Let's go kids!" mom yelled from the living room. Today was the day. Wednesday, April 6th, aka the day we leave for our family vacation. This year, we were headed for California. "Mom, Alex lost my iPod last night! We can't leave until I find it!" I yelled down the hall. "Alex, find Sofiee's iPod right now." "Here," Alex said, handing me my iPod. "It was in the kitchen where you left it, not me." "Whatever." I said. I snatched the iPod and stuck in my purse. "Suitcases are in the trunk; let's get going." Dad hollered from the front door. One by one, we trailed out of the house and piled into the car.
The car ride to the airport felt like an eternity of boring. My iPod and phone were my only forms of entertainment. "Time check." Dad said. "It's 11:53. We are right on track." Mom responded. I closed my eyes and tried to take a nap but before I knew it, dad was pulling into the parking lot. We got out of the car and dad pulled our suitcases out of the trunk. We rode the tram to the airport where we checked our bags in and went to our gate to sit and wait.
I sat at a charging station in our gate and got on my laptop. I got on Facebook to check for any notifications and then I got on MSN to chat with my best friend Karlie. A guy with light brown hair and a somewhat athletic build walked up to the charging station and sat across from me. He sat his backpack on the table. He pulled his laptop out of one of the pockets of his backpack. Two drumsticks sticking out from the same pocket caught my eye. I looked up at him, trying not to stare. I studied his face. He was quite gorgeous. He caught my eye and smiled, then continued to dig through his backpack. "I'm sorry to bother you, but do you have a charging cord for your iPod that I can borrow?" he asked me. "Yea, I'll go get it." I stood up and walked over to my parents. I pulled my iPod cord out of my carryon bag and took it back to the table. "Here you go." I said, handing it to him. "Thank you so much. I forgot to put mine in my backpack, so it's packed away in my suitcase and my iPhone is about to die." I giggled and said, "I've done that before." He smirked and said, "So I'm assuming you travel often then." "Well, my family goes on vacation around this time every year." "Nice. Can I ask where you guys are headed?" With a hint of excitement, I said, "Los Angeles!" He smiled wide and said, "That's actually where I live. My mom, stepdad and sister live here in Missouri. I was visiting them for a few days over Spring Break." "That's cool," I said. "I've lived here my whole life. It's exciting to get away every once in a while."
"Flight 214 Section A, 1-20 to Los Angeles will now begin boarding." A woman said over the intercom. I stood up and said, "That's me." I turned my laptop off and stuck it in its bag. "Aww, I don't board until B, 1-20." The guy said. He unplugged his iPhone from the charging cord and handed it to me. "It was nice talking to you. I'm Sofiee by the way." I stuck my hand and shook his as he said, "I'm Tanner. Nice meeting and talking to you." I picked up my laptop bag and purse and walked to my parents who were waiting in line to get on the plane.
Alex and I sat together on one side of the plane while mom and dad sat together on the other side. Alex took the window seat and I took the aisle seat, hoping no stranger would sit with us. I watched as the plane began to fill up quickly. I saw Tanner step on the plane. He walked behind a group of people. An older man walked to our row and asked, "Is that seat taken? Not wanting to sit with a complete stranger but preferably Tanner, I said, "I'm sorry, it's actually saved for someone. I waved at Tanner and pointed at the empty seat. When he finally approached our row, I said, "Would you like to sit with me and my brother?" "Sure, if you guys don't mind." He said. I stood up and moved over to the middle seat. "Alex, this is Tanner. He's the guy I was talking to in the airport." I said introducing them to each other. "Nice to meet you, dude."Tanner said to Alex.
At first, the ride was a little awkward because Tanner and Alex were talking across me. Instead of continuing to sit there unacknowledged, I interrupted their conversation. "So, how old are you, Tanner?" "I just turned 17 on March 12th. How old are you?" "I'm about to turn 16. Next week on the 14th." I responded. "Nice. How old are you?" Tanner asked Alex. "I'm 14. I'll be 15 on May 26th." "That's cool. I'd like to have a sibling close to my age. My biological sister is only 8 and my stepsister is 16. But she and I don't really get along." "Most of the time neither do we." I said.
The flight attendants started coming down the aisles taking drink orders. When she reached our row, she asked, "Can I get you all something to drink?" "I'll take water." Tanner said. "Okay, how about you two?" she asked me and Alex. "I just want water." Alex replied. "Okay, and for you hun?" she asked me. "I'll take water as well. And can I get a small pillow or something like that?" she smiled and said, "Yes, so that's three waters and a pillow. I'll be back with that soon." She continued down the aisles. "We had to wake up at 6:30. It sucked." I told Tanner. He smiled and said, "I woke up at 11 and somehow I managed to get her on time." I laughed and said, "Lucky." We sat in silence for a few minutes and then I said, "This lady should hurry up with my pillow." Upon saying that, the flight attendant returned to our row with the pillow. "Sorry about the wait. I'll be back with your waters shortly." She said. "Thank you." I said as I grabbed the pillow from her. I adjusted the pillow and wedged it between Alex's shoulder and the seat. "Please get off. I don't want you laying on me." I yanked the pillow out and sat it on my lap. "If you want, you can use my shoulder and seat to lie on." Tanner said politely. "Thank you. If I get in your way or on your nerves, just nudge me off." He smirked and said, "Okay."
"Sofiee, wake up." Alex said, nudging my shoulder. "What?" "We're about to land." I sat up straight and adjusted myself. I looked to my left at Tanner. He was playing a game on his iPhone. I felt the jerking and shaking of the plane as it started landing. I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I pulled it out to see I was receiving some texts I couldn't receive in the air, I didn't read them. I just stuck my phone back in my pocket.
When we stepped off the plane, Tanner led Alex and I to the luggage pick up. Alex found his suitcase before me and went over to stand with mom and dad on the other side of the luggage pick up while they retrieved their bags. "What does your suitcase look like?" Tanner asked. "It's purple." Tanner picked up a black and green duffle bag and a small black suitcase. My suitcase (the only purple one in sight) came rolling through. "This must be yours." He said, picking it up. "Thank you." I said. "No problem, Sofiee." He replied with a sweet smile on his face. "Well, I guess I should go now." I threw my purse on my arm and my carryon bag over it. "Maybe I'll see you around." Tanner said. "It's a big city, but maybe." I replied. He smiled and said, "Hopefully." I smiled and walked over to my mom, dad and Alex.
The car ride to the hotel was quiet and boring. "Mom, what are we doing after we get to the hotel?" Alex asked. "Well I thought we would go unpack and maybe hit the beach afterwards." "I think we should get something to eat first." Dad said eagerly. "I agree with dad! I'm hungry!" I shouted. Dad pulled into the parking lot of Del Taco and asked, "Is this okay with you guys?" We opened the doors of the rental car before we could even respond to him. We went in, ordered a bunch of tacos to go and got back in the car to head to the hotel.
We checked in at the hotel and went up to our room. "Uh, who sleeps where?" I asked. Dad pointed to the closet and said, "There's a cot in there. You and Alex can fight over who gets the bed and who gets the cot." "I want the bed. I'm older; I deserve it." I declared. Alex opened the closet, looked at the cot and said, "I want the cot." Mom laughed, "That was the simplest and quietest argument you two have ever had." We all laughed as we started unpacking. I checked my phone; it was 4:37. "When are we going to the beach?" Alex asked. "Finish unpacking and get your bathing suits on." Mom responded. I put all of my clothes in two drawers of one of the dressers. I pulled my bathing suit out and went to the bathroom to put it on.
The beach was absolutely beautiful. I had wanted to feel this amazing breeze along with the amazing ocean. Dad and Alex took complete advantage of the water. Mom got up to join them and I stayed behind to lie out in the sun in hopes of getting a tan. I pulled out my iPod from my purse and was about to listen to it when my phone started ringing. It was Karlie, my best friend. "Hello?" "Hey Sofiee! How is California so far?" "It's great actually! I have a story for you!" I said with excitement. "Oh do tell!" "So, at the airport back home we were waiting in the gate for the plane to board and this guy started talking to me. His name is Tanner and he lives here in Los Angeles. His mom, stepdad and younger sister live in Missouri. Anyways, he's 17. He was so cute and so nice. He sat with me and Alex on the plane and he let me use his shoulder to sleep on." "Sofiee! He sounds like a sweetie." Karlie said. "I swear Karlie, he was perfect." "Well, did you get his number?" I sighed and said, "No, I didn't even think to ask." "Dang girl, you need to find him!" I laughed. "Karlie, this is a big city. What are the odds that I'll see him again?" "Well California must be crawling with hot guys. Snatch one up!" she said giggling. "Sofiee, we're gonna be leaving here soon." Mom called as she we walked towards me. "Hey Karlie, I gotta go. I'll call or text you later." I said. "Okay. Bye Sofiee. I hope you find that guy again." She said before hanging up. I put my phone in my purse and stood up. "Wanna go for a quick swim with me?" I asked mom. "Sure." She said. We walked down to the water together and ran in.
"We're just gonna walk Hollywood Blvd and shop around. If you guys see anything you want to eat for dinner, call it out." Dad said. The four of us walked out of the parking garage and to the street. The street was crowded with adults, teenagers, street performers, spring breakers, and families with small children. "There's a pizza place across the street." Alex said, pointing at the small pizza joint stuck between tall buildings. We walked across the street and into the pizza joint. We sat at a booth towards the front. Alex and I were facing the street, watching as people walked by. Mom ordered a medium pepperoni and a medium hamburger pizza for us. We sat, talked and ate. "I'm gonna give you guys some money every couple of days that we're here. I'll give you both 20 tonight. You can choose to spend it on yourself or your friends." Mom told me and Alex. "Screw friends. I'm spending it on myself!" Alex said. I laughed and said, "I wanna go to Hot Topic and find me a new purse." "We can walk over towards that way after we look at these little souvenir shops." Dad said.
Alex and I sat in the booth, bored, while mom and dad talked and finished eating. A group of teenage guys walked by the pizza place and stopped right by it. I heard one say "Let's get some pizza." Another said, "No, I don't want pizza." One of the guys had his back facing the pizza place. He looked kind of familiar from what I could see. "Hey Alex, let's go look in the store next door." I suggested. "Okay." He said. We got out of the booth and walked towards the entrance of the pizza joint. The group of guys started walking again. When Alex and I got to the street, the guys were going in the store next door. We walked in and looked around. From the corner of my eye, I saw the guys walking around. I heard one say, "What about that one? She's cute." I looked around to see who they were talking about. Alex and I walked to the far side of the store and I watched them. "Hey, one of those guys looked like the guy from the plane." Alex said. "Oh really? I didn't see." I said, trying to play it cool. "I'm gonna go see if mom and dad are done eating." He said. "I'll be over there in a few minutes. I wanna go look at something over there." I said, pointing across the store. Alex walked out of the store. I walked to one side of the store, close to where the guys were at. They were talking about video games while looking at some magazines. I walked past them, figuring my eyes were just playing a trick on me. I was halfway to the exit front of the store when I heard a guy yell, "Sofiee?" I stopped and turned around. Tanner was standing with four other guys. "Hey!" I said, awkwardly. "I didn't think I was gonna see you again." Tanner said. "I know. What are the odds that we'd be in the same place at the same time." I said, giggling. "Guys, this is Sofiee. I met her at the airport in Missouri." "Oh, she is pretty!" one of the guys said. I smiled awkwardly. "These are my friends: Cameron, Sam, Justin and Aaron." Tanner said, introducing me to them. "Nice to meet you all." I said to them. "You two, just the cutest darn thing I've ever seen!" Cameron said jokingly. I smiled and looked around in an awkward daze. "So, what are you doing out here?" Tanner asked me. "My parents, brother and I are out shopping." "Do you maybe wanna hang out?" I looked at him; he was smiling at me. "I would like that, but you're with friends and I'm with family." I replied. "My friends can go hang out without me. Maybe if I met your parents, they'd feel more comfortable with us hanging out." I chuckled and then realized that he wasn't joking. "If you really want to, they're next door eating." "Hey guys, I'm going with Sofiee. I'll see you guys tomorrow." Tanner put his arm around my shoulder and walked me out to the street. "Do you seriously want to meet my parent?" I asked in a nervous tone. "Yes I do." We walked into the pizza joint; my stomach nearly in knots. I nudged Tanner's arm off my shoulder and led him to the table with mom, dad and Alex. "Mom, Dad, this is Tanner. We met at the airport back home." Mom looked up at Tanner and then at me. "This is the boy you were talking to the whole time?" "Yea, I just ran into him next door." "Nice to meet you Tanner." Dad said to him. They shook hands and Tanner said, "Nice to meet you too sir." "Ready to go?" mom asked. "I was actually gonna ask you if I could hang out with Tanner. We'll just go across the street to the shops over there." I said to mom. "Absolutely not. This is our family vacation. Meant to be spent together with the family. Not random boys you meet in airports." She said sternly. "Mom, seriously? It's one night." "Karen, she introduced him to us and they are just going across the street. We'll be over there anyways. Let her go with him." Dad said in a convincing tone to mom. "Daniel," "Mom, please? It's just for an hour." I begged. "You can go sweetie. Call us in about an hour." Dad said. Tanner shook dad's hand and said, "Thanks sir. Nice to meet you, again." He smiled at mom and said, "Nice to meet you ma'am." He started walking towards the entrance; I followed.
We walked down the street in silence for a minute. "So, we're you expecting to never see me again?" Tanner asked me. I smiled and said, "Yea, actually. I figured our parting at the airport was the last time I would get to talk to you." "And did that make you happy or sad?" "Honestly, it made me kind of sad. I liked talking to you. You're interesting and funny." Tanner smirked and said, "You're just saying that. I'm boring." "No you're not. I find you very interesting." I replied. He smiled and asked, "Well, where to?" I looked around the street and pointed. "Hot Topic." "Alright, Hot Topic it is." We walked down the street to the intersection to cross. Tanner grabbed my hand and led me across the street. I was expecting him to let go after we reached the other side sidewalk, but he didn't. Instead, he wrapped his fingers between mine and held a tight grip as we walked to Hot Topic. When we reached the store, he let go of my hand and we walked separate ways throughout the store.