The plane landed at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, in Houston, Texas. Alex had slept most of the flight, and I just listened to music and rewatched the game. It's important to see what you did in one game and what not to do in another.
"Hey, Alex," I whispered. "We're here, buddy."
"Okay," she said without opening her eyes. "Where's Corbyn and Daniel?"
"They said they'd meet us outside at the gate," I replied, reporting from the text on my phone. "And Daniel said Jack and Zach are here."
"Really?" She opened one eye.
"Yep, they drove all the way down from Dallas," I added, looking at Daniel's text.
We walked off the plane and stepped into the airport. I spotted Corbyn's blond hair, so I pulled Alex in that direction. Standing next to Corbyn and Daniel were two boys, both pretty short compared to me. One had really curly hair, kind of like ramen noodles. The other had particularly rosy cheeks and a big smile. Alex's eyes widened at the sight of her old pals.
"Zach! Jack!" She called, running towards them. The boys both jumped into her arms, giving her a big hug.
"This is my cousin, Zach," she said, giving the rosy-cheeked one a pat on the back, "and the noodle head is his best friend, Jack. Jack, Zach, this is Jonah."
"Sup, bro."
"Hey, man."
"Hey, do I get a hug too?" Corbyn protested.
"Come on, Corbs, it's only been five hours. I'm at practice longer than that." She gave him a hug anyway. Corbyn and Daniel had taken an earlier flight.
Coach Rogers approached us, with the rest of the team behind him. "Come on, boys, the bus is waiting."
"We have to go to our hotel first, but then can we meet up for dinner?" Alex asked our friends.
"Sure," Zach said. "Jack can drive Corbyn and Daniel to the hotel, and then I have a great restaurant."
We checked into our hotel, a pretty nice one if I do say so myself. Alex and I were sharing a room because we've had so many sleepovers it didn't really matter.
"Ready to eat?" Alex asked once we had dropped our stuff in the room. I nodded.
Zach and Jack drove us all to a steakhouse, and we enjoyed the night, sharing old stories. The food was great, and the boys are amazing.
"Wait, so you guys live in Dallas, right?" I asked the younger boys.
"Yep," Jack said. "I used to live in Pennsylvania but I moved down here when I was little, and I've been best friends with Zachy here for as long as I can remember."
"And Alex was born here, too, but like three years before me, of course," Zach added.
"Small world," Corbyn said, looking at all of his childhood besties.
"Houston always reminds me of Beyoncé, though," Alex randomly pointed out.
"Houston, Texas, baby," Zach and Jack sang at the same time.
shoutout to Beyoncé and Liza Koshy on this chapter lol i love that reference. gonna try to update this book a lot more so IM SORRY. love ya💖