Rollercoaster Ride

John
My dad hailed a taxi outside the airport and we all put our bags in the trunk. We had landed back in Arizona for half an hour and found our luggage rather quickly. Dad took shotgun, Mom and I sat at the middle seat and my brothers took the back seat. I took out my phone and turned it on. It was still eight in the morning but my parents told me and my brothers to skip the day, figuring that we were tired. I wasn’t though, but I didn’t mind.

As I had expected, there were many text messages and voicemails. I decided to read the texts first.

From: Daphne
I miss you :( call me soon when you’re home, asshole.

I grinned and continued.

From: Morgan
Dude, don’t forget the t-shirt I told you about. Buy me that shit and I’ll pay you!

Wait, which shirt? I didn’t remember her telling anything about a t-shirt. Err, I hoped she was not going to kick my ass for not buying it.

From: Morgan
Oops, wrong person. Sorry.

I chuckled at her stupidity and went on. There were more from the rest of the people, and some kids at my school asking me where I was, not showing up to parties. God, were they stupid? The last time I checked, I didn’t live for parties.

I was too lazy to check the next texts (you couldn’t guess how many there were) and decided to listen to the voicemails people had left.

“DUDE!!!!!!!!!! KENNEDY IS ALIVE!!!!”

I had to move away the phone a little bit. Pat needed to adjust his screaming; it killed people’s hearing abilities.

Wait, what did he mean by Kennedy was alive? Did he like die and live again or something?

“Oh my god, John, you gotta get home like NOW!!” I smiled at the voice of my bestfriend and girlfriend. I missed her so much. “Kennedy’s finally awake!!” My eyes bulged out and I practically jumped in my seat. Kennedy was awake?! Dammit I really gotta go to the hospital now!

“Sir,” I called the cab driver and he looked at me through the rearview mirror. “Could you drive to the hospital please?” He nodded.

“The hospital?” Mom asked.

“Kennedy’s finally awake,” I grinned.

“Oh honey, I’m so happy to hear that,” she patted my back. I nodded. “Tell them we say hi, okay?” I nodded again.

The cab stopped in front of the hospital lobby and I immediately went to Kennedy’s room. He was watching TV and Morgan was reading on the sofa.

“Hey, man,” I said, entering the room. They both looked at me and smiled. “Since when are you finally awake, Sleeping Beauty?” I joked.

He laughed. “Two days ago. Was it two days ago?” he asked Morgan.

“Yep, two days ago,” Morgan nodded and then continued reading.

We talked for more for a bit, but I was itching to run off and go to the Brock’s house to see my girl. Kennedy seemed to notice, because he then said, “Dude, if you want to see my sister now, go ahead.”

“Yes!” I screamed, punching the air before jumping out from my seat. “Thanks, man!” He waved off in response as I ran out his room and outside the hospital to take a bus. The bus stopped in front of their neighborhood and then I proceeded to walk to their house. Once I did, I knocked the door.

“Who is it?!” I heard someone inside – a guy – yelled.

“John,” I answered.

“Come in, the door’s not closed, dude!” he replied. I turned the door knob and went inside. I heard the sound of the TV coming from the family room, so I went there after closing the door. Garrett was sitting on the sofa and Daphne was sleeping with her head on his lap.

“Don’t misunderstand,” he said before I could talk. “She wanted to watch some shows and then she fell asleep on my lap. That’s it. Nothing else happened.”

“Really?” I raised my eyebrow, a little bit suspicious after knowing what happened between him and Neyla.

“Really. Why would I lie? She knows what happened between me and Neyla and basically hated me for a while because of it.”

I nodded. “Let me carry her to her bedroom.” I bent down and scooped her in my arms and went upstairs. As I walked up the stairs, she opened her eyes.

“John?” she whispered.

“Hey.”

“Oh my god. I must be dreaming.”

I chuckled. “No you’re not.”

“Really?” I nodded. She slapped my cheek.

“Ow, why did you do that?”

She shrugged. “Just to know if this is reality.” She watched my face for a while before encircling her arms around my neck and snuggled closer to me, her signature vanilla scent filling my nose. I loved it.

I walked into her bedroom and put her on the bed before pulling her blanket over her.

“Seeing school already starts now, are you gonna skip?” I asked.

She giggled. “Of course! You’ve tucked me in anyway so I’m even lazier to get up.”

I laughed. “Why did I do that?”

I was about to leave her room when she said, “Stay please? I missed you so much.”

I smiled. “Sure. Let me walk Garrett to the door first, okay?” She nodded and then I went downstairs. Garrett was playing with Kennedy’s car keys. He saw me walking down and he put the keys on the table near the front door.

“Thanks for accompanying her all these days,” I said, walking him to the front door.

“No problem, man. I just want to show her that I still care about her and her brother.”

I nodded. “Thanks. Again.”

He waved before walking away. I watched his figure for a bit before closing the door and locking it, and went back upstairs. I entered Daphne’s room and kicked off my shoes before lying down next to her under the blanket. I felt her shuffling, turning to face me.

I brought up my hand and stroked her cheek before kissing her lips. “I missed you,” I whispered. She smiled and then cupped my cheeks with her small hands and kissed me. “I missed you even more.” I smiled back before placing my hand on her waist, the other one on her back and pulled her closer to me. She encircled her arms around my waist before we both fell asleep.