Fly Away [Before You Exit]

Twelve

After the show, it was about ten o'clock at night. We still had a couple hours to hang out and to go sightseeing, but what's there to see in Las Vegas? All you see are hotels or people sitting on the curbs drinking and smoking their asses off. I guess it didn't seem like it to Kim and the others. They were from the east coast and they weren't familiar with the west side of America, so I guess I'm their tour guide.

We just decided to walk around the Strip and find a place to eat. The Strip was a two-way street where everything was happening. It was where all the popular hotels, stores, and performers are. Each hotel was distinct from the other, they each had a different themed. Some were modeled to look like buildings from Ancient Greek. Some looked fancy and futuristic. The stores and restaurants would light up once the sun would set, enlightening the Strip.

"Have you guys seen the water show in front of the Bellagio?" I asked as we strolled through the crowded streets. It was kind of a risk not having security guards beside us, knowing that the Strip was full of crazy-ass people. I showed them a spot where I would always stand to watch the water show.

"I remember seeing one with you when I was like, seven," Kim leaned against the concrete as she looked down at the black waters in front of the Bellagio hotel. But as for the guys, they shook their heads.

"We were always so busy, we never got the chance to stop and watch," Connor explained.

"It happens every 15 minutes, so it should be starting soon," I explained. I wiped my forehead, it was so hot here. It was mid-July and it was still over a hundred degrees at ten o'clock.

As the show began, the lights dimmed and the music began. The music and the layout is different time, this time it was "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" by the Beatles. As I was watching, I felt a small nudge. I turned to the side and saw Toby standing next to me. He gave me a shy grin.

After the water show, we continued to walk down the Strip. As we crossed the streets, a man was standing on the other side of the street. He was holding a large stack of small cards. As we passed by him, he handed Connor and Riley each a card. They both took a second to examine the card and their faces said it all. They look disgusted. They looked at each other and threw away the cards.

"What were those?" Kim asked as Connor and Riley caught up to us.

"They were business cards to this strip club," Riley said uncomfortably. I gave a small laugh, he looked so uncomfortable. I saw the same card on the ground in front of me. No wonder they were so disgusted, there was a woman that was plastered on the card, she was topless.

We pushed that aside and continued our walk, but there was something that really caught my eye that I've never seen before. Near the curb of the street, there was a statue that was spray-painted a metallic gold. He was wearing sunglasses and was standing in the middle of the walkway. At his feet was a bucket of coins.

Curious, I walked up to the statue. It looked extremely suspicious. Why was there a random statue standing in the middle of the street?

But my thoughts stopped when the statue came to life and jumped out at me. I yelped and I heard Kim laughing from behind me.

"Sorry to scare you , miss," the man apologized as he tilted his metallic hat. He moved very rigidly, like a robot. And with every move, he made robotic noises. I watched as he bent down and he reached into his carpetbag, which was also spray-painted metallic gold. Then he walked toward me, stiff and rigid. His hand was behind his back. But then he revealed it, placing a gold rose in my palm.

"Oh, thank you," I examined the rose, surprised. He nodded politely and took off his sunglasses, giving me a quick wink. And with that, he was stiff like a statue.

---

"Remember that one time Connor scared Toby with that clown mask at Party City?"

"Wait, when was that?"

"When we were in Austin."

"And remember when Stacy and I put toothpaste in the Oreos?"

"That was you?" Toby exclaimed as he stood up in surprise, it seems like he was an easy target when it came to pranks. Kim began to laugh.

"Yeah, we bought a pack of Oreos and we replaced the cream in all of them back in Kansas."

Toby shuddered as he paced back and forth in the SLS hotel room. We resided in the boys' side of the room, we had nothing else to do and we were bored out of our minds. As Toby paced around the room, Connor was on his laptop and Kim was sitting on the floor. Riley and I were flat out on one of the beds. It was pretty quiet in the room, the only sounds you could hear were Connor's fingers typing on his keyboard and the muffled sounds from his headphones.

"You guys want to do something downstairs?" Riley's voice beside me called out. Toby stopped pacing.

"There's nothing to do down there, we're all under-aged. Well, except for Connor," Toby began as he peered at Connor, his eyes not leaving the computer screen.

"I need to catch up on Parks and Rec, I heard they're doing a rerun tonight," Kim said as she got up from the floor. Her eyes were locked onto her phone as she walked out of the room and walked back into ours.

"You guys are probably getting bored of us," I said jokingly. Might as well join Kim, I'm behind on a couple of things.

"You sure?" Riley asked, the mattress sprang up as Riley climbed off of the bed. He poked Connor's shoulder and I watched as Toby reached for a hoodie that was sitting on the bed.

"Yeah, but you're not going downstairs in those," I scoffed before grabbing the hoodie. I gave Toby a quick smile as I sat up on the bed and put the jacket on myself, it was a little cold in the hotel rooms anyway.

"At least wear something decent, it's Vegas," I insisted.

"But what are we suppose to wear?" Connor asked, completely clueless. Has these guys never been out? They've never been to parties when they were in school? I sighed.

"Just wear whatever clothes you guys wore back in Chicago when we went to that restaurant."

"So, this?" Toby called out from the bathroom. He was standing in front of the bathroom door frame and was wearing a simple navy blue button up.

"Umm," I said while getting up from the bed. I walked towards him and gave him a funny look. Toby noticed my twisted facial expression and watched as I unbuttoned the very top button. From the corner of my eye, I saw Toby's face heat up slightly.

"Just leave this one unbuttoned, it looks less dorky," I admitted before looking up at him and poking his nose. He recoiled and it was now his turn to make the face.

"So you're saying he can get more girls that way?" Riley joked from the other side of the room. I rolled my eyes at Riley's crude comment.

"No," I began, "I didn't want him to look like a complete idiot."

Riley shrugged as he ran his hands through his hair, attempting to fix it. Then I heard Kim's voice from our hotel room.

"Stacy! Parks and Rec is on!" Kim yelled.

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us?" Connor asked, he was standing my the hotel door and his hand was on the handle. I shook my head and smiled.

"Nah, I have stuff to do," I huffed as I glanced at my duffel bag filled with unfinished assignments. I walked towards the door and opened it slightly, Riley and Connor were already walking to the elevators.

"Suit yourself," Toby said from behind me. I turned around to look up at him. He bent down to give me a quick kiss.

"C'mon Toby!" Connor yelled from the elevators.

I pushed Toby away with a small grin, "Have fun."