Into the Light

28

I laughed and let go of her hand to pat her thigh. "I know. I'm just messing with you. I like seeing you get all flustered." I kept my eyes on the road, but still felt her body react to my light touch. "Do we need to get our own car?" Brennen asked, from the back. "This feels like a private moment." "I really need you guys to chill," Corey said, in a fake annoyed voice. He pretended to curl his hair behind his ear. "It's really offensive for you to act like that, in front of us. You know that we don't have a special someone and this is just...so cruel." He put his face in his hands and started to fake cry. Brennen slid next to him and put his arm around his shoulders. He started to pat his back, then met my gaze in the rearview. "See you what you did? You've hurt his feelings." I heard Anna start giggling, and it brought a smile to my face. "Don't pay attention to those dumbasses," I said, shaking my head. "They're ridiculous, but I love it," she giggled. "Everybody loves us," Corey spoke up, forgetting his crying routine. I listened to her interact with my friends, and zoned out of the conversation while I was driving. It almost seemed effortless, the way she fit in with them so well. Considering that she was literally from a whole other generation, and barely knew anything about today's world, I was a little surprised. When I thought about how old she actually was...or how she should be, it weirded me out a little. She was supposed to be in her 50's, I think, if I was doing the math correctly. I never asked Christine how old she was, because I had been taught that you never ask a lady her age. I remembered that the article that I had read said that she had graduated UCLA in 1980 something. So, at least, her 50's. I shook the thought out of my head. It was getting too weird. Anna was in her 20's. That's all I needed. Of course, I did get her a fake ID. There was no way around that. She needed it to get on the plane and to get into the club tonight. That was why I had to stop at Matt's before we went to LAX. I had already got him to make it for me, with a picture that I had taken of her, without her knowing. I had given it to the security guard at the airport, telling him that this was her first time flying and that she was nervous, so I was handling all of the paperwork stuff. She still had no clue that I had it, but I was going to give it to her before we went out tonight. It was an excellent replica of a real license. I couldn't tell the difference. He had even put the little security hologram on it. "Oh nice, I love the Sawyer," Brennen said, as I pulled into the parking garage across the street from the hotel. "What's the Sawyer?" Anna asked. "The hotel that we're staying at," I replied, then motioned back the way we came. "You can still see it a little, if you look back." She unbuckled and turned around in her seat. "That building with all the glass?" she asked. I chuckled and nodded. "Yeah." I parked the car, and waited for Sam to find a parking spot. He pulled in just a few cars down from me. "Do you guys want to come in and check it out, or a few of us can just take in the bags, and then we'll come back down and go...what do you guys wanna do?" I asked. "I want to go inside," Anna spoke up. "I don't have to stay, and like, make it take longer. I'll help with the bags. I just want to see it." "Why don't we all go inside for a little while? Just chill for a little while after the flight. We can go to the restaurant in like an hour or so," Kat replied. I nodded. "Sounds good to me. Let's go." Everyone grabbed their bags out of the trunks, and we headed to the front entrance of the hotel. "Wooow," Anna breathed out, when we reached the sidewalk, in front of the building. Most of the front of the building was glass, allowing you to see the posh, sophisticated inside of the place. There were fat beige couches, resting on top of fluffy beige carpets. There were dimly lit lamps resting on the silver tables next to the couches, with fat books beside them. We walked inside, and Anna couldn't stop staring around at everything with wide eyes. "Do you think that's real gold?" she whispered, pointing to the massive golden staircase that led to the next floor. "This place looks ritzy enough for it to be real gold." "It's not real gold," I laughed. "Trust me, if it was, we wouldn't be here. Even I'm not that boujee." The front desk was the same gold color, with a dimly lit lamp that rested on top of it, illuminating the texture. "Hello, welcome to the Sawyer. Do you have a reservation?" the sweet looking woman behind the counter asked. "Yeah, I do. It's under Colby Brock," I answered, pulling out my wallet. After she had all of the information checked over and entered, she passed me the key cards for 2 double rooms. "Guess that means no hanky panky tonight, in this swanky hotel," Kat said, pouting. "Jesus, woman," I exclaimed. "You guys literally had me out of the house for hours last night! Sam, how are you not dead?" He laughed, and pounded his chest with his hand. "Endurance brother. It takes practice." "Well, reign in your hormones for a night, Katrina. Okay? You won't die." She kind of smirked at me, then stepped closer to Sam and hooked her arm through his. "I might. I have a healthy appetite." "Gross," I groaned. "Brennen, Corey, you guys want to share a room with us tonight?" I did not feel like watching either couple cuddle and make out all night, when I really was trying to not push Anna about anything sexual. "Yeah, that's fine with me," Brennen replied, while Corey nodded. "That hurt, brother," Sam said, tracing a line down from his eye, like a teardrop. I scoffed and smiled. "Right," I answered. "Come on, let's go check out these rooms." We rode the elevator to our floor, then stepped off into the dead hallway. "Not many people here," Jake said. "What gave it away?" Tara replied, smartly. He grinned, then draped his arm over her shoulders. "Shut up," he responded.