Sunny Side Down

Some Things

"Toothbrush?" Jay called out.

"Check," I answered.

"Socks?" Nate added.

"Got 'em."

"Wallet?" Amy asked.

I checked my back pocket.

"Right here."

"Balls?" Matt asked.

What?

"Never mind," he continued. "Harley's got those."

"Oh leave him alone," Megan chimed back in. "Can't you tell that he's in love?"

"Stop," I laughed.

I peeked out the window only to see Harley's car was nowhere in sight.

"Stop is right!" my mom's voice echoed through the house. "He's too young for that."

Maybe she was right, but I had a sneaky suspicion that even if I were 100 she would say I was too young. I looked down at my phone; no texts, no calls. Where was she?

"I don't know, honey," my dad said out of nowhere. "He looks like a man to me. Think fast."

From across the room he tossed the keys at me.

"You're driving," he said.

My mom snatched the keys from me and tossed them back at him saying, "No, you are."

My phone buzzed and I quickly attended to it, only to see that it was Steve and Chris in our group chat.

Steve :3: hey man, good luck with everything. Keep us posted on life. 9:48 A.M.

Chris >: ): and don't do anything dumb like die or something 9:51 A.M.

I already said my goodbyes in person to both of them and Indie too. I would say so long to everyone else at the airport. Matt and Jay would take their girlfriends and Nate in one car. From there they were gonna go do their own thing. Me on the other hand, I would be with parents in another car. Harley was supposed to ride with us, but it seems as though she had dropped off the face of the world. I checked my phone for the time, seeing that it was almost 10 o'clock. My plane left at 12:10. Usually we would've just driven, but we got a huge discount on my ticket so I figured why not. As nice as a car ride as it would be, I wouldn't want to be crammed in with everyone in the car for like 7 hours when I could get there in half the time by flight. Plus, having worked all those hours at the store, I could actually pay for my own ticket. The only trade off, there was now a time constraint because the airport was 43 minutes away. My mom insisted that I be at least an hour early for my flight to account for bag checks and any other airport necessities. I guess she was right and would be more than ready to comply, but I wasn't ready to leave without Harley.

I slowed down the pace of taking the bags to the car, doing my best to give her a chance to make it here. I even made unnecessary trips all in the endeavor of buying time. As I took my third "bathroom break" of the hour under the guise of nervousness, I checked my phone for any messages. Nothing. I made my way back to the living room, taking a quick look in the mirror. I looked completely the same, but I didn't feel it, and it was all because of her. Now she wouldn't be here to say goodbye? My dad poked his head through the front door.

"Hey, it's 10:15," he said. "We have to get going."

No texts; no calls.

"Okay dad," I answered. "I just need me a minute. Could you leave me the key, and I'll lock up?"