Payback

Chapter 2

"Tara.  Wake up already."

I yawned and stretched before slowly opening my eyes.  Erica was standing next to my bed, an annoyed look on her face.  

"it's almost noon," she said.

"So what?  I was up packing until two.  Let me sleep!"  I stuffed my head under my pillow.

Erica grabbed the pillow and threw it to the carpet.  "I don't think so.  We're going shopping today, remember?"

I groaned.  I had completely forgotten that Erica and I had planned a trip to the mall today to buy last-minute things for the graduation trip, like a new book to read on the plane.  "Fine," I said, forcing myself to sit up.  "I'll be ready in twenty minutes."  I practically sleepwalked to the kitchen and ate three containers of yogourt, being too lazy to actually prepare a bowl of cereal.  Then I trudged to the bathroom and started attacking the mouse nest that is my hair.

"At this rate, the mall will be closed by the time you get ready," Erica called through the door.

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We returned home past dinnertime, loaded down with shopping bags from all our favourite stores.  I'd bought a new pair of shorts, two new books to read on the plane and the bus, and - I couldn't resist - a pretty charm bracelet that I fell in love with when I saw.  Erica had easily spent a small fortune, on a pair of light blue jean shorts, two lacy tanks tops, four eyeliners and three fashion magazines to read on the plane.  She has a part-time job at a small makeup store in the mall and clearly isn't very interested in saving money.  

After a quick supper of leftover Chinese take-out, we went directly to bed.  Thoughts swirled around in my head as I turned off my lamp and settled myself under my silky green blanket.  Where will I be twenty-four hours from now? I thought.  In a hotel?  Will it be a nice one?  Will I be in the same room as my friends?

Go to sleep, I told myself.  You don't want to spend tomorrow being tired.

I shut my eyes and tried to push all thoughts out of my cluttered mind.  I had been looking forward to the trip for months - why was I so nervous about it?  I supposed it was because my family didn't travel much and I wasn't used to being away from home, or away from my parents.  I'd never even been camping, so I guess it was understandable that I was nervous about going to the country for a week.  I consoled myself with the idea that Erica would be there with me every step of the way, but it didn't help much, and despite my efforts to close my mind to all thoughts of the trip, I lay in an uncomfortable state of nervousness for hours before finally drifting off to sleep.

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I was awake before the alarm clock went off.

Today is the day.

I bolted out of bed.  It was way before my alarm clock was set to wake me, but I was far too jittery to go back to bed.  Instead I stood next to my window, watching a pink glow spread across the charcoal sky as the sun climbed its way above all the towers and skyscrapers.  When the first ray of sunlight crept into my room, I gathered my heavy suitcase and backpack and made my way to the kitchen.  Erica was already there - I guess she didn't feel much like sleeping, either.  We waited in silence as Dad finished making breakfast, ate our scrambled eggs and toast quickly, savouring our last breakfast at home, and returned to our rooms to get washed up and dressed.

When I picked out my outfit for the day, I'd opted for something comfortable - my beloved black yoga pants, a gray sweatshirt over a loose sky-blue T-shirt, and my black Converse sneakers.  Not exactly a catwalk-worthy outfit, but great for walking around and sightseeing.  I didn't want to be uncomfortable, especially not on the plane.  Erica, on the other hand, looked like a model in her gray knit UGGs, dark skinny jeans, and long-sleeved, pale blue shirt.  We pulled on our identical light brown leather jackets and shuffled into the elevator.  Everyone in my building hates our elevator because it starts off really slow, and then suddenly, puts on a huge burst of speed that can knock you to the ground if you're not holding on to something.  We rocketed down to the underground parking lot and somehow managed to fit all our luggage into the trunk.  Then we all got into the car and were off.