Cc: Don't look at me, I'm not a celebrity.
VALYRA.
When Nik said he came home to spend time with me, what he really meant was he came home to take me to his place.
He told me to call up my friends because he was taking us to California for a weekend. Travel and lodging for free. Today was Friday morning.
Excuse me? Where'd he get the money? Then, a thought popped into my head, who was I kidding? He was a child model for Giordano, Gucci, and Versace. Even though he had stopped, just last year in college he was still quickly scouted as a Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein model. All he had to do was take off his shirt on the court after his first college ball game.
"NIk!" I called out, as he passed by outside my room."What are we doing there?"
He peeked in and grinned at me cheekily. "Wouldn't you like to know?" The annoying brat laughed.
I was packing this morning because we were leaving for the airport in the afternoon. Nik didn't have to pack much because he has stuff in his dorm. My silver-colored luggage was set on my bedroom floor, filled to the brim with spread-out tops and bottoms. One dress stood out. It was my mother's, and she wrote to me to keep it for her. Funnily enough though, it wasn't for me. It was for my little sister, who I still haven't met.
I often wondered if my sister had it better or worse than I did, you know? Family-wise, at least. She was obviously going to be received very warmly and grandly when she comes back into our family, but she didn't have her biological family growing up.
The dress was simple. It was a breezy white dress with both straps put together by a small golden ring. The top was breezy and loose and was mainly a ruffled silky layer over the base of the dress, and the bottom was a breezy almost translucent piece, but the whole dress was cinched using garter with intricate golden details. The skirt area had glittering golden flecks and details as well. Whoever wears this dress would look like the epitome of purity, assuming the dress stays clean.
Anyway, I decided to lock it up in my safe so it stays safe. I wasn't really worried anyone would break in the house anyway.
I ended up with a luggage half-filled with clothes, a fourth filled with shoes, and a fourth filled with my make-up and self-care products.
Nik and I left home in his Land Cruiser which will be picked up by his friend from the airport parking lot tomorrow.
"Who are we picking up first?" Nik asked, as we slowed to a stop at the red light.
"Alex."
He rolled his eyes and looked pointedly at me. "Are you just gonna drag him around now?"
"What?" I looked at him, surprised. Is he implying that I'm expecting Alex to be there? That I'm clingy or being inconsiderate? "I asked if he wanted to come along and he said yes."
Nik rolled his eyes. I rolled mine back. What did he think of me? Some brat? But then, admittedly, I had to smile, because if I was a brat, it meant that he could possibly be a bad parent.
"You know, Dude," he told me, as he drove past our sort-of rich area to a nice middle-class neighborhood. "I feel like Alex is going out of his way just to spend more time with you."
"Don't worry, Nik. Alex would tell me if he needed to do something else. If he's around, it means he's available."
Nik looked at me unsurely but said no more.
We reached the Princes' two-story house which to me looked way better than our three-times-bigger three-floor house (the third floor of which is the attic, by the way, but it's a really spacious one)
.Alex came out with Lottie in his arms and looked apologetic. "Can you guys wait for a while? I'll just make sure someone's around to watch over this little princess."
Nik nodded at him and shut off the Cruiser.
"Can we stop by the store to buy some chips?"
Nik peered at me. "There are chips in the plane. Don't waste your money."
"Have you forgotten that plane chips are overpriced?"
"Private planes are stocked with food for free, Vali."
It was my turn to peer at him. I didn't notice Nik was such a huge spender. "Where'd you get the money?" Maybe dad's given him a huge allowance, too. The thought makes me feel irked, not because he got more than I did, but because I was eyeing a pair of Louboutins to celebrate my graduation. Oh, well...
"Hey, guys!" Alex greeted, slipping into the backseat after throwing his duffel in. "Where to?"
I turned to him and grinned. "You choose: Maddie or Kelly?"
Alex rolled his eyes. " I know they're waiting together, Val. Stop trying to catch me."
This made me grin. "Catch you what, Alex?"
He knew better than to reply and committed to sulking in his seat instead. To be honest? I found my theory both sad and funny, but I won't expound on it.
By the time we all reached the plane, it was already past lunch. Alex, Kelly, Maddie, and Ryan were here. Onyx wanted to settle early into his college environment, and Claire and Froida had a joint family trip to Europe.
"Woah!" Maddie exclaimed. "This is way more luxurious than dad's plane!"
"Your dad literally owns a Wright Flyer, Mads," Ryan laughed aloud.
"No, idiot," she retorted, "It's a Hondajet," and then she mused, "This is a freaking Gulfstream V."
I did not miss my brother's impressed whistle, which I bet was more for Maddie's knowledge rather than the fact her father had a private plane. Kelly and I exchanged secretive glances and stifled our laughter. Maddie didn't seem to notice.
The plane was really huge, though. I have no idea how Nik managed to get this, but I'm not complaining, as long as the food keeps coming.
"Hey, psst," Alex whispered. I almost didn't realize he was talking cuz he was so buried into his lounge chair. It was pretty funny. I adjusted myself to face him and asked what he wanted to say. "Do you think I'll get a girlfriend in California?"
I laughed. "What made you ask that?"
He lowered my phone and looked at me seriously. "Lottie wants me to get a girlfriend."
Raider Charlotte "Lottie" Prince.
What can I say about her?
Piano prodigy. Model student. Quiet, kind, and friendly. And, of course, the biggest shipper of me and Alex. Although I've told her multiple times that we weren't like that, she still believed that we were meant to be. I honestly already ran out of ideas to try and convince her otherwise. I think she just wants to see Alex enjoying life like other guys his age, and her idea to accomplish that is by asking him to get a girlfriend.
"I don't know, Alex... Do you even plan on getting one?"
He shrugged. "If I meet someone who makes me feel a good kind of different, I might just ask her out."
For some reason, I felt a clench in my chest and my stomach. My eyes stung when I saw him looking out the window with a contemplative glance, like he was planning to take it seriously.
I don't know why I felt that way, but maybe I felt like I was going to lose him very soon...
I don't know.
For the rest of the plane ride, I decided to take a nap. I didn't even take advantage of the free food.
California was as expected, hot. We got to L.A. by, like, the afternoon, and Nik decided to take us to eat at Chick-fil-A. It was weird because I felt right at home here. I wasn't even jet-lagged. Kelly says it's because I was asleep the whole plane ride, but I think it's something else. We decided to take a walk after, and then go to the penthouse Nik stays at.
"Nik," I said, while the others were sleeping. "Do you think Nat hates us for not visiting her?"
The two of us sat by the marble-top counter drinking warm milk. Nat would've wanted hers with some biscuits. Thinking back to my conversation with Alex, I thought it would be a possibility that I felt that way because Lottie was looking out for Alex in a way that Nat used to look out for me until she had to leave anyway. Nat would be fourteen by now, probably nerdy and shy but with enough pep to interact well with others. She also seemed pretty into soccer back then and played with some dude named Gordon a lot.
Nik slid his half-filled mug side to side between his hands and shrugged. "Who knows? But what choice did we have?"
"We could've asked to visit, Nik," I frowned. I wasn't objecting because it was true what Nik said, but I was implying that we could ask now since it's been thought of, unlike before.
My brother shook his head. "I've thought about it, and it's too risky. We're going to be thrown into this land of people we don't recognize, and they have their own culture, and expectations. We're not the same people there, Vali. Did you never wonder why Dad barely went there? He literally only goes there for the sake of seeing Mom and Nat and he flies off as soon as he can."
"What do you mean we're not the same people?" I rolled my eyes, "We're NIk and Vali."
Nik stiffened, and then relaxed and sighed. "There's so much you don't know, Val, and that's okay. Don't be too bothered by what I said for now, but I'm telling y0ou. We are different there in every way. You're not gonna be expected to be an airhead or a star athlete. You might not be popular and beloved there either."
"What are you saying?" I glared at him accusingly, "Everyone loves me!"
He rolled his eyes. "I'm serious. Now, you better finish your milk and get some sleep." After he washed his mug and stored it, he bid me goodnight and disappeared into his room.
What was he talking about? Of course people will love me! Everyone loves me, right? I mean, everyone I meet properly, that is.
Am I like the villain in that land?
I felt bothered, so I couldn't sleep so well. I had to watch a few more youtube videos to make my eyes drowsy, and by the time I woke up, I still felt really tired.
"We're going to the beach, Valyra," Kelly announced, "Get off the bed and get your butt moving!"
She and Maddie were already dressed and wide awake, while I lay there in my pajamas and gorgeous hair, obviously not needing to take too much time. I literally just have to brush my teeth, wash my face, and throw on some clothes every morning. I know, some people wish they could be me.
"Why are we going to the beach so early?" I asked curiously.
Nik turned to me and stacked some waffles on my plate. "To be able to use a volleyball net for sure before it gets too crowded. You look like a zombie princess."
I grinned as I prepared to take a bite of a maple-syrup-drenched waffle. "I know I look like a princess, you don't have to tell me."
Alex ruffled my hair and greeted us all a good morning and Ryan gave us all a lazy salute and quickly stuffed his face with plain waffles. I caught Nik stifling his laughter. Nik is surprisingly much cleaner and more well-mannered than I am, but I do not even come close to Ryan's autopilot impulses, and seeing Ryan must have amused him.
"Want some more, Dude?" he asked, seemingly referring to Ryan.
I rolled my eyes. "Don't say dude, Dude. You sound stupid."
Nik ignored me and slid some more waffles on Ryan's plate in response to Ryan's affirmative.
"I think it sounds cute," Maddie squeaked in his defense. Kelly and I shared amused, knowing looks.
"Thanks, Elyana."
Maddie looked like she was gonna faint.
Good job, Maddie, you just earned yourself an oh-so-swoon-worthy brilliant smile and thanks from my brother. Yipee!
"You guys all ready?" Nik asked a few minutes after we finished breakfast, standing by the door and swinging a ring of keys around. He was barefoot.
"I think you're the one not ready," I muttered, going back to the novel I was flipping through.
"Come on, guys, let's leave Vali behind."
There was silence and footsteps, and a door closing.
"Hey! Wait! You guys are so mean!" I dropped the book on the coffee table and scrambled to get to the elevator before they all left me again.
"Meanies!" I pouted when I got to them just in time as the elevator dinged.
Alex pulled me to his side and gave me a noogie. "It was funny, V," he admitted sheepishly, "We couldn't resist." He sent me puppy eyes and took my duffel bag from me.
"Hmph!"
We all know I forgave them anyway.
When we got to the beach, strangely enough, everyone's eyes were on us.
Why?