Final Ticket

four

Maddie had been desperately searching for the package Numbers sent for two days now. Her mom had taken the mail to look at it, and now the box had disappeared into some kind of wormhole, no where to be seen. Maybe she had underestimated her family.

After a second frantic breeze through the house, she went back into her room and laid down on the smooth, pink and purple patchwork quilt. When she glanced over to her mirror and the dresser it sat on, she noticed a foreign, simple white envelope. Was that it? Maybe she was being greedy wanting an actual package. A letter from him was an accomplishment in itself.

She leaned over to get it, slipping her thumb under the flap to break the seal, then pulled the thin paper out. His stationary was stark white with gold trim, the ink of his small writing in a dark blue.

Madeline Fitzgerald,

My name is Solomon Gauge. You know me as Numbers however. Please tell me if you reject my invite. If not, I will see you soon.

Yours sincerely,

Solomon

Sure enough, when she peeked into the packet again, there were two pieces of paper. Pulling them both out, she discovered one was a plane ticket from Detroit to Heathrow airport. She couldn't believe it. Was this for real?

It looked real, and why would anyone even fake a ticket anyway? Not like you got arrested for it.

The other piece of paper was even more unbelievable to her though. A photo.

It didn't show much unfortunately, only two males in profile. One was tall, maybe about 193cm, curly dark hair that reached his ears, wearing black pants and a long-sleeved blue button down. He also seemed to have a bit of scruffy facial hair along his jaw.

Across from him stood a significantly smaller boy, with short blonde hair and wearing a black and white school uniform. She noted while this boy had a dorky, ear to ear smile, the curly haired man's lips were pursed into a straight line. She didn't want to make any assumptions but she had a feeling Solomon/Numbers would be the blonde.

After examining the photo a minute or so longer, she pulled out her phone to message him, but he was offline. That was a strange and rare thing that typically only occured when he was sick or if his phone died in the middle of the night. She decided to send him a message anyway, knowing sooner or later it would get to him.

[07:18:56 PM] madeline: Hey ...er, Numbers. I found your package, my mom put it in my closet while cleaning.. just wanted to say thank you for trusting me, and I'll see you soon.

She balanced the ticket in her hand, looking harder and harder at it. How would she even begin to explain this to her family? The scenario was already in her head.

"Mom, Dad, some guy I just learned the name of invited me to spend two weeks with him in London! Can I go?!"

She could feel their glares on them as they said "no, no and hell no."

As it ended, she could hear the knob of her door click as it was opened. She glanced up, wondering which member of her family was gracing her with their presence. Her mother.

She slowly closed the door behind her, sitting on Maddie's bed with a faint, tired smile on her face. Quickly, she shoved the envelope and papers from Solomon under her pillow.

"Hi Mads," Mrs. Fitzpatrick, Bobbi, said. "I made cake, it's in the kitchen on the bar."

"Thanks," was Maddie's reply as she fondled her phone, watching Numbers' online status intently. SHe wished she could psychically get him online.

"How's work?"

Her mom's voice broke the silence again and she looked up, shrugging. "What does the letter from your friend in London say? I saw it come in a couple days ago and was wondering what he had to say."

Maddie's eyes began darting around, attempting to form some kind of lie. She shouldn't have bragged that he was gonna send her something..."

"That, uhmm..." she blinked a couple of times. "He's glad I'm there for him." Without even glancing up, she knew her mother was sending a harsh glare her way. "Aaaand that he wants to see me in a month."

Well, atleast in this scenario only one person would scold her on the dangers of the internet.

"Him coming here?"

"Me going there." She closed her eyes, expecting her mother to explode...but nothing. "He sent me a round trip ticket."

Still no explosions. Was her mother okay? Maybe she passed out? Maddie glanced past her bangs and saw her mother was just smiling.

"You've grown up, haven't you..." She laid back, next to her. "I think it would be a wonderful experience, but we'll have to talk with your father beforehand."

"I figured."

"I don't know how he will react, and I can't guarantee it will go well. I'll try to convince him though."

Maddie blinked as sat up, as her mom pulled out her sleek black phone and pressed the screen. She sucked in her breath, listening to the one side of the conversation. A lot of "uh-huh," "yeah," "but..." "I think..."

Maddie plopped her head back down on the mess of pillows at the tip of her bad. She had turned out the conversation after a while, and after twenty minutes of "it will be good" and "I know you don't like it but" she dozed off.

She awoke a couple hours later to an empty room, her phone buzzing nonstop as the chat she was in had awoken. Nolan, a Texas native and a Brazilian named João were having a debate about which Champion was too strong at the moment on League of Legends, a game they both played regularly together.

[9:33:21 PM] madeline: you guys need to shush

[9:34:01 PM] Nolan:

She laid her head back down, realising the enevelope was still under her pillows. How had the talk gone with her dad anyway? If her mother hadn't gone to work at this point she would've asked. She pulled everything out so that way she didn't crinkle and bend it.

She found she was hungry now after her nap, so she decided to go down to the kitchen.

It was there she saw a note next to the cake stand.

From her mother. It read very briefly, like Solomon's letter.

Mads,

Had a long talk with your dad. After a while he said it was fine, but he suggests buying some mace in case things turn bad.

You have our blessing.

Have fun.

Mom

~~~

[04:19:21 AM] No. 78921: mad max are u awake

[04:19:49 AM] madeline: yah

[04:20:36 AM] No. 78921: will you come

[04:21:01 AM] madeline: im alreadyy packinmg my bages

[04:22:15 AM] No. 78921: your tying has goen funny

[04:23:23 AM] madeline: yours top

[04:23:26 AM] madeline: too

[04:24:19 AM] No. 78921: im drumk, sry

[04:24:47 AM] madeline: (drunk)

[04:26:00 AM] No. 78921: i cant see that

[04:26:39 AM] madeline: go get sme sleep numbers

[04:26:57 AM] madeline: or d you prefer solomon

[04:28:19 AM] No. 78921: call me numbers untol we meet, please

[04:31:31 AM] No. 78921: mad?

[04:33:50 AM] No. 78921: did u die?

[04:51:36 AM] No. 78921: going afk, sleep well