Rocky Road: Sequel Book Three

Chapter 6

Elena

Flying makes me nervous; something about the vulnerability of putting your life in someone else’s hands in a very heavy metal, hollowed-out bird gives me the heebie-jeebies.

If it were up to me, I’d take the bus to visit Rachel. She has come to visit me twice since moving to Georgia. I figured before school starts and we become too busy that I should spend some time with her.

She figured, if I took the plane ride then I’d get there sooner… How could I argue with that logic?

Of course, I’m not traveling alone. No, the Devil’s Henchmen didn’t feel comfortable with me being by myself, so Paul is accompanying me. I’m not looking forward to the strong possibility of being the third wheel, but Paul promised that he’d stay in a hotel – that way Rachel and I could still have girl time. He also promised not to hog her the whole trip.

Glancing next to me, I see a man with long lush brown locks hanging off his forehead as his dusted chin practically touches his chest. Those long dark eyelashes rest on his cheeks as he is no doubt so peaceful. Paul is out cold. Plane rides put some people to sleep – I am not one of them. With tight fingers, I’m clutching the safety instruction manual to the point of too many crinkles beyond repair, envious of my travel partner.

Comparing the time on my ticket to what my watch is telling me, we should be landing fairly soon.

Thank God!

Turbulence forces the plane to bounce – I don’t like that. Nope. Not a fan. Dropping the manual, I grip the armrests while Paul snaps his head up to look around.

“What was that?” He yawns.

“Nothing good.”

The man in leather reaches over me to open the shade that I pulled down to shield me from the heights and the chaos it would bring from being so high up.

I squeeze my eyes shut. The higher you are, the harder you fall.

“Eh, I don’t think it was anything serious. Probably a bird flying into the propellers or something.”

Shocked, I open my eyes to stare at him.

He gives my seriousness a double take like he kicked my puppy and didn’t realize it. “What?”

“Thanks for the image,” I spit. Poor bird – what a way to go.

The easy-going man beside me just holds my hand. “You’re safe. It’s all good. We’ll land soon.”

Not soon enough.

The uneasiness of flying has tuned out some of my other senses, but I feel it now. The same sense that tells me I’m being watched. I look around, albeit frantically, but don’t see anyone I notice – most importantly, no one seems to be watching me. Leaning into Paul, I ask, “Do you feel that?”

He whispers back, “Feel what?”

I scrunch my nose, debating about whether I should give him my honest answer. “Like you’re being watched?”

His brows gravitate towards each other. It’s hard to decipher his thoughts. Then, his jaw ticks as his dark brown eyes dart away from mine.

“I’m sure it’s nothing,” he suddenly smiles as though everything is just peachy.

Ding, Ding.

The sound chimes throughout the cabin seconds before a voice takes over, “We are preparing to land, please fasten your seatbelts and place your seats in the upright position. Thank you.”

I never took my seatbelt off.

My belly swoops as the plane descends, I close my eyes and concentrate on breathing all while trying to figure out if Paul is keeping something from me.

*********

“Alright, you have a choice. You can either stay in the spare bedroom we made up for you when we all thought you’d be living with us -or you can stay in my room with me on a blow-up mattress. Totally up to you.” Rachel beams as she rests her hands on her slim hips.

Since Paul is staying in a hotel nearby, I say, “Would it be okay if I roomed with you?”

“Of course! Duh! It was one of the options.”

She helps with my suitcase, and I follow her down the narrow creaky hall to her room, passing by numerous frames of photos of her family throughout the years. The last door on the left is hers; once in the room, aside from the boyband posters she had up on her wall the last time I was here, it looks about the same.

Her yellow duvet rests fully made on the bed with many cream and yellow throw pillows. The brown desk and matching chair where she’s faced-timed me multiple times is in the corner of the room.

Her drapes – floor length are in the purple family which matches her lamp on the bedside table and rug beneath her bed with a blow-up mattress all set and ready for me on top.

I smile knowingly at her. “You knew I’d pick to be in here, didn’t you?”

Sheepishly, she tells me, “I kind of hoped. This would be like… our last time to have slumber parties together.”

Taking a seat on her bed, I give her a hug. “You know, it would have been okay if you hugged and kissed Paul at the airport. I wouldn’t have minded.”

Her dark cheeks flush a warm rose color. “I didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.”

“Rachel,” I sigh. “One thing that life has taught me thus far, is to not take the little things for granted. If you want to hug and kiss Paul when you see him – don’t hold back on my account.”

She pulls in her bottom lip. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.” Who am I to hold back true love? “He can even stay in the guest bedroom.”

“He, for some reason at the last minute, refused to stay in this house with us.” She shrugs her petite shoulders.

“Why? Does he not feel comfortable with me being here?” If that’s the case, I’ll feel really bad.

My best friend reaches for my arm. “Oh, I don't believe it’s anything like that. I think he just wanted to make sure we’d have our girl time.”

Aw. That’s sweet. My fondness for Paul grows with how intuitive he is about these kinds of things.

Paul visited her on spring break. With all the things that have happened, I failed to ask how it went. Feeling horrible, I inquire, “What does your family think of Paul?”

She laughs. “My mom is skeptical of him, not sure why. Dad, he pretends to not like him a whole lot while Mom is around – then when she leaves, it’s like they’re best buds. It’s so funny. Ryan and Laden seem to think he’s cool. According to them, Paul isn’t dry toast.” Rachel rolls her eyes. “Whatever that means.”

I nod my head taking everything in. “How is Ryan and Laden? Do they like going to Northern University?” Her brothers have always wanted to move to the upper peninsula.

“Oh, they’re doing great! Laden has a girlfriend now,” she beams. “Lila is so pretty – I think they make an adorable couple.”

A ripple falls out of me. “Lila and Laden. L squared,” I laugh with a squeak. Too cute.

“I know, right?” Rachel hoots.

“Well, I’m glad everyone seems to be doing well – and your dad got a new job!” I exclaim with joy over the fact that it’s been months since he was able to find a new one.

“Yes! He’s loving it so far.” She smiles and shakes her head. “Things have really gotten better around here.”

My chest clenches tight. I’m happy for her, really. It’s just… even though I was given this gift – an opportunity to start fresh and get to know my real father, I can’t help but feel stuck while everyone else around me are happily living their lives.

Darkness is closing in all around me. I still get flashbacks of Elijah’s murder and the fact that Mike is also laid in the ground. The pulse is pounding heavily in my ears like a bass drum of a tribe going to war.

I’m constantly battling with myself. Wondering if I’ll ever return to normal again.

“Hey, are you okay?” Rachel touches my arm once more to bring me back from that dark place. I blink into focus, taking in her concerned expression with that nervous V between her brows.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” A weak smile will have to do.

“Alright. But I don’t buy it. If you want to talk about it, you can. I’m here for you.”

“I know.” Wanting to change the subject as quickly as possible, I ask, “So, you and Paul are doing great, then?” Somehow living through their relationship helps.

Just a little.

I’ve never seen her smile so brightly unless she thinks about Paul. It warms my heart to know that she found someone who treats her like all women should be treated by a man. “I love him so much.” She pauses for a moment, debating on whether or not she should tell me something. “There’s another reason why he’s not staying here.”

The confusion is still evident on my face as she hesitates to explain.

“We…” She pauses to giggle. “Have a hard time keeping our hands to ourselves.”

“Oh, gosh!” The mental image tattoos itself in my brain. “Are you two animals or something?”

My best friend grins. “We can be. Neither one of us wanted to make you feel uncomfortable,” she fills the room with her own hysterics.

Oh, yuck! “He’s like my brother, you know?”

We both laugh into the darkening room as the sun sets to recharge for a new day on the horizon. A new day of celebrating love, life, and newfound hope. Hope that this vacation will distract me enough from the constant fighting of pain from the loss of my loved ones.