Chloe casually tossed Jason one of her classic icy glares before giving Belle yet another hug. Stepping away from her best friend, Chloe said, "I hope that you guys have a great time in Florida."
A sad look made its way over Belle's face as she sympathetically responded, "I'm just sorry that you and Jason don't get to come on this trip with us. We're all going to miss you so much."
"Belle, you guys are only going to be gone two weeks."
"Yeah, but that can be a really long time," commented Shawn as he joined the group near the gate to board the plane. "Chloe, we just want to make sure that you're going to be okay while we're all gone."
Chloe released an exaggerated sigh of frustration and rhetorically asked, "How many times do I have to say this? It's only two weeks. What could possibly happen in that short amount of time?"
Narrowing his eyes as he looked at Chloe, Jason said, "You know, I wish I was getting to go on the class trip, but we all know that I can't because Chloe went psycho and attacked me in the hallway."
"No," drawled out Chloe. "The reason we've been denied the right to go on this trip is because of you. If you weren't so cruel and uncaring, you never would have teased me and everyone else that you think is different. Face it, Jason, if you had just acted like a nice guy for one day, we would be getting ready to board that plane. Instead, you and I have to stand here and watch our friends get on the airplane while we say goodbye to them."
His voice rising just a little, Jason angrily declared, "You're full of it, Ghoul Girl. So, why don't you just shut your mouth, huh? It's not like anyone here really cares about what you have to say."
Chloe tossed her hair over her shoulder and sent Jason yet another displeased look. But, before she had the opportunity to give a snide reply, Belle interrupted, "Chloe, I was wondering if I could talk to you for a minute before I got on the plane?"
As Belle smiled brightly and pulled her away from the group, Chloe had no choice but to agree.
Watching as his sworn nemesis was dragged away, Jason muttered, "One of us is definitely not going to survive the next two weeks."
Philip kept his right hand clasped with Mimi's as he used his left to pat Jason on the back. "Come on, Jase, it won't be that bad. Surely you and Chloe can manage to go two weeks without killing each other. In fact, if you ever stopped acting like a jerk around her, you might see what a great girl she is."
At the mention of Chloe's name, Mimi instinctively tightened her grip of Philip's hand. She wondered if it would ever feel right to be dating the school's most popular hunk or if she would ever learn what it felt like to not be worried that Chloe Lane would be able to destroy her happiness.
As the idea of Jason and Chloe actually becoming best buddies entered his mind, Philip chuckled and quietly added, "Or, maybe not."
Glaring at his friend, Jason vowed, "I can guarantee you one thing, Philip. Chloe Lane and I will never get along. I'd rather accompany Satan on a tour of his lair."
Philip knew that it was pointless to try and change Jason's mind. He supposed that Jason and Chloe would just have to remain enemies for the rest of eternity. It had already been proven that interference from their friends wasn't going to help things.
A few feet away from where Jason was standing with a scowl etched upon his face, Belle was speaking animatedly to Chloe. "I know you probably don't want to hear how excited I am about this trip, but I just can't help it. I can't wait to be alone on those sandy beaches with Shawn. I mean, it is going to be so wonderful to just be in his strong arms, staring at the water and the stars and each other. Then, when we finally have those night hours to be alone together we can . . ."
Chloe blushed just slightly and interrupted, "Belle, please don't bother going into details."
Lowering her head, Belle mumbled, "Sorry."
"It's okay. I am really happy for you and Shawn. So, enjoy yourselves, okay?"
"Oh, we will," promised Belle with a small giggle.
As Mr. Woods began to usher his students away from their tearful parents and onto the plane, Mimi pulled away from Philip. With a forced smile, she whispered, "Go ahead and get on the plane. I'll be right back."
"Meems, where are you going?"
Whispering once more, Mimi replied, "I have to go to the bathroom."
Philip laughed and declared, "Mimi, you do know that they have one on the plane, right?"
"Yes, Mr. Smarty-Pants, I know that. It's just that the bathrooms on these planes are always so tiny. I promise that I'll hurry back before Mr. Woods even notices that I'm gone."
Before Philip could utter another word, Mimi had tossed him her carry-on luggage and purse. He could only smile as he watched her quickly dash across the airport and go around the corner. Mimi was far from being Chloe, but even Philip was intelligent enough to see that she was a very special girl in her own right and deserved to be treated that way.
"You know, Phil, that purse goes really well with your outfit. Don't you agree, Belle?" Shawn questioned as he followed Philip onto the plane.
Belle could only laugh at her boyfriend's antics. Though she felt bad that Chloe and Jason would be missing the trip, Belle knew that she and Shawn were still going to have a wonderful time with Mimi and Philip. Well, that's what she thought.
As they reached the sixteenth row of the Boeing, Belle allowed Shawn a moment to place his luggage in the overhead compartment before handing hers to him. While Shawn struggled mercilessly to squeeze the overstuffed piece of baggage beside his, Belle flashed Philip an apologetic smile as he stood waiting to get by the couple so he could sit down in the row behind them.
Finally having pushed Belle's luggage into the small compartment, Shawn took his seat beside the window. Immediately, Belle sat down beside him. Both were painfully aware of the empty seat beside the aisle. The seat that had been reserved for Chloe.
A thought suddenly causing him panic, Shawn began to lightly tap on Belle's arm. "Um, Belle, I think that we may have a problem."
"What?"
"My parents left the airport not long after dropping me off."
"How is that a problem?"
"I told Chloe that they would give her a ride home. Belle, the only other person that's at the airport who really knows Chloe is Jason."
"That is a problem," replied Belle with a frown. "Well, at least security won't allow Chloe on the plane to kill you, right?"
"Yeah, but if I know Chloe, she'll be waiting at the terminal for me to get off when we get back, and she'll be probably be carrying a rifle or two. Seriously, Belle, if she has to ask Jason for a ride home, she'll be ready to kill."
Behind the endearing, though slightly perturbed, couple, Philip had thrown his and Mimi's luggage into the compartment and begun to relax in his aisle seat that just happened to be located directly behind the one left empty by Chloe.
As the last few passengers made their way onto the plane, Philip glanced across the aisle to where yet another seat was left empty - Jason's. Tapping his foot nervously, Philip gazed at his watch and tried to avoid the creepy-looking elderly woman in the window seat. He was only glad that once Mimi got on the plane, she would be a barrier between Philip and the strange senior citizen.
Lost in his own thoughts, Philip did not even notice Cynthia until she had climbed over him and plopped into Mimi's seat.
Smiling brightly, Cynthia said, "Miss Perez started at the front checking to make sure everyone is in their seats, so once she saw that I had boarded, I decided to just come back here and keep you company until Meems gets on."
"Yeah, that sounds great," politely answered Philip before he began a conversation with Cynthia over his future plans for college.
As the two teens lost themselves in their hopes and dreams, they failed to notice Mr. Woods take over the job of accounting for all of the students going on the senior class trip. Unfortunately, he was not supplied with a list of who belonged in what seat; instead, he was given a list of which seats were reserved for his students - excluding the seats left empty by Jason and Chloe.
Because he had no names to match with the seats, the dedicated teacher failed to realize that Mimi Lockhart was not only missing from her seat, but the plane as well.
Shivering just a little as the cool air that belonged solely to the early morning hours assailed her body, Chloe stood alone outside the airport. She could not seem to find Shawn's parents anywhere. It was almost as if they were gone.
When originally making their plans concerning the class trip, Belle had asked Chloe to spend Friday night with her since Craig and Nancy were going to leave that evening to attend a medical conference in Chicago that would last until Monday afternoon. That way, Belle's parents could simply drop both girls off at the airport on their way to the Green Mountain Lodge for a much-needed romantic getaway.
However, when things had changed at the last minute due to Jason and Chloe's suspension, Shawn had immediately stated that Chloe could go ahead and ride with the Blacks to the airport so she could at least say goodbye to everyone. Then, his parents would gladly give her a ride home since Craig and Nancy wouldn't be in town.
Standing outside as ominous gray clouds attempted to block the sunrise, Chloe began to wonder if Shawn had even remembered to ask his parents to give her a ride. Considering Mr. and Mrs. Brady were no where in sight, Chloe decided that her good pal must have been too excited about sharing the ocean nights with Belle to even think about speaking to his parents about giving Chloe a ride.
Chloe cursed Shawn aloud as she began to realize just what the repercussions of his lapse in memory were. With Craig and Nancy in Chicago and all her friends on a plane preparing to take off for sunny Orlando, Chloe had absolutely no one to help her get home. No one.
Overhearing Chloe's little outburst as he left the airport through its grand front entrance, Jason smugly asked, "Oh, what's wrong? Don't tell me that Ghoul Girl is having a bad day."
Spinning on her heels to face Jason, Chloe instantly realized that she had overestimated his distance from her. Due to that little fact, Chloe found her face mere inches from Jason's. However, she refused to allow his close proximity to melt her anger. "If you must know, it seems that I've lost my ride."
Turning and walking away from Chloe, Jason sardonically replied, "Yeah, well, if I happen to see a broomstick parked by my car, I'll tell you."
"You are such a jerk! Of course, I shouldn't be surprised that you would act like that. You aren't even half the guy that Philip or Shawn is - and you never could be." Seeing that her loud proclamations had stopped Jason in his tracks, Chloe approached him from behind as she continued her tirade, "You couldn't behave like a real man if your pathetic life depended on it. Face it, Jason, you're so unloved that you can't even fathom human decency."
Turning to face Chloe, the anger was apparent in Jason's narrowing green eyes as he spat, "Don't you even try to say that I'm the unloved one, Chloe. Everyone knows that your own mother was so repulsed by you that she gave you away. At least my mom loved me enough to keep me and raise me instead of tossing me into some orphanage and lying to the rest of the world about my existence."
"God, I hate you!" Chloe screamed, effectively getting the attention of the few people who had not already stopped to stare at the battling duo.
"Trust me, Ghoul Girl, the feeling is mutual."
"I'm right, you know. No matter how hard you try to be popular and revered, you just can't seem to outdo Philip or Shawn. And, you want to know why? Because, those two guys have morals and don't treat people as though they are worthless simply because they dare to not dress or wear their hair the same way as most people."
Throwing his hands into the air, Jason proclaimed, "There you go again! Do you ever quit spewing that crap? Seriously, Chloe, you need to get a new line, because nobody is here to feel sorry for you. You're the only one to blame for people calling you a freak. If you hadn't dressed and acted like some psycho, Philip and Shawn might not be the only guys at Salem High to notice you."
"How could I be the one to blame when it was you and your trashy little girlfriend who tried to make me miserable for fun?"
Jason found that he could find no response once Jan was mentioned. He hadn't told anyone about the breakup, and he was hoping that he wouldn't even have to face it until it was time to go back to school.
Paying no attention to Jason's silence, Chloe said, "Don't think that I didn't notice that you never bothered defending yourself when I mentioned the fact that you are far from being a real man. The truth is that you're simply too spineless and judgmental."
"Let me, guess, your precious Philip and Shawn are real men. Well, what about Brady Black? Huh, Chloe? Was he a real man when he dumped you and skipped town?"
Her voice significantly lower, Chloe stated, "It wasn't like that."
"No," sarcastically responded Jason. "Of course, not."
Chloe fought back her tears of both anger and sadness as she said, "No matter his shortcomings, even Brady is a better man than you. He would never treat a girl the way you do. Even after everything that happened between us, if he was here, he would already have walked me to his jeep so he could give me a ride home. Do you have any idea how much of a jerk you have to be if a girl thinks that her ex-boyfriend is ten times better than you?"
"Fine!" Jason yelled as he recalled a brief conversation he had been forced to have with Belle right after she arrived at the airport. The petite blond had stared Jason down and made him promise to try and do just one nice thing for Chloe. Even if it was something as simple as someone holding the door open for Chloe, Belle had stressed how important it was for her friend to have someone around who would at least treat like a person that had feelings.
"Fine, what?" Chloe demanded as she stared at Jason with a perplexed expression.
Knowing that he would probably regret the words that were about to tumble out of his usually obnoxious mouth, Jason answered, "Fine, I'll give you a freakin' ride home! Okay?"
Giving what sounded almost like a snort, Chloe questioned, "What if I don't want to ride with you?"
"Why do you always have to do that?"
"Do what?"
"Make things difficult. Belle asked me to try and do something nice for you while she was gone. I figure if I give you a ride home, that'll count as my good deed. Then, I can spend the rest of my time out of school ignoring you." As he began to walk away, Jason called out over his shoulder, "So, are you coming or not?"
Chloe stood for a moment simply watching Jason's retreating figure before a clap of thunder convinced her that a ride home might not be such a bad thing after all. Walking quickly to catch up with her enemy, Chloe pondered how she would ever survive the two weeks ahead of her.
Mimi hurriedly called out apologies to the people she bumped into as she made a mad dash across Salem's airport. She could not believe her luck. She doubted if there was anyone else alive who was able to so easily find bad situations.
Since she usually slept until at least ten o'clock on Saturday mornings, Mimi had immediately fallen back asleep after turning her alarm off once it had buzzed to make her aware that she should get up and start getting ready for her trip. Had it not been for her parents, she would have still been curled up in bed when Philip arrived in his father's limo to pick her up.
Then, as though her day hadn't started off rocky enough, Mimi had somehow become trapped in the bathroom when a couple of careless workers had placed their load directly against the door to the women's bathroom. Mimi had truly been horrified when she swung the door open only to find herself staring at a stack of cargo that reached to the top of the door.
Almsot ten minutes and many frustrated screams later, the workers returned and freed Mimi from her unusual dungeon. By that time, she had been nearly hysterical, knowing that she had more than likely already missed her flight.
Running wildly across the airport, Mimi made the mistake of glancing down at her watch as she continued her fast pace. Before she had time to stop herself, Mimi ran into an innocent bystander.
Hurriedly pushing herself off the man's firm chest, Mimi looked up at him and was surprised to see that she recognized him.
Mimi offered the man a quick smile as she rushed past him and yelled, "I'm sorry, but I have to catch my flight."
As the frantic teen continued her race across the airport, the man noticed that the gold chain around Mimi's neck had broken and fallen to the floor - along with Philip's class ring that was on it. Only later would Mimi wonder if that had been the first omen of things to come - and things to be lost.