One of the Guys

Chapter Two

I stood at the door to the Atlanta airport. All my best friends were there. Grayton, James, and Joel stood in front of me. All of their faces showed despair. I was on the verge of crying. I didn’t want to go. When I had finally returned from the tree with Grayton a week ago, my parents explained to me something about how my dad’s work was getting out of hand and that they would never be home. They said they couldn’t leave me home alone for weeks at a time and said this was the only solution. So there I was, just an hour before my flight was leaving, being confronted by the people that had been there for me for years, trying not to cry and dreading the moment when I had to leave them. I quickly glanced at the time and realized I had to say goodbye. Suddenly, I couldn’t control the tears from falling. I rushed up and hugged each and everyone of them, James and Joel first, then Grayton last. I wrapped my arms around him tightly and he did the same.

“I’m going to miss you so much, Sam,” he whispered in my ear. I kissed him on the cheek and pulled away. I looked between my friends and wiped away a tear from my cheek. I smiled faintly at them then grabbed my bags and walked into the airport.

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I walked out of the plane and into the Portland, Maine airport. I looked around the terminal until I saw the sign labeled “Exit”. The two hour plane ride had been uneventful, except for the fact that I probably gained at least five pounds off of peanuts. I followed the long hallway to the glass doors that said “No Re-Entry”. I made sure I had everything I needed and continued through. When I went down the stairs to baggage claim, I saw the semi familiar face of my uncle Josh. His youthful smile flashed across his face as he saw me coming towards him. I had always liked him, but it had always puzzled me how he was related to my dad. I put on a fake smile as I walked towards him. He took me into a hug and said,

“Hey Sam!”

“Hey Uncle Josh,” I replied in my best fake happy voice. He let go and ushered me to the baggage claim. There I saw my small bag of essentials that I thought I could live off of for the next day while I was waiting for the rest of my stuff to get here.  I grabbed it and walked with my uncle outside and into the "Short Term Parking" area to retrieve his car. Not knowing what to expect, I expected him to have something like a small Honda or some sort of minivan, but I was so wrong. He led me up to this sleek, black Lamborghini and I felt my jaw drop. He chuckled at my surprise and said,

"Oh, that's right. You've never been to my place. I've always gone to yours. You're in for a surprise."

I stared at him and said, "I think I've had enough surprises in the past week than I need in my lifetime, thank you very much."

He laughed at this too and said, getting into the driver's seat, "Get in." I got in, he started the engine and we were off.  

Since I had never been to Maine before, I was speechless when it came to how beautiful it was. The red,orange, and yellow trees gave the fall a colorful aspect- a happy aspect. To be honest, I loved it. It was way better than Georgia falls, where it was still 80 and 90 degrees. We passed by a school with a football game going on and, suddenly, I miss back home again. 

Put in the down mood for the rest of the ride, it felt like forever before Josh stopped the car. 

"We're here," he said, excitedly. "Now, close your eyes until I say so, okay?" 

I nodded, hesitated, but then closed my eyes. I heard his car door open and close quickly and then my car door opened. He took my arm and pulled me along with him. His energy and youthfulness made me feel like he was more of a brother than an uncle. I decided that my situation could be much worse. 

I stumbled blindly along some sort of path with him still pulling on me like a young puppy pulling their owner after a cat on the other side of the street. We slowly came to a stop and he turned me where I had come from. 

"You can open your eyes now, Sam," he said, backing away. 

I opened my eyes to see a long pathway lined with gorgeous vegetation. There were arches that hung over the gravel line, weaving in and out, as if running into a plant then running the other way. It was breathtakingly beautiful. I stood there like an idiot for a minute before I remembered that the real sight was supposed to be behind me. I turned and my heart literally stopped. In front of me was a gorgeous house, no mansion. I can't even describe it properly. Just think of the most beautiful thing you've ever seen... You get the image? Yea? Now multiply its beauty by twenty-seven. Yea, that pretty. 

"Wow," I mumbled. I slowly walked closer towards it. I heard keys rattling to my left and saw a single key being handed to me.

"Here," Josh said. "Take a look around. Make yourself at home in one of the spare bedrooms. I'll be back from work at six. Have fun, but please, don't burn the house down. I've heard about your reputation." I smirked at the last part but said,

"Thanks! And no problem Uncle Josh."

He then turned and shuffled quickly to his car and skidded out of his driveway. I turned back to face the house that I was now supposed to call my home. I walked slowly to the front door and turned the key in the knob. I heard the lock click and I pushed it inwards. I walked in and, again, my breath was taken away by the beauty. As I walked further down the front hallway, In the back of my head, I thought I never thought a guy could do so well at picking good design for this place, let alone keeping it as clean as this. I came into a large open room with two staircases going up the wals of the room and meeting at a balcony at the top, a beautiful chandelier hanging from the center of the ceiling , and a pair of large oak wood doors under the balcony. I looked completely to the side just to see yet another doorway, leading into the kitchen. I turned forward again and proceeded to open the doors. 

When I pushed the door open less than an inch, it stopped. I looked down on the ground to make sure I hadn't caught it on something. Sure enough, there was an article of dirty clothing on the floor, blocking the door's way. I shook my head, realizing that this was my uncle's room. I shut the door and turned to walk up the stairs. 

I stood at the balcony and looked out over the entrance room. I shook my head at how magnificent it was. I turned around to a hallway. I started walking and turned into the first room I saw. Score. Bedroom. I walked in when I saw the king size bed in the corner. It looked like quite a small room from the doorway, but when I walked in and turned to the right, I saw the biggest  room I have ever seen. I sat on the bed just to realize that it was one of those fancy Temperpedic ones. I lay down on the bed and basically sunk into the mattress. I stared at the large open room and at the french doors to a balcony to my left. I decided to get up and walk over to it. I struggled with the lock on the doors, but eventually got it. I opened the doors inward and gasped as I saw the amazing view of the ocean. I sat down on a red chair that was there and breathed in slowly and let it out. 

I guess I stayed there for a while, probably fell asleep a couple times, because the next thing I knew, My uncle was home. His hand rested on my shoulder and I screamed and jumped. He looked at me funnily and then laughed at my factor of being easily scared. I rolled my eyes at him and he asked if I had found a room I liked. 

"This one. This one is mine and you can not take it away from me...." I said, crossing my arms. "Mine."

He laughed and said, "Whatever you say. Now, how about an early dinner?"

I nodded and he led me down to the kitchen.

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Ah! I did it! And it didn't take very long >;3

Please tell me what you think, like and comment! Merci!

~Liberty :3