How to Lose your Best Friend

♧XXXIV♧

PJ

Aviophobia. Also known as my current mood. When Antonio's family forced me to come on their family vacation no one told me that we were traveling by plane.

"Why can't we just drive?" I asked the moment we arrived at the airport.

"We can't drive to Puerto Rico," he responded. I was trying my best to stay calm as we boarded into our seats and watched as the flight attendants explained all of the safety procedures. Antonio didn't need to know that I was absolutely terrified of leaving the ground. I could feel the wheels of the plane begin to roll down the runway as I nearly fell out of my seat. I adjusted myself and pretended to stay calm as we prepared for takeoff.

"Hey dude, are you okay?" Antonio asked looking at me with concern in his eyes. Should I tell him that I'm scared of planes? No. That wouldn't do me any good.

"Um yeah," I replied not even sure of my own answer. I thought that everything was going to be okay. I was becoming accustomed to the plane's rolling wheels and I wasn't too nervous when it began to speed up. It wasn't until the wheels dropped and the plane shot off the ground that I lost my shit.

I began hyperventilating as I gasped for air. Where did they put the little bags to help people breathe? The flight attendant didn't show that!

"Hey, it's going to be okay. Planes are fun!" I hear Antonio yell through the plane's engines. Planes are fun? My ass! There's no way that this kid actually enjoys this.

I don't think I'll make it for another 4 hours. I let out another deep breath hoping that it'd calm me down when I felt Antonio's fingers suddenly slip into mine. It was kind of awkward and I was about to let go when the plane decided to tilt and I squeezed his hand even harder.

I loosened my grip as the plane began to level out and I excused myself so I could go to the bathroom and calm down. Of course, as I was heading back to my seat the plane decided to be a douchebag and start shaking. I tried to catch my balance but the plane threw me against a wall hitting my head as I landed on top of someone's lap.

I turned around to see Antonio's face flashing a bright pink as he asked me if I was okay.

I lied claiming that I was okay in an attempt to get him to leave me alone. It was already embarrassing enough having to hold his hand every time the plane's motions became unsteady.

After 4 long hours of me panicking the plane finally landed. I was the first to get off since I grabbed my suitcase and bolted. I was not about to stay inside that torture device any longer.

The ride to Antonio's brother's house was fairly short and I was glad to finally have somewhere to sleep. The plane ride made me exhausted and I just wanted to lay down.

Antonio began to open the door without knocking and that's when I realized that I'd never met his brother. I've heard him mentioned by Antonio's parents a few times but Antonio had never talked about him before.

I could hear someone shouting from the inside as footsteps approached the door.

"Nino!" The voice called as the door swung open nearly slapping me in the face.

"Ew Mateo stop calling me that," Antonio replied to the man standing in front of us. Nino? Was that supposed to be a nickname? It's pretty stupid that he's still calling Antonio that. They're both too old for idiotic nicknames but I guess Nino did sound cute. It fit Antonio well.

"Nah, you know you love it," Mateo teased.

"No, gross!" Antonio fought back. I've never seen him this pissed off. It was really funny.

"You're such a little brat Nino now introduce me to your boyfriend," Mateo replied winking. Boyfriend? Was he talking about me? I looked over to see Antonio dumbfounded and I decided to take the hit for him.

"I'm PJ," I said introducing myself.

"Coolio! Nice to meetcha. I'll show you around since it's your first time," he replied showing off a friendly smile. This guy seemed friendly. Why was Antonio being so harsh to him?

"You guys will be sharing a room. I don't have another bed though so if you two don't mind shar-" Mateo began saying before Antonio's mother cut him off.

"That's no problem! They share a bed back at home!" she responded with a smile. Share a bed? Since when did we sleep together? Antonio sleeps on the floor at home and I sleep in his bed. I don't know what she's talking about. Maybe she didn't want to cause any trouble for Mateo. I wouldn't want to create any problems since I was a guest that they didn't have to bring. I should be grateful that they invited me and stop worrying about little things like where I'd be sleeping.

Antonio turned to me and I blushed at the thought of sharing a bed with him. My normal sleeping arrangement was by myself on the chilling floor of my dad's liquor store. Not next to my best friend inside his brother's condo with a beautiful view of the ocean.

I went over to lay on the bed as Antonio walked over to the window. The mattress was built of memory foam that was worth more than my whole life. I wrapped the covers around me as my body began to drown in the memory foam. I closed my eyes and all the things rushing through my brain were history.