S E A R C H I N G

18

"I can never get used to In-N-Out." Clara said through a mouthful of burger.
"I know... They don't have it on the East coast..." I said, taking another bite of my burger.
Monica didn't even speak, she was happily munching through her fries.

"I wonder where the guys are..." I said as I sipped my coke.
"When I've finished I'll call them." Clara said.

"Who's ready to leave?" I asked.
"Me." Both the girls said.
"Dibs not throwing the rubbish out." I said quickly.
"Dibs not me."clara said quickly.
Monica groaned as we laughed.

When she came back I started the car as Clara rang Grayson, putting it on loudspeaker.
"Hey baby." She said.
"Hi." Gray said sounding pissed off.
"What's wrong?" Clara asked innocently.
"Nothing. Where are you?"
"The turning before the airport."
"Ha! Same."
"I told you we wouldn't be late Anna!" Ethan shouted.
"Hunny, we've stopped at In-N-Out.... What did you eat?" I said, confidently as I focused on the road.
"Can we just collect the L's now?" I heard Aaron say in the background. We all burst out laughing.
"Ethan baby. You need to take a leaf out of Aaron's book."
"At Least we..." Grayson started.
"At least we what? Grayson." Clara said.
"At least we look good." He shouted into the phone.
"Oh really?" Clara said.
"Uh huh." Gray said confidently.
"Is that true Ethan..." He knows I'm gonna beat his ass.
"Say something..." Gray said.
"You better shut up Grayson Dolan or I swear I'll expose you." Clara shouted into the phone. That shut him up.
"Babe. I asked you a question." I said, waiting for Ethan to answer.
"Graysons chatting shit. You all look beautiful. Especially you, Monica." We all awed.
"Thanks dude." Grayson mumbled.
"If you want your ass kicked carry on Gray, I'm not involved..." Aaron argued back.
"Same." Ethan said. "You look fuckable ever single second of the day Anna." I snorted and nearly drove into a sign post.
"Ditto. Love you Ethan."
"Love you too."
"Bye Aaron, love you." Monica called.
"You know I love you baby." He shouted back. Grayson was silent.
"Oh, and Ethan. Tell Gray that if he doesn't ring Clara back in a second, I'm gonna personally do what I threatened to do to you to him."
"Yes Baby." He said obediently as the phone was cut.

All three of us burst out laughing as Clara phone rang again, just as I turned into the airport. It was busy. She put the phone on loud speaker again.
"Hello Grayson." She sighed.
"Hi C-Clara. I'm sorry for what I said. I love you and you are the beautifulest, prettiest, smartest girl I've ever met."
"Aww thanks. What did Anna say she would do?"
"Please don't make me repeat it." He sounded like he was crying. "There are tears in my eyes.... She said she would cut my balls open and the scrotum would drop on the floor.... It hurts already."
"Are you actually crying Gray?" Ethan asked.
"Yes. I have to keep touching my balls now, yo check they're still there..."
"I know I'm in pain." Aaron sighed. I covered my mouth to contain the laughter because the don't know it's on loudspeaker.
"We're here now Gray. I have to go but I love you too. I would still sleep with one eye opening though." She ended the call as I turned the car off.

"We're here ladies." I got out, stretching. Monica started to get the suitcases out the boot. I noticed she'd been really quiet the whole journey.
"You ok?" I asked away from Clara.
"I'm fine. I'm just thinking about what I would've actually done if I was..."
"Oh, you can always call me at any time if you want to talk. Ok?" She nodded handing me my suitcase.
"Clara."
"Oh, thanks." She said taking it.

"Finally." I sighed as I saw the three boys. We had to say goodbye to Monica and Aaron because they couldn't check in yet but we had to or we would miss our flight. I hugged Monica. "Remember what I said. And use protection!" She nodded and squeezed me back.
I then went to Aaron. "Look after Monica, and ring me if anything happens. Have fun and say hello from me if you see any old friends!" I hugged him and stood back as everyone else said goodbye.