Adrian

Where are we going?

They were holding hands, he leaned in to kiss her, but just as his lips brushed hers, she was startled by a loud bang, "Adrian! Come on, we have to get ready." Adrian's eyes flew open and she realized she was simply dreaming. She rolled over and looked at her brother, Rodney, who was only wearing a towel. She sighed as she crawled out of bed. "Ya know, there are quieter ways of waking people up!" Adrian yelled as she closed the door in his face. She glanced at the clock, 8:15 am. "Why am I up this early on a Saturday morning?" she thought to herself as she grabbed a fresh outfit from her dresser.

When she finished dressing she checked herself in the mirror. Her dark brown, that was barely past her shoulders, hung in front of her freckled face. She chose a light blue blouse to go along with her long black skirt and mismatched polka-dot socks. "Looks good to me." She thought and proceeded downstairs towards the kitchen. "There you are! I told your brother to get you up a half an hour ago!" said her father who was eating a slice of toast while looking through some cupboards.
"Oh, well, here I am. Why are we all up anyway? It's only 8:30." Adrian asked.
"We're going to- well actually, I can't tell you, it's a surprise."
"Surprise?...Okay...Well, I'm gonna go see if Rod will spill the beans."
"Good luck with that." dad said then chuckled as Adrian left the kitchen and started back up the stairs.

On the way to her brother's room, she took a moment to think, "Well, there aren't any birthdays coming up...and they seem too happy for someone to have died or gone to the hospital. Oh! Maybe it's a spontaneous vacation." Adrian squealed and reached to knock on Rodney's door, but he came walking out and bumped into her. He'd been carrying a pile of games that was now lying on the floor. "Gee thanks. Can I help you?" He said as he bent down to pick them up. "Sorry. I was just wondering if you knew where we were going. Dad won't tell me."
"Oh, yeah, I do. But I can't tell you. I swore on your life and everything"
"Of course you did, and I bet Vivian won't tell me either?"
"Uh, her name is mom. And no, she too is sworn by oath." He said after standing back up
"Uh-huh. Well-" Adrian was interrupted by her father's yelling.
"Guys, you got fifteen minutes! I'll be loading up the car if you need me."
Rodney patted Adrian's shoulder "Gotta go, sis." he ran off before she could even say goodbye.

Adrian went to her room and stuffed a duffel bag full of items she may need for this mystery trip. Before leaving, she decided to grab her mp3 player, and open her curtains. She pulled apart the dark fabric and light flooded the room. She opened the window and stuck her hand out to check the temperature. It was a fairly cool day, perfect sweater weather, she thought. "Hey, you about ready, Adrian?" yelled dad through the window. " Yeah, just grabbing some stuff before we leave." she quickly replied. Adrian closed the window, rushed downstairs and threw on her favorite shoes, then headed out the door.

Rodney was already sitting in the back seat of the car listening to his music while dad inspected the tires. All of the sudden, Troy, Adrian's neighbor and best friend, ran outside with a bag of trash. "Where you guys going?" He called breathlessly as he jogged over to their driveway. "Pfft, I have no idea." Adrian replied. Troy dropped the bag and walked up to Adrian. He fished an envelope out of his pocket. "This was in our mail yesterday, I forgot to give it to you." The letter was from a California address."Thanks...but no thanks." She handed it back to him.
"Look, I know you guys aren't on good terms, but at least she's actually attempted contact this year." Said Troy with a worried look on his face.
"Yeah, well, she should've attempted last year, or the year before." Adrian looked away and ran her hand through her hair. "Well, I'll have it in case you ever change your mind." Troy said stuffing it back in his pocket.

Just then her step-mom walked out the front door carrying her purse and a small bag. "Daniel, I'm ready now. I accidentally lost Adri- er...the thing." She made a sheepish smile then walked over to the car and climbed in. "What's that about?" said Troy. "Oh, who knows? They're all keeping a secret from me. I don't even know where we're going." Daniel signaled for her to wrap up her conversation. "Well, it looks like we're ready to go now. I'll see you later, 'Kay?" Troy smiled at her "Yeah, see ya later. Oh, and have fun." Adrian climbed into the car, closed her door, and rolled down her window. "I'll try. We'll see what happens." Troy waved and walked back to his house.

As they drove out of the driveway, through the town, and onto the highway, Adrian stared out the window. She watched the tall buildings and bustling streets transform into lush hills and thick forests. Her stepmother and dad were arguing over who was the original singer to the song on the radio, while Rodney was playing a game on his PSP. She smiled and grabbed her blanket from her bag. She hung it over her head and turned on her Mp3 player. As she softly hummed the tune of her favorite song, her head began to lull, and she fell asleep.