-Chapter Eleven-
“Wait, what? Where are we going!?” I asked, dumbstruck. Did they just say. . . ?
“We, my little children, are going to California!” Mom clarified, clapping her hands together in excitement.
“Mom, I am not going to California! I can’t deal with all of that sun!” I told her with the best straight face I could possibly give.
“Alex, I hope you know that you live in Miami. You live in the sun, idiot,” Peyton said.
I slapped her across the head. “Shut up.” I then turned back to my parents. What kind of sick twisted scheme is this? “Why in the world are we going to Cali, Dad?”
“Because your mom’s sister is getting married, and we can go on vacation!” he replied.
“Which one? The one that I actually like?” I asked, my face lighting up.
“Yes, Aunt Vicky. That’s the one.”
“Oh my gosh! I haven’t seen her in like forever! How long has it been, two years now? When are we going?” All of these words poured out of my mouth in one long breath.
“Says the one who doesn’t want to go,” Peyton mumbled, earning yet another slap on the head.
“Both of you stop it. And Alex, we are going in two weeks.”
* * *
I still can’t believe it. We are going to California! More importantly, I get to see my all-time favorite aunt! Vicky is the most fun woman I have ever met. She acts like a kid, and is just plain awesome! She’s the kind of woman who is actually in her thirties, but looks like a teenager. That only makes me wonder what she’ll look like when she is an old lady... Huh.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. When I checked to see who it was from, I saw that it was Danielle. I frowned; I thought it was going to be Jake.
“Hey, A. Whatcha be up to?” The text said.
“I figured out where I’m going on vacation.” I replied after a few seconds.
“:O Well! Fill me in!”
“We are going to California.”
“WHOA! ALEX OMG.” she said.
“What?”
“Jake lives in California, right? What of you meet him?”
My breath caught in my throat. What if I do meet him? Realization flooded my body when I noticed how big California is. “Don’t get too excited, Dan. California is huge.”
“Yeah, I know, but what if!”
“Danielle, do you know how slim the chances are? I guess you don’t. I’m not going to meet Jake. And that, my friend, is FINAL.” I told her. Really, Danielle? You should know better! Common sense, woman!
I walked into the living room and saw Mr. McTeddy, my kitten, walking around in circles. What the heck? I scooped up the tiny brown and white kitty in my hands, gently rubbing his soft fur. He’s too cute! Almost as cute as the Golden Retriever I have set for Jake...
Oh my fladoodle. What if we do meet? No, Alex. It’s pretty much impossible.
But what if? Danielle’s words replayed back in my mind.
“What if . . .” I whispered.
“What if what?” someone asked from behind me. Peyton. “I hope you know you kind of look like an old witch plotting something evil when you’re rubbing a cat and staring off into space like that.”
I glared at her. “Get away, Peyton.”
“Why, so you can go back to being the devious witch you are?” She sniggered.
“You know what? I am planning something evil. It’s called 'A Thousand Ways To Murder Peyton!' Now shoo!” I shoved her away from me as Mr. McTeddy jumped off of my lap and ran out of the room.
Stupid little sister, making my cat run away with your nasty looks. Peyton hates Mr. McTeddy because when we first got him he jumped into her bowl of cereal and splashed it all over her favorite shirt. Don’t ask how the cat got on the kitchen table...
...I most definitely did not put him there.
Anyways! I sat on the couch and stared into space again.
Jake was the first thought that came to my mind. Come to think if it, I haven’t talked to him since yesterday morning. For us, that’s a long time.
“Hey,” I texted him.
“Hey, Alex :)” He texted back within the minute.
“What have you been up to?”
“I’ve been doing homework. Ugh. It sucks!” he told me.
“Yeah, I know. Haha.”
“So why'd you just text me out of the blue?”
"Because, it's been like a whole day. And what, a friend can't text a friend randomly?
"A day isn't that long, Alex ;)"
I bit my bottom lip as I replied. “Yeah, I just wanted to talk to you, I guess.”
“Well, I was going to text you anyways :) Well, eventually I was going to :p”
“Haha. So do you have any special plans for summer vacation yet?” I asked, changing the subject as fast as I could.
“Hm. . . Nope, not really.” I was typing a message back to him when I got another message from him. “Do you?”
“Actually, yes. My family is going on vacation.”
“Really? Where?”
“Guess.” I told him.
“Spain?” He guessed.
“Nope!”
“Paris?”
“Nope.”
“London.”
“No! It’s in THIS country.” I replied.
“Oh… Erm… California?”
“Yes. We are going to California. :)”
“When?”
“In two weeks :D”
“That’s just one week after I get out of school.”
“Yep! My Aunt Vicky is getting married.” I doubt he really cared about the details, but oh well.
“Really? That’s cool. How long are you going to be in California?” he asked.
“I have no idea.”
“Well, go find out!”
I pursed my lips as I read the text. “Why...?”
“Because I’m curious.”
“Mom!” I yelled, not taking my eyes off of the text message Jake had sent me.
I heard her walk into the room, her feet padding against the wooden floor. “Yes, honey?”
“How long are we going to be in California?” I asked her as I raised my eyebrows.
“The whole summer. Three months.”
My eyes went wide as I yelled, “Three flipping months!?”
“Is that a bad thing?” Mom questioned, her brows raised.
“Yes, of course it is! I’m going to miss all the summer fun, and I won’t be able to hang out with Danielle or any of my friends at all!”
“The two of you see each other every day! I think you can go the rest of the summer without seeing her.”
I rolled my eyes at her. “No, mother. I cannot do that. It is simply impossible!”
“Well, you will have to deal with it.” She huffed. “Go on and pack.”
“Why? We have two weeks left, Mom!”
“No, actually we are leaving next week instead. That is the only flight we can catch to California. So you have only a few days to pack up. Might as well start now!” she told me.
I loudly grunted as I stormed towards my bedroom, muttering incoherent words. Three whole months without Danielle, across the country.
Pulling my polka dotted suitcase from under my bed, I started emptying my drawers, making an enormous pile of clothing on my bed.
We are going for three months, right? Might as well take all of my clothes.
Too many clothes! I sighed knowing I would have to use at least three or more suitcases to carry all of this.
I began to fold my clothes, and neatly placed them into a large suitcase. I looked down at my phone that was vibrating silently on my bed.
Jake was calling me. I smiled as I answered.
“Yes?” I asked.
“You never replied.”
I laughed. “Sorry. Uh, what was the last thing you said to me?”
“How long are you going to be in California?” he asked.
“Oh yeah. Um, three months,” I told him. He didn’t reply. “Jake?”
“Sorry.” He cleared his throat. “Sorry, I was just thinking.”
“Uh, okay? About what?”
“Nothing important. So three months?”
I shook my head, thinking of how he changed the subject. “Yeah, I know it sucks.”
“No, you’ll love it here. You might even meet a few cool people. Where are you going? In California, I mean.”
“Hm... I don’t know. My aunt lives in...” I can’t think of it! Gosh, I hate that. “Fountain Valley! That’s it.” I deserve a pat on the back for that.
“Fountain Valley? I’ve never heard of it!”
“Really?” I asked sadly. There go my hopes of ever meeting Jake in person. I blame Danielle for this. She made me actually believe that we could possibly meet. I knew it was impossible. That little sliver of hope just completly gone; it just disappeared.
“Yeah. I guess we’re not going to meet then.” He sighed. “That sucks.”
Did he honestly think we were going to meet in the first place?
Hmm. . . What'd you think of that? Okay, first person to comment gets a dedication. You all should know this by now xD
~Storylover11~