Bears Know Best

Chapter 31: The Return of the Princess

FRIDAY MORNING CAME before I could possibly believe it! I woke up at the un-godly hour of four in the morning so I could shower and be rushed out the door by five. My bags were already packed and downstairs in the car so that all I had to do was grab my backpack with my iPad inside, a makeup bag, my purse, and I was downstairs buckled in next to a bleary-eyed Alyssa. She was more of a morning person though, so she was jumping up and down in excitement as soon as we started down the road.

By the time we had Danielle and Breanna in the car as well, Mom's car transformed into a loud cacophony of teenage girls. I'm pretty certain Mom was glad to have us out of the car and onto the plane by the time all was said and done! She navigated the paperwork and I was relieved that on the airline we were flying I had finally passed the age so that I didn't have to be registered as an unaccompanied minor. The lady did stare at me quite a bit and questioned me on my age, but when all was said and done ultimately believed the two of us.

Mom escorted us to the gate and waited until we were boarding the plane to say goodbye to me, "Be good Taylor," she said with tears in her eyes.

"I'll be back Monday Mom, don't worry," I told her with a hug and my own teary eyes.

"I love you," she said with one last squeeze.

"I love you too," I told her.

The four of us were traveling in first class, so we were able to board right away. I noticed a few passengers stare at us as they found their own first-class seats and I shuddered.

"What's wrong Taylor?"

"Did I tell you about my last trip?" I asked Alyssa, who was sitting next to me. Breanna and Danielle were in the same row of seats, but across the aisle.

She shook her head, "No," she told me.

"Well, the last trip I took I sat down and was getting looks like we've been getting, from this guy that was sitting next to me... I was in the window seat and he said something like 'stupid little girl' at me when the stewardess wouldn't give him another drink."

"That sounds kind of bad..."

"Well, it was more than that though. He started getting agitated and yelling – eventually an FBI Agent that was traveling came up and told him to calm down... He wouldn't, so he cuffed him, and in the meantime knocked my Sprite all over my lap!"

Alyssa was laughing at that point, "That's funny!"

"Not at the time," I said, starting to giggle a bit myself. "At least I got free tickets out of it..."

"You got free tickets out of it?" She asked, surprised.

"Well, they figured out who my dad was... and he was kind of on a tirade when he learned about what happened."

She shook her head, "I'm not surprised. When he was up here it was obvious how much he loves you."

"I know," I said and found that I was soon after falling into a melancholic stupor. I really missed him, all of the time, but I had no solution of how to live with him and Rachel. 'Maybe she'll be better,' I thought nervously as the plane flew onward. 'No matter what though, I don't think I can live away from Mom...'

I must have eventually fallen asleep, because Danielle poked me as we descended into Atlanta. "Ack!" I complained.

She just smiled at me though. "What are we doing when we get there?"

"Probably lunch?" I guessed.

"Where?"

I shrugged, "What does everyone want to eat?"