Stage Fright

Chapter 30 ~ Miami

Heather

All week I've been waiting for this, I'm so excited. Tonight, Josh and I fly away to Miami. I had a few things planned, some surprises hopefully as well. I'd been antsy all week, I dreamed about what it would be like once we really got there. I dreamed of a warm beach, holding his hand and walking along the edge of the water. Josh's mom lived right on the water too in this really nice condo. All of her emails talked about how excited she was to meet me and see Josh.

Julia kept asking me what I was so happy about, I lied and said my dad was taking me on a fun trip this weekend. I couldn't tell anyone where I was really going and I needed an excuse to not be available all weekend. 

Josh had come over a few times this week. He dropped off his bag at my house last night and he would use his school bag as his carry-on. Anything we didn't want we could keep at my house. All we needed was our IDs, money and our boarding passes that Eleanor was keeping safe. I did have my dad on speed dial if heaven forbid something needed sorting out.

Tonight we'd be flying away on our very own vacation, and as luck would have it, his first birthday present was getting his nose cleared by a doctor this morning. Miss Young had bought a cake that we all shared as a cast and sang Josh happy birthday. His dad had given him a gift this morning, a watch. It was a nice one too, he seemed so proud of it today.

I'd bought his mom a perfect gift and packed along a few presents for Josh as well. I couldn't wait to get away with him, it would be so perfect. 

Now we were both waiting for this rehearsal to end so we could get on the plane. I'd look at him every so often and we'd catch eyes. I'd feel my cheeks heat up every single time.

"Okay, let's end it right there for today!" Miss Young says. "Good work this week everyone, make sure you tidy up your props and costumes!" We get our notes from Miss Young and then as fast as possible we're heading out to my car. I couldn't stop smiling, I was so incredibly excited.

I drive us home quickly and as soon as we're there we walk upstairs to my bedroom and sort out our carry-ons.

"Don't worry about the mess, Eleanor's in here all the time she'll straighten it all up." I assure him and he nods.

"Phone charger, headphones, cell phone, wallet, laptop......" He starts listing off everything and I quickly grab my AP notebooks and my pencil case, tossing those in my backpack. I unplug my laptop and slide it into it's travel case making sure I had the charger for it.

"Ready?" I ask and he nods, zipping his backpack shut.

"Ready." He tells me, giving me a quick kiss and we hurry back downstairs. Once we're there, Eleanor is loading the bags into the car and hands us our boarding passes which we carefully zip away into our bags. I double check for my wallet and make sure it's safely in my bag as well. 

"Alright honey, we should go." Eleanor says and Josh and I walk out and get into the car. She arms the security system and then drives straight to the airport. Once we're there we get out she gives me a hug. "Have fun, be safe and text when you land." She says and I nod, taking my suitcase out of the back.

"Bye." I whisper and I wave to her as we make our way inside. The second we're there Josh reaches out to hold my hand. I smile instantly knowing how much I liked being like this, wishing we didn't need to fly to a different state to do it.

We check in, weigh our bags and hurry off to customs. Both of us knew this airport remarkably well, we didn't even need to tell each other where we were going. Part of me was so excited by this whole thing, it felt like we were on the run or like we were on our way to our honeymoon. Romance was in the air, despite what I'd told my dad about this being a friendly trip.