The interstate sign that pointed us in the direction of Nashville made a smile break out across my face. We were just minutes away of finally being there. Stanley was the driver again but with myself in the passenger seat. I wanted the best view of the city.
My eyes darted all around when we were inside the city. They barely stayed on something for five seconds before moving on to the next thing that caught my eye. People walked along the sidewalks, going into and out of buildings. We passed a couple cathedrals that were placed in-between office and shopping stores. The detailed architecture made them stand out amongst everything else.
"Where are we staying at for the week?" Magnet asked after awhile.
"Opryland!" I exclaimed. I've heard about the Opryland Hotel and did some Googling on it and it simply looked amazing.
"That place isn't cheap," Stanley said. "I was thinking more of a simpler hotel."
If I wasn't so distracted with all of the distractions outside of the vehicle, I would've argued with him. Instead I gaped like an excited tourist. I could hear all of them talking, but none of it was processing in my head. I'm pretty sure they were looking at the different hotels and trying to decide the best place to stay. We came to a roundabout with a statue in the center that looked like a person was holding the One Ring at the top. Stanley began driving back the way we came, which gave me the chance to view the other side of the road better. My sight-seeing came to an end when he turned into a parking lot.
We all got out and stood in a circle with a Hilton Hotel towering over us. There were more hotels and other buildings lined up on both sides up and down the street. Traffic flowed steadily in-between them. I knew that not too far away was Music Row, the area I planned to spend my nights at. The argument that would've taken place earlier about where we were staying at now started to occur.
"Okay," I said with a huff, "let's settle this the old-fashioned way. Raise your hand if you want to stay at the Opryland Hotel." I raised my hand.
"That's not really an old-fashioned way," Magnet said.
My hand came down to hit the back of his head. "Raise your hand!" His hand rose, along with Squid's hand. "Alright, and who wants to stay at a plain, boring hotel?" Stanley, Zero, and Zigzag's hands went up. "Why? And, Jane, you didn't even vote!"
"I don't care where we stay," she said as Zigzag muttered something about more cameras at Opryland.
"You have to remember that we are still going to Florida, Mel," Stanley explained.
"So?" I threw my hands up. "It's not like you don't have enough money."
"Do you have enough money?" Zero spoke up.
I faltered for a few seconds. I didn't want to say that Stanley would pay for me because that just wouldn't be right. "Not for both, no, but I'd rather use that money here than for Disney World."
"Universal," Squid corrected me.
"Whatever," I rolled my eyes.
Jane shrugged. "We can always split up and get back together when we go do something."
"Okay, that'll work," I quickly agreed.
Stanley shook his head. "That'd be too difficult. Besides, we'll be safer if we stick together.
I gave him an incredulous look. "We are grown-ass adults, Yelnats! We are capable of taking care of ourselves."
"How about we stay at one place for a few days and then stay at the other place?" Squid threw in.
We were all quiet thinking about this idea. "I'm fine with that," Stanley finally said. He looked at me and I nodded my head. I could deal with that. The others agreed on it as well. The next argument happened approximately ten minutes later when we had to choose who was sleeping where. To save a little money, we decided on getting two rooms, both with twin beds.
"I'll sleep in the same room with Squid, but not in the same bed," Zigzag said.
"I won't even sleep in the same room as Squid," Magnet said with a chuckle.
Squid's eyebrows furrowed. "What did I do to you guys?"
"You fart in your sleep!"
"No, I don't!" Squid denied.
"Amigo, I remember."
I rolled my eyes, getting impatient. "Magnet, Stanley, Zero, and I will sleep in one room, the rest of you can sleep in the other." Squid looked a little crestfallen, but he needed to know that I'm not forgiving him so easily.
Surprisingly there weren't any protests about that. So we gathered our stuff and went into our separate rooms. It was a simple hotel room. Beds, computer desk, mini fridge, small flat screen, and a shower with one of those ginormous shower heads. I threw my stuff in the corner and looked outside the window to see a lovely view of a brick wall that belonged to another building. If I leaned to the side though I thought I could see the Parthenon in the distance.
Once the others got their things situated where they wanted them, we headed down the hall to where Jane, Zig, and Squid were staying. Jane was laid back already flipping through the channels on the TV. Squid and Zigzag were still going through their things, deciding what to get out for the next few days. The view from their room was a lot nicer than ours. They were able to see down the street of all the buildings and the hustle and bustle that was going on.
"So is everybody ready?" I asked. I was ready to get out and explore.
"Ready for what?" Stanley asked. "Go out?" I nodded. "I don't know, I need some rest first. I'm tired from the long trip."
I rolled my eyes. "You can stay here then. Is everybody else ready?" As I looked at them I could sense their hesitation. "Okaaay. Does anybody want to go out and do something?"
They all shook their heads and said they needed a little time before they went out. Squid shrugged his shoulders. "I'll go with you if you want?"
I groaned inside my head. I didn't want to go by myself, but I also didn't want it to just be Squid and myself. "Umm…I think I'll rest as well I guess. Have more energy for tonight, y'know?"
"Okay," Squid nodded and turned back to his suitcase.
There was a bit of an awkward silence so I decided to make my exit. "I'll see you guys later." I shut the door behind me and sighed in frustration. We were wasting time chillin' out here when we could be out there. My face landed in a pillow when I got back to the room and I shut my eyes, waiting for the sleep that I knew wouldn't come.
A/N: Thanks to tr1xx777 for politely telling me to quit being lazy and updating. lol I've actually been wanting to update it, but I lost the last part of this chapter and had to create it anew. I do know what I want to happen in the next chapter so it should be up around this time next week. R&R : )
