Fallin' From The Tree (StemxStud)

22

{ Anaela }

"Heyy, you up?" Ria asked when I picked up on her second ring. "I am now," I grumbled.

"Well..tomorrow's Mayah's birthday so I already talked to everyone else and in honor of Pouty starting a new life away from us and Mayah turning 18, we decided we shall club, club, club!" my friend said in a stereotypical British accent.

"When is this?" I asked, accidentally brushing my hand against my oily forehead. I rested my weight on the elbow that held my phone. "We're going tomorrow, I don't know at what time though. You know Reneah already got the fake ID's," I could hear the smirk in Reneah's cousin's voice.

"Which she ain't got no business having," I added. "Whatever," Ria said, "so get some rest today cause we ain't finna rest tomorrow," she chuckled. "Why yall ain't wanna have it today? Pouty's still here in Houston and Mayah could just have her little celebration today."

"Everybody's busy. Pouty had mentioned that too," Ria told me. Speaking of Pouty, she was calling me now. "Well, y'all just lemme know some hours in advance and I can make it work. Hold up, Pouty's callin."

Ria hung up and I answered Pouty's FaceTime request right as it was about to go away. "Hey, pretty girl," she said. "Heyy." Maybe knowing we were about to have fun this weekend made my usual anxiety blues in the mornings disappear?

"I know this is unlike me..but do you just wanna skip school today and spend our last few hours together?"

"Oh, uh, sure," I said, smiling. I was surprised that Pouty's dad would even let her out of the house on their last moving day. Our friends had been helping her little by little all week but I hadn't gotten to spend that much time with my friend as I would have liked.

"Ima come by and pick you up. I'm sneaking off, so we gotta leave quick or my father may feel inclined to come look for me over at your house or Ria's or Reneah's."

"Alright," I mumbled. I yawned, then started getting out of bed, "When you're here just come up to the door and I'll be ready." A thought crossed my mind, "Actually. If you're not already all the way packed, bring an extra set of clothes and some food."

"For what?" Pouty asked. "The park? A picnic? A water park?"

"You'll see," I smiled to myself. I hung up and started preparing for the surprise I had for Pouty. I got Valentine to groggily make a few arrangements. I even sent for one of my mother's cars. It arrived just as Pouty did. I told Pouty to just leave her car near my house so her dad would know she was with me if he got worried.

We slipped into a stylish red Lexus much like Valentine's, just maybe a year newer. "Damn," Pouty mumbled. "How the fuck did you come up with all of this?"

"I made some calls," I smirked at my friend.

"Family business?" she asked, looking out the window happily. "Yeah." I glanced out mine.

"Do you already know the directions?" I asked the driver, leaning forward towards him. "Well, um, yes, Miss Hampshire."

"How's Dom been doing?" Pouty asked lowly, to me. "I haven't wanted to bother you because I know you have a lot on your hands. Although, I don't understand everything fully," she looked over at me curiously. "I can't say," I rose my hands up, "it's better that way in case...anyone of authority gets involved," I said even quieter.

We arrived at our destination quickly. I didn't bother covering Pouty's eyes, those surprises always frustrated her more than made her happy, it seems. "A hotel?" she asked. "An expensive hotel," I scoffed. "Why are we going here, Anaela?" she asked me, frowning slightly.

I didn't answer and instead handed our stuff to the driver. I felt a little guilty, feeling like he thought I was spoiled. I offered him a small smile and slipped a tip his way, as if I personally had that type of money to spare.

Pouty followed me to our room after I checked in. We got into the caramel elevators and tolerated the generic elevator music. "Soo, this must be a big, big surprise then, huh?" my friend laughed, happily smiling as we entered the top floor. There was a view of the town from here, a private pool for VIP members only and a snack bar. Pouty wanted to look and experiment, but I pulled her and the driver along with me to our room.

I unlocked it and Pouty gasped.

I had it set up like the perfect teenager sleepover. Plenty of fluffy pillows, bean bags, nail polishes, snacks, and matching pajamas.

"Anaela, you didn't have to," she smiled over at me, pecking me on the chin like she always did. I even had a mannequin of her celebrity crush- Coi Leray. "Anaela," she sighed softly, hugging me again. "Go ahead and get dressed, I'll unpack our things," I told her. She nodded and grabbed the pajamas that were smaller.

I took our things from the driver and expressed my "thank you" to him. I closed the door from behind him and started getting our things together. I didn't know whether Pouty wanted me to go through her things so I only handled mine. I dressed into my pj's in the middle of the large room and plopped down on the bed.

"How do I look?" she came out of the bathroom and lunged onto me as soon as I turned to look. She was like a little fur ball. If I was little, Pouty was tiny. We snuggled for a second then I looked down at my friend. "Moments like this don't have to be over."

"No, they don't," she agreed, hugging me.

"I don't have a swimsuit," she frowned a second later. "It's at home."

"It's okay, I'll buy you one. I'm sure they sell some here or we can head over to the mall," I assured her. "Yeah," her eyes glinted. There was nothing more that I loved than spoiling Pouty. She was so humble about everything but when she received a gift, she just glowed.

I think it's because Siara cares a lot for everyone. When someone spends time to show that they appreciate her, it just warms her little soul. I'm happy to be that reason, for today. "What, we gonna walk around like this there?" she asked, cozying up against me on the pile of pillows.

"No, we're gonna chill, eat and talk. Maybe around our usual lunch time we can dress up into our second pair of clothes and go shopping. Catch something at the food court, then come back and swim. Then..spend our last night together and party it up."

"No way are they gonna give us drinks," she laughed. "How did they not even ask about us being here...you know during the day? They question you about school?"

"I got it all covered," I laid my arm across her shoulder. "Oh, so your family is rich rich," she chuckled. "Apparently so, although nothing goes to me. I was just barely able to get this together," I admitted. "Well I'm glad that you were able to, I really appreciate it, Anaela."

"I'm glad that you do," I smiled down at her. Pouty kissed me on the cheek again, "Mm."