Just Friends

Chapter Seven

We arrived at the airport at seven am. I had one suitcase of luggage. Our plane left at eight am so we had an hour before we had to depart. The butterflies in my stomach grew. I've never been good with planes. I hate taking off. The feeling of being pushed back in you seat. The plane turning so much you think it'll crash.
C'mon, you can do this.
All thoughts of school, Rose and even Josh, fly (lol) out of my head. We get through security quickly leaving us plenty of time to get some breakfast and do some shopping. Even though we were in an airport.

When we arive in Scotland it's so cold I take out three jumpers from my suitcase. We call a taxi to take us to our grandmas. I look out the window and can almost see snow on the side of the road. My mind slowly wanders from snow and Scotland to Rose. Her blond hair and eyes that drag you in until- no, I can't think about her now. 

Were in the car for about half an hour and eventually I get bored so I take my phone and scroll throught my Instagram. There are pictures of girls out with there friends and for a minute I wish I hadn't agreed to come to Scotland. Especially since school had just gone back and I should probably be there. And the way I ended the conversation between Rose and I. She probably thinks I don't approve and think she's some sort of freak. I don't think that of course but what would she know.

The taxi pulls up infront of a big victotrian. It's stunning, I had forgetten how big Grans house was. I think the last time we were here as a family was back when I was thirteen. That was for christmas. The best christmas ever. Mum thanks the driver, pays and we step out into the freezing Scotland air.

....

The smell hits me first. Freshly baked cookies. Mmm... Aunty Maddie comes rushing out the kitchen, her brown hair wild and frizzy, an ovenmit over her hand. 

"Linda! Chris! How lovely to see you!" She runs over and takes mum into a big hug. My mum laughs and Aunt Maddie moves onto our dad. Jake and I stand there awkwardly until there done. 

"Oh my goodness! Look how big you both are! Grace, how are you? Oh it's been so long!" She pulls me into her grip and I breath in the smell of freshly baked bread. She pulls away and moves onto my brother. "Wow, look at you, must be atrracting quite a few hey," she smirks. Jake shuffles his feet, I can see his cheeks turn red.
Aunt Maddie steps back and turns toward the kitchen.
"Mum! There here!" She yells. 

Theres a moment of slightly awkward silence before I can hear a slight tapping on the wooden flooring. Granny Soph comes around the corner, a big purple jumper hangs over her body and a strong whiff of lavender comes off. When she sees us her eyes light up, showcasing the wrinkles around her eyes. Laugh lines Aunt Maddie called them. 

We spent quite a bit of time talking around the fire. It takes me back to last time we were here, the best holiday of my life no doubts about it. Mum and dad stayed in one of the spare rooms, I slpet on the floor of Aunt Maddies room and Jake, well, he had to sleep on the couch.  For dinner on the first night we stayed in and had pizza. Granny Soph wanted to hear all about our lives back home so we talked for ages about lot's of diffrent stuff like school,home, hobbies etc. 

....

The first day was spent looking around. My parents wanted to be tourists for the day so we looked around the small town my aunt and Gran lived in. It was so cold and the forcast for the next week said it could snow. If it did we were told that we could go sledding down hill behind Grans house. I wished it would snow becuase I haven't gone sledding in a long time. 

On wednesday Aunt Maddie took me to the nearest city and we had a 'girls day'. Not gonna lie, it was great to spend the day with her. Since the day I went shopping with Rose, I haven't been shopping since. She bought me two jumpers and new pair of jeans. Stuff I can rarely afford these days since one, I don't have a part time job and two, clothes are expensive now. Were out for the whole day, stopping for lunch and ice cream, even though it's in the middle of winter. I have three bags of stuff when I get home and let's say, Mum was not happy about Aunt Maddie buying me so much stuff. In the end though I got to keep it all, as long as I bought Aunt Maddie breakfast in bed for the next two days..

Jake came and went for the next two days. He'd already met two guys and went to hang out with them everyday at the local skate park. So I was alone a lot. Not that I really cared. I spent time with Aunt Maddie and make muffins with Gran, she loved talking to me, I also loved talking to her. We did puzzles, bake and watch movies togethers. Mum and dad went out together for a break and maybe even a date. For awhile we forgot the reason we had to Scotland in the first place. We were happy spending time together but on Friday morning two things happened. the first was, I got a call and the second, Gran collapsed.