New York: If you Can't Make it There Can You Make it Anywhere?

Chapter Two

Taylor awoke to the soft murmuring of Elizabeth as she chatted with Josh about Halo and how they should get through each puzzle. Taylor squinted at the unfamiliar look of the game until she realized it was the second Halo which she hadn't played. Taylor listened to the interaction between Liz and Josh, who she was decently sure was trying to get onto Elizabeth's good side for reasons she didn't want to think about, and she felt her stomach jolt as she listened to Liz talk to him so fondly. Taylor felt Liz grab her arm tightly as the bus came to a sudden and harsh stop. They were in the only city with traffic this thick and skyscrapers this tall in Georgia, Atlanta.

Taylor joined into Elizabeth and Josh's conversation with a few sarcastic comments about "Liz's slippery slope" as Elizabeth made her character fall off the building covered in ice over and over again trying to go up a wall. The three continued talking for the rest of the jolty bus ride, which would be the first of many hesitant conversations on Taylor's part with Josh, and unfortunately many pleasant conversations on Elizabeth's part with Josh.

The bus made a turn into the line that snaked it's way to the airport, and Elizabeth and Taylor started packing up their things so they could get through the airport faster as the bus softly jerked with every press of the brake. When the bus finally came to a stop outside of their terminal Coach stood up.

"Alright, girls sit tight until the guys have gotten off and have started unloading the luggage, and then get off and get your suitcase. Once you have your luggage get your tickets from Mrs. B and then go inside and check your luggage. If I see one person acting like an idiot it's back to Athens!"

Elizabeth and Taylor held their unwieldy carry-ons in awkward silence as they watched all of the guys sleepily jump out of the back of the bus and started grumbling as they grabbed the suitcases. Once all of the guys were either busy grumbling or throwing their luggage around, Elizabeth and Taylor made their way off the bus and waited behind a few other girls to get their tickets for the plane. Once they grabbed their tickets, after Mrs. B gave Taylor a dirty look for not wearing "girly attire" for the church service they would be attending once they got to New York, they made their way over to the luggage pile. Taylor used her smaller size to her advantage to dive in and grab both of their suitcases and hauled them out. One of the guys looked over at Taylor's aggressive strategy.

"Whoa, blondie the luggage isn't going anywhere."

Taylor raised an eyebrow,"We won't either if you don't move your ass, our plane leaves in forty-five minutes and we haven't gone through security or gotten breakfast. "

The boy paled and immediately started moving luggage faster. Taylor snorted and grabbed Liz's arm as she dragged her into the short line to check their luggage. The wait was rather short, but they had to separate and go to different workers. Once Taylor finished having her bag weighed she was shooed off to the security check line. She plugged in her headphones and started listening to music to kill the time in the much longer line and tried to ignore the ache in her shoulder as her purse and duffle bag pressed sharply into her shoulder. Taylor tried to breathe deeply as she ignored the static in her vision and the pain in her lungs. When someone grabbed her arm, a cough she was suppressing came out sharply. Taylor looked up and into Liz's eyes, which were wide and staring at her cardigan. Taylor followed her gaze and sighed out of annoyance when she saw the blood splatters on her new cardigan's elbow.

Taylor chuckled darkly,"at least it's dark grey instead of white like the last one."

Elizabeth let out a choked laugh," yeah, remember when you didn't notice the blood dried on your glasses and Christina cleaned them off before anyone noticed?"

Taylor smirked a little and raised an eyebrow teasingly, "I'd say that the whole dying thing is a pain in the neck," she paused, "but I think you have me beat there."

Liz smacked her arm, "Really? Cancer jokes? That's low," Elizabeth chuckled.

Taylor threw an arm over her shoulders though it strained her slightly with the couple of inches Elizabeth had on her, "Yeah, almost as low as the cancer in your lungs."

Elizabeth clamped a hand over her mouth, "Hey! No one knows about that and it'll be gone soon. I've kept this quiet since last summer and I expect you to do the same."

Taylor licked Elizabeth's hand and she squealed," What can I say? I'm an unknown factor, like whatever the heck is killing me."

Liz grabbed her hand and gave it a tight squeeze, "Hey, let's just get through this trip and deal with the rest later. Did you remember to put your medicine in your purse and not your suitcase?"

Taylor gave a tight squeeze back, "Of course, I just need to eat something with it. Heads up though, the static is kicking in and my lungs are being assholes."

Elizabeth gave her a concerned look as they reached the front of the line, and they threw their duffles and purses onto the belt, but nothing else since thankfully they both had precheck. After a quick metal detector scan, they made their way to the gate and left their bags with their classmate after negotiating a deal to watch their stuff when they got back. Taylor tugged Elizabeth's sleeve.

"So...Starbucks?"

Elizabeth smiled and laughed as they walked off to get breakfast.