Endless Summer/ ✔️

Taking You

"Guess what I have!" My eyes flew open to the sound of my best friend's high toned voice.

"What could you possibly have at eight in the morning that is so important?" I groaned, pulling the blanket back over my head.

"I have two plane tickets to California!" Lauren jumped onto the bed and landed on my right ankle. With the left one, I delivered a left kick to Lauren's ribs.

"That is what is so important to interrupt my beauty sleep?" I said with an eye roll.

"Sleep all you want, but at the end of the day you would still be ugly," she giggled. "Besides, one has your name on it and one has mine." Slowly, I peeled the sheets back to see my best friend wriggling her eyebrows in my direction. I snatched the paper from her hand and read over it. The corner 'Maya Taylor.'

"I can't do this. I have so many things to do this summer that involves staying here in Florida," I sighed. "Plus, I have a full ride to Jacksonville that I need to focus on. If I blow that, I'm screwed and I won't be able to do what I need to do in the future."

"All of that is already taken care of, Maya. I talked to your mom like ten minutes ago and she said all of that college stuff can wait for a little while. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and you have to take it! Grandma bought these tickets just for us!" She squealed. With a heavy sigh, I turned myself over and pulled the blanket over my head.

"I will do it for Grandma only because if I don't, I'm afraid she'll come over and break my arms. You know how she gets," I giggled. "When do we leave?"

"Three days, so we better get to packing!" Lauren giggled.

Downstairs, Lauren and my mother were talking to each other, silencing when I walked into the kitchen. "What are you two looking at?" I snapped. Mom giggled and walked over to me as I leaned against the sink. "I'm not a very happy camper when I'm awake at eight in the morning," I scowled. 

"I know," mom said, brushing the tangled hair from my eyes. "Can we maybe spend the next three days with no arguing and no attitudes?" Mom asked. Looking at my mothers eyes, I felt my heart falter a little bit. We had never had a great relationship. My father was in the United States Marines so it was just the two of us. Constantly seeing each other and having to rely on each other to live, we  usually end up in two screaming matches a day.

"I won't have anyone while you're gone. Dad won't be here for another three weeks."

"You have a sister you can hang out with. Plus, all of our family is here, I'm sure you can visit with them when you aren't at work," I suggested.

"Yeah, but that's my sister and most of the time, all we do is fight. I think I'll just change around the house," mom said, looking at the kitchen.

"Besides," I said as I pulled out the chair next to Lauren. "We are only going to be gone for a few days." Lauren and mom both froze. Slowly, I turned my head towards Lauren and widened my eyes. 

"That's what I was going to talk to you about," Lauren whispered. 

"What exactly do you mean, Lauren?" 

"Grandma booked the tickets for the entire summer."

I almost spit out my juice. Choking, I managed to swallow what I had and looked at Lauren, frantic. "The entire summer? That gives me absolutely no time for anything!" 

"You are ridiculous!" Lauren laughed as she threw her blonde hair behind her shoulders. "I thought we could enjoy this together! We always said we wanted to do something like this together and now we have the chance!" 

"Yeah, I know we wanted to do this but, I didn't think it was going to be right in the middle of my life. Right in the middle of college and my freedom."

"Please? If you get tired of it, we will come back as soon as the first flight is available."

"Help me pack?" I sighed, giving in.

It took us three hours and three suitcases to finish packing what I needed. Mom, Lauren and I made our way back downstairs and flopped onto the couch. "Now what do we do for the next three days?" I asked. 

"We make up for the time we are going to lose, and we do absolutely nothing but lounge around in pajamas with food and movies all day," mom giggled. 

Lauren and mom both gathered pillows and blankets to pile onto the floor. "I'll grab the food if you guys pick the movie. Deal?" I giggled. Popping the popcorn into the microwave, I was just about to pour myself into the island chair when a knock sounded on the back door. "I'll get it," I shouted.

Swinging the door open, I froze at the boy in front of me. Before me, stood my gorgeous boyfriend, Sam. His brown and blond hair was tousled to just the right position to give him a total bad boy look. "What are you doing here? I thought we weren't supposed to meet up until tomorrow afternoon?" I asked.

"I just wanted to check in with you before then," He smiled. "Lauren told me that you and her were escaping to California for the summer. How come you didn't tell me?" He whined. With a sigh, I leaned against the frame and studied his face. 

"I was going to. I really was. But today was kind of busy and it all happened so fast. I didn't even have time to think to myself about...telling you at the exact moment," I whispered. A hint of anger appeared in his eyes as he took a step towards me. Slowly, I inched backwards so that I was a little further from his reach. 

"Alright. But tomorrow, you cannot flake on me or else we are going to have some serious issues," Sam warned. The silence lingered for a few seconds before he turned to go back around the house. After he left, I took a deep breath before I walked back inside to grab the food. 

"You okay?" Lauren asked. I blew out my shaky breath and nodded. Lauren was perched on the back of the couch, her head in her hands and her eyes, now squeezed shut. 

"What exactly is she doing?" Mom whispered, leaning towards me as I opened the linen door.

"She says the back of the couch gives her more leverage to think. By the looks of it, she is predicting what movie you will pick," I giggled. With a sigh, mom picked up the remote and began to scroll through the movies. "Pick the notebook," I whispered. 

As soon as the movie began, Lauren's eyes shot open and a smile spread across her face. "I knew you were going to pick this movie!" She squealed. Grabbing the snacks from the bar, I put a smile on my face and joined the other two girls on the floor.

"That is the only movie you watch!" I said, throwing food into my mouth. Lauren mocked me as she threw a handful of popcorn at me and turned her attention back to the movie.

Once the movie ended, Lauren, mom and I, were splayed out across each other with sleep lacing our voices. "You really, watch too many sappy love movies," I giggled as I leaned my head back onto the couch. 

"Well I'm sorry that we all aren't focused on college and becoming someone successful in the movie industry," Lauren mocked. "I haven't really had to focus on taking over my aunts fashion career, so I have all this time on my hands. That and I don't like to date." 

I raised my eyebrows with a little smile. "Yeah, you don't like to date," I giggled. "That's believable." 

"That's the truth!" Lauren laughed as she threw the pillow at me. "Nobody in that school ever liked me and I never liked them because they were all focused on you. You were everyone's favorite and I was just the best friend that was weird." 

"You weren't the best friend that was weird," I replied as I sat up to meet her blue eyes. "Everyone liked you just as much as they liked me. You were the co-captain of the cheer squad and the smartest in our class of eighty-six! Jeff Thomas and Tony Johnson totally had crushes on you  but you just blew them off." 

"I never gave them a real chance."

"Exactly," I said with a smile. Without warning, Lauren hit me over the head with a pillow and scowled at me. "What, what? I was only joking."