I got up early the next morning and drove back to my house to get my stuff together. Since I would be moving in with our friends, I didn’t have to pack a lot of extra stuff. I called Heather and told her I’d meet her at the airport. It was 2pm and our plane was set to leave at 4. My parents rushed in the door and apologized for being late. We gathered all of my things and put it into my Dad’s Navigator. We hurried to the airport and practically ran to the gate. When we got there I saw Heather waiting with her parents and Shawn.
“I thought you weren’t going to make it!” Heather said standing up.
“So did I.”
“Flight 378 to Orlando is now boarding at gate B6,” we heard over the speakers.
“Well, I guess that’s us,” Heather said grinning.
I hugged my parents good-bye and promised to call them when I arrived. I was an only child and knew that it was hard from them seeing me go. We were getting ready to board the plane when Shawn walked up to me and hugged me. I breathed in the scent of his Tommy cologne and realized how much I missed his strong arms around me. He pulled away and looked at me, his emerald eyes penetrating into my very soul.
“You take care of yourself, understand?”
“Yeah, I will.”
“I’ll call you, ok?”
“Okay, bye Shawn.”
“Bye Kae.”
We parted and Heather and I boarded the plane. As we sat in our seats, all I could think about was Shawn.
“What’s wrong with you girl?”
“Huh?”
“You were gone there for a second.”
“Sorry, I just have a lot on my mind.”
“I hope it’s not Shawn.”
“Why would I be thinking about him?”
“I know you Kae. You said it yourself, don’t live in the past and just focus on what’s ahead.”
“Yeah, you’re right”
“Of course I am!”
A little over 2 hours later, we landed in Orlando. We got off the plane and I immediately saw Kit and Linz. We ran over to them and gave them big hugs. I then noticed Jen wasn’t there.
“Where’s Jen?”
“Oh, she’s with the car down by baggage claim,” Kit said.
Linz grabbed our arms and started pulling us down the terminal. “C’mon, Florida awaits!”
We got our bags and headed outside where we saw Jen waiting.
“It’s about damn time. What took so long?” “Same old Jen!” I exclaimed.
She came over and hugged me and Heather. “I’m really glad you guys are here.”
“Me too” we said at the same time.
We all climbed into Jen’s Durango and made our way out of Orlando toward Gainesville. We pulled up the condo and I was in awe of it’s beauty. It was right on a crystal clear lake and their were colorful flowers everywhere. They helped us bring our things in and showed us our room. There were 3 bedrooms; Kit and Linz shared a room, Heather and I would share a room and Jen had her own room since it was her idea to get the condo in the first place. Our room was great! It had 2 full beds, it’s own balcony, and a skylight. We had started to unpack when Linz came in our room and shut our suitcases.
“You guys can do that later; we’re going out tonight. We have a surprise for you two so move your asses and dress to kill!”
Linz ran out of the room and Heather and I looked at eachother.
“I don’t think I like the sound of that,” Heather said.
“Well, you know how it is with them, expect the unexpected.”
We all took showers and got dressed to go out. Heather and I came downstairs to the others waiting for us in the living room. We all wore clubbing clothes; Linz had on a short purple, strappy dress; Jen had on a pair of black flare pants and a bright red tank top; Kit had on a long black skirt with a slit up her thigh and a deep red tube top; I had on a pair of black leather pants and a shiny royal blue tube top; and Heather on a short black leather skirt and a sparkly pink belly top. We looked eachother over and decided tonight belonged to us. And all I could think about was what they had in store for us.