A/N: This chapter has been sitting in my computer for over a year, and I thought I should do something with it. So I've decided to make it into a story. This whole thing was written based off a trip I took to Mexico in 2009 for Christmas. And I thought the location would make a wonderful story. For now, i'm going to keep the rating at T. I also have half of the second chapter written, so please review YAY or NAY for if you think i should continue writing this story. There should be a lot of detail and I hope you like it! :)
Saturday / Sábado – December 18th
I hate flying. It's not natural. If God meant for humans to fly, he would have given us wings. That's why there are angels. THEY are meant to fly. Not humans.
Not to mention it's just a pain in the ass. You have to wake up at fucking 2:45 am to catch a flight that doesn't leave until six in the morning. Then your roommate sets the alarm late and you wake up an hour late. So you have to rush out the door and freeze your ass off while you jam all your stuff into the back of a car and then speed to pick up your friends and rush to the airport. It's only because of the time that the LA highways weren't crowded, and for that I will be forever grateful.
And then, just to make it worse, you have to go through the hassle of actually getting to the plane. You have to park your car in an assigned spot and pay for it to stay there, then you have to take yet another cab to the actual airport where you remember you left your toothbrush in the bathroom of your apartment.
Then, you have to go through customs. Waiting in a longer line than the one at the premier of the new Harry Potter movie, takes ages. Thank the gods above that we all had carry-on bags, so they ushered us to the front of the line. But then, you find that roommate's best friend spelt your last name wrong and they make a huge fuss over it in case I'm not the person I say I am.
But finally that gets cleared up after a lot of explaining. But it's still not over! You have to rush, practically running down the halls, only to get to baggage. There, you not only have to remove your shoes and your belt, but you have do dig around in your bag and take out any electronic devices like cell phones, game systems and the likes and but them in a bin. Then you have to put your bags through an x-ray machine thing, and you have to walk through one too.
And no, that can't go smoothly either! Pence just happens to have scissors in his bag; which they have to confiscate because it might be dangerous. Like the dork would even consider using it for anything but cutting paper. Not only that, but Olette's makeup in her bag added up to over the 2oz. limit on liquids. So that held us up too.
After we all get through that, we have to yank our shoes back on, leaving the shoelaces undone in our haste, and run to the terminal because the plane takes off in ten minutes. And you discover you have to also take a shuttle because your flight is on the other side of the freaking airport!
Thank God they have those speed ramps. I swear those things cut our running time in half. It's a speeding tarp that you can run on and makes you move much faster. It's the only thing that I actually like in the airport. But the aching strain the fast walking/running puts on your calves takes the fun out of it. It's like a fire burning the muscle of your legs, and all your attempts to put it out only make it grow stronger. People look at you funny because your breath is coming fast, your chest is heaving and sweat is slowing dripping down the side of your face from the stress and pressure of having to make it.
Thankfully, no one trips and no one accidentally spills their bags. (Trust me, that's happened before) And we make it to the terminal with only a few minutes to spare.
After a lot of talking with the flight attendant and being quickly ushered into our seats; then, we can relax. We all laugh nervously, but we're all exhausted; and we've only been up for a few hours. But it's a good thing we made the flight; the next available flight to our destination wouldn't have flown out for another week! Pretty much about the time we're supposed to come back home. That would not have been good.
But it's still not over yet! The plane pulls away from the terminal and the flight attendant begins to drone on about safety instructions. I know the information by heart; I've gone flying that often. Yeah…no. That's a lie. I've flown about six times before. But I did a lot of research on it after my first plane ride. I didn't enjoy it very much. The guy beside me didn't either. Though that might be because I threw up on his lap shortly after takeoff.
It takes a few minutes to get going; but when we get going, we get going. The plane shoots off like California Screamin' at Disneyland. I furiously chew at the strawberry gum in my mouth; its flavor long gone as I grip the armrests; my stomach left back down on the ground.
I close my eyes, images of the plane blowing up like an inferno flashing across my mind's eye. Bile threatens to surge up my throat and out of my mouth, but somehow I manage to keep it in check. Every few seconds I pop my ears to level out the pressure in my head.
Finally, finally, we're in the air and at a stable height. I can feel myself visibly relax as the seatbelt sign disappears above us. The leather seats finally seem comforting, and the dull roar of the plane becomes a soothing lullaby to my tightly wound up anxiety. I manage to fall into a light sleep.
Three hours and thirty minutes later, I'm being shaken awake by Olette, who's in a panic because our connecting flight leaves in half an hour. Oh yeah, we were in Houston, Texas.
I shoot out of my seat and grab my carry-on baggage from the compartment above the seat. Hayner, Pence and Olette grab theirs and we all impatiently urge other people to move out of our way as we practically run out of the plane and fly down the halls to our next ride. (Catch the irony there?)
Thankfully, we make this one too; and we're not in as much of a rush. We're on the plane with plenty of time to spare, as nothing went wrong.
It's ten in the morning in LA, but noon here in Houston. It's the same time at our destination too. Where is that? Oh, that's right. We're going to Huatulco Beach in Mexico. We're going to stay at a hotel called the Barceló Premium. It's crazy, I know.
"Told you it wouldn't be too bad." Hayner pipes up as he punches my arm. I glare at my roommate, who sat beside me in the small plane.
He doesn't squirm under my gaze; simply lets out a great big grin that makes his chocolate eyes dance under his golden eyebrows. His wiry blonde hair is set in its bed hair state, but still manages to look good. Dressed in his usual outfit, camouflage slacks, black wife-beater, jungle green vest and matching shoes, he looked like the typical bad boy you experience in school. That's for a good reason. It's because he is.
"You're lucky I don't pound you in right now." I mutter and remove my gaze from his face, leaning back into the seat.
He simply laughs and his girlfriend's face appears from behind us. She's stood up and is looking at the two of us like a mother hen. "You sure you two can handle sitting next to each other?"
She flips her long brown hair over her shoulder as her vivid green eyes examine us in harsh scrutiny. Her flower patterned orange tank top went well with her light skin tone and along with her beige capris and matching shoes and orange socks, she looked like the typical good girl. There's a reason for that too. Typical huh? Bad boy scores the goody-two-shoes girl, but only after being reformed. Almost like a romance novel. Except for the fact that Olette has yet to tame a few of Hayner's rebel traits.
He just waves her off and sticks his tongue out at her. "Come on Olette. We're not five. We can handle ourselves."
"Really?" One of her delicate eyebrows rises as she throws him a withering look. "Cause you're sure acting like that's how old you are."
"Guys! Calm down! You all need to calm down and enjoy the flight!" Another face appears beside Olette's.
Always the peacemaker, Pence was the middle ground between my two other friends. His soft brown eyes greatly contradicted with his wild brown hair that reached for the sky out of a purple band he insisted on wearing. He also preferred wearing his casual blue slacks, red sports jersey over a white shirt and blue sneakers. But even though he was a little more, um, filled out than the rest of us, he was an awesome friend. They all were. They've been my best friends since before I could remember, and I couldn't imagine them not being in my life.
"Yeah Hayner." I punch him back for a small dose of revenge. "Calm down and enjoy the flight. You don't need to fight with your girlfriend before we've even got there!"
He makes a face at me that I laugh at, which he ends up laughing at too. We're really silly sometimes; but it doesn't matter. We're all friends, and we're inseparable friends at that.
The flight takes off and I have to excuse myself to the restroom before my dinner from last night gets all over Hayner's lap. Not only would he make a big deal about it, but he'd find a way to get revenge for it. Learned that one the hard way. Didn't want to face his revenge schemes again.
But the ride goes along smoothly. I can't sleep, so I take out a book to read. I think I brought about six. Not only do I read fast, but I had a feeling I'd have a lot of alone time on this trip. But I didn't mind. Actually, I'd rather have the alone time. Much better than watching Hayner and Olette make out or having Pence drone on and on about the latest scientific theory on microscopic development or some other topic as such.
I spend the next two and a half hours reading about a boy in India whose family lives in a zoo. It was a very descriptive read, and I found myself intrigued in the plot and flow of the story. The boy had to move to Canada but his ship sunk and he only barely managed to get out. But he becomes trapped on a life-boat with a 450 pound Bengal tiger. I'm interrupted from my reading right as the boy begins to eat a sea turtle for food.
Casually we all get our luggage, there was no rush anymore, and stride off the plane, following all the other passengers.
The second that we get off the plane, we're stricken by the heat. I let out a gasp of exasperated breath. This was way too hot! I felt like I would become a puddle if I didn't get in the shade soon. Way worse than summer in LA. And it was winter! But I guess it's because we're so close to the equator.
Hayner passes by me, a pair of dark sunglasses already placed on his nose. He grins and slaps me on the back. "Come on Roxas! You're slowing everyone down."
I growl at him. He knew about this! I know he did! Olette throws me an apologetic look as she passes me to catch up with Hayner and take his hand. Pence passes me too, a grin on his face and I camera in his hands.
With a roll of my blue eyes and a small smile, I follow them after running a hand through my spiky blonde hair. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. Maybe I'd actually have fun.
"Hurry up Rox!" Hayner yells out to me. "You're slower than molasses in winter!"
Never mind that I feel like an egg on the sidewalk in the middle of a summer heat wave. I roll my eyes again and then hurry off to join them inside of the building to get our carry-on luggage that had to be stored under the plane because of its small size. Maybe I'll manage to get through this vacation without strangling my roommate.