Road Trip [#Wattys2015]

Chapter 6

We jumped out of the car and I read the hotel sing out loud.

"Hotel Transil-comfia?"

"Worst hotel name ever right?" Maia scoffed and I agreed. We went in, the hotel's lobby was nice and small. The walls were covered in flowers and quotes like "If you never try you will never know", there was a burning red carpet covering every inch of the floor up until the staircase that went up to the rooms. We walked up to the reception. Grandpa George went first.

"Hello I would like a room. I don't have a reservation" He said and the receptionist typed something on her computer. Her name tag read Sidney and she had straight blond golden hair going down her shoulders and resting on her chest. She was wearing a tight black shirt with the hotels terrible name printed on it and even tighter black jeans underneath. She looked really young, I was dying to know her age but I didn't want to sound rude. Maybe I could get Jackson to do it later.

"You will be in room 6B." She smiled gently and gave him a card.

"Bye guys." He said and disappeared onto the staircase.

"Hello, we would like a room with three beds, we don't have a reservation either." Jackson stepped forwards and we followed him.

"Hmm," She started typing again. "We are kind of full but, let me see what I can do." We all looked at each other nervously. I wasn't really looking forward to sleeping on a bench and cuddling with Jackson through the night.

"Aha! Got it!" She said and we picked up our faces from the floor. "Okay, so there's this one room but it's not available yet. The people that are in it are set to leave in about 2 hours. You guys can hung around here if you want." She pointed us to a little lounge right next to her desk. It was a little wooden table surrounded by four chairs. We thanked her and sat down.

"It's really nice here." Said Jackson looking around.

"You mean cheesy." Maia pointed at a quote on a wall that said "Love yourself first"

"Ugh I know!" said Sidney who was right behind us. "I've been telling them to redecorate for like ages!" she emphasized ages.

"Hey! I like the quotes!" Jackson complained playfully.

"There's only one," said Sidney while laughing "I kind of like." And she pointed to the one at the left. I read it out loud to be sure.

"We met for a reason, you are either a blessing or a lesson." And as I read it I realized how beautiful it was. I turned to look at Sidney who was smiling. "it's a really good one."

"I know" her smile grew bigger, "I think about that every time someone comes in here."

"So you're friendly with all your visitors then." Said Jackson sarcastically and she laughed.

"So do you think that's cheesy?" she was talking to Maia now who seemed to be reading the quote over and over. "Oh, by the way my name's Sidney."

"I know I read the name tag, Maia." She shook her hand. "and that's Tom" she pointed at me and I shook her hand to "and my brother Jackson"

"So what brings you guys here?" She said after she was done shaking hands and sat on the empty chair between me and Maia.

"We're here on a road trip" I said.

"And how is it going so far?" She said, still smiling with the same brightness.

"It keeps getting better and better." Said Jackson and Sidney laughed again.

"Well that's really flattering, but I don't date guys who go to high school" She said turning us both down even though Jackson was the only one who hit on her.

"How old are you anyway?" Asked Jackson who didn't seem to take it that hard.

"How old do you think?"

"Ummm, around forty- forty five?" He joked.

"Close." She laughed. "I'm twenty."

"But that's only like..." Jackson counted on his fingers. "... Three years older than us."

"Well excuse me for not wanting to date a guy who still counts on his fingers." She sassed him.

"Well excuse me for not being good at math." He replayed at the same tone. "I'm destined for other stuff." He gazed in the distance.

"And what are those exactly?" I demanded. In all the years I knew Jackson, he has never showed any interest for any profession besides piloting.

"I don't know yet." He said. "But when I do you'll be the first to know buddy, I promise."

"God, I feel so honored" I joked.

"Do you even go to college?" Maia turned to Sidney and changed the subject.

"No I don't need to my parents are rich." She said and none of us knew whether to laugh or cuss her off, so instead I just said: "What?"

"My father owns this place and it will be mine in like 5 years or so. That's when I'll make all the changes."

"Start from the name." I advised her and she laughed.

"That's exactly what I'll do, but what would be a good hotel name?" she looked into the distance as if she was thinking.

"You could do something like Hilton, what is your last name?" asked Maia.

"No that wouldn't work" Sidney shacked her head. "My last name is Roach. It sounds really bad."

"Then you could, you know like there's the Broke Hearts Hotel, this could be the Lame Quotes Hotel" I offered.

"Or the Hot Receptionists Hotel." Jackson said.

"How about the Keep-It-In-Your-Pants Hotel." Maia glanced at her brother.

"Who would keep a hotel in their pants, Maia? You gotta focus." He replied and it was one of these times when you don't understand if he's joking or not, but you really hope he is.

"Is that why you don't date high school guys?" Maia asked her and she knobbed

"That is exactly why." And then the hotel doors opened and a guy walked in. He looked exhausted and tortured as if someone had chased him all the way from his house to here.

"I'm guessing he doesn't have a reservation either." Sidney winked at us and then went behind her desk. "Hello, sir. How may I help you?" and she was right he didn't have a reservation.

"Do you guys think I'm boring?" I turned to my friends while Sidney was typing up things in her computer again.

"Ugh!" Maia groaned. "Did you remind him of Liz again?" She asked her brother angrily.

"I might have." He looked down humbled.

"Look Tom, we've been over this. It is unhealthy how much you obsess over her. Let it go already!"

Maia was right but that wasn't an answer so I insisted.

"You think I'm boring don't you? You have told me once, I remember" Maia rolled her eyes.

"I didn't say I think you're boring, I said I understand why Liz does." She had said that to me when I was telling her and Jackson what happened. And when I had asked her: "What's that supposed to mean?" she said that not everyone gets me. I didn't understand what that meant either but I was tired of talking about Liz so I didn't ask her.

Now it was the same conversation all over again and I promised myself not to bring it up again. Maia was usually too delusional to be right but this time she was, I should let it go.

When the men got his key card and went up to his hotel room, three dudes came down the stairs to return theirs. "You guys! Your room is free!" Sidney called us and gave us their cards. "You will be in 2B. Oh, and Tom..." she called after me before I went up the first step of the stairs. "... I don't think you're boring."