That Wasn't Planed..

I Should Have Flown

I was visiting my childhood friends from London, I had moved out there for college. All my friends from high school stayed in the U.S, moving around a little. Two were in New York, one in Texas, Florida, Alaska, and California. We all got to go to our dream schools, all except Nick, who just decided to go back to his family in Alaska and went to some school in Anchorage. We all had finally finished school. Niki finished last in New York, in order to become a lawyer, she always loved debating with people so she just thought that would be the right thing for her.

I was flying out to Florida to meet Wil, he moved there to go to some school for space engineering I believe, I haven't talked to him in a while, but it was cheaper to fly there and go with him in the car to New York than it was to fly right there. I save about a grand by doing so,     (I don't think this is true, but for now it is)                                                                                                    seeing as it's the only direct flight I could find from here to the east all week. All our flights are around the same time, so we are all meeting up at Puffy's. She lives in New York, right outside the city area, she went to NYU for culinary cooking.

I was sitting in my room checking each of my bags for the 5th time. I'm going for 2 weeks, so I can't forget anything. I have 6 trousers, 2 shorts, a suit, 2 short sleeve button-ups, 2 sweaters, 8 short sleeve t-shirts, and 4 long ones, 1 heavy jacket, 2 hoodies, 3 shoes, some accessories, and a few other random belts, hats, bags, and toiletries. In my carry-on I packed all my electronics, chargers, laptop, camera, iPad, headphones, some more clothes to wrap the breakable things, a book or two, and a sketchbook with some paints and markers. I hope while I'm there I can find a good spot to sit and paint the city. I've always been so drawn in towards big cities.

The night before my flight I checked all my things one more time, and went to bed around 9, I made sure to remind Will that I fly out tomorrow. I woke up the next morning at around 5am, which was super early for me, it was still 2 hours till my alarm had gone off. I dreamed about meeting them all, and how much each of them has changed. It's been 7 years since I've seen any of them. I got to see 2 of them when I was in California visiting my Dad, Phil and Clay, but we didn't have much time due to school and prior plans.

I had almost forgotten the gifts I got for everyone, I had them sitting on the couch in my living room, I just hope my roommate didn't eat any of the sweets. I walked out there to see the bag still there, everything in it. All the gifts were there, each one for what everyone went to school for. I had packed each gift into my check bag, pulling out a set of tan cargo pants and a black band-t to wear, grabbing a different hoodie from my closet, I picked my lime green one. Throwing on some matching lime green eyeliner to match. I still had 3 hours till I had to go to the airport, so I decided to sit on the couch and watch some T.V for an hour. Soon after my first show started I got up to make some breakfast, attempting to make some pancakes but failing, and burning each one, so I made a bowl of cereal.

I grabbed my suitcases and backpack and set them by the door. I was so excited, I haven't seen these people in years, and now I get to see all of them together in one room. I wonder how much each one of them has changed. I know I have changed, in high school I was a very big book nerd. I had the classic bowl cut, but in the past few years I had grown out my hair to about shoulder length. I had a nose piercing, and started to wear makeup on a daily basis, but today I had gone simple seeing as I'll be on a plane for a while. My everyday wear has changed as well, now I'm more into matching my tops and bottoms, when in high school all I wore were jeans and some kind of hoodie. I like to think I have gotten a lot more confident with myself, being more comfortable with what I wear. I also got a few tattoos and piercings. I got 2 piercings on each ear, and a septum and tongue ring. I got a tattoo on my ankle and one on my back, a mural in memory of my mother, a combination of all kinds of things she loved, and my ankle is a dinosaur for my brother. They both died in a car crash, me being the only survivor, it happened when I was 17, so, shortly after I moved out on my own.

I knocked on my roommate's door, him opening it soon after "What's up?" He said in a sleepy voice, you can tell he just woke up. "I'm heading to the airport, I'll see you in 2 weeks." I say giving him a small head nod and a wave as I walked away. "Don't forget to text me! Call me too!" he shouted as I walked off. Him and I had been roommates since I moved to London, so we were close, always hanging out. "I will, don't burn the house down!" I walked out the front door stepping onto the front porch. I had forgotten to call an uber a little ago. So I rang one and they were there about 5 minutes later. The drive to the airport was quiet, with simple small talk, like where are you going, and that sounds fun being said at least 3 times each.

Once I got there I texted Wil telling him I had just arrived at the airport, he texted back telling me to tell him when I land so he can come get me. I went through customs and security, handing each of them my passport and boarding pass. I had to get a passport when I moved here, I had not traveled outside of the U.S before until coming here. I texted my roommate, Mel, that I had just gotten on the plane, he told me a simple ''good luck''. I laughed at the text thinking it was silly. I never really liked flying so I took a sleeping pill before getting on.

The flight was long, very long, but right when I landed I texted Wil and Mel, telling both of them I was alive and on the ground. It was about 11pm in Florida, I stepped off the plane, going to get my other bag from baggage claim. I walked outside and was hit with warm air even though it was the middle of November. Everyone was in shorts, and it was so humid. I was looking around for Wil until a tall man, about 6'5 in a set of light shorts and Hawaiian button up, stood in front of me. "George?" The tall man towers over me. I'm about 5'8 so I looked straight up. "Wil?!" he can tell I'm shocked, I mean last time I saw him I was taller. "That's me!" "You are HUGE, not in a bad way." He pulls me into a hug laughing at my comment on his height.

He leads me over to his car helping me with my bags, he set the 2 suitcases in the trunk, while I kept my backpack on me. "Well how are you? It's been ages!" I ask the man, while looking at him, seeing how much he has changed. In high school he was short, VERY short, he had blonde straight hair, and now he has dark red curly hair, with a white streak in it. It's a change from what I last remember, that's for sure.

"I'm good! Florida's great, I'm great..." He trails off looking at what I'm wearing, I think he finally realized I'm not the same kid from high School. "What about, uh, you..?"

"I'm Great! London is amazing, I think you would really like it there. But I've just kinda been going along I guess."

"I see.." he quietly comments. "I was hoping to leave tomorrow morning, and hopefully do a full trip, but we might need to stop."

"Sounds good! How long is the drive?" I ask, I don't want to sit in a car with this awkward conversation between us for more than a few hours.

"17 hours, without any stops."

I should have just flown...