The Bad Boy's Bucket List

Fly part 1

Before I left Nolen's house that night, I studied his bucket list and one thing stuck out. He had never been on an airplane, and so on his bucket list, he wrote down he wanted to fly. Now, hours later, I laid in my queen sized bed staring up at the dark ceiling.

I racked the back of my brain, mind twirling. I really, really wanted to complete his bucket list, and it seemed like that was something big that we would need to overcome in order to complete it. If only we could just buy a ticket and hop on an airplane. I knew after hearing Nolen's story that he couldn't afford that though.

Maybe I could.

The next morning, after going for a long run and showering, I headed into the kitchen. My mom was sitting at the countertop, next to my sister, both on their phones. Neither acknowledged me as I walked in. Our cook, Gary, was making pancakes, and waved to me presently. I returned the gesture and sat down at the table.

I looked at my mom from head to toe. She had on a crisp dark pantsuit and heels. Sometimes I was intimidated by her professionalism.

"Hey mom."

She nodded in my direction.

"I was wondering if I can go on a short vacation with Sidney?"

She raised her eyebrows, glancing at me for a second before finally speaking. "Speak to your father."

"He's in his study." Elena added, and I guessed she was pretty excited about the possibility of having me gone a few days.

I didn't reply since Gary handed me a plate of food. The pancakes were mouth-watering, and I sighed into my plate.

"You shouldn't eat so much of those, California, you're going to put on even more weight." Elena muttered. My mom nodded in agreement.

When they turned their attention back to their cellphones, I pretended to shoot myself with my fingers. It didn't work though, and I was still in this misery I called home.

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When I reached dad's study, I knocked on the door. I knew how weird he was about people barging in, and I didn't want to push my luck today. I heard a muffled "come in" on the other side of the door and opened it up.

My father was a tall man, and behind his desk, you couldn't help but shake when he looked at you. I could imagine him firing people in a similar room at his work, like Donald Trump. I stood in the back of the room. The desk was long and had a computer, supplies, and a lamp on it, but that was it. Today though, a stack of folders laid on top of the hardwood. He must have been busy, because he looked at me with annoyance when we made eye contact.

"What do you want?" He asked, looking back at the folder he had open, continuing to do work. I stared at him before answering.

"Sidney and I want to go on a short vacation. Is that okay?"

He didn't hesitate. "Sure. Take your credit card and charge whatever. Just get out of my study. I'm a busy man and I can't have interruptions."

I wanted to say that I was his daughter, not an interruption, but instead I thanked him and scrammed, as excitement began to build up inside of me, replacing the hurt I felt.  I hurried to my room and changed before grabbing a backpack. Inside of it, I threw some of my best bras and underwear, a pair of jeans, some shorts, a pretty dress, and a couple cute shirts. I also added my flip-flops and toiletries, along with my charger, wallet, passport, and sunglasses. After that, I hurried downstairs and hopped in my new convertible, driving to Nolen's house.

When I arrived, I parked on the street and walked up to his door. I knocked on the doorbell, and the door opened to reveal a man. He had dark hair like Nolen, with a different nose. He was tall, but had stress lines running down his face. I immediately knew this was Nolen's father that I was face to face with.

"Mr. Avery. Hi, I'm California Jenkins, Nolen's friend." I reached out my hand and he shook it.

"Hi California. Nolen's in his room if you want to go up."

I said thank you and headed into the back of the house, where Mr. Avery had directed me to. For a moment, I wished we were in one of those wattpad stories where the girl walks in and the guy is shirtless, emerging from a shower, but when I opened the door Nolen was just lying on his bed, surfing the internet. He looked up at me and a smile began to form on his face before he pushed it down.

"Hey Cali. What's up?"

I immediately spilled the beans. When I finished, Nolen stared up at me blankly.

"Are you joking?"

I narrowed my eyes playfully. "Do I look like I'm joking?" 

"What the h..." I shot him a look, "h-e-double hockey sticks, Cali. I can't let your dad pay for that."

Again, I narrowed my eyes. "I can, and I will. I'm booking two tickets and you can come or you can't come and I'll bring," I hesitated, "John. I'll bring John if you can't come. Besides, it's the least my dad can do after ignoring his daughter for seventeen years."

It took a little more persuading, but after that Nolen talked to his dad, packed a bag, and we hit the road. I drove, much to Nolen's complaint, especially when I started blasting Country music. He glared at me, muttering under his breath, but I ignored him. I parked our car at the airport, and we grabbed our bags.

Nolen looked lost, much as I had probably appeared when I first flew at the age of three. So basically, Nolen was like a three year old. I started laughing, and he shot me a look.

"You're so weird, you know that right?" I rolled my eyes as he spoke.

"What-ever." I replied like a valley girl. He chuckled freely, and my eyes widened. Although I had heard him laugh before, it seemed rare.

We walked over to the bus station, where other people sat with their bags ready. I looked towards Nolen, who was fidgeting.

"This bus drops us off at terminals. It kind of depends on where we want to go, but I say we should get off at United or JetBlue. Both of those are connected to the international terminal."  I told him as the bus arrived. We loaded onto it and crammed into a pair of seats.

Nolen reached out and touched my shoulder as we rode. "Thank you for doing this." His voice was deep.

I blushed and looked out the window. When I felt the redness had gone away, I looked back at him. "So, where do you want to go?"

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Hi!

Q: If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?

(my) A: Europe! Maybe Venice again because I went once during Carnival and it was amazing.

Comment what your answer was, and vote if it was Europe too. Or vote if it wasn't Europe. Maybe you live in Europe, who knows? So basically just vote.

Love you,

S.