Author's Note: Hey all! It's the weekend; so I'm updating! So yesterday I posted my new story, Losing Grip. If you haven't already, could you check it out? I'd love to know what you all think! But yeah, the next chapter will be more eventful, like more stuff will happen.
Check out that picture. ----------------------------------------------->
That's who I've decided to play Ryder- I think he's pretty gorgeous.
“Australia as in….the country?” I ask shocked.
“And the continent.” Ryder adds.
“We’re going to Australia?”
“We are.”
“Wait, but why is Jansen’s party in Australia? I mean he’s only turning nineteen.”
“Jansen’s dad lives in Australia; his parents are divorced.”
“O…kay then.”
“I mean, we don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”
“No, no I want to go. It sounds fun. I love Australian accents; almost as much I British accents.”
Ryder chuckles, and says, “I’m not surprised.”
“So how long are we staying? And how are we even gonna get there?”
“About two weeks; and Jansen’s dad is pretty stacked; he’s gonna send his private jet.”
“So tomorrow you say?”
Ryder nods again, “Yeah.”
“I thought you said you didn’t have any friends?”
“Well Jansen’s kinda my friend; sorta. Well he thinks of me a friend enough to invite me to his party; and you’re my plus one.”
“Do you think your parents would actually let me go?”
“I’m sure they would.”
“Well then great.” I say. Just then I involuntarily sneeze, and Ryder raises his eyebrows at me. “I’m not sick.”
“Face it; you’re sick.” He disagrees.
“I am not.” I argue, pulling the cover over me, and flipping over; lying on my stomach. “I was only in the rain for a little while.” I feel the bed move a little; and then Ryder’s hand is on my back, rubbing it soothingly.
“Let’s just get some sleep; okay?”
I nod, closing my eyes as I am actually pretty tired. Ryder gets out of the bed and then turns his light off. I hear a zipper unzip and I take from that that he’s changing into his sleeping clothes. A few minutes later he’s next to me in the bed. I shirt; and lay my head on Ryder’s outstretched arm, and curl up in the warmness of him. Ryder kisses my forehead and then covers us with the cover.
The next morning I wake up with a pounding headache. I slowly force my eyes open, and I’m nearly blinded by the ray of sunshine filing in through the blinds of Ryder’s window. He really should get some curtains to prevent me from eventually going blind. I pick my head up from Ryder’s arm, and carefully take his arm off of my waist. I get out of the bed; and Ryder fidgets in the bed; pulling the cover over his head. He is so not a morning person.
I pad across the carpeted floor; and to the door, pulling it open. I go across the hall to my room where the temperature is much colder than that of Ryder’s room. I look up at the ceiling and see that the ceiling fan is still running; which is undoubtedly the reason. I turn it off and then go over to my closet.
I pull out a pair of blue jean shorts that I recently purchased at the Hollister in L.A. and my blue racer back tee-shirt also from Hollister. I get dressed; glad that I took a shower last night because right now I seriously feel so lazy. Once I’m dressed; I grab my toothbrush and hairbrush then leave my room and go into the bathroom.
I turn the light on; and blink a few times as my eyes adjust to the bright light. I take the cap off of my toothbrush and turn the water faucet; wetting it. I spread a layer of toothpaste over it and then brush my teeth. When I’m done I wash my face, and then take the elastic out of my hair and pull the brush through it. I pull it into a messy bun and then go downstairs heading towards Sarah and Uncle Ricky’s room.
Just as I raise my hand to knock on the bedroom door; it opens and Uncle Ricky walks out in a business suit. “Morning Mickey.” He says, looking down at me.
“Good morning Uncle Ricky; is Sarah here?”
He shakes his head, “Nope; she left about an hour ago for work. Why, what’s up?”
“Well I wanted to ask if I could go to Australia.”
“Australia?” He repeats; raising his eyebrows.
I nod, “Yes.”
“Why?”
“Well Ryder’s friend is having a party for his birthday there.”
“Today?”
I nod again, “Today. Well I think. I guess it depends on the time it is in Australia right now.”
“Will there be parental supervision?”
“Jansen’s dad lives there; so I’d assume so.”
“Okay, then. I don’t see why not.”
“Really?” I ask; now if it was Sarah; I’d be in the Sarah O’Connor inquisition by now.
“Sure. Now I’ve gotta get to work; so go ahead and give me a hug in case by the time I get back y’all are already gone.” He says, opening his arms.
I hug Uncle Ricky, and he kisses the top of my head. “Thanks Uncle Ricky; you’re the best!” I tell him as I follow him to the door.
He chuckles and says, “Yeah; yeah okay. Don’t you or Ryder get in any trouble while you’re there, okay?”
I nod excitedly, “Okay, I swear we won’t. I’ll see you later.” I reply; as he walks out of the front door and I lock it behind him. I go up the stairs, and push open the door to Ryder’s room and see that he’s still fast asleep; the cover still covering his head just as it was when I left him earlier.
“Ryder.” I say, kneeling down in front of the bed.
“Hmm?” He mutters in his sleep.
“Wake up.”
“What day is it?”
“It’s Monday.”
Ryder pushes the cover down off of his head, and opens his eyes. He blinks a few times and then sits up, rubbing his eyes. “Good morning.” He rasps.
“Good morning.” I reply, curtly. “So I asked your dad, and he said I can go.”
“That doesn’t surprise me.” He informs me. “I think my dad likes you more than he like Hailey.”
“I seriously doubt it.” I tell him, sitting next to him. Ryder lips softly press against the side of my head; kissing me.
“So how do you feel?”
“I feel fine. I’m not sick.”
“Good; that’d put a damper on things.” Ryder replies; reaching over to the table and grabbing his phone. He dials a number and the puts his phone up to his ear while staring down at the floor. He clears his throat and I hear the distinct sound of the phone’s dial tone.
“Hello?” A male voice asks; answering the phone.
“Spear. It’s me; Ryder.”
“Oh hey man, what’s up?”
“We’re still leaving today, right?”
“Yeah; actually we’re gonna leave in like an hour; it takes like fourteen hours to get there.”
“Okay, so should we just meet you somewhere?”
“Yeah; you can just meet me at my house and we’ll all ride over to the airport together.”
“Alright see you then.”
“Okay.” He replies.
Ryder hangs up the phone, and says, “So how long have you been up?”
“Only about thirty minutes.” I answer.
“Are you packed?”
I shake my head, “I’ll go do that now.” I say, standing up.
Thirty minutes later; Ryder and I are getting out of Jansen’s car. We’ve just arrive here at the airport; and the jet is like ten minutes away. So apparently it’s Ryder and me, Jansen and Faith – Faith is his girlfriend –, another friend of Jansen’s named Cash and his sister Marissa. Marissa is seventeen like me; which is good because I was starting to feel lonely around all these elders.
“So what time do you think it’ll be once we get there?” I ask Ryder, looking up at him, and shielding my eyes from the sun.
“The pilot says it takes like fourteen hours; so I guess like we’ll get there at 12 a.m. West Coast Time, but it’ll be like 5 p.m. there. If I did the math correctly.”
“That’s a really long time.” I pout.
“I’m sure we can keep occupied.” Ryder says, chuckling to himself.
I’m about to reply to that, but then Jansen says, “Okay guys, the jet is here.” He grabs Faith’s hand and the two of them lead the way to the jet which is off in the far distance.
Jansen is attractive…I suppose. I mean he isn’t ugly or anything, but he’s not all of that. If that makes any sense. Faith is eighteen, or at least that’s what Ryder told me. Her appearance reminds me of that of an angel. She has long blonde hair that falls way past her shoulders in soft waves. Personally I think Cash and Marissa are just the most adorable people ever. They’re from some really small town in Tennessee and they have the cutest southern accents. Like seriously, I love them. Though Cash does seem a tad bit over protective of his baby sister. But they seem to get along pretty well.
When we reach the jet plane; we all take our seats which are much more comfortable then you’d expect. They’re like clouds; seriously I could go to sleep right now, but I won’t. Wel actually I probably will. I glance across from Ryder and me which is where Faith and Jansen are sitting. Cash and Marissa are sitting to the left of us in the two seats; and the seats to the right of Ryder and me; unoccupied. Ryder lifts the armrest in between us up and pulls me closer to him. I lay my head on his shoulder, and look up at him.
“So what are we waiting for?”
“There’s still two more people coming.” Ryder mutters, frowning. At what, I don’t know. He’s a mysterious boy.
Just as I’m about to respond; I hear footsteps behind me coming up the stairs. “Dawson, finally. Took you long enough.”
Dawson? Oh God no. “Well your sister here just took her sweet precious time getting packed.” I turn around and see none other than Matt Dawson, and some brunette girl standing in the aisle talking to Jansen. “McKenna; hey I didn’t know you knew Jansen.” He says.
I shake my head, “Oh no. I don’t; Ryder does.”
“Oh right, what’s up man?” He says to Ryder, sounding as though he had no intention on acknowledging Ryder’s presence.
“What’s up?” Ryder replies, turning back around; facing away from them.
“Why is he here?” I whisper in Ryder’s ear.
“He’s Jansen’s step-brother.” He growls lowly.
“And the girl?”
“She’s Mollie; Jansen’s sister; and Matt’s step-sister.”
I roll my eyes; sitting up. “Great.”
“I’m not happy about either; I just found out like this morning that he was coming. He’s practically in love with you for crying out loud.” Ryder mumbles, crossing his arms.
I put my hand on his arm, “Calm down. I’m sure it’ll be fine. Plus I don’t want Matt; I only want you.”
Ryder softens his hard gaze, and uncrosses his arms, then kisses my forehead. “I don’t like him; but I’ll be on my best behavior, for you.”
“Thank you; I appreciate it.” I tell him as Matt and Mollie walk down the thin aisle; Mollie in front of him. They sit down in the seats to the right of Ryder and me and both slide on their seatbelts.
----------------------
“McKenna wake up baby.” Ryder’s voice says close to my ear; interrupting my beautiful dream.
I was one of Charlie’s Angels. Yup, that’s what my dream was about. Don’t ask me why, because I don’t know. I think I was the Natalie Cook one; ya know the one Drew Barrymore plays. I always have weird and random dreams.
“Are we here?” I ask him, opening my eyes and looking up him from where my head still rests on his shoulder.
“No, I just thought you might have wanted to see the view.” He informs me, point towards the window.
I look out of the small circular window and my jaw drops in awe as the pretty pink-ish/orang-ish color that is the sun setting passes us. “It’s so pretty.” I say more to myself than to Ryder but he agrees with, “Yeah, it is.”
A few minutes later; we land at the Sydney Airport. No, that’s not the actual name of it; but all I know is that we’re at the airport and we’re in Sydney; hence the Sydney Airport. The eight of us get off of the jet; and we’re directed to a sleek, jet black Mercedes Benz. We all put our bags in the trunk of the car and they surprisingly all fit. We all pile into the car; which is much roomier on the inside than you’d think by looking at the outside. I’m in between Ryder and Matt. Coincidence, I think not. On the other side of Matt is Mollie, and then it wraps around and there’s Jansen, then Faith. Beside Faith are Cash and his sister – Marissa – next to him.
“So where’s you dad live at. Like how far?” Marissa asks.
“He lives about an hour away.” Mollie answers her instantly; and then pulls out her iPhone and her fingers fly over the screen; presumably texting someone.
I yawn inaudibly, and cross my left leg over the right one. I lean my head back against the headrest; and close my eyes, still extremely tired for some reason. For the second time I am woken up by Ryder, and I’m annoyed. I’m tired; and I want to sleep. Though I did sleep for about ten of the fourteen hours it took us to get here; and the hour to it took to actually get to the house. Ryder grabs my hand; pulling me out of the car gently behind him. I rub my eyes; and a light burns into my retinas ‘causing me to promptly snap my eyes shut.
“Why’s it so bright?” I ask irritated.
“It’s just the security system.” Jansen answers somewhere from behind me. You guys can go on in if you want. We can get the luggage in the morning.”
“I like that idea.” I say, obliging my eyes open, and beginning to walk towards the very large house.
The house is a crème; or maybe a beige color. It is quite large though. I don’t know what Jansen’s father does for a living; but it must really bring home the money. Suddenly I feel the ground being taken from under my feet; or rather my feet being taken from the ground. Ryder seems to like to pick me up; as he does it a lot. I don’t mind though; I do like being carried. Especially when I’m dead tired like right now. We walk – well they walk – up towards the house; and I look around. In the distance I see a house; but it’s so far away that I can distinguish nothing about it. Jansen rings the doorbell; and we wait for a minute. Then it opens, and a strikingly beautiful lady with long brown hair is smiling at us.
“Come in, come in.” She says, her voice slightly mixed with an Australian accent.
“Hi Tasha.” Jansen replies; hugging the lady half-heartedly. “Guys this is my step mother, Tasha.”
We chorus hellos and Tasha laughs to herself. “I can see that you are all very tired. A long flight it must have been. We can get acquainted in the morning. Jansen, please show everyone to their rooms.”
“Sure thing. And will you tell my dad that I’m here?”
“I will do that.” Tasha says, and then leaves the room saying goodnight to us.
“So the party is actually tomorrow?” Cash wonders.
Jansen nods; “Yeah, it’s tomorrow night. So there’s like four extra rooms; which guess works out perfectly. You guys can group however you want. You’re gonna wanna go up these stairs and then make a left; then go down the hall and the rooms are down there.”
“Where’s your room?” Faith asks him.
“My room is down here.” He answers; yawning.
Ryder and I room together; obviously. Faith and Jansen are in his room; Cash and Marissa are sharing the room with two beds; and Matt has his own room. Apparently Jansen and Mollie both have their own rooms here; because…well it’s their dad’s house. Matt’s father is married to Jansen and Mollie’s mom, making them step-siblings. But Matt doesn’t live with his dad; he lives with his mother and his younger siblings. And Jansen and Mollie do live with their mom who’s married to Matt’s dad. It really isn’t as confusing as it sounds though.
“So like I don’t have to worry about you and Marissa or Mollie right?” I ask hesitantly.
Ryder looks over at me, “Huh?”
“Nothing, I just...I don’t know.”
“Are you asking if I’m going to do anything with Mollie or Marissa?”
“Is that bad?” I ask tentatively. “I mean, I feel bad for asking.”
“No it’s not bad. You’re cute when you’re talking about being jealous.” He teases. “But seriously, no. You don’t have to worry about that. And I don’t have to worry about Matt right? Or that Cash guy.”
“No; I don’t want anyone that isn’t you.” I confirm as I turn out the light and lie down in the bed, tying the drawstring on my polka dotted pajama pants.
Ryder lifts his hand, grabbing mine and kissing the back of it. Then he releases it, and presses his lips along my collarbone, then my shoulder until finally he gets to my lips. He kisses me briefly before pulling away and saying, “Goodnight Mickey.”