The First

            “London? Why the heck are we going to London?” Jack cried.

            “It’s almost Spring break. Duh,” Amity scoffed as that should have been obvious.

            “Yeah but do you know how expensive those plane tickets would be?” asked Jack.

            “Yes, in fact, I do.” Amity started rummaging around in her oversized excuse for a purse. She pulled out a small folder. Flipping it open she pulled out two airline tickets.

            “No way!” Jack shrieked. She snatched one of the tickets, examining it. Sure enough printed on the thin paper were their names and their destination in London. “Amity I love you!” she laughed.

            “Yeah guess who else is going to London for spring break,” giggled Amity, watching for Jack’s reaction.

            “Who?”

            “Bennett,” laughed Amity.

            “No way!” Jack yelled. Amity grabbed Jack’s hands and the two girls danced around Amity’s small bedroom. “We’re going to London with Bennett Sanders!” They collapsed heavily on top of the freshly made bed. Jack exploded into fits of laughter.

            “Now are you happy that we’re going to London?” asked Amity.

            “Absolutely!”

            “Alright well you might want to start packing. The plane leaves tomorrow morning. So you will be here at 4:30, we’re picking Bennett up at 4:45 and we’ll be at the airport at around 5:20 and the plane leaves at 6:25.”

            “Since when am I the designated driver?”

            “Since you have a car and you do better early in the morning than either me or Bennett do.” Amity gave a small smile and handed Jack her small canvas knapsack. Sighing Jack stood up and followed Amity to the front door. “See you tomorrow morning.”

            Jack gave a small laugh and slid into her car. Her 16^th birthday present from her parents was a brand new neon green Ford Mustang Convertible. The soft leather interior still looked new even though it had survived two years of wear from her and Amity. She couldn’t believe that it would be sitting in the parking lot of the airport for two weeks while they were in London. London! London with Bennett Sanders! She couldn’t wait.

            Bennett Sanders would be sophomore in college but he hadn’t applied yet. She and Bennett had been in marching band together and they had had Health and Spanish together. Until she got her car Bennett gave her rides to and from school. She thought he was the most attractive guy ever. He was tall, 6’7”, with short cropped black hair that hung around his vivid azure eyes. He was quiet but when he talked, he was one of the funniest people she knew.

            Pulling into her driveway she stopped. Why was she picking Bennett up second? He lived right across the street from her. She pulled out her cell phone and texted the question to Amity. Sliding the phone back into her pocket, she got out of her car and went inside.

            She climbed the stairs to her room and flopped down on her bed. She looked over at her closet. What was she going to pack? London for two weeks, there was no way she was going without buying something. Should she take an extra, empty bag? No that was stupid; she should just buy one in London if she needed it.

            A bright red light started to move around on the closet door. Laughing she circled the bed to the wide window. Opening the window to its widest extent, she sat on the window sill and looked out across the street. Sitting in his window was Bennett. He waved and held up a large drawing pad.  ‘Are you excited?’ was scrawled across the white paper. She laughed and pulled her own drawing pad and oversized sharpie off the floor and wrote back. ‘Yes’.

            ‘Good, me too. What are we going to go see first?’

       ‘See? What are you talking about? We are shopping first!’ Jack laughed as she held it up for him to read.

            ‘Shopping?’

       ‘Yeah. Mostly street shopping though.’

                ‘Great. What time are we all leaving?’

       ‘Supposedly I am picking Amity up at 4:30 and you up at 4:45 but I am asking her why we don’t just switch who is picked up first.’

                ‘Oh I see. Yeah that doesn’t make sense. You should just pick me up first.’

       ‘I’m planning on it. I’m going to go pack. Talk to you later.’  She held up the drawing pad for a few seconds then set in on the ground and shut her window. Closing her thick black curtains she crossed her room to her closet and grabbed her huge suitcase and a large duffel bag. Setting them open on her bag she started pulling clothes off hangers and folding them neatly in the suitcase. She filled it half full of all her tops and dresses and then proceeded to pack pants, skirts, and shorts. She narrowed it down to her 5 favorite pairs of shoes, 2 pairs of heels, and a pair of cowboy boots. Shoving it all but the boots into the suitcase, she zipped it shut and started in on the duffel bag.

            Laying the boots down flat she started piling her necessities in around them. Toothbrush, toothpaste, hairbrush, shampoo, conditioner, and other toiletries all found their way into her duffel. As a second thought she threw in her bathing suit and a box of jewelry. Sighing she zipped the duffel bag shut and fell back onto her bed. She’ll be in London by this time tomorrow. Glancing over at the clock she groaned. 11:10 glared out at her in blinding red light. She was going to die on the plane, there was no way she was going to wake up at 4:00 in the morning and be able to drive straight. She was kidding herself. Jack went to bed every night at 11:30 on the dot and woke up at 6:00 the next morning without even a yawn.

            Throwing her bags on the floor near the door she grabbed a pair of sports shorts and an extra-large football jersey, some of the few things left in her bureau. She threw the clothes on her bed and crossed the hall to the bathroom. She washed her face and jogged back into her room. Changing into her night clothes she crawled under her covers and flipped off the light. Just as she was about to drift off she remembered something. Fumbling in the dark she managed to set an alarm for 4:00 in the morning and set the radio’s volume to wake her up. She pulled the covers up around her ears and gave one last glance at the clock as the numbers flipped to 11:30.

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[Sylvana]

*coughs* reminds me of some *coughs* secret plans, eeeehh?