I could’ve sworn I saw Anthony. He was right there at the airport. I could’ve called his name and he would’ve seen me. I’m pretty sure it was him. Then again he was a few steps away. People’s faces can easily get confused. And Madison always says when you like someone you always see their face.
He was looking at me. I noticed that. Whoever the Anthony look alike was looked at me once. Or maybe he was looking at the boxed food. Who needs boxed foods on airplanes? There isn’t a single place to make it. It makes no sense.
My mom spazzed when she found me. She was freaking out that we were going to miss the plane and everything was going wrong and this was going to be terrible. She kept telling me to hurry up and that we had to make our plane. That we were going to be late. Except she told me, oh, seven times. It was ridiculous. She was going into this whole panic stage over missing a plane that wasn’t boarding for another few minutes.
If you can’t, mom has been slightly sleep deprived.
Getting on the plane was hell let me tell you. The first thing to know about me is that I absolutely cannot stand heights. It’s my least favorite thing in the world. I’ve seen enough James Bond movies to know planes are some of most aimed for things. I have the worst fear it’s going to have a malfunction and we’re going to plunge to our death.
I’m sitting there and the plane hasn’t even left yet and I’m gripping the seat for dear life. My mom takes in my white knuckles and we switch seats so I’m not near the window. And then she hands me some of those cheap ‘barf bags’ (i.e. regular bags)
I did actually relax during the plane ride. They popped some bad Disney movie in and I spent my time about to throw up over the gag-me lines instead of because of being in the air. Some semi-romantic but totally G moment is being played and I grit my teeth. Disney makes a really good fake reality. The kind every kid dreams for. Of course, soon enough they’ll figure out that’s not how it actually works. You completely fall head over heels for people you wish you didn’t.
Mom is intent at staring outside. I don’t think she’s moved her head from that position once. She’s listening to some audio book over her iPod. She occasionally cracks a smile so whatever she’s listening to must have mom humor.
I press my lips together and tap my nails against the seat. My mom had a heart attack when I asked if I could use my computer or my phone. She said something about how it screws up the plane service or something. I’m 90% sure it does but I’m bored as hell. I’ve finished the book I bought at the airport – crappy romance novels are extremely suitable for trips like this – in like, an hour and I still have two more to go. Figures the book lasted me a third of the trip.
So I closed my eyes. Listening to the bad movie they were playing and the hum of the plane I sort of feel asleep. I was in that halfway between sleep and being awake. When I woke up this morning I was exhausted. I kind of wish I didn’t fall asleep last night so I could sleep now. I’m exhausted but my fucking eyes won’t close and I won’t relax.
But apparently I did because the next thing I know, we’re climbing off the plane to the Florida airport. We get our bags from the cycle and my mom and I delay time by getting a pretzel and eating it slowly while flipping through Star magazine. I have no interest in going to the hotel to meet my mother-for-a-week and her daughter who will probably be annoying.
“Come on Rebecca,” my mom says in that ‘hurry’ tone. She’s back in her excited happy mode where she absolutely just can’t wait to see everyone. My mom and her friend are meeting a few old friends for a few drinks tonight so my mom is going to explode. Basically she’s going to be excited every second of this trip because they have so much planned. She showed me the unofficial planner. They meet for drinks regularly, lunch, and dinner. There’s only one night for the actual reunion and I have a feeling my mom will be out for a while. Looking at her old yearbooks (we did all yesterday) she seemed like the person that made friends with anyone and everyone. Her best friends were the same way. They were in everything together and did everything they could do. It was insane how busy they were.
“Alright mom,” I take the last bite of my pretzel and flip to another page of Star. I wasn’t really reading it, more viewing pictures for long periods of time. But my mom didn’t really know that.
“Rebecca,” she says in her ‘here-girl’ voice. I stand up and we go to the parking lot, meeting the rental car. It was one of those drop off services, so the car was just sitting there. My mom goes in her purse and gets the key she was assigned. Unlocking the door I get into the passenger seat. Mom starts up the car and I look out the window.
The drive to the hotel wasn’t long. It was a sweet and short trip. The hotel had a pretty good view of water. I swear if we get one of those rooms that have a view of like a highway I’m going to die. I hate those. Especially since I’ll be spending most of my time in the hotel room since my mom has a fear I’ll get abducted by some rapist. It’s a fancy looking hotel, large windows, balcony, and a pretty cool looking architecture. I look at it and look up. It’s really tall. Like, really. Like someone decided to stretch out a normal hotel and make it grow. I guess most of the other hotels are gigantic too. Its insane looking.
“Hey!” I hear my mom say as we get out of the car. She has her ‘ohmygod’ voice on.
“Is that you?” I hear from somewhere and then they walk over to each other and hug. They go off on a whole conversation and I hear Rebecca somewhere in there. Apparently I’m getting introduced without really getting introduced. I open the trunk and get our few bags. We don’t have many.
It looks like a lot of other people here, all about my mom’s age. This must be the hotel they picked for the out-of-town people to stay at. Everyone else is my mom’s age. No babies, no tweens, no teens, no one. I groan and look at my mom. She looks at me and smiles brightly.
“Sweetheart! Over here!” She waves and I close the trunk with my arm and then my hip. I drag the bags over and look at her.
“Yes?”
“Let’s go see the room! It’s the presidential suite,” her smile is ear to ear. We head into the building where it feels like everyone is stuffed. After a few minutes in line we get our key and head over to the elevator, which is just as stuffed. I’m stuck between an awkward looking man and a drop dead gorgeous woman standing next to him, making a ‘get me the fuck out of here’ face. Obviously he was the high school dork. He hasn’t changed much. The poor woman next to him is trying to create space between him and her but its not going well.
The elevator stops and a few people leave. We go up a few more floors and the gorgeous woman leaves. Awkward man leaves the next floor and there’s only like five people still in here. This elevator is gigantic if you can’t even picture it. I feel tiny in here.
Everyone else gets off in a blur and a few others get added on. We hit the top and my mom and I get out, walking to the door.
“I’m going to knock. Caroline might already be there,” she says and knocks. I stand there awkwardly, unsure of what to expect. What if she’s an awkward hugger that attacks you? Or if she just stands there looking at you. Is she gorgeous? In high school she was but it looks like a lot of the people that were pretty way back when have lost their features.
“Karen?” A woman who answers the door looks at my mom. Okay, this girl is beyond gorgeous. I feel like I’m looking at a TV character or an airbrushed human. There is no way anyone looks this gorgeous in real life. I give her a small smile and my mom and her hug. They move inside and I walk in, dropping the bags.
“Hi,” he says awkwardly to my mom and gives her a wave. He looks at me and I look at him, our eyes meeting dead on. We look at each other for a couple seconds and he gets this look over his face. I’m pretty sure I have the same on my face.
It’s Anthony. Sitting on the couch, watching MTV. He’s Anne.
