A Gasp and A Sigh

Chapter-32 "It's Perfect!!"

I climb up the stairs to Antonio's apartment and breathlessly knock on his door. Moments later the door is yanked opened and I'm suddenly pulled inside.

"What took you so long?"

"Yeah, we were almost going to reveal the surprise without you,"

"You made us wait like 15 minutes anxiously!"

"Exactly! Wait what are we waiting for?? Let's go and sit!"

My jaw drops as I see Jeff and Heathen run back in the living room leaving me on the door breathlessly. What friends I have...
Apparently, a surprise is more important than your friend dying out of lack of breath. I hold the door and get my breathing calmed down, my throat seemed as if it had turned into hard rock, I couldn't swallow.

"Here, drink up," I instantly grab the glass and gulp down the water in a single sip. That feels so much better. I sigh out of relief and lean back on the wall, my attention then diverts back to the chuckles erupting in front of me.

"What has got you so tired?" Antonio takes back the glass from my hand.

"I had to catch a bus, like literally had to run behind it because I was late, and then finally when I get down there were hundreds of calls from Heathen and Jeff, they mentioned it was some emergency and shit which got me running at full speed all the way here. And when I finally reach, I get to know that the goddamn emergency is a fucking surprise reveal! "I exclaim.

"My feet, back, shoulders, everything hurt!" I huff and hit my head back on the wall.

"Easy there with your head. Come in and sit, that'll get you relaxed. I'll get something to eat and drink then we'll reveal the surprise. Okay with you?" he says while shaking his head.

"Yeah, that'll be great,"

He bows down pretending to flip his non-existent hat and goes inside. I can't help but laugh and follow him in.

"Oh my God, where are you guys!?" Heathen shouts from the living room.

"You seem.. to be pretty excited?" I quirk a questioning eyebrow at her. Her eyes were twinkling from excitement and she was literally jumping up and down on the couch. That, my friends, is the maximum emotion you might be able to get out of Heathen Mills. Yes, we both have this one huge habit of having a blank face all the freaking time, people sure do get very annoyed but eh, we don't care. Not like we never show emotions, we do when necessary but not just randomly out of nowhere. Which is why it is quite surprising to see her this excited like a kid when she gets so excited to open her birthday gifts.

"Yes ofcourse, it seems to be like a huge surprise. And you know the best part?-"

"Shouldn't I be telling the best part?" Antonio interrupts her and enters the living room with some snacks and drinks in his hand. I gasp loudly and immediately run to grab a drink and some food for myself before plopping down and stuffing it in my mouth. Silence takes over the whole room...

"What? I'm really hungry okay? I just didn't run all the way here for nothing," I glare at everyone, Antonio seemed to be standing shocked with his mouth open in his midstep, while the other two were staring at me as if I was some alien.

"Wow, I never thought you had that crazy side for food.." Antonio clears his throat and sets down everything. "Anyway back to the best part. So, since the previous two weeks, everything has been so messed up and stressful that it's making us go crazy, so I have decided why not take a break? We need to make relax down and not have to think about what's going to happen next for a while. There comes my surprise," he smirks. Honestly, it's true I could seriously take some break. We all desperately need it!

Looking at our know attentive faces he then continues," So.... " he pauses for some dramatic effect." We are going on a trip! All the way down to the coast, where we relax and do whatever we want. I have reserved some hotels and checked out everything. We can leave on the weekend, it'll be a road trip, we can take my Jeep along with a carrier and drive down! What do you think?" A minute of silence washes over us before I take a deep breath and slowly huge grins spread on our lips.

"Oh. My. God!! That is like the best plan ever! It's perfect!! I can already imagine myself relaxing by the beach," Heathen jumps up and down and laughs like a maniac.

"I don't even have words to explain my excitement. It's like a miracle! We finally relax! Oh heck yes!!" Jeff fist bumps in the air and starts doing a happy dance, getting us all cracked up.

"Great so everyone in, right?" Antonio glances once at everyone.

"How could one miss such an opportunity?" I smirk at him.

"I'll take that as a yes,"

"Let's celebrate with my special dinner," Jeff hollers and runs in the dining room.

"Damn, I just can't wait for this week to end. We're finally going on a trip, away from this place. It's amazing," I laugh and relax in my seat. If anyone sees us getting this excited for a trip they'll probably think this is the first time we're stepping out of our house, but trust me, be in our position and even a minute of escape from the world is heavenly.

"I know someone who really needs this. More than anything," Antonio smiled at me.

"Oh yeah? Who?" I sit straight in my seat grinning.

"Figure it out yourself," he winks and goes in the dining room leaving me to chuckle at how over a day we went from shouting our throats to being back to normal. Yes, I guess I did figure out who needs this break the most...

Atleast now my lie about my weekend seems to come true!

——————

"So... Where are we going?" Jeff grins eagerly at us.

"I was thinking Galveston. It will be around 5 to 6 hour journey, but it'll be worth it,"

"When do we start packing?" I grin. A beach? Perfect.

"Tomorrow's Wednesday, well start on Thursday early morning. That way we can relax after the 6 hour journey then start a fresh day for the beach and other things I've planned," he shrugs and leans back in his seat.

"Oh, I can already feel myself relaxing," Heathen sighs.

"Oh yeah? Maybe I should just tell you stories about Galveston and you relax," he grins teasingly.

"What? No! You can't do that!" Damn.... The horror on her face.

"Relax, he's just kidding," I laugh.

"Such jokes are not allowed! I almost had a heart attack!" she huffs while we all laugh.

"Okay then, I'll leave. I'll be here in the morning, early," I get up to put my plate to wash.

"See ya later!"

"Please don't ring the bell in the morning,"

"Yeah, it'll spoil our sleep,"

I glare at Heathen and Antonio. They care about their sleep more than me reaching home safely.... Wait till I spoil there sleep. Smiling I say a last sweet goodbye make my way out, not before slyly taking the house keys that were kept on the coffee table with me.

Don't you remember what happened last time you stole something of his?

Yeah, but this is different.

Enlighten me.

Can't. Sorry. Figure it out yourself.

I smirk and skip down the stairs, oh and did mention I stole Antonio's bike's keys again? Now I won't have to take any bus!

The only thing that'll stop me is if they'll wake up early tomorrow, which I'm sure they won't.

I bet I have some long-lasting face paint somewhere in my closet.....