Faces (Lannan Eacott) *Under Editing*

Thirty-One

      The rest of the flight was spent in silence. I pondered over my previous dream and wondered what it could mean. Nikki kept asking me questions about where I wanted to visit once we landed and whether or not we were gonna spend our free time at the beach.

      Once the doors opened we went to collect our bags. I searched everywhere for the only person I wanted to talk to, but this time, he was nowhere to be found. That familiar suitcase was long gone. I sighed sadly as I met up with the rest of my class. We loaded and the bus and received our paper on what we would be required to do as a class and when we would have free time to explore and do what we would like.

      We had our first couple days to ourselves. Mainly to reenergize from the previous flight.  Nikki noticed my silence and nudged my arm with her elbow.

      "What's wrong, babe? You're being quiet." I shrugged. "Samantha. I don't know what happened on the plane, but you're acting way different." Sighing once more I turned my body towards her.

      "I dreamt I was dating Lannan. And it was the most amazing dream and I'm extremely bummed that it wasn't real. I'm embarrassed even saying it." She giggles and grabbed both of my forearms.

      "I knew you like Lazarbeam. But Sam, there's nothing to be embarrassed of! Lannan Eacott is pretty cute."

      "Yes, I know this. But I wanted it to be real." She wrapped her arm around my shoulder and tilted her head towards me.

      "We're in Australia. Anything is possible." I giggled when she raised her eyebrows. "Now get your head out of your ass and enjoy this. Hashtag hot girl summer remember?" She nudged me once more at my eye roll.

      "You can be such a slut sometimes." She shrugged and went back to looking at her phone. I wish I could say I had stopped thinking of Lannan. But that would dishonest. The longer I was awake, the more my perfect dream started to slip away. I started to forget simple things we had done. What was our favorite restaurant? What did he say was on his bucket list? Don't get me wrong, I know very well that the man in my dream is completely different than the man I'm hoping to meet.

      Once back at the hotel, we unpacked our bags and spent the next couple hours relaxing in our room. I was scrolling through Instagram when Nikki threw a sock at me.

      "Wanna go to the beach? Maybe grab some dinner?" I nodded. We decided to walk aimlessly downtown till we found a place that we thought would be a winning candidate for dinner. "So what was this dream?"

      "Lannan and I were dating. It was absolutely perfect, Nik." She wrapped her arm around my shoulders again. "It made me completely forget about Jacob." She pointed her finger at me and scrunched her eyebrows together.

      "Don't mention that douchebag to me. He isn't worth another second of your thoughts. What he did to you was atrocious. I should knock his lights out the next time we see him." Wrapping my arm around her waist, I shook my head.

      "No. He's not worth a night in jail." She laughed.

      "He so is. But I'm not gonna hurt your sweet little ex." After what seemed like hours, we stopped at a local burger joint before heading to the beach. Nikki has just shoved fries in her mouth when she decided to ask a question. "So what do you plan on doing if you meet him?" Reaching across the table, I pushed her chin up to close her mouth.

      "Mouth full, means no talking." She rolled her eyes. "But I don't know. He doesn't know me, I barely know him. I only know what my mind made him out to be." She nodded and took a bite of her burger. "Do you think he's a good person?"

       "I've had a crush on this man for two years. Believe me, Sam. He's a good guy. Swears like a sailor though." I giggled at her words and once we were finished we headed to the beach. Sydney was everything I had dreamt it would be. Fairy lights here. Pubs there. The streets were crowded with people. "Do you think we'll see a kangaroo?" I rolled my eyes and pushed her.

       "Shut up." The beach was beautiful. Nikki noticed a group of people playing beach football and decided it was best to keep our distance. "I think I'm gonna tan for a bit." She nodded and within seconds was diving head first into the water.

      I was scrolling through Instagram when something kicked up a bunch of sand in my direction.

      "Oi! Are you okay, mate?" I nodded, unable to see, as I was attempting to rid the sand from my eyes. "Sorry, beautiful. Marcus has the arm of a pro. Let me help you." I felt hands brushing up and down my arms. Wait. Finally, once I was confident I had gotten all the sand off my face, I opened my eyes to see who the mystery man was. My eyes widen once I do. "You okay?" I nodded, not sure if I could even get any words out.

       "Yeah, yeah. I'm totally fine. Just caught me by surprise." He chuckled and motioned towards his group of friends with the football.

       "Well, if you were interested, we have a spot for one more player." I looked towards Nikki who was already talking to a boy she had met.

       "Sure. I'm Samantha." He stick his hand out.

        "Lannan."