Take Me to the Stars

Chapter 10

~ 10 ~

Me, Lily, Jenna, and Grace all shivered in the cold as we waited for the bus to arrive.

“Ugh, i'm freezing. Where's the bus? I thought it was supposed to come at 11:00.” Jenna complained.

“Yeah, what time is it anyway?” asked Grace as she looked around.

“One second, I’ll check.” I reached into my pocket, and as I pulled out my phone a piece of paper fluttered to the ground.

“What's that?” asked Lily as she bent down to pick it up.

“Wait! I’ll get it.” I quickly snatched it up before Lily could see what it was. I gasped as I realized that it wasn't a piece of paper, it was the picture of Rico that I had shoved in my pocket right before we left.

“Hey, let me see it.” Lily reached for it but I jumped out of the way before she could grab it. “Lindsey, what are you trying to hide?” she lunged for it again and this time she caught it. Grace and Jenna crowded around her to see what it was, and they all gasped.

Jenna looked at me with shock. “You still have a picture of him?”

I'm sure I was blushing like crazy. “I – uh – I don't know why I still have it. I must have just forgotten about it.”

“You're sure?” Lily asked, waving the picture in my face.

“Yeah. Positive. I don't even like him anymore, I told you.” I stammered still blushing.

“Whatever Lindsey, you better be telling the truth.” she threw the picture at me and I stuffed it back in my pocket. If I was going to keep this act up, I was going to have to be more careful.

The bus finally pulled up to the curb, and everybody started piling on. My friends and I all linked arms so that we wouldn't lose each other, and we got on the bus. Unfortunately, the seats on the bus were all had a three person maximum other wise it would be too crowded. My friends all got on before me, and they grabbed the first empty seat they could find, momentarily forgetting about me.

“Uh, guys, where am I gonna sit?” I didn't want to sit next to some total stranger the whole way there.

“Oh, i'm sorry Lindsey.” Jenna said, sounding sympathetic. “I guess you'll just have to sit by yourself on the way there. We can just switch on the way back, okay?”

“Oh – uh, sure.” the bus started to move, and the bus driver was yelling at every one to find a seat. I spotted a seat at the very back of the bus with only one person sitting in it, so I moved toward it quickly to make sure that nobody else took it. As I got closer, I realized that it was a boy who looked to be about my age. He was leaning his head against the window, and he was wearing a gray hoodie with the hood up so that I couldn't see his face. I slowly approached his seat and tapped his shoulder to make sure he wasn't sleeping.

“Um,is it okay if I sit here?”

A faint “Uh huh.” is all I got for an answer. He didn't even look up at me. I sat down as far as I could from him, I wasn't exactly comfortable sitting so close to someone that I don't know.

The ride was longer than I thought it would be. The entire time, I watched as my friends laughed and had fun while I sat awkwardly doing absolutely nothing. As the ride went on, I started to realize that something about the man sitting next to me was somewhat familiar. His skin was a darker tan than mine, and whenever I breathed in I caught a whiff of tropical island breeze. He reminded me a lot of...

No. I couldn't start thinking about him now, unless I wanted to start crying right there on the bus in front of everyone. I got out my headphones and watched as the city of New York flew by outside the windows. I smiled as I remembered my very first trip to the big city with my family.

It was way more fun than this. It was before my parents were traumatized by a plane crash, it was when they were adventurous and wanted to travel everywhere. I was only 7 years old, Caleb was 9, and Derrick was 11, so my dad had driven us there instead of taking the bus. It was so much fun, my brothers had joked around with me and played with me the whole way there. As soon as we arrived, we had gotten smoothies and went to see the Statue of Liberty. We got to eat at fancy restaurants, and whenever I got to tired from walking around Caleb and Derrick would take turns giving me a piggy back ride. Those were the good days, when my brothers pretended everything was an adventure. In fact, that same day when we were walking back to the car, Caleb and Derrick and gotten these new styrofoam swords and they were sword fighting. Derick had accidentally pushed Caleb over and he scraped his knee. Derrick started freaking out and said he was sorry, but Caleb said that it was okay and that it was just a heroic battle scar. Then they laughed it off and just moved on. That really amazed me, because Caleb was so tough and he always showed a good example for me. Now, he has a fear of heights and he gets scared if he even talks about plane crashes.

But now, here I am. On my way to the big city without my family or the comfort of real friends. I was so lost in thought on the buss I didn't even notice when we arrived. Lily, Jenna, and Grace all squealed when the bus pulled to a stop in front of the huge new attraction, Tropical Island Resort and Spa. I was shocked when I saw that just about everyone on the bus was going to the same place we were, including the boy sitting next to me. We all piled off the bus and I stood on my tip toes as I scanned the area for my friends. I started to panic, I couldn't see them anywhere. Had they really just sped off without me? I told myself to relax as I desperately tried to figure out what to to. Then I remembered, the tanning beds! Jenna had mentioned that she wanted to be the very first in line for the tanning beds, so I decided to check there first. I started walking at a brisk pace, but then slowed to a stop. This isn't like the mall, I don't know how to get to the tanning beds! I need a map, fast. I quickly searched the main entrance area for anything that resembled a map of the area. Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything. Not even a gift shop! I guess I’ll have to start asking people. I walked towards the first set of stairs I could find, and right a that moment I was able to take in how big this place really was, and let me tell you, it was huge! When you walk in the main entry way, there's a small information booth and a welcome center to the right and a BED BATH AND BEYOND to the left. When you go past that, there’s two giant swirling stair cases that lead to the second floor with a sparkling chandelier in the middle. The walls are a manilla color with aqua splashes on the stair case, and there's fake palm trees scattering the space on the lower level. Yep, feels tropical.

I started to run towards the stairs, but I was so focused on getting there I accidentally rammed right into someone who was walking past me, and my purse and all it's contents scattered on the floor.

“Oh my gosh, I am so sorry!” I quickly bent down to scoop up my purse and everything that spilled out of it.

“Oh no, it's my fault. Here allow me.” The stranger I accidentally body slammed bent down and helped me scoop up my purse. I gasped as I realized that it was the same stranger I sat next to on the bus. He still has his gray hoodie on, with blue jeans and a pair of Nike tennis shoes on. He had his hood up, just like it was on the bus and his gaze was fixed on the floor as he was helping me clean up my mess, so I couldn't see his face. As he was hurriedly scooping up my things, he suddenly paused and picked up what looked like a piece of paper.

“How did you get this?” he held it out to me, still not raising his head. I gasped as I realized that it was the picture of Rico. Why did this man care about my fantasy boyfriend?

“Um, that's personal information. Besides, I don't even know you.” I snatched the picture form his hand and stood up, preparing to make a run for it.

He stood up with me, but he still wouldn't look at me. “Well, not to be rude, but I think I have a right to know.”

My stomach fluttered. “And – and why is that?”

He yanked his hood off and raised his head to meet my eyes. “Because it's a picture of me, from 2 years ago.”

I gasped. “Rico?”