Leni
This is my first official break of the school year and let me say I'm excited about it. I have been working hard for these past few months and definitely need a break. Gabriel and I have been hanging out throughout the first few days of break, but then came the decision if I was going to go back home for Christmas. I really don't know what I'm going to do. This would be my first Christmas away from home. In a way, it's exciting, but then again, what am I going to do? Gabriel is going home, and most of my friends are too, but I have finally been able to renew myself and be a new person. I'm not known as the airhead blonde here—no. I'm just a normal student here, and I got a whole new mentality now. Going back will change it again, and I don't want to go back to who I was. I'm not saying that I will never go back, they are my family after all, but… I don't know.
I soon find myself walking over to Gabe's dorm, which is only a hall away, to help him get to the airport. Gabe comes from a pretty wealthy family and still chooses to work, meaning he has dough. His brand-new silver Audi A6 2015 surly proves my point. *sigh* I can't wait till I save enough money to get a car. I can drive just fine, I just don't have a car, forcing me to take public transportation or hitch a ride with Gabe which isn't a problem, but I would really love my own car. Anyway, my point in all this is, Gabe is leaving his car with me if I choose to stay in Rhode Island since he really trusts me, which is very exciting, but again, I don't know if I am staying or not. I'll figure it out. To be honest, I don't think I have the money to fly to Detroit this holiday season. I don't know how I would get there. Wait! Oh no! How am I going to get home for Lacy's birth? It's really important to me that I'm there, and I'm sure it's important to Lynn too, but I have no idea how I'll get there. Maybe I can talk to mom and dad and see if they can give me a ride there because I really want to be.
"Damn its cold out here!" Gabriel says as we step out of our dorm building.
"Gee, it really is!" I respond, feeling the cold crisp December air blow on my face and hearing the crunch of snow under my feet. It has snowed quite a lot lately here, and I'm starting to wonder when we'll drown in it.
"Let's just quickly throw everything in and get in! I'll blast the heater!"
"My God, please!" I say dramatically, making him laugh. Once he opened the trunk, he plopped the suitcase he held in his hands in, then took the one in my hands and did the same. As soon as he took it, I ran to the passenger's side and got in. I soon saw him open the driver's side door, sticking his head in.
"Watcha doin girl?! You're driving!"
"Wait, what?" I asked him very confused.
"Wanna keep my car for break or not?"
"Yes."
"Then I need to see how you drive her."
"Her?"
"Yes, Madison, my baby."
"Oh, whatever!" I say laughing as he stroked the door. I then made my way there, where he held the door open for me and bowed. He's such a goof, I can't help but laugh. He then closes my door and walks to the other side.
"Please don't crash my car Leni or so help me you will pay!" He warned playfully as he buckled his seatbelt.
"Don't worry!" I say swatting my hand. "Madison will be just fine." I cued.
When we arrived at the airport, I found a parking in the parking garage rather quickly which was a blessing on its own considering it was the holiday season.
"Alright, Ms. Leni Loud. You are officially the owner of my precious Madison for the 2 weeks that I'm away." Gabriel said as I put the car in park and turned it off.
"Thanks. I'm honored!" I say placing my hand on my chest and giving him a little bow.
We walk through the airport and to baggage check-in to check in both of his bags. It wasn't far from where we were. The only thing was the line. Oh my god was that line long, on top of that, the people working there weren't a lot and they were slow. Good thing Gabe's flight isn't till 7:40 P.M. and it's only 4:25 P.M.
Gabe's bags were finally checked-in by 5 p.m. and now, we are on our way to a restaurant. Don't worry! We are going to Federal Tavern, a restaurant that's inside the airport. The food wasn't all that bad, but then again, I'm not very picky when it comes to food. I could honestly eat anywhere with no problem.
Gabe said that he would go to the terminal an hour before he boards, so he was able to spend a little more time with me.
"What do you think, should I go or not?" I asked him upon telling him my inner conflict.
"Well I think if you stand your ground, you won't be treated the way you fear to be, and you could go. Why wouldn't you want to spend Christmas and new year's with your family?"
"You know why," I tell him.
"Well still, what would you do here alone?"
"You're right. Christmas is about family. I'll go, but I don't know how I'll get there. I'm flat broke."
"You can drive there."
"Wait, you would really let me drive your car all the way to Michigan?"
"Of course! You're my best friend and I want you to have a happy holiday."
"Oh my god Gabriel, Thank you so much!" I say giving him a big hug.
"Anytime." He said back softly. "Anyway, I ought to be going. I'll see you soon Lens."
"Have a good Christmas and New Year's Gabe!" I say giving him one more hug then waving as he walked into his gate.
I closed the door of the car and sighed, taking a moment. I then proceeded to buckle my seat belt and turn the car on. Backing out of the parking space, I made my way to the exit to pay the parking fee, but I didn't mind doing so if it meant that I could spend some extra time with Gabriel and help him out. He has always been there for me no matter what since freshman year of high school and has always pushed me to go farther in life. He is one of the main reasons that I'm in RISD to start with and for that, I am very grateful. In case anyone had the thought, no, there is nothing between us. We are just friends—best friends.
Once I was back in my dorm again, I got comfy in my bed as an act to get warm from the cold. Grabbing my phone, I call… wait, no! I'm gonna make it a surprise! Now to find out when I should go. It's either going to be tomorrow or Tuesday—which is Christmas eve. How long is the drive anyways? Let me look it up real quick…
11 hours?! Woah okay. New plan. Start driving tomorrow night and get there on Christmas eve morning! I'll stay till January 2ed or 3rd, then come back! Yay! It's a plan! So how am I going to do this?
*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*
Ugh! Do I have to get up now?! Okay… I open the door to see my friends Ayesha and Natalie smiling at me.
"Hey, Lens! A few of our friends are heading down to the mall to hang out! Wanna come?" Ayesha asked me excitedly.
"I would really love to, but I should really get to packing. I'm going home for the holidays tomorrow night and-"
"So, you can pack tomorrow during the day!" Natalie said, cutting me off.
"I was planning on sleeping tomorrow since I would be driving till morning..."
"What if we help you pack now so you can come?! We know how much you love the mall~" Ayesha cued. Looking sideways, my lips pressed together as I thought for a moment. I do love the mall... but it's probably packed considering what time of year it is. But there will probably be sales. But then again, I'm broke. It would be nice to at least look. It's not every day that I go to the mall. Especially with me always doing projects and things on weekends and on my free time…
"I guess it wouldn't hurt to go today if I can get all packed up now," I told them. They both shared an excitedly happy smile and ran in the room to help me.
Turns out, packing doesn't take that long with help. Here's what we did. I picked out the outfits, handed it to Ayesha, she folded it then gave it to Natalie who put it in the suitcase. We were able to finish in 15-20 minutes. So, it looks like I'm going to the mall!
At the mall, I met up with a couple of people that I knew from my design class, along with some of my other friends. In total, there were probably about 9-8 of us, but we mostly hung out at the food court and separated at different stores. I don't know what exactly I was looking for, but I kept bouncing from store to store in search of this unknown object.
"What do you think about this?" Alana- a friend from my building asked me.
It's a nice design, but the color is completely out of season! Does it come in anything lighter? Its winter! You want something frosty and... cooler! Especially with your beautiful honey skin color, light brown hair, and hazel eyes!"
"Aw! Thanks! Well there's this white one, but I don't know about it..."
"Yes! Put it with some high waisted black jeans, a belt with some sort of design, and some boots and you're all styled up! Ooh! Maybe a black mini-skirt and keep the belt. Add an ice-blue handbag, some accent boot with a heel! Yes!"
"Boy am I glad that your studying to be a designer! You're really good at this!" she told me as she hung the white long sleeve shirt over her arm, slightly laughing at my enthusiasm.
"Ha, yeah, I really love this," I tell her smiling. "Anyways, wanna go back to the food court and finally eat? It's getting kind of late." I ask her, checking the time on my phone.
"Sure, but weren't you looking for something?" She asked me as we started to make our way to the checkout.
"I guess, but I really don't know what it was. Maybe I was just looking. I mean, I'm pretty broke anyways. It was fun to come though!" I confirmed, seeing that she was starting to have a concerned look.
"Well alright then..." She finalized.
On our way to the food court, we found Ayesha again along with a guy from my Design class named Noah Willis. He seemed to be a pretty cool guy. To be honest, I didn't really know him, before this outing, but I'm glad that I do now. He's about 6'2 with espresso brown wavy hair that was worn swept back. His style was pretty basic, I'll admit, but it didn't look bad on him. What else? Brown round eyes, ivory skin, rectangle body shape, big black rectangle glasses. Sorry. I'm not being creepy nor am I crushing on him! I love observing the specific details of a person. Maybe it has to do with my love for fashion in realizing that everyone is different, therefore different styles, colors and patterns fit for all different types of people.
7 places served food at our mall. Panda Express, Subway, Taco Bell, Jonny Rockets, Villa, Pepe's, Sarku. It took a lifetime, but we finally all decided on Jonny Rockets. I don't go to Jonny Rockets often, but when I do, boy do I love it! Their portobello mushroom burger with fries is SOO good!
At 9:30 p.m. I was home at my dorm once again. Before I went to bed, I double-checked that I had everything that I needed for my trip. After that, I sat and thought about what time I should be leaving. Knowing my parents, they would want to start the day early. Most likely around 7 A.m. so I should plan to be there around that time. 12 to 7 is 7 hours, right? So, 11 minus 7 is...4! 4 hours before midnight is... 8 P.m.! so I should start driving by 8 P.m.! Yay, I did it! And they all think I'm an Airhead!
Now, I should be getting 8 hours of sleep, so I can wake up still at my usual time of 10 a.m., do what little schoolwork I have left, and go back to sleep by... wait let me think. I wanna be awake by 7, giving me an hour before I leave, so 19—the 24-hour version of 7—minus 8 is...11! So I'll go to sleep by 11! But that only gives me an hour to be awake to do stuff which isn't worth it. So what I'll do is... I can do an all-nighter, forcing me to sleep at 11 a.m.? Yeah, sure. I'm still getting all the sleep I need regardless.
Just then, I get a call from my mom. How convenient.
Leni: Hello?
Rita: Hello?
Leni: Hey mom
Rita: Leni! How nice it is to hear your voice! We haven't talked in some time!
Leni: Yeah, we haven't
Rita: Well I was calling to ask if you were planning on coming for Christmas or New Year? I know I've called at an awkward hour, but I just remembered to call you now!
Leni: Oh mom, you need to understand that I have so much work to get done and this break is the perfect opportunity to get it all done!
Rita: I know, college can be a lot of work, but you want to work on the holidays? You didn't even come for Thanksgiving for that reason! We haven't seen you in a while Leni! Please, come home.
Leni: I'm sorry mom, but I can't! At least not this time. Even so, I don't have any way of getting there!
Rita: We could go get you!
Leni: No, I wouldn't make you guys drive all that way! It's okay, I'll go soon, just not now. I hope you understand.
Rita: *sigh* Okay dear. Well, have a nice Christmas, don't work yourself too hard and I hope we can talk on New Year's.
Leni: Of course. Talk to you soon. Love you
Rita: Love you too. Bye
Leni: Bye
I feel bad that I had to lie to her, especially since she sounded so sad about it, but it's okay because I'll give her the best surprise on Christmas eve! Her and everyone else! But now that she said it, I realized that this wasn't my first break! I had thanksgiving off, but everyone I know was hard at work and as was I that I forgot all about it! Oh well. They'll see me soon.
Well then, looks like I'll be up for a while since its just 11:24 p.m.! Better find some movies to watch after I finish my schoolwork!
A/N: Hey guys! Not much to say other than the fact that I have no idea what type of math that was that Leni was doing to calculate the time she needed to leave her dorm to get to her family home by 7 a.m., I forgot how I got those numbers exactly, but they did get the right product, soooo, I don't know, just know it was correct. See y'all later!