ethan & emma: talking with you.

Secrets In Fiji

Brrrrring. Brrrring. 

Emma reached out blindly, fumbling with her phone before locating the snooze button and pressing it, all with her eyes closed. She was about to drift off again, burying her face into her pillow, when she remembered what today was - in a few hours, she would be halfway around the world. 

Her eyes opened. 

She'd somehow managed to procrastinate packing until the last minute, and not only did she have no idea what she should bring with her, but she owned almost nothing she needed. No travel-sized shampoos, conditioners, body washes, or even deodorant. The list went on. 

Her vision blurry, still half-asleep, she packed the outfits that Dote, the company that was flying a ton of influencers out as a reward for amassing a certain number of followers on their app, had pre-approved for her Instagram posts. And that was it. Some toiletries that didn't violate air travel guidelines. She was essentially flying blind. 

Heh. Flying blind. 

Emma blearily shook her head at her own joke. It was too early for this shit. 

As she zipped up her suitcase, she checked her messages, remembering her promise to Bryant from the night before but discovering an unexpected message.

[12:40 a.m.] Ethan: Have a safe flight

Despite her exhaustion, Emma felt herself breaking into a smile, opening his message to text him back. 

[5:17 a.m.] Emma: i hope its not. i got 4 hrs of sleep and i want death 😊

Then she opened the messages between her and Bryant. 

[5:18 a.m.] Emma: i'm up. i'm miserable. i have no supplies and didn't prepare at all. go me

She dressed in sweatpants and a sweater, corresponding with Ellie and Hannah in their group chat only to discover that they were both on their way to the airport already. 

"Great. And I'm late," Emma said out loud. "I'm doing awesome today." 

She locked up her apartment, ordered an Uber, and loaded her bag before speeding to the airport. Of course, this was Los Angeles, so it took over an hour before they pulled into the loop that led her to LAX. Once she arrived at the right terminal, she met up with Hannah, Ellie, Olivia, and Summer. Ellie and Hannah's mothers were there, carrying multiple bags and looking generally exhausted. 

Instead of her mom, who was busy with work anyway, Emma used her +1 option to invite Bryant at the last minute, but this had caused so many issues with the rooming situation that Dote had set up - the moms were all grouped into one villa, but obviously it would be odd to place Bryant in there - that Emma had to transfer to Olivia Jade's room, the only pre-assigned villa where there was a sofa that pulled out into a bed, so that Bryant could sleep on the sofa. This last-minute change had resulted in Bryant also being booked on a later flight. 

All of the girls at the airport, aside from Ellie, were way too cheery for so early in the morning, so the two banded together and went on a search for coffee. 

"Starbucks?" Emma asked in resignation, as Ellie gestured to it excitedly.

"What's wrong with that?" 

"I don't get why everyone likes it so much. I mean, there's a Coffee Bean right down the hall."

"Go get coffee there, then," Ellie said.

"I don't want to go alone." 

"What if we go through the Starbucks line and then I'll wait with you in the Coffee Bean line?"