Florida

Florida

"Are you okay?" Quil said from the seat beside me. He put his hand on mine.

I looked over at Natalie, who was in the seat across the aisle. She grimaced as she watched our every move. I decided to look out the window of the plane. I already felt guilty enough; I didn't need to see her face.

The pilot's voice crackled over the intercom. "We're about to land in sunny Orlando, Florida in ten minutes. It is ninety-two degrees outside. Thank you for flying Southwest Airlines."

Quil squeezed my hand.

I looked at him, nodding my head toward Natalie, desperate to get him to stop acting like we were a couple in front of her, even though we were.

I hated to look at my sister's face nowadays. All the pain and agony was laid out to see, plain as day, as if she was trying to torcher me. I wouldn't doubt that she was.

"Yeah. I'm…okay." I finally answered.

I looked at my parents, who were sitting across from us, two aisles away. Luckily, they couldn't see Quil and me unless they turned around. I didn't want to tell them that we were going out; I knew they wouldn't be happy about the fact that I was dating a man in his twenties.

I felt the bump as the plane touched the runway.

"Here we are," I said.

"Yep." He got up when the plane stopped and I got up with him.

When we all got off the plane, we went to get our suitcases. When we were done, we stopped to eat lunch. Then we rented a car and we drove to a hotel.

We got a room for my family, and Quil decided to get a room of his own.

I brought my suitcase into the room I would have to share with Natalie. The hotel room our parents got had a bathroom, a room with two twin beds – which was mine and Natalie's – a tiny kitchen with a mini-fridge, a sink, and a microwave, and a room with one bed for my parents.

I dreaded sharing a room with Natalie.

As I put my suitcase on the floor beside my bed, I tried not to look at her face, hoping and praying that she wouldn't say anything to me.

"Claire?" she asked quietly.

I hid my face behind the bed, pretending like I was still putting the suitcase where I wanted it to go.

"Um, yeah?" I replied.

She walked over to me.

Oh, crap! I thought.

I slowly turned my head so that I could look up at her. I knew the guilt was plain on my face.

"Maybe we need to… talk." she said. She bit her lip.

"Uh, about… what?" I asked. I bit my lip, too.

"You know what it's about." She held her hand out for me to grab. I held on to it, and she pulled me up. I sat beside her on the edge of my bed.

She looked me in the eye. "Look, Claire. I'm not going to tell you that it won't hurt my feelings, 'cause then I'd be lying. But I will tell you that it's okay if you're with Quil. I'm okay with it."

I looked at the door, hoping that our parents couldn't hear us. The door was open.

"Don't talk too loud. Dad and Mom can't know that I'm dating Quil." I whispered.

She nodded. "I'm also telling you that if you don't want him, send him to me." she whispered back.

"I don't think that's possible." I mumbled.

"What?"

I looked away. "I didn't say anything."

She turned my head to face hers. "Claire, I'm serious. You can have him if you want him, but if you don't, I'll always be open to have you give him to me."

"Yeah, that comforts me a lot." I said sarcastically. "It really made me get over the whole guilty thing." I nodded, still being sarcastic, and got up to walk out of the room. I went to the main door.

"Where are you going, honey?" my mother asked.

I clenched my teeth, holding on to the doorknob. I didn't turn when I replied. "I'm going to see if Quil is settled into his room okay."

"Okay."

I turned the knob, opened the door – slamming it – and went to the room next to mine.

I knocked on the door. "Quil,"

He was at the door in an instant. "What's wrong?" He led me into the room, holding an arm around me.

"Natalie. She keeps making me feel guilty. She says it's okay for me and you to be together, but she also says that if I don't want you, she'll take you. I think she's doing it purposely, but she acts like she's not. How is that supposed to make me feel better? Maybe…maybe we shouldn't be together. I'm starting to regret it." Before he could protest, I added, "I'm not saying you need to go away. I'm just saying that maybe I should wait until I'm your age for us to be together."

"Are you…breaking up with me?" He looked hurt.

I tried as hard as I could not to cave in. "I don't want to, but maybe it's best."

"Whatever you want." He still looked hurt.

"Aw, Quil! Don't look at me like that! You're making me change my mind."

"Am I?"

"Yes! Stop that!"

I could see that he was trying not to look so devastated, but he wasn't succeeding.

I sighed. "Okay, Quil. I'm not breaking up with you. I don't want to. I guess I can find out some way to make Natalie feel better."

"Doesn't she like Jason Adams?" he asked, suddenly thoughtful.

"Yeah! She does. I know her best friend's number. I think she knows his number." I reached in my pocket for my cell-phone. I scrolled down the contacts, and when I found Natalie's friend's number, I hit send.

"Hello?" Jessica answered on the first ring.

"Hey, Jessica. It's Claire. I know it's weird that I'm calling you, but I need a favor. Could you give me Jason Adams's number? It's for my sister, but you can't tell her." I asked, hoping she would agree.

"Yeah. That's fine." She gave me the number, and I thanked her fifty-billion times. Then I hung up, and dialed the number Jessica had given me.

"Hello?" I heard Jason answer.

"Hey, Jason. This is Claire. You don't know me, but I'm Natalie Young's little sister." I hoped he wouldn't hang up.

He didn't. "Natalie? She's hot. Yeah, what can I do for you?"

I thanked God. So he liked her. "Would you like to go on a date with her in, oh, two weeks? On June twenty-fifth?"

"Yeah! Totally! Should I pick her up?"

"Yeah, at seven. Take her wherever you think is good. But you can't tell her. I'll tell her the day before. It's a surprise, okay?"

"Okay. Thanks, Claire." He hung up.

I shut my phone, smiling at Quil.

"He said yes, didn't he?" Quil asked, smiling back.

"Yup." I beamed.

He pulled me in for a hug. Our lips met. I forgot to breathe. His hands moved from my waist to my hair, and his fingers wound through my hair.

I had my hands on both sides of his face.

He let me go.

"Why'd you let me go?" I asked breathlessly.

He chuckled. "Because if I didn't, you'd be dead. You need to teach yourself how to breathe when you kiss me."

I rolled my eyes. "I've got to go back to my room now. My mom's gonna wonder what happened to me." I got up and looked in the mirror to see if I needed to smooth my hair. I smoothed it, and went back to my room.

My mom greeted me when I walked in the door. "How's Quil getting settled in?"

"Good. He's okay. Great, even. He's settled in nicely." I smiled.

I walked to Natalie's and my room.

"Hey," I said to her when I walked in.

She was lying across her bed. "What?"

I sat beside her. "Guess."

"You hate me."

I nudged her. "No. I called Jason Adams."

She didn't even budge at the sound of his name. "And you embarrassed me, didn't you?"

"No! I set up a date for you guys when we get back, and…he likes you. He agreed." I smiled at her.

She hopped up. "Really? You did? I love you!" She hugged me.

I was glad. She actually looked happy.

End Note: Okay, okay. I know you guys must hate me for not posting another chapter for so long, and I'm sorry, but I was in Idaho (don't make fun of the state's name) seeing my Aunt and Uncle and Grandma and horse and a whole bunch of other people and animals. So, I'll be nice. I'm working on my next chapter as fast as I possibly can. So it won't be long. Review! :D