Seashells

January 4th, 2007

All good things have to come to an end (wouldn't I know?) and I had to leave for home since school would start again soon. Plus, I'm pretty sure your family was getting tired of mine.

Your uncle was leaving on the same day, so your whole family came to the airport to say goodbye to him and me, even though it was pretty far away. Even though it was in the ungodly hours of the morning and everyone was basically falling asleep in their seats.

You, however, were wide awake. It wasn't a surprise to me, since I found out how late you really stay up after living with you for a week. I don't know why or what you did while you were up that late and I don't really want to know.

"Why did we have to get up this early?" I whined to the only person who would listen - my mom.

"Flights are hard to come by at a good price," she explained. "You'll know what I mean when you're older."

Her statement was one all teenagers hated. It just added to my irritation that came from getting up so early. So I just sat there in my bad mood as everyone around me napped. It also didn't help that we were at the airport about two hours early. That's right, the flight didn't leave until six o'clock and I was pissed.

You, however, were fine with that. You brought your laptop and you were just sitting there and playing games. I failed to see the logic in the decision to make your whole family come, because everyone was basically knocked out anyway.

It was really cold in the airport. I remember freezing my ass off even though I had three blankets. After about half an hour of shivering in my seat, I decided I wouldn't be going back to sleep any time soon. So I went over and sat next to you to see what you were doing.

"What's up?" you said, not even looking up from the screen.

"Oh, just dying," I said as I sat on my hands to try to warm them.

"Fun." You just continued playing your game. I don't remember what it was, but apparently it was pretty interesting (to you at least) because you had been playing it for the past hour or so.

"Aren't you bored?" I said a few minutes later.

"Kinda," you said. "But there isn't anything else to do."

"We could... walk," I said. I vaguely remembered you saying that a year or so back, so I quoted you.

You looked at me like I was crazy for a second, but then you shut your laptop and said, "Okay."

We went around to some of the stores. Nowhere that sold food was open except for some fast food places and I really wasn't craving grease at the moment, so that wasn't an option. We went to a gift shop or whatever it was. I don't know, it was open, so we went in.

They had the cheesy key chains with names and sayings on them. I found one that said "CASSIDY" and it was red, my least favorite color. I was oddly disappointed, but that might have been due to lack of sleep.

"Hey look, this is yours," I said, and I held out a blue one that said, "#1 GRANDPA".

"That totally fits me," you said. "And I hate that color."

"Why?" I looked down at the key chain. It was a bright shade of blue.

"I dunno... it looks too fake to me, I guess." You shrugged. "Anyway, this one fits me better."

"Nothing fits you better than that."

"How about this one?" You showed me a pink one. On it, the words "SEXY MAMA". I'm not even kidding, that's exactly what it said.

"Perfect." I tried to keep a straight face but failed. I ended up laughing a bit too loud and we were kicked out.

"Well that was fun," you said as we made our way back to our seats. I checked the clock and found that we had managed to kill another half hour.

We sat back down and I was really hungry. But again, I didn't want any greasy food at this time in the morning. You reached into your bag and pulled out a package of crackers and started eating them. It's like you were taunting me. Then I realized you were just eating them plain, and that was kinda weird.

"How can you just eat them like that without anything?" I asked.

"I like them."

You were such a weird kid, Aden (though we weren't even kids then, really). And I told you that. "You're weird."

"Whatever."

You went back to playing your game and I started reading a book. Then it was almost time to board the plane, so my dad told me to just sit still in my chair. I really needed to pee though. Badly. So I disregarded that and ran to the bathroom.

By the time I got back, people were boarding the plane. My family and your family were all hugging each other. I had to join in (hugging your parents was definitely weird).

"This feels like last summer," you said as everyone was finishing their goodbyes.

"I know," I said. And just like last summer, I saved your hug for last, simply because I preferred best for last.

"It sucks," you said. "We won't see each other until summer."

"Whatever," I muttered, though I really did care. "We have lives other than the island, right? Well, I do, at least."

You rolled your eyes, then opened your arms for a hug. Honestly, I didn't want to let go, however lame that sounds. But I had to, because my parents were calling me and saying how the plane wasn't waiting.

"Wait," you said, pulling me back.

"What?" I looked over at my family. They were motioning for me to get my ass over there.

But instead I turned to you. You looked at me for a second with your brown eyes, then you pulled me in and kissed me right on the lips. At first, the only thing that registered was the fact that you tasted a bit like the crackers you were eating. Then I realized what had just happened and the euphoria hit me.

All you did was smile, and you said, "And that's how you do it."