Blood in the Water

Day One

     The flight attendant came over the speaker and announced their usual, tedious safety speech. The plane started gradually heading towards the runway. It was fairly loud and it expressed a gust of wind. I saw the young man signaling the pilots. He was wearing radiant colors. We made it to the runway and Connor reached his hand over on top of mine. I sighed at the captivating veins on his arms. The plane started accelerating quickly, so I leaned my body onto Connor and meshed our hands. I started to feel the strain all over my body at once. I closed my eyes and concealed my head in his chest.

     After a few minutes or so, he whispered, "Lyssa you can open your eyes now, we made it up safely."

     I opened them and sat up to get organized. Planes have always stressed me out.

     I seized my computer and AirPods out of my bag and pulled down the tray from my seat. I opened up my computer and gave Connor one of my AirPods. I pressed play on"She's the Man" and rested my head on Connor's shoulder. I watched for a while but I felt bad I was ignoring Drew. He was watching The Walking Dead. I felt the drowsiness set in quickly.

I whispered to Connor, "I'm really tired, I think I'm going to fall asleep."
"Ok babe, I love you," he replied.

      I looked at the time and it was 9:30. After that I eventually drifted off. Unfortunately, I was rudely awakened by Drew laughing while taking a photo of me sleeping. My head had fallen off of Connor's shoulder and onto his chest. My mouth was open so Drew thought it would be humorous to get a photo about two hours later. The flight was almost over so I sat up and put everything away.

     "Please buckle your seatbelts and turn off all devices we will be landing in about two minutes," the flight attendant declared over the intercom.

    I was still weary so I wasn't even thinking about the impact of landing. We started to disembark so Connor put his arm around me. I felt the tires contact the runway and had an indescribable feeling of excitement.

     "Ladies and gentlemen, American Airlines welcomes you to Jacksonville, Florida. The local time is 12:26 P.M. For your safety and the safety of those around you, please remain seated with your seat belt fastened and keep the aisles clear until we are parked at the gate."

     At that moment I was wide awake. The light came on to unbuckle our seatbelts so that's exactly what we did. It was time to exit the plane. Connor guided me through the aisle and out of the jetway. When we got out of the jetway, we headed to the exit of the airport. Once we got out, I felt the warmth of the sun on my skin. The sky was blue and it had the ideal amount of clouds. We had to walk a stretch to the two rental cars. One was a small white Honda and the other was a big silver minivan. We divided it up, having Lydia, Jackson, Lucas, Emily, Sarah, and my mom in the minivan. That left Drew, Connor, Natalie, Cate, and me in the Honda. We went to the cars, put our luggage in, and drove off. It was about a thirty-minute drive to St. Augustine from the airport.

     We had been on screens all day so I decided to read my book. I was reading "Verity" by Colleen Hoover. Drew made fun of me for reading, but it was honestly such a good book. It kind of freaked me out though. After I read for a while, I opened my phone and snapped back some people. Lydia and I were vlogging from our separate cars. We rent a different house every year and it's a surprise for us kids, so Lydia and I were making our predictions. I thought it would be a light blue, wood house with white stairs. Lydia anticipated it would be a more modern white house with big windows. We had five minutes left in the drive so I started to look out of Connor's window. These were just regular neighborhoods but there is something so extraordinary about beachfront houses. I was thinking about all the amazing possibilities when I saw the sand and the waves crashing. It was enchanting. The birds were flying, the sun was shining, and the water was an icy blue.