's boarding," I said. "I think we should go."
"Mhm," Cage nodded. "Let's go."
-x-
One hour later, I was sitting in my airplane seat DYING from awkwardness. Thank god I brought my headphones along, or I would have absolutely melted. This was horrible.
Because who was I sitting next to?
Aleisha.
Yeeeeep. Aleisha, the girl who hates me for some reason.
She was glaring at the seat in front of her, not saying a word, looking bored out of my mind. Cage was two rows behind us, and I guess he was extremely popular in his school because he had a couple of people surrounding him as they laughed and talked.
It was at moments like this I regretted not making more friends in my own school.
5SOS was blaring through my headphones into my ears and I stared out of the airplane window. We were above the clouds, and in four and a half hours, we would be in Hawaii.
I sighed, unlocking my phone. Thank god airplanes have a wifi facility these days.
I didn't even know why Aleisha hated me so much. As soon as I found out that she would be sitting next to me, I was slightly uncomfortable but her expression annoyed me. She had begged Tanner and some of her other friends to trade seats, but we weren't allowed to switch seats. Cage had been more than ready to trade, but she didn't seem to want that.
I rolled my eyes, as I scrolled through my photo gallery, smiling at the old selfies I had taken when I suddenly felt someone watching me. I turned to see Aleisha staring at my phone and she blushed slightly when I caught her staring.
"What?" she snapped, rudely.
I sighed. "Nothing."
"Just... ugh," she shook her head at me, as if she wanted to say something else. I raised my eyebrows at this. "What's your problem with me?" I asked, frowning. She took a deep breath, before she glared at me. Her eyes were burning with so much ferocity, that I was taken back.
"You're stealing him."
She replied so bluntly, that I froze, confused.
"I'm stealing whom?"
"You know whom. I've been crushing on Cage since seventh grade. I could do anything for his attention, but then you just swooped in out of no where and stole it. Stole it all. You just walked in and took my spot-light. And I know exactly what you're going to do. You're going to make him fall for you and then you're going to break his heart. You're nothing but a jerk and you know it."
Her words felt like a hard slap right to my face.
I didn't even know her- and yet she hated me so much. She was jealous. Jealous of what? There was nothing between Cage and me. Nothing yet.
"What are you even saying?" I snapped back. "I don't even want Cage and he doesn't want me. And you have no right to say all of this shit! You don't even know me!"
"You don't want Cage and he doesn't want you?! Are you blind, girl?" she scoffed, her face scrunched up with hatred as she looked at me. "That's my exact point! You're making him crazy for you when you don't even want him! And you're going to break his heart anyways, maybe not on purpose, but you're still going to hurt him."
"I'm not!" I insisted, glaring back. "He's not crazy for me! What are you even talking about?!"
"The day you break his heart," Aleisha spoke softly and dangerous, her green eyes shooting daggers at me. "Will be the day I break your bones. Every single bone."
"You're crazy," I hissed. "Absolutely crazy."
She didn't respond- and we just sat there, glaring at each other. I was literally boiling with fury and confusion and extreme annoyance.
And that was the exact moment Cage chose to come over. "Hey girls," he smiled brightly at us. "What's up?"
Aleisha gave me one final glare before she looked up at Cage- and her face sobered up. Looking at her, I kind of felt bad. This girl had got it very bad for Cage. And the sad part is that I don't even think Cage knew.
When both of us didn't reply, he raised an eyebrow. "What did I miss?"
"You missed a lot," I spoke, bitterly. "Especially the part where the teachers specifically instructed us not to move around the aircraft."
He laughed at this. "Someone's in a bad mood."
"Whatever," Aleisha rolled her eyes, wearily. "Go back to your place, Cage."
He nodded, putting his hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay."
And the next four hours I had to spend in an awkward silence next to the girl who hates my guts because of my non-existent relationship with Cage.
When will we ever reach Hawaii?
-x-
I KNOW. I'VE UPDATED EARLY AS AN APOLOGY ABOUT THE LAST SUCKISH CHAPTER. THIS ONE WAS LOOOOOONNNNGGGGGG. Hope you guys like it!
SEE YOU THIS WEEKEND :***