A North Carolina Autumn

Chapter 27

4.10.2022
Just found out the concert I was gonna go to tonight was cancelled so I'm kinda sad buuuut I'm still in AZ in the sunshine so I'm okay haha:) Hope y'all are having a wonderful Sunday!
*also this is a pic i took last night at the restaurant we went to and i thought it was cute:)*

"Aspen!" I hear Rylie's voice and turn quickly, pausing my conversation with Jensen and Devon, her boyfriend. She'd told me about him a little over a year ago when I was at camp. The funny thing about their relationship is that when she met him, she had sworn off dating someone seriously for at least a year, and had friend zoned him twice. They hadn't defined their relationship for months, only becoming official eight months later. Now, a year and nearly 5 months later, they were finally 'serious'. Jensen's words, not mine.

"What's wrong?" I ask Rylie quickly, worry rising in my chest at Rylie's anxious face. Jensen and Devon excuse themselves and head towards the other relatives, and I give them a quick wave.

"We didn't check in for our flights." Rylie says in a distressed whisper.

"Oh." I say with a laugh, pulling back my mind that had begun to jump to the worst possible conclusions.

"Oh?" Rylie says in disbelief, raising her eyebrows. "This is bad, Aspen! All you have to say is 'oh'?"

"Hey, come here." I pat the couch next to me, and Rylie hesitates only a moment before collapsing beside me. "When was the last time you were on an airplane?" I ask as I slip one of my hands into hers, and pull out my phone with the other.

"I haven't ever been on one..." Rylie says quietly, and I hear embarrassment in her voice.

"Hey, that's okay! Y'all just drove everywhere for vacation, right?" I ask while opening the flight app for our airline.

"Yeah..." Rylie trails off.

"I wish we had driven for some of our vacations." I reply, rubbing gentle circles into the back of her hand. "Don't get me wrong, I love flying. But one year, we drove to Utah to see some cousins on my mom's side, and for some reason, I loved the drive even though it was a total of nearly 38 hours."

"That makes sense, actually. That's how I felt about most of our road trips." Rylie says, watching a group of people talk across the room. "Except when Spencer was being annoying. He would always hog the back seat."

I glance at Rylie briefly, smiling at the way her eyes light up with a forgotten memory. I focus back on my phone as she continues. "One time, he had his back against the window and his stinky feet pushed against my hip, mashing me into my door. I was just trying to read, but he wouldn't leave me alone! Then suddenly, I smelled a skunk, and it was so strong. A car must've hit it or something, letting all the stink out. My dad suddenly said, 'Ooh, get a whiff of that!' and blasted the air, pulling in the air from outside the car. I already had my nose plugged, but Spencer, being the idiot 12 year old he was, let out all of his air before taking a massive breath in. I turned just in time to watch the horror and regret wash over his face, and he started gagging so hard he almost barfed. I couldn't stop laughing for the next hour, and when my dad winked at me in the rearview mirror, I knew he'd done it on purpose."

"That's disgusting." I laugh as I click the final buttons to check Rylie and I in for our flight. It was still seven hours until take off, so we weren't cutting it too close. "But he definitely deserved that. Did he keep his feet to himself after that?"

"He did!" I think every time he thought of kicking me again, he would get a whiff of the smell and back off." Rylie laughs. She is so adorable in that moment that I can't help but lean in and kiss her.