Your Guardian Angel
Chapter 23: Those Feelings That Never Go Away
Two weeks came and went and soon I found myself sitting on the plane anxiously awaiting the landing into New York. I haven’t gotten the chance to fly back home again since I moved; I really wanted to, but things just got way too crazy in my life between getting settled into my new life and making new friends, I just could never find the time. I guess that’s why I was so nervous; I had no idea what things would be like anymore. For all I knew, everything and everyone could have totally changed; actually, that’s probably what I feared the most. At the same time, I knew it was going to feel great to see all my old friends again.
I heard the pilot come on the intercom and tell the passengers to fasten their seatbelts and get ready for a little bit of a rough landing. Here we go, I thought, gripping my arm rests tightly; I always hated to fly and, for some reason, the landing always seemed to be the worst part. As I felt the bumps from under the plane, I realized that I was flying alone, so there was no one there to tell me not to worry and that everything was going to be ok, so I squeezed my eyes shut and prayed for a safe landing. When I felt the plane hit the ground, I opened my eyes and took a deep breath in. Thank God!
Within five minutes, I was off the plane and walking to the gate. Then, I saw her. She hadn’t changed a bit; she was still the tall, beautiful, blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl I’ve known ever since before I can even remember. It was kind of like one of those slow motion movie moments when she and I ran up to each other and gave each other the biggest and longest hug one could ever imagine. I felt tears start to well up in my eyes as I finally got to hug her; I didn’t realize just how much I missed her until I saw her again, my best friend, Amanda.
“Happy Valentine’s Day! How was your flight?” she asked when we finally stopped hugging and crying.
“Happy Valentine’s Day to you too! It was good for the most part, but it was really turbulent during the landing,” I responded, picking up my suitcases, which I had dropped while hugging Amanda.
“I’m sorry. I know how much you hate airplanes, so it must have been really scary for you fly by yourself.”
“It’s ok. Seeing you and the rest of the girls was totally worth it.”
“You are too sweet, but we’d better go; my parents are waiting in the car outside.”
We walked out of the airport and into the busy parking lot.
“Where are your parents parked?” I asked.
“Just follow me. Oh yeah and by the way, I have something I want to show you,” said Amanda.
“Ok what do you want to show me?” I wondered.
“You’ll see when we get there.”
Amanda walked up to a black corvette convertible, took out her keys, and opened the trunk. I dropped my suitcase in shock.
“Wait, this is your car?”
“Yeah I got it for my birthday. Do you like it?”
“Like it? I love it! Wow! When did they give it to you?”
“Yesterday. They thought I might like to use it when I came to pick you up today. I’m ecstatic to finally have my own car and not have to rely on them so much.”
“I felt the same way when I got my car. This is gorgeous.”
“Thanks.”
We put my luggage in the trunk, got in the car, and Amanda started driving toward her house.
“So how are you and Tyler doing?” I asked during the car ride.
“We’re actually doing really well so far. I don’t think I’ve felt like this with any other guy before, so I’m really happy with him and I can’t wait for you to meet him,” she responded.
“I can tell you really like him from that huge smile you have on your face right now. I can’t wait to meet him and I’m so happy for you, Mand.”
“Thanks. What about you? Any more boys lately?”
“I haven’t really been able to think about anyone else like that since I broke up with Jesse. I don’t think I’m quite ready to move on yet, you know?”
“I guess that’s understandable, since you two had such a long relationship.”
“The truth is, I’ve been crying myself to sleep every night. I never knew breaking up with a guy would be this hard to do. I was so used to having him and talking to him every day on the phone that when it stopped, it just felt so weird, so…abnormal. The feelings I have for him refuse to go away. I guess it just takes awhile to truly get over love.”
“I can imagine.”
“So, who’s coming to the party?”
“Basically all of our old friends, plus some new ones, which I will definitely introduce you to.”
“I’ll hold you to that promise.”
“Ok you do that, but, right now, we have to go home and finish setting up for later. It’s going to be one crazy party.”
“It always is with you.”
“Haha I know!”
“You are too weird,” I laughed.
Fifteen minutes later, we arrived at “the mansion,” as I liked to call it because Amanda’s beautiful baby blue house was HUGE! I grabbed my bags and brought them into the guest room I was staying in; I had been to that house so many times that I did not need Amanda to show me where everything was. After I was done settling in, I went downstairs and we started setting up for the party. When we were done, we both took a step back to admire our work. We hung up pink, yellow, blue, and purple streamers all throughout the first floor of her house and put balloons on every table and in every corner; there was a “Happy Birthday, Amanda” sign hanging from the ceiling by the front door and we cleaned every inch of the whole first floor. Finally, we brought down all the music we could possibly need and put it all by the very nice and very loud sound system Amanda owned. Overall, everything looked very nice and shiny.
Guests started coming around 8:05; no one likes to be the first one at a party and exactly on time. By around 8:30, almost the whole house was taken up with guests and the doorbell was ringing at least every five minutes with more and more people filling in. Amanda came up to me.
“Riley, hey, there’s somebody I’d like you to meet. This is Tyler,” she said, pulling him forward by the arm. She was completely right about him; he was tall, dark, and definitely handsome.
“Hey, Riley. It’s nice to finally meet you,” he said, holding out his hand for me to shake.
“Ditto,” I said, shaking his hand. “Amanda has told me so much about you.”
“I can safely say the same.”
The doorbell rang.
“I’ll be right back, I’m going to go get that,” said Amanda and she hurried off.
“How many people did she even invite to this party?” I wondered.
“I have no idea, but somehow I don’t think she invited all these people,” responded Tyler.
“Neither do I,” I said. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed something that took me totally off guard. There he was, dancing with another girl and looking like he was having the time of his life, his eyes gleaming and his blonde hair flying as he followed the beat of the song. Overcome with emotion, I pushed past Tyler and ran from the room and straight for the garage where I knew all the alcohol would be.
I heard the pilot come on the intercom and tell the passengers to fasten their seatbelts and get ready for a little bit of a rough landing. Here we go, I thought, gripping my arm rests tightly; I always hated to fly and, for some reason, the landing always seemed to be the worst part. As I felt the bumps from under the plane, I realized that I was flying alone, so there was no one there to tell me not to worry and that everything was going to be ok, so I squeezed my eyes shut and prayed for a safe landing. When I felt the plane hit the ground, I opened my eyes and took a deep breath in. Thank God!
Within five minutes, I was off the plane and walking to the gate. Then, I saw her. She hadn’t changed a bit; she was still the tall, beautiful, blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl I’ve known ever since before I can even remember. It was kind of like one of those slow motion movie moments when she and I ran up to each other and gave each other the biggest and longest hug one could ever imagine. I felt tears start to well up in my eyes as I finally got to hug her; I didn’t realize just how much I missed her until I saw her again, my best friend, Amanda.
“Happy Valentine’s Day! How was your flight?” she asked when we finally stopped hugging and crying.
“Happy Valentine’s Day to you too! It was good for the most part, but it was really turbulent during the landing,” I responded, picking up my suitcases, which I had dropped while hugging Amanda.
“I’m sorry. I know how much you hate airplanes, so it must have been really scary for you fly by yourself.”
“It’s ok. Seeing you and the rest of the girls was totally worth it.”
“You are too sweet, but we’d better go; my parents are waiting in the car outside.”
We walked out of the airport and into the busy parking lot.
“Where are your parents parked?” I asked.
“Just follow me. Oh yeah and by the way, I have something I want to show you,” said Amanda.
“Ok what do you want to show me?” I wondered.
“You’ll see when we get there.”
Amanda walked up to a black corvette convertible, took out her keys, and opened the trunk. I dropped my suitcase in shock.
“Wait, this is your car?”
“Yeah I got it for my birthday. Do you like it?”
“Like it? I love it! Wow! When did they give it to you?”
“Yesterday. They thought I might like to use it when I came to pick you up today. I’m ecstatic to finally have my own car and not have to rely on them so much.”
“I felt the same way when I got my car. This is gorgeous.”
“Thanks.”
We put my luggage in the trunk, got in the car, and Amanda started driving toward her house.
“So how are you and Tyler doing?” I asked during the car ride.
“We’re actually doing really well so far. I don’t think I’ve felt like this with any other guy before, so I’m really happy with him and I can’t wait for you to meet him,” she responded.
“I can tell you really like him from that huge smile you have on your face right now. I can’t wait to meet him and I’m so happy for you, Mand.”
“Thanks. What about you? Any more boys lately?”
“I haven’t really been able to think about anyone else like that since I broke up with Jesse. I don’t think I’m quite ready to move on yet, you know?”
“I guess that’s understandable, since you two had such a long relationship.”
“The truth is, I’ve been crying myself to sleep every night. I never knew breaking up with a guy would be this hard to do. I was so used to having him and talking to him every day on the phone that when it stopped, it just felt so weird, so…abnormal. The feelings I have for him refuse to go away. I guess it just takes awhile to truly get over love.”
“I can imagine.”
“So, who’s coming to the party?”
“Basically all of our old friends, plus some new ones, which I will definitely introduce you to.”
“I’ll hold you to that promise.”
“Ok you do that, but, right now, we have to go home and finish setting up for later. It’s going to be one crazy party.”
“It always is with you.”
“Haha I know!”
“You are too weird,” I laughed.
Fifteen minutes later, we arrived at “the mansion,” as I liked to call it because Amanda’s beautiful baby blue house was HUGE! I grabbed my bags and brought them into the guest room I was staying in; I had been to that house so many times that I did not need Amanda to show me where everything was. After I was done settling in, I went downstairs and we started setting up for the party. When we were done, we both took a step back to admire our work. We hung up pink, yellow, blue, and purple streamers all throughout the first floor of her house and put balloons on every table and in every corner; there was a “Happy Birthday, Amanda” sign hanging from the ceiling by the front door and we cleaned every inch of the whole first floor. Finally, we brought down all the music we could possibly need and put it all by the very nice and very loud sound system Amanda owned. Overall, everything looked very nice and shiny.
Guests started coming around 8:05; no one likes to be the first one at a party and exactly on time. By around 8:30, almost the whole house was taken up with guests and the doorbell was ringing at least every five minutes with more and more people filling in. Amanda came up to me.
“Riley, hey, there’s somebody I’d like you to meet. This is Tyler,” she said, pulling him forward by the arm. She was completely right about him; he was tall, dark, and definitely handsome.
“Hey, Riley. It’s nice to finally meet you,” he said, holding out his hand for me to shake.
“Ditto,” I said, shaking his hand. “Amanda has told me so much about you.”
“I can safely say the same.”
The doorbell rang.
“I’ll be right back, I’m going to go get that,” said Amanda and she hurried off.
“How many people did she even invite to this party?” I wondered.
“I have no idea, but somehow I don’t think she invited all these people,” responded Tyler.
“Neither do I,” I said. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed something that took me totally off guard. There he was, dancing with another girl and looking like he was having the time of his life, his eyes gleaming and his blonde hair flying as he followed the beat of the song. Overcome with emotion, I pushed past Tyler and ran from the room and straight for the garage where I knew all the alcohol would be.