Are you mine?

Chapter 43

"You sure you have everything?" My dad asks, taking my luggage out of the car before closing the trunk with a thud.

"For the hundredth time in the last fifteen minutes, yes dad, I'm sure." I reply, taking my small, blue carry-on suitcase from him, and letting him deal with my bigger bag.

"What about your passport? Your minor's permit? Your pills in case you get sick on the flight?" my mom asks, nervously going through her mental checklist as we start walking towards the airport. I dig inside my backpack that's hanging off my shoulder, taking my passport and my permit out, waving them in front of her face before putting it back, shaking my backpack so that she'll hear the pills rattling inside.

"Relax guys, it's just a weeklong trip. I made sure I packed everything I needed, I checked three times before we even left home. All liquids are sealed inside a ziplock bag, my money is well hidden, and all my bags have their locks on. You don't have to worry, you raised a daughter just as neurotic as the two of you." I assure them.

"Don't be a smartass now," my mom warns, "I'm just worried. It's your first time flying out of the country and we won't be there with you in case anything happens."

"I know, and I'm nervous too. But I'll only be gone a week. We'll all just have to trust that everything is taken care of, and I'll let you know if anything goes wrong." I say, "Which I'm sure it won't." I add, more to myself than to them.

"We'll still miss you anyway." my dad says, giving me a side hug and I give him a small smile.

"I'll miss you too."

"Alright now let's get going, everyone should already be inside waiting." My mom interjects and we start walking towards the airport.

I take the hoodie I'd tied to my wait and put it on, wrapping my arms around myself to keep me warm since the sun has gone down, making temperatures drop drastically and uncharacteristically for this time of the year. My hair starts getting messed up and sticking to my lips because of the strong wind, and my mom tries smoothing it down for me to no avail. She takes her phone out, looking for the note she made with the right gate number we're supposed to go to, and we make our way to 'departures'.

As the sliding glass doors open automatically for us, we step into the airport, being hit by a wall of warm air coming from the air conditioning system. Inside, we're met by a mass of people, loudly talking over one another. They're mostly kids my age, which I suppose are from the other schools that are joining us on the trip. The rest, I'm assuming, are those kids' parents, who have the same worried expression as my own do. I stand on my tiptoes and scan over the crowd, looking for a familiar face, but I don't see anyone I even remotely recognize.

"Hi!" a cheerful voice says, claiming my attention. I look over to see a very beautiful young woman, I'm guessing in her early twenties, twenty four at most, standing in front of me and holding a clipboard close to her chest. She stands a few inches taller than me and has legs for days, her tan skin visible due to the denim shorts she's wearing. Contrasting with the warm weather attire she's wearing on the bottom half of her body, on the top half she has a turquoise windbreaker on. The zipper on her jacket is undone and displays a tight white tank top, which shows off her curvy figure, making me try to ignore the way her necklaces disappear into her cleavage. Her hair is golden blonde, falling over her shoulders in shiny, yet messy beach waves, making her look like she belongs in the cast of Baywatch. "I'm Quinn," she introduces herself with a tone that matches the wide smile on her face, "And you are?" she asks, her piercing green eyes looking straight at me.

"Maddison," I say.

"Okay, I'm going to call you Maddie to make my life easier. Now Maddie, I need your last name and the name of the school you go to." She says, her eyes scanning over the papers attached to her clipboard.