Our class is on a field trip to New York; we came here on a bus from Georgia; sixteen hours and fifteen minutes on a bus. Yes, it was as bad as it sounds, but luckily my best friend, Keegan, and I were able to get seats together, so it wasn't as bad as it could've been. We also got the same hotel room, which is also good. Each student was paired with someone else and but in a two-bed hotel room. We left last night at 8:45 PM and got here this afternoon at 1:00 PM, meaning we also had to sleep on the bus last night, but the teachers and chaperones that came said it would be better to drive at night because there would be less traffic, which was true, but trying to sleep on a bus is awful. We're here for five days, and we have a schedule, but honestly, I don't even want to look at it right now, I just want to check in to our hotel and go to sleep, but of course, we can't do that. We're in Brooklyn currently, and instead of taking our bus (the one the school rented) to Liberty Island to see the Statue of Liberty, we're taking a bus from the city there, which will be about 45 minutes. After we go to the Statue of Liberty, we're getting back on the bus and taking a 42-minute bus ride to Manhattan where we'll get back on our bus and go to our hotel: YOTEL New York. Then tomorrow after breakfast, we're walking to Times Square, as it's only nine minutes from our hotel, and then going to Central Park. Tomorrow night, we're going to Broadway to watch Frozen. I can't remember, as of right now, what else we're doing.
The next forty-five minutes on a completely different bus are hectic. People are tired and grumpy, so they're all yelling at each other, making the adults yell at them, and it's all just one, big mess. When we get to the Statue of Liberty, we stand out front for about fifteen minutes and get lectured on staying together. After we've done everything with the Statue of Liberty, we get back on the bus and drive 42 minutes to Manhattan.
Once we've got to our hotel, the teachers tell us to put our stuff in our rooms and then to come right back down to the lobby; by this point, it's 4:30. Once we all group together in the lobby, we all make our way to dinner: a restaurant called Rustic Table, which is a minute walk from the hotel. Most of us split up into different tables upon entering the restaurant, but stay sort of close together. Keegan and I grab a two-person table after ordering and eat. "I hope we're not doing anything else today," I say wearily. "I don't think that we are...but the hotel doesn't have a pool," Keegan says. "No, but they have a bar, a terrace, they serve breakfast, they have a cafe and a concierge, housekeeping, vending machine..." I trail off. "We can go up to the terrace for a little if you want, and stop by the cafe or something and get coffee...after that, we can get snacks and go back to our hotel room." I nod.
We all walk back to the hotel together, and then everyone splits up, going different ways and places. Keegan and I stop and get a caramel iced coffee each, and then we head up to the terrace for a little bit while we drink our coffee. After we leave the terrace, we stop by the vending machine to get a drink and a few snacks, and then we go to our hotel room. "I'm going to go take a shower," I tell Keegan once we've gotten inside. "Okay," Keegan says, turning to glance at me. "I'll be here," I grab my bag and go to the bathroom to shower. While I'm in there before I shower I use the bathroom a scroll through Instagram on my phone. A post from Keegan pops up on my feed. (picture is from Tumblr + his @ on Insta is @rowan.eldridge; to my knowledge, an Instagram account with this user DOES NOT EXIST.)
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five hours ago @keegan_robinson_01- can't wait to spend 5 days in NYC with my best friend ❤️🗽 @elliscarterbennet @jcthomasson- 👀 @keegan_robinson_01- @jcthomasson put your eyes away, sir @elliscarterbennett- 🤪❤️ yes sir!
I double-tap to heart it after I comment, and then I feel something throughout my body that I can't explain. I start sweating, and I get hot. I put my phone down, get up, flush the toilet and turn the water on as cold as I can bear to stand under and get in. I let the water wash over me, closing my eyes as I let the droplets of water hit my face before I begin washing off.
After I get out, I put my dirty clothes in a grocery bag and put them in my suitcase, putting on clean clothes and drying off. I grab my phone and walk out of the bathroom, finding Keegan laying on the bed that he's claimed, looking down at his phone. He looks up as I walk into the room and smiles at me. "Better now?" He asks. I nod. "Okay, well now that you're out, I'm gonna go shower," Keegan says, standing up from the bed. "I feel nasty from walking and sweating and being on a bus for over sixteen hours." "Okay, there should be plenty of hot water, I used cold water because I was burning up," I tell him as he grabs his stuff and goes into the bathroom.
I sit down on the bed closest to the window, putting my bag beside the bed on the floor and collapsing onto the bed. Keegan comes out of the bathroom around ten or fifteen minutes later, shirtless. I quickly look away as the breath gets caught in my throat. When I look at the clock, it says it's 8:30. It's not super dark outside since it's May, but it's definitely dark enough to go to sleep. I look over at Keegan. "I'm going to sleep," I tell him, pulling the covers over me. "Okay, goodnight," he says, looking over at me. There's something in his eyes...something that I can't read... I reach over and turn my lamp off and try to fall asleep.
After at least fifteen minutes of trying to fall asleep, and not being able to, I look over to find Keegan still awake. "Keeg?" I say softly. He turns over and looks at me. "What's wrong?" He asks me, sitting up. "I can't sleep," I throw the covers aside on my bed and Keegan gets up, coming over to my bed. I roll over on my other side so that when Keegan lays down, I can lean my head against his back. He crawls in the bed beside me and pulls the covers over both of us. I put one of my hands on his still bare shoulder, and without really thinking, I press my lips to the back of his shoulder. Moving them to his neck and back down to his shoulder. I keep pressing kisses on his bare skin. "What are you doing?" Keegan asks me, sounding curious. He doesn't sound angry, or as if he wants me to stop, just curious. But instead of replying, I keep kissing his bare skin softly. When I stop briefly, he rolls over to face me and I begin kissing the front of his shoulder, moving up to his and then back down. He grabs my face, cupping it in his hands, forcing me to stop kissing his shoulder. I avoid his gaze, afraid to see what will be on his face. Instead of telling me off, like I thought he might do, he leans in and presses his lips against mine. He lets go o my face to grab my body and pull me close to him then moves them back to my face. I kiss him back softly after a few seconds. When he breaks the kiss, he looks at me, caressing my face tenderly. We don't say anything for a long period of time. I lean back in and press my lips to his. He puts his hands on my upper body, pulling me in closer to him as he kisses me back. I wrap my arms around him, feeling his bare skin against my hands.
"I love you," Keegan says before we fall asleep. "I love you too, Kee," I whisper, almost silently. He tilts my chin upward and kisses me once more before both of us welcome sleep.
12/26/19 This is loosely based off of a dream I had, I don't know why or where it came from, but I had a dream that was kind of like this (the part about kissing his skin). But I was seeing this happen, but it was also like I was one of the boys, but it was also like I was writing a story...idk it was weird, but whatever. Also, did you know that every person/face you see in your dreams, you've seen before?
