Into the Light

23 Anna's POV

"Is this okay with you? The trip, I mean. If not, we can always find something else to do. We can stay here, and we'll call Christine, I mean Holley, and you guys can go have lunch or whatever you want." "No, no, this is fine. It's amazing!" I exclaimed. I didn't want him to feel like I didn't appreciate what he was doing for me. "I'm excited, honestly. She just crossed my mind, and I just missed what we used to have. I think that I just now realized that, even though I have my life back...I won't ever truly have my life back." "I'm so sorry, Anna. I wish that I could change it..." he replied. I put my hand on his cheek and smiled up at him. "But then I wouldn't have met you," I whispered. "Come on, let's go see which of your friends is going with us on this super secret surprise trip." He smiled, and took my hand, then we walked back to his friends. Brennen and Corey were standing off to the side, next to the speakers, talking to one another and laughing. Jake, Tara, and Devyn were sitting at the table with Sam and Kat. "So, who all's going?" Colby asked, when we walked back into the room. "Where though?" Corey laughed. "All we got is that there's a special trip for Anna, and that we'll stay the night and go out." He shrugged. "Actually, that sounds great! I don't need to know any more. I love surprises! I'm in." I laughed, as he started to dance. "Brennen? Dev?" Colby asked, looking from one friend to the other. "I'm in. Got nothing better to do," Brennen said. Devyn shook her head. "I wish that I could, but I have family coming in tomorrow." I saw Corey glance at her, out of the corner of my eye, but I didn't know what the reason for his expression was. Were they dating? I couldn't remember. It seemed like, since I got my human memories back, that some of my ghost memories had started to fade. "I was looking forward to spending more time with you," I replied, smiling at her. "We'll have to hang out soon." She smiled back, and nodded. "Yeah, that sounds good. I'll let you guys get to it though. I have to meet Xeph soon. Have loads of fun for me!" She waved, and walked out. Everyone was quiet until they heard the front door open and close. I waited for someone to say something about why it suddenly felt very awkward in the room, but no one did. "Okay," Colby said, clapping his hands and rubbing them together. "I want to head out as soon as possible. I checked the times for the closest flights, and there are enough seats available for the 1:30 flight. Is everyone okay with that? We should hit Sacramento around 3, I think." "Yeah, that works for me," Brennen said, then everyone else chimed in and nodded. "I'll order them now. You guys can just pay me back," Colby said, taking out his phone. I still wasn't over how this thin, fragile tv screen was able to do so many different things. You could talk to people, write them letters, send them mail over the internet, type in any question and get an answer! I had even seen Colby take pictures with the thing! I didn't know how they all kept it straight. For all I knew, it was able to control the television volume too. That was ridiculous, I knew, but I honestly wouldn't have been surprised. "Wait, why are all of you over here?" Colby asked, looking up from his phone. "I was going to call and ask if you wanted to come. I didn't expect any of you to be here." "Oh, that," Corey said, with a wave of his hand. "I was talking to Jake earlier, and he said that we should hang out by the pool with everyone today. So, Tara asked Dev, and I called Brennen. You know how we do. Kind of just make plans and show up whenever." "I guess it'll be a pool day in Sacramento now, boyyyyy," Brennen exclaimed, making me laugh. He grinned and winked at me. Colby shrugged. "Makes sense. Okay, go pack or do whatever you need to do. We've got a couple of hours before we need to make it to LAX." I felt the butterflies start fluttering in my belly. It wasn't because of Colby this time. It was the thought of flying. I was nervous, but excited. Everyone started chattering all around me, laughing and showing each other their phones. I stood there, beside Colby, just looking into this group of friends. They all loved each other, and seemed to get along really well. I wasn't use to this many people being in a friend group. It had only ever been just Holley and I in ours. My heart twisted again when I thought of my best friend, but I pushed it away. Now wasn't the time to stress over things that I couldn't change. Instead, I leaned into Colby's side and smiled at the way he interacted with his friends. His arm came around my waist, and rested on my hip, before he pulled me tighter against him, without breaking stride in his conversation with Sam. Sam caught my eye and smiled, then looked back at Colby. Was I really part of this group? Would I be able to fit in with them? They all seemed so different that I was. I didn't know their world and it was a daunting fear that I wasn't even going to fit into the world, in general. I tuned out of their conversation, and started to watch them. They were very different from one another, in personality and style. Katrina and Tara were dressed as differently as Sam and Colby, but you could see what good friends they were. I noticed their mannerisms, how they were different and how they were the same. No matter how different they were, this friend group had been through a lot together. Even being on the outside, and knowing practically nothing about them, I could see that. "Hey, you okay?" Colby asked, tightening his fingers on my hip for a second. I looked up at him, and smiled. "Yeah, just people watching. I like seeing you with your friends." A slight blush rose up in his cheeks, and he gave me a soft smile. "They'll be your friends too, ya know. They already love you," he whispered into my hair. "So, what's going on here then? Last I heard, you guys were just friends. Looks like more to meeeEEE," Tara sang out.