British Bird - Complete

British Bird - Chapter Twenty Seven

British Bird
Chapter Twenty Seven
Sang

Flashback: Thirteen Years Old

The day was perfect. We laughed, joked, smiled and had the most wonderful time with each other.

And I can't wait to do it all again tomorrow. Only this time, at a water park. I've never been to a water park before and my excitement can be seen by everyone around me. They laugh when I find myself sitting and standing, finding something to do, only to repeat it all ten minutes later.

I can only shrug my shoulders in response.

I used my phone to search the water park we're going to. I managed to find a map with a list of rides and then went and checked all of our heights and weights—they moaned about that, but I told them I wanted to be prepared. Why line up for twenty minutes if we can't go on that ride? It was a good idea, if I do say so myself.

I then sat and made lists of what we could and couldn't go on. I pouted a few times when I realised I had to have an adult for some of them because I was under the weight and height. Johnny told me that he would be my adult, making my pout immediately disappear and a grin replace it.

I am happy with that.

Boy, If only he knew that he wouldn't be getting a chance to sit by the pool under the sun with an alcohol free cocktail. It makes me laugh quietly to myself as I stare up at the night sky from where I lay on the grass in Uncle's back yard.

"What are you laughing about?" Kota asks, turning his head to look at me.

We can't sleep. Okay, so maybe I should rephrase that. I can't sleep because of my excitement and it's keeping everyone else up. Apart from Johnny, Cara, and Uncle who went to bed a couple of hours ago.

We watched a movie to try and calm me down but that didn't work. We started playing a game of monopoly but quit thirty minutes into the game—them to tired to concentrate, me too tired to care that I had been in jail since we started.

That's how we ended up out here, lying on blankets and looking up at the stars. I can hear soft snores coming from Silas, Sean, and Nathan, but the others are awake. Sometimes talking quietly between themselves or just enjoying the night sky and the silence.

This is the most I've sat—well laid—still all night.

There's just something about the stars that has me pausing to look at them, studying them the best I can.

"Johnny said he wanted to chill by the pool tomorrow," I say with a grin. "He won't even get a second to sit down."

Kota chuckles, the sound followed by a few others. "I can't believe how excited you are about a water park."

"What?" I cry, laughter in my voice. "I've never been before. This is...its incredible and so exciting."

"We have to take her around all of Charleston before she leaves, and beyond that if we can," Victor says softly. "Just think of her reaction to everything."

The guys chuckle and I roll my eyes even though I'm grinning so wide. "Yeah, yeah," I mutter.

My eyes drop close, but I quickly pop them open again when I feel a nudge on my arm. Turning my head, I look towards Gabriel and grin when I see him smiling. "What are you smiling about?" I ask, my voice a whisper.

"Just you," he whispers back. "You've brought so much light to my life it's almost blinding."

My eyes search his face, but for what, I'm not sure. "What made it dark?" I roll onto my side and shuffle closer to him. I use my hands as a cushion, resting them under my cheek. "I see the shadows in those blue eyes," I murmur.