9. The Tar Heel State
Yeah…so it's just a coincidence that Ange goes to Elon University ;) I don't attend Elon or anything…Enjoy!
Jack and I sat anxiously on the plane waiting for take-off. I had bought his ticket to RDU and then to Boston with the money I had saved for myself before my parents told me that they bought my ticket home. I popped in a piece of gum and turned to Jack. He looked uncomfortable, his long legs scrunched behind the seat in front of him; and he looked nervous as all hell.
"Jack, have you ever been on a plane before?" I quietly asked him. He was looking around and the mere sound of my voice made him jump. He turned to me.
"No, not really," he replied uneasily, fidgeting in his seat.
"I promise it'll be just fine. You look like you're about to die, Jack!" I exclaimed quietly, as the airline stewardess began shutting the over-head compartments.
"I'll be fine," he said in a low voice and swallowing hard.
"Here, take some gum. It'll help prevent your ears from popping," I explained, as I handed him a stick of gum. He popped it in his mouth and began chewing frantically. I chuckled at him.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. Welcome aboard Southwest airlines. Our flight to Raleigh/Durham will be approximately one hour and thirty-four minutes. The current weather in Raleigh is 56 degrees Fahrenheit and partly cloudy…"
"Jack? Are you gonna be okay?" Jack was breathing heavily and was leaning back as far as he could with his eyes closed.
"Ange, I'll be fine,"
"You don't look fine!" I exclaimed.
"Sir, you're going to have to put your seat in its up-right position for take-off," the stewardess said. Jack's eyes bugged open suddenly.
"I'm sorry…" he said quietly as he fixed his seat.
"Jack, everything is gonna be just fine. We're gonna be in the air for only an hour and a half. Nothing! Just a quick jump!" I smiled at him and took his hand. There was silence between us as the plane taxied out on the runway. The plane turned its final corner and I looked over at Jack.
"You ready?" He just nodded and held my hand tighter.
Jack slept the entire flight, which I thought was remarkable considering his height and how squeezed he was in that plane seat—but nonetheless, he awake just as the plane landed, with a sudden jolt.
"…welcome to Raleigh, North Carolina," echoed in Jack's ears as he sleepily turned his gaze towards me and out the window.
"We're in North Carolina?" He asked, drowsily. I kissed him and smiled.
"Yup! And it's warmer here than it was in Detroit!" I laughed as the plane parked by the gate.
Jack and I exited the plane and headed toward the baggage claim.
"So how are we getting to your college?" He asked as we waited by the claim.
"My best friend from school, Whitney, is picking us up. I can guarantee when she meets you she will say, 'OH so this is the infamous Jack I've heard so much about!'" I imitated.
"Infamous!" He exclaimed with a laugh.
"Yeah, she uses famous and infamous interchangeably," I chuckled as I grabbed my bag from the rotation. Jack grabbed his bag and followed me out to the ground transportation. I scanned the numerous parked cars and finally spotted Whitney's silver Honda CRV.
"There she is!" Whitney exclaimed as she got outta the car and saw me running to her.
"Whit!" I exclaimed as we hugged.
"Masshole! I've missed you so much!" She shrieked hugging me even tighter. "How was your flight?"
"It was good! Quick—the way I like 'em," I laughed. Whit laughed and then eyed up Jack.
"So this must be the infamous Jack!" She exclaimed as she hugged him too. "Jack, I'd like to let you know that whenever we talk on the phone, you're all she ever talks about," Jack laughed and looked over at me.
"What!" Whit asked, confusedly.
"Nothing. She just said you'd say that exactly," Jack replied with a big smile.
"Oh Masshole, you know me too well," she said to me and smacked my shoulder. Jack and I exchanged glances and laughed as we loaded our bags into the back of the CRV.
"Jack you can take shot-gun. You're taller than I am," I got in the back and Jack sat up front.
"Whit, thanks so much for picking us up,"
"No problem at all, sweetie!" She said as she pulled away from the curb.
"So, how has the weather been? How's Claire and Elon?" I asked as we headed down the high way away from the airport.
"Weather's been good—on and off as usual this time of year. Better than they're been getting up North though," Whit was from upstate New York and Claire was from Long Island. The three of us could appreciate the decent winter weather NC offered in comparison to our usual harsh winters up in the arctic abyss, Whit in particular.
"As for school—it's been good. Real busy working on my senior seminar paper/project thing. It's due before I leave for break. You know we're usually outta here by now anyways!"
"Yeah seriously—this is shit coming back a couple days before the holidays!"
"Yeah it is. But yeah—Claire's doing well too—busy as usual,"
"Good!" I peered into the passenger seat and saw that Jack was passed out sleeping. Whit and I both laughed at him.
We arrived at school about an hour later. Whit pulled into the parking lot outside of our apartment. Gotta love off-campus housing.
"Jackie, we're here," I whispered to him as I opened the car door. He shuffled a bit in the seat and then finally got up.
"I'm up, I'm up," he said as he got out of the car. He looked around and then took off his scarf.
"It is warm out," he said, smiling at me.
"I told you," I laughed as I took my bag and handed him his. We walked up the stairs to the door and into our apartment.
"You can put your stuff in my room," I said as I led him to my room. We dropped our bags and then went back to the main room and sat on the couch with Whit.
"So where's Claire!" I exclaimed, looking around.
"She's at the library finishing up shit, I guess," Whitney replied.
"Oh excellent," I replied. Just as I got comfortable, Claire came strolling in.
"Ange!" She exclaimed as soon as she got in the door.
"Claire!" I jumped up and hugged her.
"This is Jack," I introduced them. Claire winked at me in approval. It was always her thing on approving the men Whit and I dated.
"He's cute," she whispered to me as he sat back down. "Good choice, honey!"
The four of us sat on the couch talking about random things and past experiences for a while until we all felt relatively hungry. For old times' sake, we decided to go to dinner at our favorite Japanese restaurant.
"Jack, you'll like it. They cook the food right in front of you," I said as we left the apartment.