Chapter 2 - Welcome to Santa Carla
On the night Emily had shouted at George, she had expected to have been given a lecture about how she shouldn't have left, and how she shouldn't yell especially at the dinner table but instead was greeted with a surprise due to hearing the complete silence when she came in. Curious, she peeked her head around the living room, but only to find it empty. Emily was about to go upstairs when a white piece of paper had caught her sight in the corner of her eye. Emily was torn between going over there and having the potential of being too nosy or leaving the note and going to her room. After a few seconds of arguing, aloud, with herself, the curiosity won her over. Maybe it was a note left purposely for her and could be important, she thought.
Cautiously, she leaned over to where the alluring yet strange piece of torn paper was propped up. It was a very simple note and was addressed to her,
Emily visibly relaxed picked up the note and sat on the sofa to read it. It read:
~Dear Emily~
I'm very sorry for upsetting you. I wasn't being very considerate of others, in fact, I was being a bit self-centred. I know this is a "lame" (as you would put it) apology but can we start again, please. I'm gonna get a job and we can start a new clean slate if you're up to it. But for now, figures you'd want to be alone.
~Yours George~
The apology was sweet and Emily gratefully accepted his apology.
A couple days later…
Emily and Lizzy were ecstatic, the holiday they had been looking forward to for so many weeks had finally arrived. Today was the day that they were going to get on that plane and have the time of their lives! Emily quickly gathered all of her belongings that she had packed days before and hurried to the front door eagerly.
She had told Lizzy to meet her at her house in 10 minutes, meaning Emily didn't have much time 'til Lizzy would come.
Emily frantically darted around the house getting all the last minute belongings she may have forgotten. She ticked things off her mini list in her head.
'Toothbrush, check. Sunglasses, check. Plane ticket, uhhhhh.'
"Aha found you!" Emily exclaimed aloud, confusing George before realizing she'd said it out loud. This caused George to chuckle. Recently, George had been a lot more light-hearted and had kept up to the promises he made in the note a couple days prior. Emily liked the 'new' George.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.
"I'll get it!" Emily practically shouted with excitement knowing it would be Lizzy. Emily raced to the door before slinging it open with so much force that it almost fell off its hinges. Lizzy had her hair in a ponytail that day and was grinning from ear to ear. And as soon as Emily saw her, she couldn't help but do the same.
Today was the day they had been waiting for, for a very long time. Today was finally the day they went on holiday.
"Come on, grab your stuff. We've got a flight to catch." Lizzy said with a little dance causing Emily to giggle. Just as Emily left to get her belongings, George came from out of the living room.
"Do you girls need a lift to the airport?" he asked.
"No thanks, my mum is waiting outside in the car to take us there. Thanks anyway though." Lizzy replied. Though, she missed George narrow his eyes at the rejection. He was so desperate to prove himself to them especially Emily. To prove that he had changed, and for the better.
"Hi!" Emily beamed as she got back. "You ready to go?" she asked Lizzy. Lizzy nodded in reply and headed out the door while Emily said bye to George before following suit.
The two put their bags into the boot and then got into the back of Lizzy's mum's car. The three drove off in the direction of the airport.
As Lizzy's mum drove the two extremely hyper girls there, she started talking to them.
"You two better not get into trouble while you're there because no one is there to get you out of it." She said sternly.
"We know mum and we won't," promised Lizzie. "You don't need to worry about us so much we'll be fine. Won't we Em?"
"Yup!" came Emily's reply.
Lizzy's mum didn't say anything. She just gave them a stern look in the mirror as if to say 'really'.
After about 20 minutes, or 20 years in the girls' case, the three of them arrived at the airport. Emily and Lizzy hurried to get out of the car. As soon as they got out, they let their eyes take in their surroundings. The place was huge, filled with what looked like thousands of people. The people were ranging from young, impatient kids going on holiday with their family to the elderly who would hobble about on their knobbly walking sticks that supported most of their weight.
"Well, are you two going to help me take your bags to your plane, or just stay there gawping at everything you see?" Lizzy's mum asked impatiently. As Lizzy's mum spoke it broke the trance the two younger girls were in and once they had actually processed the words the mother had said they obliged.
The three went up to the notice board to find where Emily and Lizzy's flight was. Eventually, the girls found their flight and said goodbye to Lizzy's mum before boarding the flight.
"I can't believe we're actually doing it. We've actually just got on a flight and we are leaving the country." Emily looked over at Lizzy while she spoke and nodded in agreement. She couldn't help but giggle at Lizzy's shocked face.
"The flight will leave in 5 minutes. Please ensure that you're seat belts are on as the attendant is coming to check them."
Lizzy's face had contorted into one of fear as the captain spoke.
"This is actually happening!" she said to herself.
"Well, I'm fine as long as you're not sick on me." Emily joked in an attempt to lighten the mood.
"Yeah," Lizzy replied with a nervous laugh.
9 hours later…
After an extremely long flight, Emily and Lizzy arrived in Santa Carla. If the two weren't as tired as they were, they would have taken longer to admire the distant lights of the boardwalk and acknowledge the fact that they had arrived in America. Instead, the two brunettes made their way to the holiday homes Lizzy's mum had told them to stay at.
"Hi, can I have one holiday home for two people please."
"And how long will you be staying darlin'?" the manager replied with.
"2 weeks." Emily looked at Lizzy for confirmation, in which Lizzy nodded her head.
"Yeah 2 weeks," Lizzy confirmed.
"Alright. Do you want to pay it all up front or pay it weekly?"
"Um, we'll pay it all now," said Emily while she started to dig the money out of the hidden pocket in her bag. She briefly scanned over the money making sure it was all there before handing it over. In return, the man at the desk gave a key.
"Enjoy your stay." He said with a smile which looked more like a grimace.
The two girls left the man at the desk and went over to the little homes while keeping an eye out for their number.
"There it is!" Lizzy exclaimed and pointed it out to Emily when they went by it.
"Oh yeah," Emily said. They both walked over to it and Emily unlocked the door. The two brunettes walked inside and both headed straight to the bedroom. Lizzy unzipped her bag and pulled out a baggy t-shirt and pyjama shorts. She immediately got changed into them. Emily wasn't far behind her.
"Night Lizzy," Emily said to Lizzy.
"Goodnight Em. I can't believe we're actually here. We'll have to explore in the morning." Lizzy replied.
"I know I can't wait. See you in the morning."
Both of the girls went to sleep dreaming happily of the boardwalk and all of the bright lights that came with it.
…
Lizzy woke up first, due to her small bed being next to the window without the curtains drawn. Hence, she woke up to the golden sun rays shining in her face. Lizzy sat up groggily and peered over to Emily's bed. Emily was curled up in the middle of her bed in a calm slumber.
"Of course she is." Lizzy quietly scoffed to herself.
Lizzy climbed off her bed and headed to the bathroom. It was a pristine white tiled room with a simple shower, toilet, sink and mirror above the sink.
Lizzy skittered back to bedroom to grab a change of clothes before hopping in the shower.
Meanwhile, Emily woke up and blinked confused at the current location. But then came a moment of realization, as she remembered that she and Lizzy were in Santa Carla. Emily got out of her bed immediately, not wanting to waste any time. She checked the time on her phone. It read 15:27. Her mouth hung open in shock.
Just at that moment Lizzy came back from the shower. Seeing Emily's face she asked, "What's up?"
"It's already half 3!" Emily exclaimed.
"Yeah. In England. Don't forget we are in America. There's different time zones. We're 5 hours behind UK time now. It's actually half 10." Lizzy explained to Emily, who looked dumbfounded. "Anyway, come on, get up. I want to go out."
Emily lazily clambered out of bed and started to get dressed. 'I'll have a shower tonight,' she thought to herself.
Once both brunettes were dressed, and had finished faffing about with their hair, they were ready to go out by 11.
"Wait, Em, should we take lunch with us or at least some money to buy some while we're out?" Lizzy asked.
"It's fine, I've got $20 on me."
"Alright, let's go." Lizzy said full of excitement.
The two of them walked out of their small holiday home and headed towards the boardwalk.
The boardwalk didn't have its lights on during the day which made it look blander than before, but it was still intriguing. The place was packed with kids running about everywhere trailing their parents behind them. There were families competing on the stools and others sat down eating ice creams and funnel cake. There were screams coming from all over the place, some were on the Ferris wheel, others from the roller coaster. The whole sight was overwhelming.
"This place is awesome!" Emily said while looking around with awe.
"What do you want to do first?" Lizzy asked.
"You're really asking me that? There is way to much choice." Emily said glancing around. "How about we go on that Roller coaster over there, then we go on couple more rides. After that we can get some lunch and go to the beach?"
"Sounds good," Lizzy replied. And with that two girls headed to the roller coaster.
About an hour and a half later, the two brunettes stopped for lunch.
"Anything you want for lunch?" Lizzy asked as her eyes wandered to try and find the food stalls. When she found them, she gestured for Emily to follow. The two wandered up and down the food stalls, trying to decide what to have. After a while, they both decided to get a burger.
They walked up to the stall and ordered a burger. To say the burger was a bit greasy was an understatement. Both burgers were so greasy that within minutes the grease had started to soak into the bread.
"Nice…" Emily stated looking at the greasy burger.
"Well, I don't know about you but I don't think I want this. I'm starting to think this is a grease sandwich rather than a burger!" Lizzy said with a laugh before making her way to the nearest bin.
"Yeah me too. How about we just go into a shop and buy a few snacks to take with us to the beach?" Emily asked.
"Okay, good idea," came Lizzy's reply as she wiped her hands.
The rest of the day went by quickly as the girls found a spot on the beach. The afternoon consisted of the girls relaxing on the beach and run in and out of the ocean. After both had drained their energy. They slept soundly on the beach as dusk approached them.
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