48 Hours // l.t. [1]

Chapter 3

As always, when it came to early mornings in car rides, I passed out shortly after the bus driver drove back on the freeway. My neck bent at an uncomfortable angle, my head laying against the cool window, the music in my ears luring me to sleep... It wasn't hard to fall asleep.

When I woke up, my throat was dry, it was still light out, and for a moment, I seemed to forget there was someone sitting beside me. My hand flew to my mouth and wiped away any traces of drool, followed by wiping the sleep out of my eyes. 

Then, I fumbled for my messenger bag, pulling out a water bottle and taking a large swig to relieve the dry ache in my throat.

My eyes flickered to the seat next to me. Louis had settled into his seat, his arms wrapped around his torso and his hood flipped up to hide his disheveled, brown hair. His mouth hung open as he slept, soft snores filling the silence in the bus--either most  people wrapped themselves into their own world or were sleeping like Louis.

He looked peaceful, like nothing could touch him while he slept soundly next to me. Not the fame nor it's blinding lights, the people who fawn over him... he was high, way above everything else, in the cloud.

There was no lines in his forehead or crinkles by his eyes. There was no agitation in his face, nothing that gave off he wasn't all right. His whole body was relaxed and slumped against the seat. He seemed so at peace, so relaxed, that I couldn't help but wonder if he always slept like this?

I shook the thought out of my head and pulled out my phone. There were a couple messages from Aunt Daphne and Tammy.

Aunt Daphne: Hi, sweetheart. Just checking in. How's the ride?

Me: Hi, Auntie. Just woke up, I passed out a while ago. It's good. How's everything at home?

Although my Auntie wasn't exactly up-to-date with most technology and wasn't, at all, tech-savvy, I taught her how to text with a prepaid phone I bought her before I left. It took me a week and a half, but I managed. We celebrated and went out to eat at a Chinese restaurant when she finally managed to get a hold of texting (I didn't even bother with text-slang, that would  take her at least a month to figure out and I didn't have enough patience for that). 

After my aunt's message, I read Tammy's. 

Tammy: Make sure you send a few pics, never gonna see those states  again for a while. 

I laughed, pulling up my camera and positioning the phone away from me. I snapped a quick selfie, contorting my face into a silly expression, before sending to her. 

Me: How's this? x

Ever since I can remember, Tammy and I have been the best of friends. In elementary and middle school, the two of us were basically attached to each other's hip; no one would see one without the other. And for the longest time, we were a package deal. You want one, you get the other. But then the summer before ninth grade hit, and Tammy's family went to Europe for four months.

Tammy came back tanner, thinner, and way more attractive than I--a pale-faced, brown-haired ordinary girl with braces. The popularity she gained had caused a drift between us two and as hard as we tried to stay friends, we ended up becoming strangers for two years. 

In our Junior year, we reconnected. And although we weren't stuck to each other's hip, we were still pretty close. We just learned how to deal without being in each other's presence for a long period of time, which was something the both of us  had to have learned now that I was looking back on it.

For the longest time, things were easy between us two. Just like I'd always imagined they'd be. And when I told Tammy I wanted to move to New York, there was a huge fight between us. One that I thought would end our friendship. 

Tammy being Tammy, she didn't want me to move away from her. She'd rather I stayed in Los Angeles with her and Aunt Daphne. But no matter what I told her ("It's my time to spread my wings and leave home", "I want to get out of California for a while", "I think I just need to leave home for a while. I don't think it's permanent.") she still put up a fight.

So, without even clearing things with her, I left California. It wasn't all right leaving things that way with Tammy, but it got the message across to her--I wanted to leave home. 

It took us months to get our friendship back to the way it was.

And now, Tammy and Aunt Daphne are meeting me at the Los Angeles bus terminal. Tears sprung to my eyes when I imagined how'd it go. Of course, Tammy and I were going to be two big babies, balling our eyes out. Then I would just have to turn to face Aunt Daphne to burst into tears again.

As much as I hated crying, it would be really emotional whether I wanted it to be or not. It was going to be one of those things I couldn't really help.

I sighed, taking a drink from my water bottle, before opening up my book and start reading.