Left and Right in the Dark - A Julian Casablancas fanfic

Chapter 17: We've Got the Right to Live, Fight To Use It

Wednesday, June 21st - Summer Solstice, the day of Sophie and Julian's first date

Sophie's POV: Morning, 9 AM

The day has finally come. There are no words to explain how excited I am. Even with all of my excitement, I know that I can't show the slightest amount of it to the rest of my family, mainly my parents. I can't have them suspect anything; the worst thing that could happen is having them find out about the date and keeping me trapped in the hotel room.

I loved how Julian and I decided for our date to be today, (Summer Solstice), the longest day of the year. That meant that the sun would be up for a really long time tonight. I watched the news this morning, and apparently, the sun isn't supposed to start setting until 9:30 PM!

We had a pretty busy morning. The four of us all took a trip to the American Museum of Natural History and spend a good three hours there. It was cool exploring things like the 122-foot cast of the Titanosaur fossil. We took a lot of pictures on my camera, and after the exhibition was over, we enjoyed some nice sandwiches at a nearby restaurant. After lunch, we went to the World Trade Center and spent a few hours there.

After finishing everything, we return to the hotel room and change back into our "home clothes." I check the time - 4:00 PM. Our parents remind Alex and me to get a few hours of sleep in so that we recharge ourselves. This isn't so much a problem, since our family is the type of family that can easily sleep at any time. We don't really have anything else to do anyway, so the four of us decide to take a power nap for two hours.

__________________

Alex and I get up before our parents do. We look at the alarm clock on the table - 6:30 PM.

I guess we overslept a little.

I tap Alex on the shoulder and whisper to him: "Okay, Mom and Dad are still asleep. I need to get my makeup bag from the bathroom so I can put it into your suitcase."

"Let's do it, then."

We slide off the bed and tiptoe over to the stack of boxes that Alex kept in one corner of the room, along with his suitcase.

I grab my makeup bag from the bathroom and open up the top zipper of Alex's suitcase, tucking it in there. We get out some 'outside clothes' from the drawer and take turns in the bathroom to change. It was inconvenient for me because I was changing into some clothes right now, but I would have to change clothes again for my date.

We see our parents shift out of their bed, yawning and rubbing their eyes.

"Oh my, it's 6:35 already!" Mom looks at the alarm clock before seeing us next to the stack of boxes.

"Are you both packing up?" Dad asks us.

"Yep. We just need to grab a few more things," I respond.

My parents walk into the bathroom to wash their faces. At the same time, Alex and I speed-walk towards the closet. Alex opens the closet doors before looking back at me and giving me a nod. I walk towards the closet, silently taking my fancy blue dress out of the giant Macy's bag inside, making sure that Mom and Dad don't notice.

I fold the dress nicely and pack it inside the suitcase. Everything is done quickly so that Mom and Dad can't see what's going on.

I grab my cell phone and wallet and put them in my purse before slinging the purse over my shoulder. I wear my watch on one wrist and a thin silver bangle on the other. I slip on my brown leather wrap shoes as Alex ties up the laces on his maroon high-top converse.