Fat Chance

California Gurls

"M'am? My seatbelt, um, doesn't go all the way across."

The flight attendant turned around to face me and gave a small sigh. "I knew it. I'll be right back."

My cheeks flushed red with embarrassment. So far this whole endeavor has been nothing but downright mortifying, mostly because I was super used to spending my days with retards, not high functioning, intelligent adults. This was something new.

In case you couldn't already tell, I have just boarded a plane, specifically, a plane leaving Cincinnati, OH and going to San Francisco, CA.

Let me backtrack a bit.

2 weeks ago, the day after I read Wyatt's messages for the first time in a month, I decided to work up the courage to message him back and ask him if what he said was true.

"Yes, Alecia," he said. "You have no idea how much my heart is dedicated to you. Please, can I see you while I am there?"

I told him I'd have to think about it, which bought me an extra 24 hours to think and devise a plan.

After thinking about it for around a day, I messaged him back and told him yes. You would have thought I'd just told him he'd won the lottery by the way he reacted, which almost made me mad at myself all over again.

But no. I didn't have time to be mad at myself right now. I had shit to do.

Obviously, I wouldn't have told Wyatt that Alecia would see him in California if that wasn't actually the truth, or at least half of the truth.

So, yes, you guessed it: I bought a roundtrip ticket to San Francisco (that's where I finally told Wyatt Alecia lived) and told him that we could meet somewhere when he arrived there.

This wasn't easy to congregate, let me tell you, so I hope this clears my conscious at least a tiny bit.

This might be a tiny bit surprising, but the money part of it wasn't even the most difficult part, not by a long shot. I get a disability check every month and that's been the case ever since I was 5 years old. And those checks are pretty fucking loaded. But since my lifestyle requires very little monetary funds, I always got those checks direct deposited into a bank account. A bank account that I have always had access to, should I need the money.

And it turns out that now is the time I need the money.

I had a hotel all booked and paid for, roundtrip plane ticket all paid for, and I had some extra money set aside for food and transportation, although I wouldn't need to spend much on those things, since I was only staying two nights.

My parents were surprisingly lenient and not at all skeptical/concerned when I told them that I was going to California to "visit a friend", the most skeptical they got was when I mentioned having a friend ("Quinn has a FRIEND?! HOLY SHIT NO WAY!) Which I guess just really shows what shitty parents they really are. But in this very instance, it worked to my advantage, so I'm not complaining.

I felt horribly guilty for leaving Stella for even a few days, but she seemed to be in an okay place mentally and physically when I left. She has decided to keep the baby (she went to the doctor to get a blood test, just to verify) and she finally worked up the courage to tell her aunt, who of course wasn't thrilled, but was going to be as supportive as possible.

One thing no one could get her to reveal was who the father was. "I don't even want him to be in the babies life," Stella protested. "So I don't see why it's important."

"It's important so I can cut his fucking dick off" I said, putting a hand on my hip in a pretend sassy pose. Stella laughed. "No, Quinn, it's not important anymore. In a way, this is a blessing in disguise."

Her words echoed in my head as I boarded the plane to San Francisco that day.

"M'am?"

I looked up and saw a different flight attendant from last time, standing in front of me with a seatbelt extension.

I blushed once again. "Oh yes, thank you."

She nodded and walked off to start the safety announcement.

I had never been on a plane before, so I made sure to pay full attention to everything the flight attendant was saying.

Finally, about half an hour after our original departure time, we took off.

My ears popped like crazy but otherwise, it wasn't anything crazy.

After the plane was completely in the air, I took out my iPod and my EarPods and decided to lose myself in both sleep and music for the next 5.5 hours.

"California," I thought, "Watch the fuck out, because I'm mother fucking coming. Let's hope it doesn't backfire in my goddamn face."