Comic Boys

Jekyll laughed, ruffling my hair as he snapped a shot of me red-faced and puffed out of my wits as I struggled to drag my heavy suitcase, packed to the brim with clothes that mum had forced me to pack, as well as the Domo-kun backpack hanging on my back, weighed down with comics and sugary snacks, as well as the fat book of "101 Puzzles For The Road" book, which was as thick as a bloody encyclopaedia on mammals and amphibians.

"Stop making fun of me and help me dammit!" I whined, giving Jekyll a pleading look, slightly envious as his muscles bulged as he easily moved his own over-flowing suitcase, just to tease me a little more. I huffed in annoyance, taking a shaky step forward as my back and knees groaned in protest to the work out that I was going through. Exercise had never been my cup of tea, but even I thought I could pull along my own suitcase! I guess that just proved how weak I was- pathetic, really. I was so scrawny that I could fold up into a human pretzel and cram myself into Jekyll's carry-on bag, and be light enough to pass through the security X-Ray screening.

"Jekyll! Stop being a jackass and help me- I'm about to pop a disc out or something!"

"Aye aye, Cap'n," he said, putting on an extra-heavy accent, winking before ducking under the red barrier that separated the two of us, since I was as slow as my grandma when she wasn't in her pedestrian-killing motorised wheelchair, equipped with a fluorescent orange flag, black wire basket and honking bell. My grandma was a menace on that thing- nearly ran my grandpa over whilst he was putting his dentures back in.

"Woah, what have you got in here? Oh, don't tell me you brought all of the cocaine! You idiot! I only told you to bring fifty kilos!" Jekyll said, feigning annoyance as he lapped up the slightly creeped-out glances he was receiving, and I kicked his shin, making him yelp in pain. I jerked my head towards the security guard, who was glaring at him and he smiled meekly at me, silently grabbing my bags. I laughed despite the awkward looks we were getting, happy that my spine (which had probably fucked up considering how my strain I was placing on them) was now at ease. Jekyll rolled my bag next to his, just in time for us to be called to the check-in counter, where a plump woman sat with a bright smile on her face.

"Good morning! How are you two gentlemen today?" she asked perkily, as we replied with small, excited smiles, handing her our travel documents and other whatnot. Her eyes widened a little when she read my name, but didn't say anything, the ghost of a smile on her lips as she scanned the barcode on our booking paper. "Off to London, I see! You two are lucky. And ah! London in London- what a coincidence!" Gloria laughed, as I had figured out her name considering she was wearing a clip-on name tag decorated with pink, sparkling stickers (her choice, I believe), and handed us our tickets.

I had to blink a few times, before clearing my throat, giving her the ticket back.

"Is there something wrong?" she asked, and I nodded, pointing to the two little words that were definitely a mistake.

"Yeah... we're not supposed to be in first class," Jekyll said, raising a brow, and Gloria chuckled, shaking her head.

"No, no, you are. You were... um... upgraded. Special circumstances," she said, smiling widely. "You two have a great trip!"

"Oh... kay," Jekyll said, taking the tickets as our luggage was loaded onto the conveyor belt. He shrugged, slinging his arm around my shoulders before winking. "See? This is going to be an awesome trip. Trust me." I nodded, grinning, as we made our way through the security area.

I couldn't keep the excitement building in the pit of my stomach from erupting as I walked through the security arch, the smile on my face not faltering for a second.



Jekyll loaded our bags into the overhead compartment, and I cringed at that god-awful plane stench, making Jekyll laugh and pinch my nose. I swatted his hand away before collapsing into one of the expensive leather first-class seats, stretching out my legs and peering at the area around me. I had never been in first class before and there was no doubt I was loving it. Even though we hadn't taken off yet I was amazed by the pure awesomeness of first class- it was definitely a blessing that we had been upgraded, but I would like to know why. The lady at the check-in desk was quite vague.

Jekyll was in the seat behind me, since the seats were set out in two rows, one seat on each side of the plan to enable movement and comfort. I turned on the TV screen in front of me, clipping up my seatbelt as I reclined, giggling as the little remote control by my left hand activated the movement of the back rest.

"Hey, London. Since we'll both be half-dead when we get there, why don't we take the first day off and just lounge around in my house?" Jekyll offered, and I nodded, knowing that I would definitely be a zombie when I step off this plane- I could never sleep in planes, and even in the spacious first class seat I probably wouldn't be able to sleep.

"Alright... but are you sure your parents will be okay with me staying with you?" I asked, and Jekyll nodded happily.

"Of course, of course. My parents want to meet you, after all!"

"Wh-what?" I stammered, eyes widening, and Jekyll winked. "What did you tell them about me?"

"All good things- I promise," Jekyll said, smirking a little, before pulling out a small tourism book, handing it to me. "Anyway, since you haven't been there before, I figured we should go see things... but I've seen it all, so we'll only hit up the ones that you want to go to. Cool?"

"That sounds awesome," I said, turning away from Jekyll's seat to the magazine in my hands, whipping out a black ball-point pen. I circled most of the main sites that I desperately wanted to see- Big Ben, the London Bridge, the London Eye, Buckingham Palace and Madame Tussauds to name a few. Just looking at the still images of the sites made my stomach turn in excitement again, before someone (namely Jekyll), suddenly kicked the back of my seat. I turned around, confused, and noticed that his eyes were as wide as saucers, his mouth in a tight line as his body tensed. His optics were focused on something next to me, and I turned, before my heart just stopped in my chest.

Easton.

"Hi, London, Jekyll," he said, giving me a warm smile before turning to Jekyll, who looked like he was about to blow up the plane with the fire in his eyes. "Fancy seeing you two here."

"What are you doing her-" I asked, and Easton smiled, ruffling my hair before taking the seat to my right.

"Well, since I had learnt this semester's curriculum already at my old school, the school basically let me off on an early break. So I figured, why not go to London, you know, for a bit of a break? Jaimie's here too," Easton added, jerking his finger to the figure approaching us, who took the seat in front of me. It was a girl, who was the splitting image of Easton, just more feminine but just as good-looking as he was. She stuck out her hand and I took it, confused out of my wits, as Jekyll got up and grabbed Easton, pulling him into a toilet cubicle, the little lock clicking.

"Hi. I'm Jaimie, Easton's sister. He's told me all about you, London! I'm sure we'll be great friends!" she chirped, hugging me tightly.

"Oh, shit," I murmured, glancing at the cubicle as Jaimie released me, whistling a merry tune to herself as she flicked open a perky teen magazine.

I could feel that this trip wasn't going to be as... simple as I thought. Why me?