Kissed by Team Crafted //tc 3

Double Ew

~Jerome's POV~

I took my last glance at the house. I was driving to the airport tonight, to start my life over. I was moving to Pennsylvania. I was leaving behind all memories of Team Crafted. Good and bad.

I had silently made a pact with myself to never record with any members again. Quentin and Ty had left us in times of need, Adam was a jerk, Ian, Jason, and Ryan wanted to leave during the funeral. How messed up is that? The only person that really stuck by me through all of it was Rene.

Even Stephanie was in-and-out. We haven't been talking a lot lately. It's been two weeks since the funeral, when I last saw her.

That's why, before I leave, I'm going to her house to call it off. A long-distance relationship wouldn't work out, anyways. They never do.

~~~

"Jerome? Come on in!" Her level of kindness was just making this harder. I stepped into her apartment nervously. She led me to the couch, and I sat down on the opposite side of hers.

"So what's up?" she asked.

"There's no easy way to say this, so I'll just spit it out," I announced. "I'm moving to Pennsylvania."

"You're... what? Wait, I don't think I heard you correctly. You're... moving to Pennsylvania? Pennsylvania? Like, THE Pennsylvania? East Coast? Why? Why are you leaving?" she stammered.

"I want to start over fresh," I declared. "L.A. holds so many bad memories for me. I want to erase them all, start over."

"Okay," Stephanie said, more calmly this time. "So what's gonna happen.. with us?"

"That's why I came here," I focused on the floor. "There is no more us. I'm breaking up with you."

"Oh." Her expression is hard to read. Is she angry? Upset? Both?

"I'm sorry, Stephanie. I don't want to hurt you, but... it just isn't working."

"It's okay," she insisted. "It wasn't going to last forever. I think we both knew that, right?" she asked.

"But I wanted it to," I told her. "I'm just not so sure anymore."

"That's alright," she smiled. "Have fun across America."

I stood up to give her a hug, and she returned the favor.

"I'll text you?" I asked, checking to see if she wanted to stay in touch.

"Don't," she ordered. "People who try to stay friends after a breakup just get even angrier at each other."

"Okay," I said blankly. "Goodbye, I guess."

"Bye, Jerome," she replied, and she walked to the door with me. I took one final look at her, and shut the door, trudging out to my car.

She made it so easy. I wonder if she ever really liked me.

~~~

~Hannah's POV~

The sign flashed above us, insisting that we turn off any devices, and buckle up. We're landing in Orlando.

"Only, what, two more hours in a plane? Then we'll be on the island," Winta said excitedly.

"But we have to wait an hour in the airport before the next plane," Adam reminded us. Winta sighed.

~~~

Before we knew it, the plane had landed, and we were entering the Orlando Airport. We went through security again, found our luggage, and in no time, we were back in a gate, waiting for our plane. This time, we only needed to wait a half hour, luckily. After we had grabbed lunch, not much time was left.

"When are we gonna get there?" I asked curiously.

"Well, it'll take maybe an hour or two to get from here to the island, and then we'll have to get a rental car and drive across the island to our house on the beach, so... four o' clock or so? Six, at the very latest," Adam confirmed.

"Ugh," Winta sighed. "I know patience is a virtue or whatever, but I really just want this vacation to get up and running! I can't wait! Plus, we can do some pretty cool vlogs on the beach."

"Yeah," I agreed. "I can't wait to explore this place."

"Nobody can wait," Adam reminded us. "But we have to."

"I know," I told him.

"I know you know," he replied.

"I know you know I know," I giggled.

"I know you know I know we're not gonna start this," he pouted.

"Darn it," I laughed. "I was hoping it would pass the time."

"Well, you're out of luck then," Adam pulled his book out of his luggage, and pretended to ignore me.

"Fine," I gave up, and took out my phone. I pulled out my earbuds, and started to listen to some goofy remix of a pop song that I had downloaded a while ago. I didn't really have any songs I liked recently, so I just always listened to my old downloads. Okay, that's a lie. I downloaded some of Adam's songs off iCloud, but that's it.

When I was halfway through my third run of my playlist, they called us to board our connecting flight.

We grabbed our bags, and dragged them across the room. Adam handed the lady at the entrance to our plane our four tickets, and she let us go. I popped the earbuds out of my ears, knowing they wouldn't be allowed once we got onto the plane.

We walked down a long hallway that led to the hangar where the plane was waiting, and stepped into the front of the plane.

We found our seats toward the front, and Adam stacked our luggage in the racks above our heads.

My stomach grumbled, and I frowned, knowing it was a mistake to pass up the chicken wrap at lunch.

"It's okay," Adam insisted, pulling something out of his small carry-on, drawstring bag.

It was a Chic-Fil-A bag.

"Takeout, anyone?" Adam offered the bag to me. It was empty.

"Adam, why'd you bring an empty bag on the plane? This is trash," I asked, as other people started filing onto the plane. Winta shoved past me to get to her seat. She had gone to the bathroom to change out of her pajamas, and made it back just in time.

"What? It's not empty," Adam insisted. I held up the bag, and flipped it upside down. A few crumbs sprinkled onto the ground, but nothing major.

"Oh no," Adam dug into his bag. "Ew."

"What?" I asked. He held up his bag, so I could see the evidence.

There was a big Chic-Fil-A mess in the bottom of his bag. Adam had stuck his book right into a spilled milkshake.

"Ew is right," I laughed. "Wait, do you have a straw? I'll sip it out of the pages of your book."

"Double ew," Adam frowned.

(Author's Note: Dedicated to TheGreater.)