Trouble Times Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Monday

It's the second of January and I need to leave for the airport soon but I'm stressed as fuck.

Donovan and I haven't spent any time together since boxing day and I was not looking forward to travelling with him.

He and I were on different flights to our classmates depending on what we could collectively afford but all of our classmates would be in Alaska, yes, Alaska by the seventh latest, where we would then join the school on the eighth.

Some very key teachers were coming with us, and some important non-teachers also.

The faculty leader of the English department as well as the deputy leaders for the Science and Social Science department were taking a semester hiatus at our school in South Dakota to be in Alaska, which was snowier and a hell of a lot colder.

A lot of staff members who were there to generally upkeep and look after students were coming along and the most significant members of that group were Dr. Howlett, the guidance counsellor but actual qualified psychologist and Mayan Lerata, a security officer and admin worker.

Mayan was funny and loved us all, no matter how much we pissed her off and Donovan did a pretty good job at that.

I finally eat my breakfast and take my suitcases and backpack next door, making sure I haven't forgotten anything.

I wait there and Jess finally gets back from wherever she was and comes and hugs me.

"Oh my God, the traffic was brutal, you and Shepherd need to leave soon. I had a nightmare trying to get here." She says and I just hug her again.

"Are you ready?" Donovan shouts and I nod. He seems less ready than me but that's probably because of the party he went to last night.

It was all over social media, not Donovan, the party but I definitely saw Donovan. Arthur showed me everything from last night when he came over this morning and Donovan was definitely there.

He drank and kissed a lot of girls.

It was a 'farewell party' for those going on the exchange. It was just another excuse to get drunk and high.

I could tell he was hungover from the glasses he was sporting on his face.

We get all our staff together and Paisley insists we all take pictures and I don't want to argue with her, she's like a stand-in mother, much like Aunt Tara is as well and I know she'd love these photos.

Speaking of, Aunt Tara and Uncle Carl pull up and I hug them. Arthur's luggage is with them, along with Delaney, Carter, Dacre and Maisie who came separately.

"Oh Pais, you got pictures? Good, let's take a few more." Everyone takes so much more.

Aunt Tara may be half latina but she was a white woman through and through.

I was 3/4 Latina and born in Mexico.

A lot of people used to attribute my anger to me being latino but my parents never ever let that be the reason, they made sure I knew and understood that I was different but it wasn't my fault and that I was a good girl at heart.

I so wish other people thought that.

Having anger issues was not my fault and I did my best to control them. It was clear that it ran in the family but with a good family, and that's what we used to be, I was fine.

They finally stop and I'm finally taken out of my trance and get into the car.

Everyone says bye to us again before Carter and Dacre take us to the airport.

I'm silent the whole ride while the two boys uo front talk like they've never spoken before, they're excited about everything but they can tell that Donovan, Arthur and I are not up for speaking and thankfully, don't include us. We're all tired.

When we get there, after a long ass journey because of the traffic, they park in the parking lot even though the airport parking is so expensive and help us get to where we need to be.

Eventually we need to leave them because we've checked our luggage in and Carter gives me a big hug and then Dacre does so too.

They make sure we're fine and then we go through security and just go through the whole laborious process but this is giving me flashbacks and I have to take a moment.

"What's wrong with you?" Donovan says as he watches me walk away for a second.

"Nothing." I respond as I walk back and continue on with the process and make sure Arthur has taken off everything he needs to.

"Your belt Gia, take it off." He responds and I thank him and unbuckle the belt, which is magnetic for some odd reason.

We all go through security and get our stuff back on but a kid throws his toy and it hits me in the face.

I don't get annoyed, nor does it hurt but my nose starts gushing like a fountain.

"Oh my God! Tyreese! Say sorry right now!" The probable mother of the kid says but she looks so young she might be as well be his sister.

"I'm sorry." He's so scared and I crouch down and reassure him.

"It's okay, I've gotten worse injuries and it doesn't hurt. Do you have a tissue though?" He nods and rummages in his pocket and hands me a whole packet.

I take a few and hand it back and thank him before leaving.

I wipe my nose and Arthur and comes back with a waterbottle and all three of us go to the disabled toilet to get access to the sink.

We take our hand luggage with us because we don't want to lose it and Donovan would probably run off if he got the chance so he was in here with us.

I flip down my septum piercing and rinse it off, it was far too sore to take it out so I'd have to dry it in.

"You have a septum?" Donovan asks and I nod. "Is that what caused the bleeding?"

I shake my head. I clean some more.

"It's because she's broken her nose a couple of times." Arthur says as he hands me more tissues.

"How?"

"None of your business." I respond. Donovan always pushes boundaries.