Your Picture is Worth A Thousand Words

Hours turned into days, days turned into months, and months turned into years.
And finally, I grew up, I changed from a seventeen year old girl and into a twenty-four year old woman, Lacy, Kade and I kept in touch, seeing each other every two months or so.

I brushed through my red locks, over the years; my hair had dulled down a bit. It wasn’t as fire red as it had been back when I was in high school; it had a bit of a brown tint to it now.
I was busying myself trying to clean up my apartment before I left. I was heading out to California, to see Lacy and Kade. Last I heard, Kade and Aimee had gotten married and were now expecting a baby.

I grabbed my bag, and hoisted it up on my shoulder, I didn’t need much to take to California, and I knew Lacy would probably take me on a shopping spree once I got there. No doubt in my mind about that.

I stepped outside, the chilly New York air blasting me in the face, I sighed. I sometimes missed Huntington Beach but hey, New York had given me a shitload of opportunities, and Cali didn’t have some of them. I cursed myself for not bringing a jacket, although it was mid-May and still in the 40s here in NY, I bet it was near a hundred degrees in Huntington Beach.

I climbed into my grey Ford, it was old. My father’s, but it ran pretty nice and it was all I had. So I didn’t complain much. The day I turned eighteen, my dad gave me a few hundred bucks so I could get out on my own. I already had a job working as a cashier for a clothing store. But I had basically been in this apartment since I was eighteen. Six years in one place, I loved it.

x-<3-x

I was walking off of the plane, my bag still hung on my shoulder. I was looking for Lacy’s blond hair.
I walked through the crowd and saw someone holding a sign that said: WELCOME HOME NOLAN! , I walked over to the person, and saw Lacy, she was turned around. I kept my footsteps quiet as possible; I wanted to sneak up on her.

I walked up behind her and lightly tapped her on the shoulder, she turned around and her blue eyes lit up like a Christmas tree.

“Nolan!” She yelled dropping the sign and throwing her arms around me, I smiled and hugged her back; she was jumping up and down like a little kid.

“Oh my god! You look so pretty Noels!” She said, holding me at arm’s length, I smiled and gave her another quick hug. I hoisted my bag back onto my shoulder as Lacy took me by the elbow and dragged me through the crowd.

“Oh my god! I can’t wait for you to see Kade and Aimee! She’s gotten so big with that baby of theirs, it suppose to be a boy you know,” Lacy chatted away, I smiled and nodded. Yea, I was right it was hot as hell in Cali.

Lacy pulled up in front of a two story brick house, “And this is where, I, Kade, Aimee, Matt and now you live,” She said, I looked at her, my eyebrows raised.

“What do you mean Lace? I can’t stay here forever, I have to go home to New York,” I said, Lacy rolled her eyes.

“No shit dipwad, I meant until you go back, you’ll be staying here with me, Kade, Aimee and Matt until then,”

“Who’s Matt?” I asked.

“Aimee’s cousin, he’s staying with us for a while because his girl kicked him out a couple weeks ago, it’s just till he gets back on his feet,”

“And where am I going to sleep?” I asked.

“Well, you can either share a room with me, Matt or the couch, pick one,” Lacy said.
“Isn’t there a guest room or something?” I asked.
“That got turned into a nursery for the baby,” She answered.
“Oh.” was my reply.

“But just so you know, my dog sleeps in my room with me, so you’ll have to deal with a dog waking you up with a big lick on the nose every morning,”

I scrunched up my nose, “Ew,” I replied, I loved dogs, just didn’t like their smelly breath.

Lacy patted my shoulder. “Don’t worry, RJ doesn’t bite,” She said.

I rolled my eyes; Lacy was still a nut after seven years.

I grabbed my bag and climbed out the car, I heard a dog barking like crazy. Lacy yelled at the dog to stop, I walked through the front door. The dog sniffed me; I reached down and scratched the dog behind its ears.

“Hi baby!” Lacy said, leaning down to kiss the dog on the nose, I laughed. I heard footsteps; I lifted my head and saw Kade’s jet black hair.

“Nolan!” He yelled, all but running to me. He picked me up in a hug and spun me around, making me squeal the whole way.

He finally put me down; I wrapped my arms around him in a hug. When I let go, I saw Aimee, her light brown hair had turned to a chestnut color, with a belly going out.

“Hi Aims,” I said, she waved and went to the fridge, and I saw one more person. He wore big sunshades and had a lip piercing.

“Hi, I don’t think we’ve met before. I’m Nolan,” I said, holding out my hand for him to shake.
“Matt,” He said, taking my hand, giving me a really cute smile.

“Come on slow poke!” Lacy said, kneeing me in the ass. I yelped and grabbed my ass, Kade and Matt began to laugh. I shot them a glare, Kade gave me a grin, and I shook my head and followed Lacy up the stairs.

“Hey Matt, since RJ sleeps with me and Noels doesn’t like dogs that much, can she bunk with you?” Lacy asked, leaning over the banister. I saw Matt nod his head as Kade elbowed him.

I followed Lacy into Matt’s room. It was nice; it had twin beds, with a few posters here and there. I saw a couple of CDs spread across Matt’s bed; I sat my bag down on mine. Lacy drug me away from the door.

“Just so you know” She started, “Matt’s single, and he’s looking, I’d think you two would be cute together,” I rolled my eyes at her comment.
“Lace, why don’t you date him? I don’t need a boyfriend,” I said, sitting down on my bed, Lacy rolled her eyes this time. She grabbed my wrist and dragged me away from the door.

“Because dummy! He’s your type! Not mine” Lacy said, I rolled my eyes.

This was going to be a long two weeks.