United We Stand

14. Rookie

Someone shakes me awake. "Wha-huh?" I mumble as my eyes shoot open. I instantly see a face in front of me. Josh.

"We're the last ones. We should get going." Josh says. I nod sleepily as I stand up from my seat. I smack my head against the luggage holders above me. I groan.

Josh tries to hide his smile. "Are you okay?" He asks. I nod, rubbing my head. "Yeah, just keep going." I say, waving him off. Josh nods and stands up, leading me out of the plane.

We walk through the tunnel, talking about the movie we were watching before I went to sleep. Which starred Liam Neeson in Non-Stop. It was amazing. But also scary because it was about bombs in a plane and we were in a plane.

When we exit the tunnel, we emerge into a airport. Liam and Dakota are already waiting for us. "Can you guys hurry up?" Dakota asks. I roll my eyes. "We have all day." I say. Dakota quirks an eyebrow. "It's one in the afternoon. We have to unpack, eat, and take a tour." She says flatly.

"That's just me. You guys already know the campus." I say. Liam shakes his head. "We all go through this together." He cuts in. Josh nods. I sigh and motion to the security desks up ahead. "Lead the way then." I say.

Liam frowns at my sarcasm but starts to walk. Dakota walks next to him which leaves me and Josh behind. They're already cutting us off. They both are not even giving me a second glance. Is this because of Josh? He's not bad. He is trying hard to be close to them.

I set my jaw before following Liam and Dakota.

«-»

          The taxi drops us off in a airport. Well not exactly in an airport but a little squat building with some small planes surrounding it. The area around the building and the planes is surrounded by a high fence.

  "W-what are we doing here?" I ask nervously. Nobody seems to have heard me. Dakota and Liam are not talking for the moment, and Josh is walking next to Liam, leaving me behind everybody. We keep walking towards the gate, which is all the way on the other side from where we are.

        I'm carrying my heavy duffel bag and on my back is my backpack, both full of clothes. And on my other hand I am holding my violin case. Everyone else has packed lightly. But the fact that I'm moving here makes me jittery inside. Hawaii so far is gorgeous. It feels like summer.

               It looks like summer. Most girls and boys wear their bathing suits while walking on the sidewalks or going to eat. On the way to the airport, I saw many girls walking in the sidewalk with their bikinis on, not bothering to cover up.

    And I saw some, boys as well. Boys don't need to cover up, that was a nice view. But here, nobody is here. The mini airport itself is isolated. We're walking on the road because there is no sidewalks. I've only seen a couple of people walk by, and that was thirty minutes ago.

         This airport is in the middle of nowhere. Behind it is a forest, it doesn't look like any forest, like a jungly one. Vines and thick trees. I try not to look at the forest, my hands grow plants just with thinking about forests.

           The only houses around here is like two miles away. Ahead of the airport is a small beach. Sand stretches from left to right with little waves lapping against each other.

    Not a bad view. We almost reach the gate. Liam all of a sudden is in front of the group, with Josh trailing after him and Dakota is almost at my side.

        "Hi." I say to Dakota. She looks at me surprised. "Oh hey. Shouldn't you be talking to your boyfriend?" She snaps. I wince at her comment. "Josh is not my boyfriend, okay? Just because I was talking to him doesn't mean you can get into your feelings." I retort.

      Dakota's glare slowly disappears and she nods. "I know. I'm sorry, I just..." Dakota trails off. I smile, putting my arm around her shoulders, making the bag on my hand bump her waist.

    "It's okay. If you wanted to talk to me or something just tell me. Doesn't matter if Josh is with me or not." I say. Dakota grins, nodding. "Alright. So what'd you guys talk about?" She asks.

I shrug. "About movies, food, hair, people, powers." I answer.

       Dakota narrows her eyes. "Does he have a power?" She asks in a whisper. I nod. "Yeah, but he won't tell me." I whisper back. Dakota looks at the back of Josh. "Mmhm. If he's hiding something..."

    "I'm sure it's nothing." I say, trying not to think negatively. Dakota purses her lips. "I'm going to do a background check on him." She says. I laugh abruptly. Dakota looks at me. "Really?" I ask. Dakota nods. "If he's going to date you then--"

"We're not dating!" I say, slapping her arm. "He already asked you on a date. That would lead to something else..." Dakota says in a singy-songy voice. I roll my eyes. It would be nice for him to ask me.

      We just met but hey we only live once. I blush, and Dakota laughs at my reaction. Both of the guys look back at us. Liam raises a eyebrow and Josh shakes his head smiling. I meet Liam's eyes and he immediately looks away. What's with him?

     "Hey, Dakota?"

"Mhmm?" She replies, taking deep breaths from laughing. I try hard not to grin. "Why is Liam acting all weird?" I ask. Dakota looks at me, planting her hands on her hips. "Are you serious? Are you seriously asking this question?" Dakota asks. My arm around her shoulders flops to my side.

      "Well...yeah." I say meekly. Dakota rolls her eyes and sighs. "Liam is jealous. Don't you know anything about boys?" Dakota asks. My eyebrows shoot up. Liam? Jealous? But he's so... awesome looking. Why would he be jealous?

      Does he... like me? Nah, he saw me cry. And my puke got on his sweater. He met my grandparents. I shudder. No. He's not... jealous. "I haven't had a boyfriend since last year." I say. Dakota nods. "Wow. Okay, that explains a lot. Are you a virgin?" She asks. I nearly choke.

     "Excuse me?" I say, looking at the guys to see if they heard. "You heard me." Dakota says plainly. After a few seconds I nod. Dakota tries to hide her grin. "Oh. Well we are going to have some boy lessons one day. I'm going to teach you how to flirt." She says. I scoff.

    "Well, excuse me. I am not having this conversation with you. I know how to flirt thank you very much." I say. Dakota bursts out laughing. I narrow my eyes at her.

"C'mon! You sound like a granny when you said that. We are young, Skylar! We have to date as much guys as we can before we have saggy arms!" Dakota exclaims.

          I point at Josh. "What about him?" I ask. Dakota waves him off. "He can wait." She says. I snort. "Yeah. Ookay." I say. Dakota nods. "After you unpack and have a tour, we are going to the beach. There you will have a lot of practice." She says. I shrug. "Why not?" I say.

     Dakota opens her mouth to say something but Liam interrupts her. "Here we are." He says. We all stop before the metal gates. My eyes trail up the tall gates. A little voice box is in the side, with a red and green button.

"Liam McCain." He says into the voice box. My brows shoot up. I've never heard his last name. McCain? It doesn't go with... him. The gates open and we all shuffle in. A person walks out the small building, wearing a head phones.

       "Hello, mates. My name is Mike. And I'm your pilot. We're going to go over a few rules later. But right now I need all the names." He says in a Australian accent. We all introduce ourselves. His eyes don't leave mine.

   "Rookie, eh?" He asks with a grin. I shrug. "I guess." I mumble. Mike winks at me. "You'll love it, mate. Believe me." He says. I force on a smile. Even thought he seems to be a little older than Josh.

         Josh motions for him to keep going. "Lets go inside to the gear." He says, jerking his head to the building. We all trail after him. My stomach clenches nervously as we enter the building.