Disclaimer: I do not own the following characters: Ken, Vanness, Vic, and Jerry. I do though own all the other characters in the story. All entertainment references belong to their respectful owners. The plot however is my own and anyone subject to taking it will be persecuted accordingly (with my broomstick). I frankly have no money to my name so suing me won't really get you anywhere.
Author's note: this story contains the infamous F4 with their respectful names. However it is not really they for I have borrowed their personalities from Meteor Garden/Hana Yori Dango so technically is not the real F4 but really their English names. Please read and review. Thanks!!!
Chapter 1:
"Ladies and gentlemen, please fasten your seatbelts. The plane is nearing its destination," said a cool female voice over the intercom.
Haylie Cheng's eyelids fluttered open as the sound of many people rustling about awoke her from her slumber. Groggily Haylie sat up in the small airplane seat and blinked her eyes to readjust her vision.
"Great, you're finally awake. If you didn't wake up before we landed I would have left you," Haylie's good friend, Amara, said with a wide grin upon her tired face.
Haylie groaned at the harsh lights above and groped around to find her seatbelt. After a few minutes of searching she successfully retrieved the lost seatbelt and fastened it hastily before the hawkeyed flight attendant came to check the passengers.
"How long was I asleep?" Haylie asked with a hoarse voice, "I was watching the movie and I guess I must have fallen asleep out of exhaustion...or boredom."
"About three hours of your heavy head on my shoulder. Ever hear of a pillow Haylie?" Amara replied with a playful punch to Haylie's shoulder.
Haylie grunted at the impact and rubbed her shoulder out of habit. She reached for her messenger bag below her seat and began rummaging through it.
"What are you looking for? I swear; this is no time to put on makeup. We have been in here for eighteen hours. I'm sure whatever you do will not help you any," Amara chided with a wry smirk.
"Shut up, I don't care about how I look right now. I know I look like a slob...we all do. I'm looking for my passport. We need them to get into the country," Haylie replied with a blatant roll of her eyes.
Amara shrugged her shoulders and began to rummage around in her book bag as well for her passport. After a few brief moments of searching on both girls' parts they both came up with their passports.
"Let's see your passport picture Amara!" Haylie said with a wide grin as she snatched Amara's passport from her hand, "Hahahaha, yours looks horrible!!!!"
"Hey!!! Let me see yours!" Amara screeched while making an unsuccessful grab at Haylie's passport, "I bet you look like a moron too!"
Haylie simply grinned at Amara and handed her the passport. "Not really, I think I just look like me when I was like four."
Amara scowled as she handed Haylie her passport back and began to collect the various sketches thrown around her seat to put into her book bag.
"Well, at least I look my age in my passport picture!" Amara said while sticking out her tongue at Haylie but eventually turning it into a grin.
"Wow, slowest comeback in the world. I think you're starting to lose your touch Amara," Haylie said while handing her friend the sketches she had collected from the floor.
Suddenly the plane started to bump along the pavement as it landed at the Taipei International Airport. After screeching to a halt and being given the signal that it was safe to leave all the passengers began standing up to retrieve their carry on bags.
"Arrgghh, I hate when we have to do this; I'm not really built to fight for my luggage" Haylie complained while being elbowed in the stomach by a pushy mother.
After a few moments of being tossed around like a rag doll Haylie successfully retrieved all her carry on bags from the overhead compartments and was safely off the plane.
"What took you so long?" Amara asked from Haylie's right. Amara had then of course already gotten off the plane.
"It's not my fault I took so long. I don't really like elbowing people to get my luggage. Although they certainly like doing that to me," Haylie said while stomping toward Amara.
"You know it was just because you're too damn short," Amara said with a laugh as she picked up her bags and started to follow the crowd.
"Am not! I am not short!" Haylie shouted after Amara before struggling with her own bags and hurrying after her.
The pair then went through the grueling process of getting their passports checked and chasing after their suitcases on the suitcase conveyor belt before emerging at the front entrance of the airport. There were crowds of anxious Taiwanese people waiting to see their relatives.
"So who are supposed to be looking for again?" Amara asked while giving a hesitant look around, "It's not like I understand a word of what they are saying. I don't speak Chinese or Taiwanese...or whatever it is that you people speak over here. It's all gibberish to me."
"Don't worry, I think most of my cousins can speak English to some degree. Or I can just translate for you. You did say you wanted to learn more Chinese," Haylie said to Amara reassuringly.
The two girls continued to look for any of Haylie's relatives in the immense throng of people. While struggling with her now rather large pile of luggage and being shoved aside by a group of overly excited vacationers Haylie eventually spotted her aunt and her nine-year old cousin waving enthusiastically at her.
"Looks like we were found," Amara said with a grin as she enthusiastically waved back...at the wrong people.
"Amara...this way," Haylie said with a giggle as she led her friend away from the wrong people.
The wrong family was looking at Amara as if she was a psychopath because she was hugging them and not really realizing they didn't know who she was. Haylie mouthed a word of apology to them in Chinese as she led Amara away.
"That wasn't them? Damn, I always do that!" Amara said while grinning sheepishly at Haylie who was too busy laughing to respond. Amara glanced over her shoulder at the random family and gave them an apologetic look.
"Haylie! Haylie!!!" a petite Taiwanese woman shouted while waving her arms excitedly.
The young girl standing next to her mother jumped up and down with anticipation and kept on screaming, "They're here! They're here!" at the top of her lungs.
"Let me guess, the lady over there saying your name like there's no tomorrow and the little girl who looks like she is about to have a spasm are your relatives," Amara asked with a sardonic smile.
"Yeah, they usually aren't this hyper. They must have had way too much sugar or something," Haylie said with an embarrassed laugh.
Haylie and Amara pushed through the crowd toward Haylie's aunt and cousin. Suddenly a tall, dark-haired man hurdled over Haylie's cart of luggage and nearly ran into Amara. He threw a brief look of apology to Haylie who merely scowled at his rudeness.
"Who was that? Do you know him? Are you allowed to be running in an airport?" Amara asked with a clearly miffed voice. She crossed her arms over he chest in annoyance and glared over at the direction that the guy was running.
"You usually aren't, that guy was just a jerk. Come on, before that happens again," Haylie replied with narrowed eyes.
The girls were suddenly cut off again from their path by a huge throng of female teenagers running after the guy.
"It's him! It's him!" many of the girls shrieked loudly in a mixture of Chinese and English.
""Whoa, stay close Amara. I think these girls spotted a famous idol or something. I wonder who it is," Haylie said while thrusting a hand out to stop Amara from heading into the river of hysterical girls.
"I bet it was that jerk that leaped over your cart," Amara said while eyeing the human river with disgust.
Finally the large group of crazed girls thinned out and they were able to continue on toward Haylie's aunt and cousin. When they finally reached them they found Haylie's cousin in tears.
"I saw Zai Zai!!!" Josephine, Haylie's cousin, said tearfully in Mandarin Chinese.
"Whose that?" Haylie asked to no one in particular.
"I have no earthly idea what she said but I'm gonna guess it was something about that dude that ran past us," Amara answered back with a shrug.
"Hello! I am Haylie's Aunt Julie but you can call me Julie," Aunt Julie said to Amara warmly in broken English while giving Haylie and her a brief hug. "Don't mind Ping Ping (Josephine's nickname in Chinese), she just saw some famous person she was idolizing," Aunt Julie said in Chinese to Haylie.
"Oh, okay," Haylie replied while smiling sympathetically to Josephine. "I guess you were right Amara," Haylie said to Amara with a grin.
"Of course I was right! I always am remember?" Amara said with a self-righteous smile.
"Hey Ping Ping! Long time no see huh? Do you miss your older cousin?" Haylie asked Josephine while crouching down to give her a big hug.
"Haylie! I have so much to tell you!!! Hurry up and let's go! Mommy promised to buy us all breakfast if I was really good," Josephine said while perking up at the sight of Haylie's bright smile.
"Ahh, yes. I did promise the little princess I would buy you all breakfast. I found this really good bakery that has great breakfast sandwiches near the penthouse we can go to. Is that okay with your friend?" Aunt Julie said to Haylie (whenever a Taiwanese character speaks only to Haylie or to another person who speaks Chinese that is when they are only speaking Chinese but if they are talking to Amara that is when they are speaking English) while putting a motherly arm on to Josephine's shoulder.
"I'm sure it'll be okay. But can we please stop by for some coffee first? We are in desperate need of caffeine here. The coffee on the plane was toxic," Haylie replied (when Haylie speaks to someone in Taiwan who is of Taiwanese descent she will usually speak in Chinese to them unless otherwise notified).
"No problem. Now let's get your bags shall we?" Aunt Julie said with a smile as she reached for one of Haylie's bags and Amara's bags.
"Pssst, what are we doing now? You guys were all speaking Chinese again," Amara whispered to Haylie while the two were following Aunt Julie and Josephine out of the airport.
"Ooops, I forgot to tell you. We are going to the car and then going to get some coffee and breakfast," Haylie replied while hurrying along after her relatives.
The foursome wove through the plethora of people and eventually emerged somewhat unharmed in the taxi lane outside the airport. Aunt Julie and Josephine were both standing near a bench waiting for Haylie and Amara to catch up to them.
"I am going to go get the car real quick. Josephine you wait here with Haylie and her nice friend," Aunt Julie said to Haylie and Josephine as she fished around in her purse for her car keys.
The three girls watched as Aunt Julie's form merged yet again with the huge human mass. Around the bench was a bunch of large Chinese families waiting for an available taxi. Standing near the bench was a tall man wearing a floppy hat and a pair of dark sunglasses despite the fact that the taxi area was located in the shade. Haylie eyed the suspicious man warily and then focused her eyes on a young boy attempting to make his little sister cry by pulling on her pigtails.
"You know what? That guy over there in the shade looks awfully familiar. Have we seen him somewhere?" Amara whispered to Haylie who turned to look at the man yet again.
"Haylie, why is that weird man looking over here at you?" Josephine asked Haylie too. She clutched at Haylie's arm tightly.
"I don't know, but its really starting to piss me off," Haylie hissed to Amara and then turned to Josephine and said, "Don't worry, I'll go find out. You stay here with Amara okay?"
Haylie abruptly stood up and straightened her overly rumpled tank top before stomping over to the strange man standing in the shadows. With every step she took she grew more and more annoyed at the man for his nonchalance.
The man in the hat and sunglasses was staring off into space when a very annoyed-looking eighteen-year old girl stood in front of him with her hands at her hips. She was about seven inches or so shorter than him but the fierceness in her rich brown almond-shaped eyes told him otherwise. This girl might have been petite but she had a very bad temper. He noticed she had a petite build with soft, graceful curves. She was dressed in a bright-red spaghetti-strapped tank top over a black one with low-slung, loose, khaki cargo pants and black beaded platform flip-flops. Her hair was pulled up into two messy buns on top of each side of her head and held together with sparkly, black butterfly clips that showed off her honey-brown and reddish highlights.
"Why are you staring at me and my friend? And in case you were wondering you are in the shade!!! You don't need to be wearing that dumb hat and those sunglasses!" Haylie said (she's speaking to him in Chinese) with an air of distaste in her voice.
The man just merely gazed at her livid but cute expression and inwardly chuckled at her anger.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know I wasn't allowed to look at anything. Also I didn't know I wasn't allowed to wear these either," he said while casually taking off his dark sunglasses.
Haylie noticed the guy had a deep, soothing voice and a very nice smile but hurriedly pushed the thought out of her head. She continued to glare at the guy but after a seeing the guy without his sunglasses on she realized he looked strangely familiar.
"Hey! I remember you! You were that jerk that leapt over my luggage cart and were being chased by that huge crowd of girls! What did you do? Cheat on all of them?" Haylie said with sudden realization in her voice that led to a mocking tone as she continued to scrutinize the man.
"Oh, that was you wasn't it? Now that I think about it, you are that girl I had to leap over. I'm sorry but I was kind of being chased by crazy teenage girls as you probably saw," the guy said with a sheepish smile, "By the way my name is Vic, but you can call me Z...."
Suddenly a shiny black sports car pulled into the taxi lane abruptly stopped in front of them. The driver's side window rolled down and a guy with a very stylish hairstyle popped his head out.
"Hey Vic! Come on! No time to flirt now! We gotta get moving before we're found out!" the man in the car shouted in English as he honked the horn for emphasis.
"Sorry, but I gotta go, see you later!" Vic said in Chinese while giving Haylie a quick peck on the cheek and running off towards the car.
Haylie stood rooted to the spot where she was standing and watched Vic jump into the car and the car speed off. She touched the side of her face where he had kissed her and glowered at his rudeness again.
"Haylie! Haylie! Hurry up! Your aunt is here with the car!" Haylie heard Amara shout at her from nearby. Haylie slowly turned and hurried toward the black Lexus and got in the front seat next to her aunt.
"What happened? I saw you stomp over to him and tell him off in Chinese and then that car came and he ran off. But not before kissing you. Gosh, fifteen minutes into Taiwan and you already have guys falling in love with you," Amara teased from the backseat.
"Shut up!! I bet he just did it to annoy me even more," Haylie said with an exasperated voice as she reached behind her to swat at Amara. Amara laughed and inched away from Haylie's frantic swats.
"Mom!!! Zai Zai kissed Haylie!!! She was yelling at him and then he had to leave so he kissed her on the cheek!" Josephine shrieked into her mother's ear.
"Really??? Wow! Haylie, your first day in Taiwan and you already got a new boyfriend. I'm impressed," Aunt Julie teased with a big smile.
"Who is Zai Zai?? You never told me who he was Josephine," Haylie said into the rearview mirror that was faced towards Josephine.
"You mean you don't know who he is? He's in F4!! You have to know who F4 is at least," Josephine said with an astonished look upon her face. She shook her head in disbelief.
"All I got out of that information was F4. Aren't they that boy band from here or something? They're really popular in Thailand, according to my cousins at least," Amara said to Haylie while reaching upfront to turn on the radio, "Got any good stations here in Taiwan?"
"Them?? I think I heard of them," Haylie said to Josephine and Aunt Julie while slapping Amara's hand away, "It is only in either Chinese or Taiwanese! Don't bother trying to find a station, let's listen to your Linkin Park CD."
Amara pulled her hand away from the radio and delved around in her book bag for her CD holder. She then pulled out a shining disk from one of the pages and handed it to Haylie who popped it into the CD-player and turned up the volume.
"Oooo, is that American music???" Aunt Julie asked Haylie and Amara, "I always wanted to know what you teenagers listened to."
The car was then filled with the loud strains of "Faint" by Linkin Park and there was a brief end in the chatter while everyone in the car took in the music. After the song ended and the new song "Numb" started to play Haylie turned down the volume a notch. So they could continue talking with each other.
"That music was loud Haylie. You American people are weird," Josephine, whined from the back seat, "Mommy, I'm hungry! Are we there yet?"
"They might not like Linkin Park, Amara. I bet my other cousins would love them though. You'll be able to meet them all tomorrow,"Haylie said to Amara while stretching her arms above her head.
"Oh, yeah! Before I forget to tell you, you girls are only staying at our place for one night. Tomorrow you are going to go stay with Angela and Queenie at their new apartment," Aunt Julie said suddenly while pulling up into a parking space in front of an impossibly cute bakery shop.
"What? But Mom told me we were staying with you. When did plans change so suddenly?" Haylie exclaimed in surprise after hearing the news. She looked expectantly at her aunt for an answer.
Aunt Julie shrugged her shoulders in reply and turned off the car. Haylie sighed as she unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car. Amara gave a questionable look at Haylie while Josephine smiled at them sympathetically as she followed her mother into the bakery. Haylie hung back to tell Amara the new plans.
"So? What's up?" Amara asked automatically as soon as Josephine and Aunt Julie were out of hearing range. She hastily straightened her one-shoulder black tank with neon-green details and pulled up her black lace-up arm warmers with neon-green laces. She then hurriedly brushed off any loose crumbs on her dark-tan khaki boy cargo pants. She checked her hair in the car window to make sure she still had four pixie knots on top of her head.
"Nothing really. We are just staying somewhere else, I had already planned where we'll be going from her place and now I don't know what we are going to do," Haylie replied in a defeated voice.
"A new place? Is that it? Oh, that's no problem. I bet we can find lots of stuff to do here," Amara said comfortingly while giving Haylie a brief hug.
"Yeah, we're gonna be staying with my cousins, Queenie and Angela, in their new apartment. Now that I think about it; it'll probably be cooler to stay with them. They are about our age and can take us to all the hang outs and stuff," Haylie said while brightening up at the idea.
"See? No problem!" Amara said happily while easily breezing into the bakery door.
Haylie followed suit and found the table where Aunt Julie and Josephine were sitting at. She located Amara who was drooling over the cakes on display and directed her towards the table. As she neared the table Aunt Julie gave her an apologetic smile and Haylie returned it warmly.
"I didn't know what you girls wanted so I ordered one of everything. And two EXTRA LARGE coffees for you two," Aunt Julie said to both of the girls as they were seated.
"Oooo, thanks! I wish you were my aunt," Amara said with glee as she eyed the two coffee cups adoringly.
Aunt Julie beamed at Amara and handed her one of the many sandwiches on the table. Amara eagerly took the sandwich and took a big bite.
"Oh my gosh! Real food! I haven't had this in like forever. Now all I need is a shower and I'll be good," Amara exclaimed loudly while taking another bite. A few other customers glanced over at their table with amused faces.
Haylie smacked Amara's shoulder for causing a disturbance and smiled sheepishly at her aunt and cousin while helping herself to a sandwich and then taking a sip of her coffee.
"We do need to get a shower though, can we stop by your place to freshen up a bit? That is if we are going to do something today. I've been wearing the same outfit for eighteen hours," Haylie explained to Aunt Julie as she picked out the cucumbers in her sandwich.
"You're so silly Haylie! You don't smell! Mommy is planning to take us shopping before she has to go to work," Josephine said with a mouthful of her sandwich.
"Josephine! What have I told you about eating with your mouth open?" Aunt Julie scolded before turning to Haylie and Amara and saying, "Of course you girls can take a shower before we go shopping. I'm thinking we go to downtown where all the good shops are."
"Okay! Just one more coffee and I'll be all set," Amara said happily as she downed the last of her coffee.
"Yeah, we're kind of addicted to coffee," Haylie explained to Aunt Julie who had a flabbergasted look upon her face, "We'll be right back, just let me grab on got the road."
Haylie pushed Amara out of the booth and brushed off the crumbs on her shirt. They walked up to the front counter to wait in line behind a guy with styled hair who was talking into hid cell phone in a hushed tone of voice. The line inched forward but the guy in front did not budge because he was too deep into his conversation.
"Why isn't he moving? I kind of want to get my coffee before I die over here," Amara said loudly while crossing her arms over her chest in annoyance.
The guy in front of them stirred and returned to his conversation as he inched a few inches forward. Haylie grinned at Amara who just merely groaned in aggravation. Eventually it was the guy's turn but he didn't seem to notice despite the cashier's attempts at getting his attention.
"I wonder what he's talking about on the phone that can be so distracting?" Haylie whispered to Amara who was silently fuming to herself.
"That's it! I can't take it anymore. Come on Haylie, let's skip the jerk and get our coffees," Amara declared as she made a stop toward the counter but was stopped abruptly by a strong arm, "Ooooof! Hey what's your deal?"
"You know skipping in line isn't very polite," the guy with the cell phone said in perfect English.
The guy ended his call and closed his flip phone with a snap and eyed Amara warily. He smirked at her astonished expression and calmly sidestepped her and stood up against the counter to make his order.
"Looks like you made yourself a new friend," Haylie whispered to Amara with a slight smile on her face. It wasn't everyday that Amara got told off like that, especially by a guy.
"Looky here mister! You were too busy on your freakin' cell phone, talking to God knows who, so I figured I might as well speed up this line and skip you," Amara said with a voice laced with venom. A guy like that was never allowed to speak to her in that way.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Last time I checked I was next in line," the guy said with a wry smile as he turned around to face Amara.
Haylie giggled at Amara's surprised face while saying, "Come on, let's just wait for a few more minutes. It's not gonna be the end of the world or anything."
Amara shook her head in disagreement and resumed crossing her arms over her chest in an annoyed fashion. To top it off she started to tap her foot in an impatient manner. The guy at the counter continued to ignore her obvious attempts at aggravating him and stood pondering over what to order.
"I'm surprised you don't know what to order since you spent so damn long in line thinking about it," Amara drawled out in a sarcastic voice.
The guy slowly turned to face her yet again with a smirk. As he turned he caught Haylie's eye and raised an eyebrow as if saying, "Is she really your friend?" Haylie winked and shrugged her shoulders behind Amara's back.
"Obviously you failed to notice that I was having a very important conversation on my cell phone and didn't have enough time to figure out what I wanted to order," the guy said dryly before turning quickly toward the cashier again.
The cashier was taken by surprise by the customer that stood in front of her and stuttered out, "Hello, how may I help you?" in Chinese. She looked around nervously at the fellow customers who were all standing patiently behind the guy with the cell phone, well maybe except Amara who was looking very peeved.
"May I have four of your special breakfast sandwiches, four large coffees, and two extra large coffees for the ladies behind me. I'll take the rest to go," the guy said smoothly as he whipped out his expensive looking leather wallet from his back pocket and took out a few crisp bills.
"Right away sir," the cashier said with an inkling of confidence as she hurriedly scurried about gathering the order.
The guy turned back to Amara and Haylie and smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry. I was just a bit annoyed after the conversation I had on the phone. I really was taking a long time on the phone so I decided to buy you your order as an apology," the guy said while grabbing the two extra large coffees the cashier set on the countertop from behind his back and handing it to Haylie and Amara.
"Thanks! See? The guy isn't really that bad!" Haylie said happily as she took the cup of coffee in both hands and gave the guy a bright smile.
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Thanks for the coffee," Amara mumbled as she reluctantly took the coffee from him and gave him a small, very brief, smile.
"No problem. By the way, my name is Vanness. You girls look awfully familiar," Vanness said with a grin, "Do I know you from somewhere?"
Haylie paused in mid-sip of her coffee and looked at the guy critically. She glanced at Amara to see if she recognized him but Amara shook her head no and pretended to be looking at the ceiling.
"I don't think so...my name is Haylie and this is my friend Amara. We are visiting Taiwan for the summer," Haylie said finally to Vanness.
"Hmm...I don't seem to recognize those names. Must have seen you somewhere recently though," Vanness said finally after pausing for a moment to think over their names, "Ooops, gotta run. I was just in here to grab breakfast for a few of my friends and I. They are waiting for me so I gotta go before they leave me."
"Okay. Sorry for keeping you here. See ya around Vanness," Haylie said brightly as she waved at him. He gave a quick wave before opening the door and leaving.
"BYE!" Amara shouted after him as the door closed with a jingling of bells, "And thanks for being a class 'A' jerk," she added as an afterthought. The latter part earned her a smack from Haylie. "Owww! What's the big idea? I was only speaking the truth!"
"He was not a jerk. He bought us our coffees!" Haylie said indignantly. She stalked over to where her aunt and cousin were waiting and gave Amara an expectant look. "Well, come on. We better get going. No use dawdling."
The group left the pastry shop and made their way towards the Lexus. "Your uncle has bought you two girls a very nice gift for your stay here in Taiwan. He has kindly invested in a nice Mini-Cooper for you to travel around in," Aunt Julie said before starting the car and backing out of the parking lot. She drove down a neatly paved road and turned into a dark, cavernous parking garage. "It should be arriving sometime tonight. You girls will be driving down to your cousins' loft apartment from here. I can't come because I have to go to work early."
"Oh, that's fine. If I have a map I'm sure I can find it on my own," Haylie said reassuringly to her aunt who had an apprehensive look upon her face. Her aunt obviously did not feel that Haylie or Amara could find the place on their own.
"Maybe I should call Angela and Queenie to drive down here to lead you guys there. I'm sure they aren't busy tomorrow afternoon," Aunt Julie said with pursed lips as she opened the trunk of the Lexus and began taking out the luggage. Amara and Haylie reached in after her and began to help while Josephine helped carry out the carry on bags. "Thanks girls for helping, I'm going to go on up and ask if my neighbors can help bring up some of this luggage. I don't think the four of us can manage to carry all of these in one trip."
"Aunt Julie! I'm sure we can manage on our own. It really isn't that much," Haylie said defensively. She gave the huge pile of luggage a wary eye and sighed in agreement at her aunt's proclamation. Aunt Julie smiled happily and grabbed her purse and made her way toward the elevator while Josephine followed at her heels. Amara and Haylie both gave a sigh of defeat and reluctantly closed the trunk door of the Lexus. "I think we packed too much stuff," Haylie said with a sheepish smile.
"We? Last time I checked I only had three suitcases. You had four," Amara pointed out dryly. She playfully punched Haylie who glared at her crossly while plopping down on one of the overstuffed suitcases in a tired fashion.
"Hey! Look who I found standing at our door?" Aunt Julie shouted from the open elevator after ten minutes or so. Aunt Julie was standing with Josephine beside her and Haylie's other cousin Elijah behind her. Elijah gave Haylie and Amara a weak smile as he neared them. "Apparently his mother felt that I needed help with you girls so she sent him over! I didn't even need to bother my neighbors." Aunt Julie smiled with glee as she directed him over to the large pile of suitcases.
"Oh. I'm sorry Amara. This is my cousin Elijah. We all just call him Eli," Haylie said suddenly when she realized she had forgotten to introduce them. Amara gave Eli a brief smile and grabbed two suitcases from the pile. "That's my friend Amara. She doesn't speak Chinese so try to speak English to her okay?" Haylie said in a hushed tone to Eli. Eli nodded and made to hold the suitcase she was carrying as well as the two suitcases he was holding.
The entourage made their way to the elevator and all managed to squeeze into the extremely cramped space. "It seemed a lot bigger with only two people," Josephine complained as she was pressed against the wall of the elevator by one of the suitcases. The rest of the group laughed at her comment and tried to get somewhat comfortable despite the cramped quarters. After reaching the topmost floor the elevator doors opened and the group was led by Aunt Julie to a set of double doors. She deftly opened the doors and threw them open with zest as the rest of the people almost fell in the front hallway due to the large amount to stuff being carried.
"Wow, your new place is amazing!" Haylie exclaimed as she immediately dropped what she was carrying and ran about examining all the rooms. After giving herself a quick tour of the penthouse she returned to stand by Amara's side and gave her aunt a big smile. "It really is amazing!"
"Thank you Haylie. Why don't you girls just grab a few things from your suitcases for tonight and tomorrow? I think we should just leave the luggage here for easy movement to your cousins' loft." Aunt Julie said briskly while clapping her hands in an orderly fashion. Haylie and Amara dropped what they were carrying and began rummaging around in the various suitcases for the things that they needed. "Josephine could you be dear and show the girls to the bathrooms? I need to go make a few phone calls," Aunt Julie said to Josephine while running off down the hall and into the kitchen.
Josephine waited while Amara and Haylie gathered their things and chatted happily with Eli about the day she was going to have that early afternoon. Eli pretended to listen to her by nodding occasionally and asking a few well-placed questions while giving Haylie and Amara humorous looks. Haylie and Amara grinned at his predicament and resumed to search for their belongings. "You would think with all this stuff we would be able to find what we wanted easily," Amara said with a huff of aggravation. After a few more moments of hurried searching both girls emerged victorious with what they wanted.
"Okay, Haylie you can have my bathroom and your friend can have the guest bathroom. Mommy won't let anyone use her bathroom except for her and Daddy. I think it's because she has the best bathtub," Josephine said to Haylie while leading them down to the said bathrooms while holding on to Eli's hand with an iron grip. Haylie noticing the death grip handhold grinned at Eli when she caught his eye and giggled. "Eli, you have to go to the living room now. You can't be here in the same bathroom with girls! I have to show them how to work the showers," Josephine scolded to Eli while pushing him out of her bathroom and into her bedroom, "Mommy says boys shouldn't ever be in the same bathroom as girls. That's why at restaurants they have a little girl's room and a little boy's room."