Better Off Away (BOOK 2)(Wattys2016)

It's A Long Flight To New York

"Macey! Hurry up or you'll miss your damn flight!" Larkin is yelling from the driveway outside my house as I say goodbye to my family.

I kiss Marilyn's cheek and ruffle Holden's hair. Then I hug Ryan and kiss my mom. "I'll miss you guys."

"Promise to Facetime us!" My mom calls after me.

"I will," I call back. It was agreed that my friends could take me to the airport since it would be too hard to drag Marilyn and Holden down to the airport at seven a.m. in the morning.

I fall into the back seat of the jeep where Olive is sitting. Larkin and Gemma sit in the front. Larkin rolls his eyes, turned around in his seat facing me. "Finally, you took forever. You do realize, I'm sacrificing sleep to be here."

"Aw, gee, Larkin, I didn't know I meant so much to you."

He rolls his eyes. "Yeah, well, Gemma forced me to come."

Gemma gasps, slapping his arm lightly. "No, I did not. You were the one that told me we should drive her to the airport. Mace, he totally thinks highly of you."

"Hey!" Larkin reaches over and tickles Gemma, causing the jeep to swerve slightly.

"Guys!" Olive warns and Larkin pulls away from Gemma as the car stops swerving.

***

We make it to the airport and I suddenly feel two things at once: I'm emotional and ecstatic.

Larkin says goodbye to me in the jeep so that they don't have to pay for parking, but O and Gem come inside with me as I get my baggage checked. We don't say much. Well, Gem does. She prattles on, reminding me to do certain things.

And then, once my baggage is checked we're saying goodbye. Somehow, it's even harder than when I said goodbye to my family.

"Don't forget to Skype us!" Gemma reminds me for the umpteenth time.

I nod. "Yeah, I know, I know."

"Okay, well, this is it." Olive motions to the security line which I need to get in.

"I love you guys." I smile at them, slinging my purse over my shoulder.

I hug them goodbye and then, I leave them, ready to pursue my dreams. But even when I make it through security I can't help but look back, knowing they're already gone.

But they aren't.

They're still there and they wave to me one more time and blow me kisses, giving me something to hold onto.

I turn away from them and bam! run smack into something warm and solid... and wet. I back up, realizing it's a person... a very, very attractive male. I immediately rush into an apology. "I'm so sorry!"

He swears and I realize he's British. Oh, dear Lord. "Watch the bloody hell where you're going!"

I then, also realize that I spilled his coffee all down the front of his very expensive looking clothes and my less-expensive sweats as well. He's glaring at me as he swears again, dropping the cup into a trash can beside us.

"How the f*ck am I supposed to travel now?"

I scoff, less attracted to him by the second. "I don't really give a damn to be honest. I apologized, now leave me alone, jackass."

I stalk off and find the bathroom near where I'm going to be boarding. I get a million papertowels and begin sopping up the coffee that's all down my sweatpants and t-shirt. It leaves a massive stain and I curse myself for being so clumsy.

"Shit. How the hell am I supposed to show up to Creal like this?" I rummage through my carry-on and find another shirt, this one a rather nice gray scoop-necked shirt. I pull it on and look in the mirror. "Oh, God, it's all gray..." I rummage through the suitcase again and find a pair of navy skinny jeans which I pull on and then retie my vans. "I guess it'll do."

I move back to my gate to discover they're already boarding first class. My parents bought me first class as a sending off gift. Needless to say, this is the best I've ever flown. I show my boarding pass and they let me through.

I get onto the plane and look at my ticket, find my seat number and sit down. The seat is way more comfy than coach seats and much roomier. I begin looking through the small pamphlet and start reading the list of movies that'll be available.

"Oh, you've got to be shitting me."

Sad to say, I'd recognize that accent anywhere. I look up and see fancy-spilt-coffee man standing next to me, dressed in a tank-top and shorts, obviously bought from the gift shop in the airport. He doesn't seem the type to wear this kind of attire on flights.

"Excuse me, but can I help you?" I roll my eyes, my voice pinched.

"Yeah, get the hell out of my row." He growls and that's when I realize why he's upset yet again.

He's sitting next to me for the whole flight. Yippy.

•••

A/N: hey guys, here's the update!!!

I hope you like it! On the side is who I have as Olive Peterson. I love Evanna Lynch. (She plays Luna Lovegood in Harry Potter)

Love always, Samantha <3