Daemons in the Mist

Chapter 7 - Dreaming Out Loud

7

Dreaming Out Loud

Friday, January 13th

PATRICK

                        

When Nualla had asked if I wanted to get out of here, I hadn’t considered that she had meant to another state. Which was why it had come as a total shock when I found myself standing near a ticket counter in SFO staring at Nualla as she watched the flight information flash across the screens.

After our daring escape from the mall, we had blazed a trail out of the city and down 101 to the SFO Airport. I was so caught up in the laughter of diving into a car just as Michael came out the mall doors after us that I didn’t even notice we were going to the airport. I actually got all the way into the terminal before I even acknowledged anything other than I was with Nualla and we weren’t at school. Even when I finally looked around and saw where we were I thought it was a joke, until I remembered I was with a bunch of super rich kids. Out of town to them meant something completely different.

But I was already in too deep by this point and I really didn’t want to bail. I just prayed that they would at least keep it in the country because I didn’t actually have a passport. As I fidgeted nervously I silently calculated how much money I had in my bank account. I really didn’t want to have to look like a dork for being too broke to buy my ticket to the crazy place they were planning to run off to.

“So where are we going cuz?” Nikki asked Nualla, who was still staring up at the flight board.

“Wherever has a flight leaving first,” Nualla answered without looking away from the board.

Nikki raised an eyebrow. “We running from something?”

Parents. Homework. Nualla’s stalker punk. Life. Any one of these things seemed like perfectly logical things to run from.

Nualla eyed me covertly. “Naw, the fun is in the surprise.” She whipped her head back around to look at the board causing her hair to fling out just like in a movie.

God she’s beautiful.

How the hell had I gotten so lucky to end up here with them—with her? Maybe I had been hit by a bus and I was in a coma, dreaming, or dead. Naw, as unbelievable as this all was, I knew it was reality because, A: my fantasies weren’t this delusional, and B: I had absolutely no idea what the inside of an airport looked like in real life—well until now.

While I was contemplating my sanity and luck, Nualla had apparently made her decision because she walked over to the ticket counter to purchase our tickets.

Shawn looked up at the flight board. “My money’s on New York.”

“Hawaii,” Nikki chimed in cheerfully.

“LA,” I guessed without even looking.

Nualla returned a few minutes later holding four tickets and thrust them toward us. “Vegas,” she said with finality.

***

I don’t know why I had been so cocky in the bookstore. I never thought I would be saying those things to her; not even in my wildest dreams. Maybe that was why I had said it; my brain was convinced I was dreaming. You really can’t fuck up in a dream, so what’s to lose, right? Is what was running through my head as I waited for the girls to change from their school uniforms into normal clothes.

I leaned against the wall and let my head fall back, letting out a deep breath.

“Sorry I didn’t bring you anything dude, Nikki didn’t mention you would be coming,” Shawn said, apologetically.

I looked at him with a half-smile. He was much taller than me—like Connor, somewhere in the 6’1” to 6’4” range. Though unlike Connor, Shawn wasn’t wiry like a runner; he had the broad shoulders and a solid build of a warrior with a sharply planed face like a cheetah. A tangle of wavy blond hair roughly the same shade of blond as Nikki’s, spilled over his forehead nearly to his eyes and curled over the tops of his ears.

“Don’t worry about it; I don’t think she even knew I was coming.”

Shawn cocked his head to one side and smiled a crooked smile at me. “You’re playing it cool, but you’re scared shitless aren’t you?”

“Is it that obvious?” I asked, with a self-deprecating smile.

“Naw, if you weren’t scared I’d know you were a conceited wank.”

“What?” I said, nearly choking.

“The biggest pricks act all smooth in front of girls because they think they’re the shit. You, on the other hand…”

“Ah. But you seem calm, what’s that say about you?”

“Me? Well, I’ve known those two my whole life. They know about all the stupid shit I’ve ever done. Hard to be nervous anymore at that point,” Shawn answered, looking into the distance.

“Yeah, you’re probably right.”

“Look, don’t worry about it so much. Just relax,” he advised, looking back at me with a smile.

“Easy for you to say,” I said, running my hand through my hair.

“Just think about it like hanging out with friends after school, nothing serious.”

“I really don’t hang out with my friends that much after school. Honestly, most of the time I’m alone.”

“Dude seriously? That’s really sad.”

“Yeah I know,” I agreed, leaning my head back against the wall again. I don’t know why I was being so honest about how truly lame I was; it wasn’t going to help me.

“But I really can’t say I’m much better. I mostly hang out with those two girls. Can’t remember ever having many guy friends,” Shawn admitted, folding his arms across his chest.

“I’d be your friend,” I blurted out without giving it much thought.

Wow did I really just say that out loud? God he probably thinks I’m even lamer now than he did before.

“Really? Coolness, friendship accepted,” Shawn said, with a huge grin.

Wait, what?

But I really didn’t have time to think about it long because something hit me in the chest. I looked down at the floor at some clothes that had apparently been thrown at me.

“Nualla, you’re supposed to say ‘think fast’ before you do that, not just throw things at people,” Shawn said as he pushed away from the wall.

“What are these?” I asked, bending down to pick up the clothing.

“They’re clothes silly. You didn’t think we would really make you go to Vegas in your Bayside Academy uniform did you?”

Actually that’s completely what I had thought, but thanks for having a higher opinion of me than I do.

I looked at the clothes again; they were super stylish designer casual and probably cost a small fortune since we were at an airport. “Thanks. How much were they, I’ll pay you back,” I said, looking up.

“Don’t worry about it,” Nualla said with a broad smile. “Think of it as payment for letting me kidnap you this weekend.”

“Okay, then how much were the tickets?”

“Don’t kidnappers usually pay for the transportation of the kidnapped?” Nualla asked as she leaned in closer—dangerously closer.

“Um…yeah, but really I can’t just—”

“Patrick, you’re never going to win this so just give up,” Shawn said, nudging me.

“Okay,” I said uneasily.

“Now go change, our plane’s gonna start boarding soon,” Nualla said with a smile as she pushed me toward the restrooms.

I took a few steps then stopped. Wait, weekend?