Chapter 33

84 7 1
                                    

After we find Sally we're set to go. Kayleigh said she'd meet us at the airport or something. We drive to the airport and we're left with around 10 minutes to spare, 10 minutes of waiting time. In this time we come up with the plan.

"So how are we going to find him?" Sally asks.

"I don't know" I sigh.

"I can hack their credit card and see where they last bought stuff" she whispers.

"Really? You can do that?" I ask. I've really underestimated Sally.

"Yeah! It's easy" she laughs quietly.

"Okay, can you do that on the way?" I enquire, again.

"Yeah, sure!"

"Okay then!" We're set to find him!

We sit there for another couple of minutes before we see someone with purple hair walk into the room, along with.. PJ? How does Kayleigh know PJ? I don't question it as the walk over and greet us.

"Dan!" PJ says, "I haven't seen you in far too long!"

"Since Phil's accident" I awkwardly laugh, I don't want to remember that.

"So why are you two here together?" Emma asks, bored of the normal social protocol of greeting people.

"Oh, we're.. Friends" Kayleigh says, as she winks at PJ "and he's always wanted to travel to Australia, so why not?" She giggles.

Kayleigh is giggling. This is not normal.

Not normal.

We don't have any more time for taking as the flight is declared ready and we all get on board. I'm sat in the inside, with Emma and Sally beside me; Emma being by the window and Sally next to me. Kayleigh and PJ are nearer to the front of the plane. When we lift off I instantly feel kind of homesick, I'm definitely going to miss my mum. Is this what being a grown up feels like? I'm still supposed to be in school... Will mum get in trouble for my absence? I guess all of my worried thoughts are obvious, as Emma quite bluntly said,

"Dan, you look like a squirrel stuck in a fence. Calm down"

I nod and shut my eyes. This is going to be a long flight and I am not ready for it.

I must have fallen asleep for at least 5 hours, as when I wake up, the sun has gone down long before and it's as dark as my soul. I rub my eyes and look over to what Sally and Emma are doing. Emma seems to be humming a song that's playing on her phone. As I listen closer I realise it's Thanks For The Memories. Cute. Sally is typing away at her laptop, that's when I realise. She's in the account.

"Sally!" I whisper.

"Yeah?" She asks, not even looking up from her screen.

"You have it?"

"I have it" she nods. I smile and lean back again, falling into another light sleep, this time filled with his dark hair and contrasting bright blue eyes.

--

"We are coming into land, please put your seat belts back on!" The air hostess warns us, with her thick Australian accent. It was a long flight, that mainly consisted of me sleeping, eating and watching Sally working out the address.

When we get off of the plane, Emma, Sally and I try to find Kayleigh and PJ. We walk around the place you get off, but only find them when we go to retrieve our cases. They're low key flirting and it's really annoying, but I leave them too it. Phil and I must have been the same at first. I just hope they don't have to endure the crap Phil and I have. We walk out to the front of the airport and I call for a cab, whilst Kayleigh looks for the nearest decent hotel. It takes about 10 minutes for the taxi to arrive, and we all just about fit in, as we go to a hotel called Happy Town. Who calls their hotel Happy Town?

It's quite the opposite of happy.

The walls are a horrible grey colour, and they are covered in moss and a weird, very disgusting plant thing; that I don't know the name of. The inside walls are a worn yellow, the carpet is a swamp green (ha shrek) and it has many holes in it. The man at the reception desk is very messy and dirty, with a massive wart on the side of his face. We get the rooms for the night - even though we don't want to stay, the nearest one from here is 2 hours away by car - and we are far too tired. PJ and I crash in room 17 and the girls in 19. I don't know what's wrong with 18, whether there's someone in there, but we leave that thought.

The rooms themselves are slightly better. Still horridly dirty, but they're okay for a night or two. Everyone comes into PJ's and my room, which PJ creatively named Not-So-Fancy Planet Room. I don't know why.

"So, how far have you got Sally?" I ask, eager to get moving.

"I've got that he's last shopped at a shop in State Avenue, so we can look around there?"

Knowing that's as close as we'll get for now, I nod my head and we spend the rest of the evening talking about random stuff - with Kayleigh and PJ still flirting like there's no tomorrow. When we eventually go to bed, my mind is filled with the possibilities of the day ahead of us tomorrow, as I try my best to get comfortable on the hard mattress.

"Goodnight Dan" PJ says quietly, turning off his lamp.

"Goodnight Peej" I barely whisper, before falling asleep soundly.

cat whiskers // phan.Where stories live. Discover now