California Sky (Emblem3)

Chapter 1

Another yawn slipped past the tired girl’s lips as she stuffed more clothing into her already stuffed suitcase. Aria rubbed her eyes again and looked back at the clock. 8:00 was way too early to be up in the morning. She was a girl who adored her sleep, but getting to San Francisco as soon as possible was higher up on her list of priorities than sleep- as hard as that was for her to admit. Aria sighed again, finishing up her packing and closing her suitcase. She grabbed her phone off of her dresser where she had sat it to protect it from her sleepy packing wrath, and texted her best friends to see where they were on the scale of being ready. She got an immediate answer from Kristina, always perky in the morning to Aria’s confusion, telling her that she had finished packing two days ago- of course- and that she had been waiting for the “okay” to head on over to Aria’s house, seeing as she was the one driving them to San Francisco.

Jessie was throwing the last bit of her stuff into her suitcase. She was so excited and anxious that she couldn’t fall asleep, and to her surprise she had finally fallen asleep and slept past her alarm! Her phone vibrated and she checked it. It was from her best friend Aria who was ready. Oh dear. She quickly did some finishing touches to her hair and laced up her red high tops.  She was almost out of her room when she remembered to throw her bear into the suitcase and then zipped it back up, running to her car. Hopefully she wouldn’t be late. But she knew that Kristina would probably be there early anyways.

Knowing she would have little time before Kris arrived, completely ready to go and push her out the door, Aria quickly chose an outfit from her remaining clothes. Her comfy driving outfit consisted of a pair of dark-wash skinnies, and All Time Low band tee, and a pair of black vans. Just as Aria finished tackling her hair and forcing it into a respectable braid, the doorbell rang and she had to rush to get it before Kris got obsessive with it and continuously pushed it. A grin graced Aria’s face and she yanked open the door. Seeing her thoughts had been right as Kristina was standing there with a faux innocent face and her finger hovering over the doorbell, Aria let out a laugh, “Well hello to you too, Kris!”

Kris smirked at Aria and gave a sarcastic wave. “Hiya! Didn’t see ya there!”

“I do believe that a little bit obvious- though I sense a hint of a lie!” Aria stuck out her tongue at her pouting friend and motioned inside. “Well come on in, fool!” The two girls walked back inside and Aria went back to drag her stuff to the door so it would be easier to put in the car once Jessie arrived.

Passing by her little brother, Jeremy’s room, Aria stuck her head in and smiled softly at her dozing brother. It was clear that he had tried to wake up at the same time as her so he could see her off- more than she could expect from her older brother and exhausted, overworked mother who needed as much sleep as she could get. Aria ducked back out of Jeremy’s room, deciding to say goodbye to him once she was about to leave rather than wake him up right then. She walked back to her living room where Kristina had made herself comfortable, splayed down on the couch.

Jessie was driving down the street hoping she wouldn’t be too late. Something always seemed to come up when she had to be somewhere. She pulled into the driveway and parked. Kris was already there. She jumped out and walked up to the door and rang the doorbell. The door opened and her two friends were standing there.

Aria swung open the door, Kristina right on her heels, having leapt up at the sound of the doorbell ringing. “Jessie!” They both exclaimed.

“Ah! Finally! Now we can leave for our chance shot at destiny!” Kris nearly shouted, before being shushed by Aria, who was worried about waking her sleeping family.

“Yes, okay, Kris! We get it, but be quiet! My family is still- quite reasonably- sleeping!” Aria said laughingly, but still serious in meaning. “Are you both ready to go? Like completely? No turning around once we are in the car!”

“Yes!” Kris answered attempting to be a little more quiet than before. She picked up her bags. “So who’s driving??” She asked.

“I just need to fix my hair and then we’ll be good.” Jessie said and smiled. “I can drive!” She added.

“Uhh... No!.. I think we talked about this a few days ago.” Aria added and laughed.

They got everything into the cars to leave.

“I’ll be right there, okay?” Aria said and stepped back into the house. She knew her brother would be upset if she didn’t say goodbye, and knew that she would probably be upset herself. Aria puttered softly to Jeremy’s room and cracked open the door, looking at his prone, sleeping form and smiling.

“Jeremy. Wakey, wakey, bud,” she said after walking over to his bed and petting his head.

“Ari?” Jeremy croaked, sleepily.

“Hey, bud. I wanted to say goodbye before we left for San Francisco. Sorry for waking you, Jer,” Aria apologized quietly, knowing her brother was still half asleep.

“It’s time already?? Good luck, Ari! You guys are gonna kick butt! Your voice alone could make it!” Jeremy exclaimed happily, yet sad his sister was leaving him at home. He wanted to be there for her! He was very proud of Aria though.

“Jeremy! Don’t say that! That’s not true! I wouldn’t be able to do this without them!” Aria scolded her little brother. “Alright, Jer. I need to go. Jess and Kris are waiting on me and they can’t leave without their driver and last person in the trio! Tell Mum and Austin that I say bye! Love you Jer,” Aria finishes and hugs her still-wrapped-up-in-blankets-and-in-bed little brother.

“Bye, sissy! Good luck! Call me as soon as you get the news that you are moving on!” Jeremy boasts on Aria’s behalf and hugs her back, before watching Aria get up and walk out his bedroom door to her car.

Aria walked outside and jumped into the car. They were all so excited. They were on their way to the audition!

“Okay, we probably should rehearse, too!” Kris said.

“What? Already?” Jessie asked.

“It must be perfect.” Kris demanded.

Aria motioned in the mirror to Jessie for her to drop it while Kristina wasn’t paying attention. She knew that Kris was obsessing over this, but also knew that she wasn’t gonna shut up about it until they had actually performed in front of the judges.

“Well, then let’s start.” They did so. After they had gone through the song several times, they started to talk about how anxious they were.