I Can't See The Sky...

10. We're Back!

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(Ryder's POV)

Keith and I stayed up all night packing. Plus, our flight was at 2 in the morning so, that didn't help either.

But by 11, we sat on our beds, showered, dressed and ready, while we waited for coach to send out the "We're leaving," alert.

Having nothing else to do, I gravitated towards my phone.

A bunch of new notifications had nearly blown it up, and all of them were related to someone I followed on insta.

Curiously, I clicked on the oldest one.

I input my passcode, and blah-blah, when the page appeared and began to load.

Finally, a video appeared on the screen.

I choked.

And then began wheezing and coughing because spit had gone down the wrong way.

After about a whole 30 seconds of coughing, I finally cleared my airways enough to scan the video again to make sure I wasn't dreaming.

I wasn't.

What the-

Just then, my phone dinged again. It was coach, he'd sent out the alert for us to leave.

"Ryder, dude. Come on, let's go."

I swallowed, trying to set my suddenly dry mouth.

"Yeah, Keith. Give me a second."

I shoved away my phone and grabbed my backpack and jacket before attempting to shove Kylie out of my head as well.

On my way out, I banged into one of the housekeepers.

"Damn it, I'm sorry." I said quickly.

She was probably a year or two older than me, and she was pretty good-looking. Had this been a normal day, I definitely would have thrown some flattery and compliments her way. But, my mind was too occupied with another girl to even bother.

The girl shook her head and smiled apologetically.

"That's okay. You had better catch up with your group."

My eyes widened, and I thanked her before sprinting off to find my team-mates and coach.

~~~~~~

I settled into my seat beside Keith. He'd taken the aisle and left me with the window, because he wanted "to sleep". I wasn't sure how those were connected, but I let it slide.

I loved looking out the window when I flew. I didn't know why, but there was just something really breath-taking about watching the world far, far below yourself.

I took a deep breath to steady my racing thoughts and sunk further into my seat.

We had a long flight ahead of us.

~~~~~~

My eyes fluttered open to the sound of the comms crackling to life.

"Passengers, this is your pilot speaking. We will be landing in the next few minutes. We'd like you to please fasten your seatbelts..." I tuned out after that, opting instead to gently shake Keith awake.

"Dude, wake up. We're landing."

Keith mumbled something before his own eyes opened sleepily.

Keith hated sleeping through landings because, "The ear pop thing gets even more uncomfortable if you've slept through it," his words, not mine. I didn't care, but I liked watching the landing.

Again, I turned my head and looked out the window.

Sure enough, we were beginning our descent.

Slowly, slowly, slowly, the world went back to normal size, and as soon as the landing gear touched the tarmac, a bowling ball dropped in my stomach.

This was actually happening. We were going to see everyone in the flesh for the first time in nearly a month. Excitement bubbled up in my stomach as our entire team gathered in a large circle, awaiting coach's orders.

I took a moment to sweep my eyes over Coach Damien's being. He looked worse than all of us, combined. His light brown hair was swept in every direction, like he'd spent all of his flight twisting and turning in his seat- which couldn't have been good at all- and his brown eyes looked exhausted.

Yet, he greeted us with a smile and a hearty good afternoon before dividing us into two groups.

One of which would go get some lunch, and the other that would claim the luggage so we could get out of here.

Then, he sent us off on our way.

~~~~~~

The drive home was silent.

There was no music or speech or anything, save for the honking on the road beyond. Yet, it was a welcome familiarity.

And an hour later, the cabbie was pulling up in front of Keith and Kylie's wing lobby, helping us unload our luggage.

You're probably wondering, if the lobby is Kylie and Keith's, why are you here?

Good question. It has a simple, two word answer. Absentee parents.

I'm willing to bet anything that my house would be empty now, except for the full-time house-keeper my wonderful parents had hired. The house-keeper, Jolie, was very sweet. But I was in the mood for family, and didn't even want to think of going back to an empty house.

And so I lugged my suitcase towards the lift, smacking the button.

~~~~~~

Everyone greeted us with open, open arms.

Well, everyone except Kylie that is.

She was nowhere to be found, and her mum told us that she had gone to the gym.

I smelled the lie from a mile away, but I didn't comment on it. I wasn't about to worry her mother even more.

Yes, I could see from all the expressions in the room, including Keith's parents that we weren't the only people Kylie was shutting herself away from. She'd been doing this to everybody.

And we had absolutely no clue on what was going on.