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Chapter 6

Thursday 7th December
New York here I come.
Four AM my phone alarm is going through the roof, shaking me awake in a panicked frenzy not even a minutes goes by when my mother barges into my room like a child does on Christmas morning filled with excitement, it's nice to see her happy and excited even if the reason for it is her son going on an all expense paid for trip to the big apple. I wish I felt as excited as she did if anything I felt nervous and slightly sick. I'm up and dressed in less the ten minutes In Another pair of jogging bottoms, Janet suggested I wear something warm on the flight. Something about the plane being cold. I pull a t-shirt over my head and cover it with a thick Gray hoddie just to give me that extra blanket of warmth. In an hour and a half i will board the plane and spend eight hours and fifteen minutes glued in a seat with nothing to do but eat expensive over priced snacks and read my new book.
When I get down stairs breakfast is sat on the dinning room table, my mouth falls open at the sight of bacon and ash Brown's sitting on a plate, the sun was yet to come up the sky dark, the street lamps casting circles of light on the ground below them.
"What brought this on" I ask my mother as I take a seat at the far end if the table.
" I just thought it would be nice" she says taking her own seat. I finish my breakfast at around five and head up stairs to double check my case, making sure that I have everything in order.
05:03 AM
The house is silent when the bell rings which only makes the noise echo through the house which in turn creeps me out. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up tall as I make my way to the front door. I pull open the door and I see Ella standing in front of me, her thin elegant frame standing in the doorway her hands cupped together in front of her.
"Erm hey, do you have a minute to talk" she says looking down at her feet as she plays with her fingers. Stepping aside I let her walk in and I follow her in to the lounge were I take a seat on the other side of the room.
"What are you doing here Ella, I have to leave for the airport soon" I tell her shifting nervously in my seat.
"I know, I just wanted to say I'm sorry and that I love you" I know I should forgive her after all she is the one person I love the only person I will ever love, but something inside me way down deep inside of me still felt the pain the heart brake i felt when she hit me. I hear my mother dragging my suitcase down the hallways the sound of the wheels scrapping across the hardwood flooring sends a tingle through my body. I stare in to ella's eyes.
"I have to go Ella" I stand and start walking towards the hallway where Janet stands with my case at her side and a carry on bag on her shoulder.
"Ill text you" Ella says sounding as if she may burst in to tears. She walks ahead and leaves through the door making sure to leave it open so that we can leave straight after.
"Come on sweetie" my mother says tossing my carry on bag at me, it hits me in the chest almost knocking the wind out of me. Dragging my suitcase behind her she walks out the door and makes her way to the four wheel drive and shoves the case into the back seat.
Twenty five minutes later and we are in the airport handing over my passport to the over sized lady her Gray hair sticking out the sides of her well fitting hat I put my case on to the conveyer belt and the old lady sticks a green lable around the handle. Flight 320 from London to John f Kennedy international airport. She let's us through to the next stop. The metal detector the man orders me to place my carry on bag in to one of the plastic containers next to the scanning machine that let of a low hum,
"Empty your pockets too please" the man adds and I do so. My heart crashes against my chest as i step through the empty door frame, a high pitched beep comes from the circular button on the wall. I step to the side before the security guard asks me to. He slowly moves the hand held metal detector up and down my body. My shoes it clicks to me, the usual rubber end of my laces  had been replaced several weeks ago and like an idiot I had worn them to walk through a metal detector. The hand held detector beeps when it reached my shoes confirming my suspicions.
"Please remove your shoes and place them in the tubes provided and step back through the detector" the man demands and I follow. This time the detector stays mute and let's me past without bother and I collect my items from the other end of the room. They let my mother pass through with me until we are in the seating area waiting to board.
"Do you have your ticket" she asks me and I begin to panic putting my hand in each pocket to search for my ticket. I finally relax as my fingers wrap around the long price of card in my back pocket.
"Yep, got it here" I say pulling it from my pocket for her to see. She takes my hand and looks in to my eyes almost crunching the the ticket as she does so.
"Hey look sweetie, please be safe and make sure you message me as soon as you land" tears in her eyes, I can't help but grin and feel little embarrassed me and Janet are not the most emotional family going but we do well just the way we are.
"I'm going to be fine mom, I love you"
"I love you too" my heart fluids with emotion, I let go of her hand and wrap my arms around her squeezing her tight like its the last time I will ever see her i release my grip and walk over towards the turmanal a long narrow hallway with spot lights embedded in the ceiling every meter and a half. I turn to face my mother before beginning  my walk down the tunnel. She gives me a smile and I give her a smile back and just like that I walk away and she vanishes from my view.
I board the plane and instantly feel the cool air hit my face sending shivers over my whole body. The hostess directs me to me seat and sir down letting my body relax into the cold leather and unzip my bag. In eight hours I will land in new York city and kie will be waiting for me. My best friend the one i have not spoken to in almost a year, what will it be like, will we have anything to talk about, I mean it's been such a long time im sure there is a lot to catch up on but we are strangers now. The pages in the book smell fresh flicking through the pages to get an image of the length and begin reading.
It's hard for me to remember when but at some point I dropped off to sleep somewhere around the third chapter my eyes became heavy and i slipped away. I dremt of sitting in poppyfield with ella. I wake up six hours in to the flight with puffy eyes and a mouth drier then the Sahara desert. The top on the bottle of water that i brought earlier on in the flight refuses to budge like someone had sealed it with glue while I slept. Finally the top clicks and I chug down half of the bottles content. The air hostess had offered me something to take of the nerves a small glass bottle filled with a clear liquid that I could only guess was vodka. The thought of taking her up on her offer for a long momment before deciding otherwise. I didn't know what the rules were in American. I was legal to drink alcohol in the UK but the age limit in the USA was a whole three years more then my age and even though the plane was technically not over any country we were still on our way to the big Apple and something about taking alcohol from an air hostess felt like I was disrespecting and braking the country laws. Paper towns had fallen to my feet whilst I was unconscious so I reach down to collect it trying my hardest to remember what Page I was on but have no luck. Instead I re read the entire text of chapter two.
From what I gather from the book it is about a boy that had a crush on girl that didn't know he existed, i didn't know why the book was called what it was I presume as time goes by I will find that out.
I slide up the blind on the window letting in a bright ray of sunshine my hands raise to my face to protect my eyes until they adjus to the brightness in response. I look around the cabin as I give my limbs a stretch. A huge portion of the seats had been left un occupied. I guess that normal people preferred to fly later on in the day. Everyone that I can see are dressed in smart suits and with brief cases on the seats beside them apart from one family. A middle aged couple sitting with a child. The child not strapped in to her seat has her legs tucked up to her chest while her head rests on her farthers leg.  Seeing the young girls face smiling even when asleep filled me with jealousy. I missed my farther, more then I care to admit. It hurt that he didn't care about me or Cole anymore, he had moved on and had another child. He's a cool little kid, I mean I have only seen in maybe once or twice but he seemed okay, flashing back to my mother's words.
Don't worry about it Sam, you don't need that jackass, and the truth was i didn't, I really didn't need him. I just wanted at little attention once in a while, a phone call and maybe he would tell me how proud of me he was. I know it doesn't sound like I'm asking for a lot  but when it comes Ross Hunt, giving you a smile is asking for too much.
And there it was. Just as i start to be happy, just when i start to forget all the hurt held inside. Month's and months of fighting it pushing it down in to a corner, erased by a single fucked up memory of ross. The next few hours go by quickly sitting in silence readding paper towns to myself.
A woman's voice pound through the speakers  "Will all passengers on board return to there seats and buckle their belts as we prepear to land"
I click in my seat belt and pull it tight, this was it new York get ready. The front wheels of the plain touch down and shakes the cabin striking me with fear. Gradually we come to a stand still and the people on board leave there seats to evacuate the plain. I can feel the difference in temperature, warmer then London but still quite chilly. The sun was high in the sky casting a warm glow on the ground.
Half nine, I didn't believe it, the feeling was surreal like stepping backwards in time like I was on my way when theses people were sleeping and I was wide awake.