Summer's Gift

Chapter 5

The next day, I was ready for my roundtrip flight to New York City. My bags were all set and I looked pretty decent in a sapphire blue tee embroidered with my initials in curling white script across the violet left breast pocket. I had paired white jean shorts and beaded purple sandals with it. My makeup was simple, only a little bit of concealer, mascara, and pale pink EOS lip balm. My hair was twisted into a thick waterfall braid that wrapped around my head, falling down over my right shoulder. We had slept overnight in a room at a small hotel close to LAX, so we didn't have to drive far this morning and had picked up a quick breakfast from the McDonald's drive-through. The twins were running around the airport waiting area and a uniformed security guard was shooting them dirty looks. After being coralled by Clara and Pete, they were soon appeased with two sour apple Blow Pops. 

"So, Jinx," Clara asked me quietly as we waited patiently for my flight number to be called. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. Just a little stressed out about going to live with my dad, but other than that I'm okay," I told her, absentmindly tucking a loose strand of hair back into its proper place in the braid.

"Are you sure, honey? I mean, do you need anything? Water? Coffee? An energy drink?"

I laughed a little. "No, Clara, I'm fine. But thanks for all your help. I really appreciate it."

"Attention, everyone. Flight 276 is now ready to board. Please enter the plane in a quick and orderly fashion," a cool male voice bleeped over an intercom. All around me, people began grabbing their luggage and hurrying toward the plane entrance to get their tickets checked. I snatched up my suitcases and motioned for the twins to follow my lead.

"Thanks for everything, Clara," I told her again before walking away.

"Good luck, Jinx!" she called after me.

"Now, are we going to see Dad?" Lex asked, skipping along by my side.

"Yep, we sure are," I said cheerily. Even though on the inside, I was dreading seeing my dad again, I couldn't let my brother and sister see that.

"I'm excited!" Aislin squealed from my other side, her hot pink Hello Kitty suitcase rolling along behind her. I grinned and nodded, but didn't say anything more.

Soon, our tickets had been approved and we were boarding the plane. Luckily, the twins had been seated next to each other and I had been seated behind them so I was able to keep an eye on them. As they bounced happily in the cushioned chairs, I stowed our luggage in the overhead bins before collapsing into my chair directly behind Aislin. God, I was tired. Everything lately had just been happening in fast forward and I just wanted to slow down awhile. What I really wanted was to have my old life back. I wanted Jesse and Abby back. I just wanted things to be the way they were before those two sluts caused the most important person in my life to just disappear.

Sighing for what felt like the trillionth time in two days, I allowed my eyes to flutter closed. I needed a nap. Naps were good for the soul. Or something like that. I just wanted some sleep. Right when I was about to drift off, someone plopped into the seat beside me. I peeked over at them and it turned out to be an elderly woman somewhere in her sixties. She smiled brightly at me and I quickly flashed a smile in return. Old people were just so cute. Especially when they poured their juice and the flabby skin on their hands shook. It was adorable.

Random, I know.

I closed my eyes again and tried to go to sleep. There were five hours and thirty-nine minutes during a flight from LAX to JFK in New York and I wasn't about to waste them. It was awhile before the plane finally took off and the flight attendants began giving out snacks. Aislin and Lex, of course, each grabbed a pack of salted peanuts. It was around the time that they began showing the grainy in-flight movie that I fell asleep.