Taste of a Poison Paradise

"Mom, I promise you - I won't do anything illegal, I won't spend too much money and I'll take care of myself. I'm a big girl now," I chuckled, raising my voice so that my mother could hear me. I got a few awkward glances from some passerbys but I ignored them and continued comforting my mother. She was skeptical about the whole trip and didn't want me far from home - she was even against moving to New York although the campus was only four hours away from our home in Virgina.

My mom could be extremely protective of me at times, far more so than necessary. I heard a few noises in the background and caught the sound of my sister and brother fighting over something I couldn't quite make out. I shuffled through the heavily crowded airport and found a seat in the waiting area. I looked around nervously, hoping I could board easily and quickly. I was feeling a bit anxious about the whole thing since it was my first time on an airplane in a long time and this was the first time going myself. I didn't fare well alone but I wasn't confident enough to befriend a stranger just so I could hold their hand - how strange would that be?

"Well, I love you honey, I've got to go!" she said in a rushed voice, probably trying to tear my siblings apart. I shook my head, knowing how much the two gave her trouble.

"Love you too mom," I smiled, sipping on my coffee and pulling on my hoodie holding back my wild mess of curls. I hadn't done anything special to it as I usually didn't but I had put in a special moisturizing cream but it was summer and while checking on the weather reports in London I had seen that it was almost 65 degrees even though it was supposed to be autumn. I hated the heat, it just made my hair into a curlier state, thus the cream that I put in since I was still in America where it was currrently 90 degrees, even worse in this overpopulated airport. Plus why shouldn't I want to look nice? I was going to meet not just Simon Cowell but One Direction. How amazing is that?

I don't think I deserve this chance since I'm not as much as a fan as all the other directioners but I do love their music - even if I haven't the slightest idea of their jokes from time to time. Before I even realized it, a grin had caused my lips to stretch from side to side thinking about meeting One Direction. I just had a fangirl inside of me, okay? Everyone does, especially when you know you're going to be meeting them. Plus, not that I would ever admit it to them, well him, but I had always had a huge crush on Niall Horan, ever since hearing his voice in More Than This, making me curious about the boyband. All though even after hearing from Simon I made myself accept that there was no way any of the boys could take an interest in me that way, especially Niall.

"Flight 96 to London is now boarding in Gate 3A," I heard the soft voice speak through the feeble speakers. Having already gone through customs, I pushed my way through the crowds turning my phone off, grabbing my hand bag with all my things. Pushing my shorts down so they covered a bit more skin, I headed my way over to the door where we were going to pass to the plane.



I nervously nawed on my bottom lip as I tried my best to release the grip on my seat. "Hey, are you all right?" asked a young guy besides me. I looked up startled and my response came out rushed, "Yeah, fine, good, amazing. Thanks."

His eyebrows rose as he glanced to my painted nails wrapped around the soft cushion of the armrest. My seatbelt was wound extra-tight even though we were safe to take the seat belt off. Unfortunately the ticket that Simon had paid for was a window seat and I couldn't help but glance to the view every so seconds. It was like a rush of adrenaline that flowed through my veins combined with an upclose view of the beautiful clouds but at the same time the whole thing made me want to piss my pants, even though I didn't want to go.

"Do you want to swap seats?" he chuckled, motioning to the window.

"No, I couldn't trouble you," I blushed, focusing on the person next to me. I hadn't noticed it despite sitting next to him for a good hour or so, he had fair looks with brown hair and soft blue eyes, ugh, I was a sucker for blue eyes! I pushed back some of my stray curls and watched as he got out of his seat, swiftly unbuckling my seat-belt.

"Nonsense, you've been quivering and shaking like a dog out in the cold for almost an hour and a half," he snickered as if it was the funniest thing on earth.

I smiled, not being able to pass up the offer. "Thank you so much," I told him as we switched places. "I'm Riley," I said as I stuck out my hand.

He relaxed in his new seat and crossed his legs, one foot hiked up on his left knee. "Pleasure to meet you, Riley, I'm Jacob," he introduced himself, grasping my hand with his soft ones and giving my long fingers a firm but not too forceful shake. "Where's a beautiful bird like you headed?" he asked, a confident smirk on his lips.

I bit down on my lip nervously - I wasn't used to guys being so open towards me, they usually shied away from me, intimidated by the random facts that I spewed out of my mouth, followed by word vomit or the far-off look in my eyes when I zoned out of the conversation. Girls, on another side, were a completely different story...

"London, going on a bit of an adventure," I told him not very willing to divulge information. It's called stranger danger, yeah?

"Ahh, London's amazing. I'm going a bit farther down the road - going to Yorkshire for a few days before heading to Sydney in Australia. Have you got family in London or are you sight-seeing?"

I didn't want to say anything about One Direction, I just didn't feel comfortable telling other people. I had told one of my college acquaintances in pure excitement and she asked if she could come, later cursing me out and swearing that I was a no-good bitch with horrible looks when I replied that it wouldn't be such a good idea. Guess being closer friends wasn't in our future, eh?

"I'm just sight-seeing and exploring before I get back to med. school," I said a bit proudly. It had taken me a long time and it'd been hard work to get into NYU.

I reached under my seat and unwrapped the big afghan blanket that I had stored before putting my carryon in the storage above our heads. I spread the huge, hand knitted blanket over my legs and most of my upper body, bringing it to just under my chin. I smiled inhaling the scent of the fresh cleaner that I had used to wash it. It smelled just like home. The sides of the soft blue blanket hung over the sides of the seat and dragged over the carpet of the floor, I frowned and looked over to Jacob.

"Blanket?" I asked. He chuckled, a dimple popping out of his left cheek but not his right. A few butterflies bumped into my lower small intestine.

"Sure." He accepted the pieces that I offered him and tucked them around his sides.

"I guess this is where we take a nap?"

"I'm awfully tired," I admitted with a sheepish grin on my lips. He was just so adorable!

I yawned and opened my eyes to see his eyebrows raised over his clear blue eyes. It wasn't hard to fall asleep even though Jacob chose to read a novel, The Client by John Grisham, I believe. I closed my eyes and forgot that I was almost 20,000 miles in the air, or well something like that.



Jacob and I had parted, leaving me with a gentle kiss on my warm cheeks and his number safely tucked into my pocket as he boarded the plane again.

It had taken a while to find my soft green colored luggage but with some effort I was able to get it off of the spinning platform and stumble past the gateways. I found a vending machines and smiled, seeing that it accepted US currency. I shoved three dollars and pressed the corresponding numbers and letters to get myself some orange juice and two packs of gummy worms. I tucked in the orange juice and one of the packs but tore into the first sour gummy worms.

I was getting ready to stumble out of the airport and fetch a cab but saw a stark white sign with black lettering. Squinting a bit, I realized that it was my name written in all caps, quite neatly and it wasn't only my name on there; there was one Alexandra Mandell and one Reece Thompson. I suppose those are the other girls who won the sweepstakes - I hope they're easy to get along with.

I lugged my two suitcases and bag over to the man in the black tuxedo. He was fairly aged looking to be about 40 with tan skin, laugh wrinkles and startling green eyes that lit his whole face and made him look as if he were only 20 years old. "Ms. Riley, I assume?" he asked with a smile on his thin lips.

I nodded, setting my suitcase so that it would stand on its own. "Yup!" I chirped, excited that this actually seemed to be happening.

"Jameson, but feel free to call me Jeeves," he said guiding me to the front of the airport. "I'd escort you to the limo as well but I'm afraid I must attend to my duties and wait for the Alexandra, Reece should still be in the car. You can keep your luggage in the main passenger area, there's enough room."

"Don't worry - I'm sure I'll be able to manage," I smiled comfortingly and headed my way through the thick glass doors after he finished his short speech.

"Well then Jeeves," I chuckled at the irony and followed his instruction. Too bad I had chosen to wear shorts, there was a slight chill flowing through airport. It was even chillier, making me thankful that I was sporting my sweater but I wasn't too bothered by the cold. I liked cold weather as long as I wasn't getting hypothermia.

"Call me Riley, please," I asked, as he led me out of the airport where a black limo was waiting for me. As I tugged on the handle to the limo, I found that the door was already open. I slid inside seeing a large minibar to the side and slick leather seats shining as if they were brand-new and installed just a few minutes ago. The car still had the musky new car scent lingering in the air. Seeing that there was way more than enough space for my luggage I pushed them in with a bit of effort.

My eyes widened seeing that the other girl, Reece, was here. She had a bright red hair color and freckles scattered all over her nose - she was amazingly pretty.

"Hi," I smiled, making sure I seemed friendly. I was friendly but I just, well I had some trouble making friends and when I was quiet people thought other things.

"Hi," Reece replied in a monotonous tone, a gray look n her face. Well, someone wasn't feeling very chipper today.

"I'm Riley, I like your bracelets," I tried to make conversation as I saw an Asking Alexandria bracelet hanging off her wrist.

She didn't say anything but I could see her perk up.

"Yeah, I don't listen to that kind of music a lot but I like the acoustics for Someone, Somewhere. I guess we both love One Direction?"

"Oh...," she said, once again becoming dis-interested. "Yeah, sure," she answered the question half-heartedly.

I let out an inaudible sigh and decided to turn on my phone so that I could call my mother to let her know that I had landed safely when I finished meeting Simon. From my understanding, we were to meet with him then go to the tourbus immediately and get situated there. He informed me that the tour bus had eight bunks: five for the guys, three for the girls. A few minutes later passed, the large limo's doors opened once again with a stunning brunette who was grinning from ear to ear.

After pushing in her suitcases next to mine she quickly wrapped her arms around mine too quickly to respond. I awkwardly hugged back, glad that she wasn't going to ignore me but not sure why she was hugging me with such enthusiasm. Then again we were meeting One Direction...

She moved on to Reece and hugged her for a few seconds while Reece just sat there, limp. She sat back next to me and grinned, "Hey, I'm Alex M.!"

I smiled hesitantly, she certainly had a bright personality, I could tell she was extraverted. "Riley K."

"Reece T," Reece mumbled.