Atelophobia

"Home Bound"

I wake up to our father pounding on the door telling us it's time to get up to start packing.

Eventually I yell okay just to make him go away. Obviously I'm not up and neither are my sisters. I lay in bed cuddled up in the middle of them. I think we only fell asleep a few hours ago after we cried all night. 

My throat screams at me to get water. It's dry and scratchy from the smoke.
I peer over Jess and look at the digital clock. It reads 8:00 a.m., our flight leaves at 12:10. I rub my eyes and decide to stay in bed for another few minutes.  As much as I try and not think about last night it's hard not to.  He was my first kiss and I'm happy he was. I really do like him and it feels even better to know my feelings aren't one sided. But it also makes it that much harder to leave.

I groan and run my hands down my face. I throw the covers off of me and get up.  We already packed our stuff last night but I go around the room anyway to make sure we didn't leave anything. I grab the towels we have used and throw them in the bath tub so the maids don't have to search for all things dirty.

Just as I'm about to throw the last towel in I see a thin white piece of fabric hanging out in the pile. I pull it out and instantly recognize who's it is.

I snatch it and hold it to my body. Nicky left his shirt in here and I'm taking it as a sign. I breath in his familiar scent of musky wood and fresh air. I realize I look like a creep so I pack it in the very front of my luggage praying it keeps his smell on it.

The other two wake up about 10 minutes after me groggy and groaning that it's to early.

We finally get dressed and  head down to meet our parents in the lobby; who are waiting for a taxi.

I bend over and throw my hair into a high point tail  while we wait for the elevator to open. I hear the familiar ding signaling for us to get on.

We are all silent as the floors seem to pass slowly. I can tell we are all thinking about the past few days and post vacation depression. We have alot to do to prepare to leave and head to L.A. it will serve as a good distraction.

All too soon the doors open revealing the hallway leading to the Lobby. We make our way off the elevator and turn to our left. As soon as we are out a familiar laugh echos from behind us.  Our heads snaps up to the sound waiting to see who emerges from around the corner.
 
As soon as they turn the corner Jess sprints to Danny who catches her in a running hug.
I raise my eyebrows in surprise. Nicky meets my eyes and smiles instantly. He jogs up to me and grabs me in a tight hug. My tears get caught in my throat as I hug him back. Jesse picks Charlie up in a spinning hug almost knocking into us.

I chuckle softly and squeeze Nicky tighter not ever wanting to forget how he feels.
He pulls away slightly but only to catch my lips with his own. I relish in the taste of him, the smell of him, his soft and gentle touch.

He pulls away and I frown. "I don't want your parents coming to look for you. I'll see you soon okay?" He whispers as he wipes away my tears from my cheek.
He kisses my cheek and heads into the elevator with the others.

"Don't forget to call when you get a phone!" Jesse yells.
We all promise as the doors shut.

My sister's and I look sadly at one another and  continue to the lobby. When we meet up with our parents the taxi has just pulled up. Saving us from an awkward session of "Why are you crying?" "Crying is for the weak and helpless!" "Crying shows vulnerability!"

The taxi driver takes our luggage from us and we pile into the van starting with us girls in the back.  I slouch back in the seat and dread the upcoming days. Jess and Charlie on either side of me stare out the side windows.  I know they are just as upset as I am. I have never been this upset and neither have they.

I think back to the beach and our kiss. I instantly get butterflies. I still wonder what Nicky was trying to tell me before we got interrupted. I wonder if he was going to tell me he liked me before I spilled the beans. I shrug it off not wanting my thoughts to go negative after that.  Charlie leans her head on to my shoulder and I do the same on her,  drifting off into a cat nap.

I hadn't realized how much of a deep sleep I'd been in because the next thing I know I'm being shaken awake by Jess.

"Hey we're here, it's time to check in." She says in a small voice.

I yawn reluctantly and sit up on the seat. I wait for Charlie to get out and we follow behind.

Our father pays the driver and tells us to get our luggage.

After checking in and receiving our tickets  Charlie, Jess and I are wondering the airport in search of snacks.  Our plane doesn't leave for another hour but we will be boarding in 15 minutes.

"Hey, let's get some Mountain Dew in here." Jess says. Spotting them in the fridge just before we walk past the shop.
We grab our drinks and some chips and twizzlers before standing in line behind another customer. I look around at the magazines and such on display and wonder if any of the headlines are true.

"Holy shit..." Charlie whispers. She caught us all off guard by swearing  and Jess and I turn to her. We look at her questioningly until Jess turns to find what she is looking at.

"Riley look who is on that magazine..." She almost whispers. Both of them look as white as ghosts.  I turn and scan the cover of a black magazine. My eyes land in two pools of blue.  I blink a few times to make sure my vision is clear. Unfortunately my eyes are perfectly fine and the two other boys are right next to him. 

The side headline reads " New kids in the block ladies!!"

Charlie grabs the magazine and turns to the page about them. There is another picture of them with instruments next to them and a few columns about them.

"Born Victim is going to be the next big thing" Nikky Sixx says. The bassist of Motley Crue has decided to help produce these younger gentlemen and their first gig is going to be out of this world!!" Charlie reads the quote out loud in a shaky voice.

I'm speechless. I don't even know what to believe. Obviously this magazine is popular and by the looks of their instruments, Born Victim is definitely a band. NOT A YOUTUBE SENSATION.

"You have got to be kidding me!!!" I yell. I'm mad. No, pissed is more like it. I have never sworn in my entire life but right now I'm beyond mad and I feel the urge to rip this magazine apart yelling all the curse words.

I take the magazine from Char and speed read to see if they have lied about anything else vital. Turns out they have been a band for years and got famous by Nikky Sixx seeing their video and them doing a demo  for him.

Everything starts making sense in my head. That's why those girls started freaking out at the beach when we first met them. YouTube my butt. The thing that makes me the most mad is after everything we talked about from our lives they lied to us about theirs. We we're a fling. We meant nothing to them.

I'm not sure if they did it to keep up their image or keep us a secret or just because they didn't think we were good enough.

Charlie snatches the magazine back and reads to see what else they had ever so conveniently forgot to mention.

"This is bullshit!" Jess whispers  reading over Charlie's shoulder.

"Screw them, if they think we are going to call after finding out the truth they have another thing coming."Charlie says, sliding the magazine back into it's slot.

We pay for our snacks and grab them off the counter.

"Do you think they were planning on keeping this a secret forever?" I question the girls.

They don't say anything because how could they know. Everything we thought we knew was a lie.

"I think we need to throw their numbers away. They lied about the biggest part of their lives. That's not fair to us and you guys know it. "

We hesitate but pull out the napkins with their scribbles and shred them over the trash.

"No more fake guys, no more falling for false antics. Just us and L.A." I say, disappointed in Nicky and mostly myself for being so careless.