Forever Young

Chapter 5

My alarm clock started beeping at 3:00 am the next morning. Our flight was at 5:00 and we needed to be there 30 minutes before, just in case. I groaned and got out of bed. I put my hair into a bun and hopped into the shower. I quickly washed my body and hopped back out. As I was getting dressed, I checked the weather in California on my phone. Since Kelly was attending Stanford University, my dream college, we were moving to Palo Alto, California.

It said that the high was going to be 88 degrees so I put on a pair of high-rise denim shorts, a white, short sleeve, pineapple crop top with a pair of tan and white flip flops. I put on a gold Alex and Annie charm bracelet, which I had previously set the night before, and rubbed lotion on my legs and my arms.

I went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth, and brushed my hair. I threw my head forward, and reluctantly, put my long hair in a high ponytail. I looked in the mirror one last time, and tiptoed down the stairs.

Looking around the living room, I saw that most of our things had been packed in big brown boxes. I suddenly had the urge to cry but I fought it back. All the memories we had in the kitchen, where mom taught me how to make pancakes, and in the living room, where we used to have Family Movie Night. Then the dining room, where we ate the best meals cooked by my amazing mother and shared stories about our day. Even the stairs bought back memories. When we were younger, me and James would play games on the stairs with him on the top or bottom and me on the top or bottom. We would toss each other a ball or a stuffed animal. I felt my eyes starting to get watery and quickly wiped them. I walked into the kitchen and put two slices of bread to toast and got out the jelly and butter.( I don't eat then together by the way.) I was scrolling through my text messages, looking through the goodbyes I sent to all of my other friends when the toast popped up. I jumped and dropped my phone. Praying that it didn't shatter, I picked it up. Thankfully, it was ok. I carefully took my toast out of the toaster and smeared butter on one and jelly on the other. I poured myself a glass of orange juice and sat down at the kitchen table, not the dining room.

When I was finished, I downed whatever was left of orange juice in my cup and set the plate in the sink. I glanced at the microwave clock and saw that it was only 3:50 am. I texted Kelly and James to see if they were ready yet. Less than a minute later they answered saying that they were getting dressed. I plopped myself on the couch and waited for them. Five minutes later, James came down wearing a pair of kaki shorts, one of those shirts with the decorated pockets and converse high tops.

"You ready? Is all your stuff packed and ready to go?" I asked. I wanted to make sure that we didn't leave anything behind.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure. Stop stressing."James laughed.

"Your right. Okay." I breathed.

Just then Kelly came down wearing a pair of cropped, destroyed skinny jeans, a shirt with mint stripes, and a pair of white converse, identical to the ones I had.

"Okay. The truck guys will be here in like 5 minutes." She said.

"It's already 4:00. We'll make it to the airport in time, right?" I asked.

"Yes. Don't worry." She assured.

Just like she said, about five minutes later, the truck people came and picked up our stuff. Not our furniture, just our heavy boxes so it only took about 10 minutes.

We were at the airport at 4:30. We hopped out out if the cab, grabbed our suitcases and rushed inside. We stood in line for like two minutes and they weighed our bags. Thankfully, none of the suitcases had gone over the weight limit and we continued through the airport. We went through the safety check fairly quick and were seated in the waiting area at 4:55.

We were sitting in silence when a male voice came on over the speakers.

"Flight 262 will be delayed an hour due to bad weather passing through Illinois; Flight 262 will be delayed an hour."

"Crap. Looks like we're gonna be stuck here for a little bit." Whispered Kelly.

"That's okay. There's an outlet here." I mentioned.
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About fifty minutes later, the speaker came on again.

"Flight 262 will be arriving shortly. Thank you for your patience."

"Im gonna go get some food for the plane. Airplane food isn't the best." Kelly added and she started walking towards the multiple bakery's and chain restaurants scattered around the airport.

About five minutes later, she returned with three bags all containing the same food items; an egg, cheese, bacon and sausage croissant sandwich with a small bowl of fruit and a bottle of orange juice.

"We're eating on the plane." She reminded us.

"Flight 262 now boarding rows 5-10."
Interrupted the voice on the speaker.

"That's us. Let's go." I said.

James and Kelly followed me through the tunnel that lead through to the plane. I passed the rows until I reached row eight. I got the window seat but I wouldn't be able to see the sunrise because we were heading west and the sunrise would be in front of us. When I found our seats I plopped my self down a slid my backpack under my chair. James sat next to me and at the end was Kelly. I looked over at James and he had a sad look on his face.

"Hey," I said as I touched his arm. "Everything's gonna turn out just fine. I promise."

"Thanks Tay." he smiled.

We took off after about fifteen minutes waiting. I pulled the window cover up to reveal the gorgeous pink-orange-purple sky. I secured my earbuds in my ears and turned the music up a little. I rested my head back in my chair and tried to somewhat "enjoy" the five-hour flight.