"Laurel! Come down here! Were leaving in 10 minutes?"
"Ok, mom!", Laurel said shoving her floral dress into her overflowing suitcase.
All around her room their were mountains of clothes and shoes. Packing has made her room a burial ground for clothes and she was just thankful that in about an hour she would be on a flight to sunny and warm Florida to spend her Christmas Vacation.
This time tomorrow she would be lounging by the pool in the backyard if her grandparent's vacation home. But for now she had to figure out how to make her clothes fit.
She plopped her suitcase on her bedroom floor and sat right on top of it. Twisting her arm around, she reached for the zipper. As she pulled it around the perimeter of the suitcase, she shifted her weight to the un-zippered portion. The zipper clicked against the metal on the other end signaling that her suitcase was finally closed.
"LAUREL!" Her mom screamed from the bottom of the stairs
"I'M COMING!" Laurel said standing her suitcase upright and pulling up the handle.
She grabbed her diary and threw it in her backpack, making sure it was perfectly closed before throwing over her shoulder and running down stairs, doing her best to prevent the suitcase trailing behind her from crashing into any walls.
"Laurel, go give your bag to Brian," Laurel's Dad said when she hopped off the last step
Laurel walked over to the door where her brother Brian was currently standing and handed him her suitcase.
"What do you have in this thing?" He said dropping the suitcase on the floor.
"I'm sorry. I had to fit everything in my carryon!" Laurel said crossing her arms
Brian let out a sigh, then proceeded to pick up her bag and carry it to the car.
Laurel opened the front door and stepped into the crisp, cool, winter air. A foot of snow had fallen over the past few weeks making her small town of Rockfield look like a winter wonderland.
She climbed into the backseat of her father's mini van and buckled her seatbelt. Brian and her twin brother Kyle occupied the middle row and her dad dove while her mom rode in the passenger seat.
Laurel plugged her headphones into her phone and opened up her Pandora. She chose her Hunter Hayes radio and was immediately greeted by the sweet sound of "If You Told Me To". She stared out the window and just let the music take her to another place.
Hunter Hayes was one of her favorite artists of all time, no doubt about that. The only one who would even remotely come close to topping him would be Taylor Swift, but he was something special. His music was real. Exactly what he wanted it to be. Not infused with some pop beat or messed up vocal harmony. It was him. He was in everyone of his songs, like a little piece of him that he left behind for others to appreciate. And that's why she liked Hunter.
Before she knew it they were at the airport. She threw her phone back into her backpack and climbed out of the car. He feet landed on the hard cement and she walked around the car to the trunk, being careful to avoid the immense snowbanks.
The family proceeded to security and after that continued on to their gate.
Laurel's mom went to the bathroom and her brothers and her dad went to go get something to eat because it was around 1:30. Laurel didn't feel very hungry and she didn't really want to eat because air travel made her nauseous. So instead, she headed to the gate on her own and found a spot where they could all sit once they returned.
She sat down and opened her backpack. She grabbed her diary and a pen and immediately started writing down her every thought.
Her diary was a mix of everything. Recaps of her day, rants about anything and everything, goals for 2014 that she would check off when completed and even songs she wrote. She loved absolutely everything about music. From the first chord to the finished product. It was the inly way she ever felt like she belonged. It was the kind of feeling that just let you know that you were doing something right.
"Laurel! We got you something" Kyle informed her from across the gate. He walked up to her and extended his arm from behind his back revealing a large bottle of lemonade.
"Thanks Kyle" Laurel said before reluctantly opening it and taking a cautious sip.
This was her twin brother we were talking about. Knowing him he poisoned it or filled it with dog pee.
The cool yellow liquid flowed into her mouth with the familiar tangy taste. A smile formed across her lips as she realize that the seemingly friendly bottle did not in fact harbor some demon liquid.
Kyle sat down next to her. The next person to trail in was Brian with a sandwich was Chick-Fil-A. After her parents came in with drinks from Starbucks and Laurel continued to write her her diary.
She got to the end of the page and thought that it was a smart idea to try to turn it while taking a sip of her lemonade. Well it wasn't and the lemonade flooded the pages.
"I can't believe I just did that!" She said shaking the book, hoping to salvage it.
She decided to set it down on the floor and let it air out. She had intended to leave it there for awhile, but the plane had other ideas.
"Flight 496 to Ft. Lauderdale is now boarding" an overly peppy voice said through the intercom.
"Laurel come on" Her mother said already standing with her bags.
Quickly she stood up and gathered her belongings. She ran to join the rest of her parents in line and after 5 minutes of waiting the boarded the plane and took their seats.
Little did Laurel know that her diary was still sitting on the floor of her gate.