Ticking Clocks

Chapter 7

"Ugh, I can't believe I'm up when the sun isn't," Alyssa groaned.

"Oh, shut up. It's not the first time we've been up at this hour," I snapped.

"Yeah, remember all those all-nighters?" Eli said.

"I just want to sleep," Alyssa complained.

"We all do. Now be quiet and pick up some bags," Derek said, his mood sour.

It was currently four in the morning and our flight was to leave in two hours. We were still getting all of our bags put into Alyssa's mom's van, who offered to drive us to the airport since we couldn't drive ourselves.

"You know, waking up early is good for your body. I personally like to wake up bright and early, go for a run, do some yoga, and then eat a healthy breakfast," Alyssa's mom--Natalie--said. I handed a suitcase to Eli to put in the trunk, shooting Natalie a dark look.

"Not everyone's a health nut like you, Mom," Alyssa grumbled.

"Well, excuse me for wanting to live longer," Natalie responded.

Honestly, the woman's voice was giving me a headache. I knew if Brooke was here right now, she would have said some sort of bitchy comment to get her to shut up. But Brooke wasn't here and so we were left listening to Natalie's girly high-pitched voice. I mean, Natalie was nice and all. But she was really only tolerable when we had caffeine in our systems.

"Let's stop at a Dunkin' before we go to the airport," Chase suggested as Eli slammed the trunk door shut.

"Good idea," I mumbled as we piled into the van.

"Everyone in?" Natalie asked, starting the engine.

"Yes," we all chorused in zombie-like voices.

"Seatbelts on," she said. We all rolled our eyes at her, but stayed quiet and did as we were told. In just twelve hours, we would be free from all parental controls. We just had to be patient.

"Holy shit," Chase said as we wheeled our way to the boarding area after going through security checking.

"What?" Eli asked.

We were now wide awake, the delicious Dunkin' Donuts coffee instantly taking an effect on us.

"I just remembered that I hate airplanes," Chase said. I felt myself pale.

"Oh, shit," I said.

"What?" Derek asked.

"You just reminded me, too," I answered, punching Chase in the arm.

"Hey! Calm down!" Chase exclaimed.

"No, no, no, no, no! Now all I can think about is the plane getting shot in the sky or losing an engine or falling into a body of water. Oh my God. We're all going to die," I said, panic flooding me.

"Will you shut up?!" Chase exclaimed, covering his ears with his hands.

"I can't believe you two are afraid of planes," Derek said.

"It's going to be fine. It'll be over before we know it," Alyssa said.

"We're never going to make it to Portugal alive," I said.

"Stop it! If you say one more thing, I swear to God I'm going to dump you in one of those luggage trolleys and let them wheel you into plane storage," Chase said. I glared at him.

"Will you two calm down? It's just an airplane," Eli said, getting annoyed.

"Just an airplane?!" Chase and I exclaimed at the same time. Several people in our vicinity looked over at us.