I reach over and pick it up, but before I have a chance to even say hello, Peyton nervously cuts me off.
"If you listened to me I'm surprised you even answered your phone."
I scrunch up my eyebrows, unseen of course to a slightly anxious sounding P Sawyer. "Why would you think that?"
"How far along are you anyway?" She dodges my question.
"Cheer camp. But never mind that, when's your flight?" I have a bad feeling where this is going and I'm determined to nip it in the bud.
"You're serious?" I can hear the disbelief in her voice.
"Not most times, no. But right now, never more so. What's going on PS, did you change your mind?" I hesitantly ask her, wondering if something has suddenly changed without my knowing it.
"Here I was calling to ask you the same thing." She lets out a little sardonic laugh.
I roll my eyes, having way too much of this particular brand of angst already. "Stop being so melodramatic girlfriend, just let me know when I get to pick you up."
There's silence on the line for a good minute, and then finally Peyton sighs. "It's flight number 410 into LAX at 11:30."
I pout unseen to my best friend, glancing over at the clock noticing that it's only around 1pm now. "That long? You couldn't get an earlier flight?"
She scoffs at that, apparently not sharing my impatience. "Right, do you have the $1500 bucks it would have cost for a last minute cross country flight?" Before I get a chance to respond, with a resounding duh, she cuts me off again. "That was rhetorical Brooke, don't even go there. Besides the fact that's like ten hours. I barely even have the time to pack here."
"Well you don't really have to bother, we can just go shopping with Daddy's Amex." I can hear the protest forming all the way on the other side of the country. "And before you even start, I'll have you know he's feeling extremely guilty lately. I'm using it to my full advantage, so we'll be sitting pretty this summer."
There's dead silence. I'm wondering what in the world I could have said to produce that type of reaction. It's not like Peyton isn't aware of my penchant for spending my parents money.
"This summer? As in the ENTIRE summer? Brooke, how long should I be packing for?"
I smile, picturing the little crease between her eyebrows. "You really think once I get you out here I'm going to let you go back?"
"What!" The surprise in her voice is evident, even though I think the fact I was openly flirting with her went right over P. Sawyer's head.
"Your dad won't mind will he? Isn't he on that job down off of Baja anyway?" I'm trying to remember where Peyton told me her father was spending the summer, I'm pretty sure it was in Mexico somewhere.
"Sure, he won't mind that you kidnapped me off to the OC for the entire summer." Hmm, classic Peyton snark.
"Well we can always go down and visit him. Mexico is right next door." I'm starting to sense a little hesitancy on her part. Can't be having that.
"You're up to something, I can just tell." I don't why I'm still surprised when she calls me on things.
I decide being honest is the best way to go at this point. "I am. But aren't you curious to find out what?"
"Scared to death actually."
"Cute Peyton." Cause really, smartass Peyton is one of the most adorable things ever. "So finish up your packing and make sure things at your house are taken care of."
Peyton cuts me off yet again. "Taken care of? God, you've really thought this out. Why does that not surprise me." I think she's mumbling to herself more than anything now.
"OK bestest friend, you get your cute butt moving and I'll see you at 11:30." As much as I love hearing her voice, I think she's using the phone call as a stall tactic, and there will be none of that.
"Brooke-----"
This time I cut her off. "Peyton, stop thinking so much about it. What's your gut telling you?" I pray that it's not screaming at her to stay far far away from the airport.
I can tell she's trying to decide if she wants to tell me the truth or not. Peyton has these little tells, especially when she tries to pull one over on me. And the hitch in her breathing is one of the big ones. She lets out one final sigh. "I miss you." Before I can echo the sentiment, she continues. "Which is ridiculous really. You've been gone less than twenty four hours and I already miss you like crazy. And my stomach is all in knots because I KNOW that I'd be the biggest idiot in the world if I didn't just do what you're asking and fly out there. But I'm scared Brooke."
My heart breaks as her voice cracks. I know she's scared, hell I am too. But this is so worth it, I can feel it so strongly. I just have to get her to see that too. "I know PS, I am too. But this is right, I know it. And when you finally get here, I'll prove it to you." Images of candles and rose petals and satin sheets invade my head. And I'm surprised by how comfortable I am with it. It just strengthens my resolve more so.
I'm shaken out of my more than friendly thoughts by Peyton's voice echoing over the line. "I guess I'll be seeing you tonight then."
I smile, an honest to God ear to ear smile, in relief. "I can't wait. Be safe Peyton, love you." And before she can start dissecting that, I press end on my cell, disconnecting us.
As I place my phone back on the nightstand I glance down at her journal, lying open to the page I left off at. I'm tempted to keep reading straight through until it's time to go pick her up at the airport, but there's a germ of an idea creeping around in my noggin that just won't seem to go away. I'm not entirely sure it's the most appropriate thing to do considering how much is really still up in the air with me and Peyton, but I can't seem to help myself.
Grabbing my cell back off the nightstand I head downstairs to the kitchen where I noticed the phone directory sitting on a shelf underneath the counter. An hour and a few ruffled florists and caterers later I headed back upstairs with another bottle of Fuji to dive back into the next journal entry.
AN: Just another quick interim update. A few more journal entries to go. If I wrote everything in between I'd have a good hundred pages of it, so I'm skimming over to what for me became the most important part of the story. I'll also have another Peyton POV soon, I've been lacking those a lot since I dove into the entries. As always, thanks so much for the kind words and encouragement. I hope you're continuing to like it.
