Please Stay Forever With Me

I sigh as I set my last bag into the trunk of my mom's Honda, trying to show her that I really didn't want to go spend the next twelve weeks with my father and his new girlfriend. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy my dad found someone that he could relate to, but she's a talker.

“Are you ready, Vic?” my mom asks, walking up behind me and placing a soft hand on my bare shoulder.

“Not really,” I tell her, hoping she'd decide to allow me to stay, although I knew she was dead set on making me go. She claimed that a change of scenery would be nice for me, so that's why she's sending me to stay with my dad and his girlfriend in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

She faked a pouty look, “It's only for twelve weeks, Vic. I'm sure you'll live,” she says to me, dropping her hand from my shoulder and making her way to the drivers seat. I roll my eyes slightly, she didn't know if I'd live or not. I slide into the passenger seat, pulling my seat belt across my chest and sinking back into the seat.

“When did you say Mike would be coming out?” I asked her. The only upside to going away, is that Mike will be coming to join me once he finishes his summer school lessons. Luckily, they didn't take that long to go through, so he told me that he'd come keep me company in hell; aka, my dad's house.

“I'm not sure. I think he told me it will be about the seventh week before he can come,” she said, as she drove down our road, taking a right at the stop sign and heading toward the airport so I could board a plane and leave San Diego.

“Great,” I mumble. I guess it's better than nothing. Maybe I could ask dad and see if he'd allow Mike to bring Jaime and Tony, I was going to miss them like crazy.

“Mi hijo, don't look so down about it, I think you'll enjoy it once you get settled in. Maybe you'll make some new friends,” she said, concentrating on the road, only glancing at me quickly before focusing on her driving.

“But, Ma, I'm not going to like it over there,” I frown.

“Yes you will, Victor. Your dad says there's a lot of young people where he lives,” obviously trying to convince me it'll be fun.

“Yeah, maybe, but none of those young people will be Mike, Jaime, or Tony,” I whine a little. My mother only rolls her eyes and pulls into the San Diego airport.

“Come on, you need to get going so you can catch your flight,” she says, putting the car in park and turning it off.

“Maybe I'll miss it,” I whisper, quiet enough so she doesn't hear. Boy am I wrong, because she does hear and she sends me a warning look. “Kidding,” I tell her. She again, rolls her eyes and then gets out of the car, going to the trunk to pull one of my bags out.

“Hurry up, Vic,” she demands. I get out of the car, closing the door behind me, and help her pull the last suitcase and my book bag out of the car.

“Thanks, Ma,” I say, kissing her cheek lightly.

“You're welcome, Victor. Now, here's your credit card, you left it on the counter earlier,” she said in a disappointed tone, “you best call me when you land. And your father will be there to pick you up, so don't forget that. Oh, be safe, you know, stranger danger.” I snort at this. I'm eighteen, I think I can handle myself. “Please be nice to Amanda, she only means well, and you know that,” Amanda is my dad's girlfriend, she lives with him.

“Mom, I know,” I groan out. “You said you didn't want me to miss my flight, didn't you?” I asked her, lifting my eyebrows in question.

“Oh yes!” she exclaims, throwing her arms around my neck and giving me a bone crushing hug. I was going to miss my mother, that was for sure.

“Alright, mama, I gotta go,” I say, pulling back from her. She smiles at me and motions me to go on.

“Goodbye, Vic.” she waves me off as a helper grabs one of my two suitcases for me.

“Thank you,” I say quickly to him, before heading for the doors.

“You better remember to call me!” she calls out just as I walk through the entrance door. I just chuckle lightly and continue walking over to the luggage check.

“Here you go,” the guy says, sitting my suitcase down for me. I nod to him in thanks and he walks off to help another flier.

-_-_-_-

After getting through all of the security checks, I made my way to the waiting area so I could hear when my flight number would be called. I sat in one of the red, cushioned seats and pulled my phone out.

To: Hime- Time
Hey bro. Hows stuff going?

I locked my phone back and looked around the big room, observing people that sat around me. There were, what I assumed to be, a lot of business people here. Most of them in fancy suits, carrying expensive looking brief cases. Then there were some elderly people here and there, most reading a book and the others napping. I caught one of the elderly women giving me strange looks, eyeballing my black skinny jeans and obviously disapproving of my long hair. Oh well, it's not her body.

My phone vibrated, telling my I had a new text message.

From: Hime-Time
Alright I guess. Mom just said she got a call from your mom, talking about how she misses you already. I do too. You should come back now.

I laugh, rolling my eyes at my friend. He's so weird. I quickly type back a reply.

To: Hime- Time
Sorry dude. I wish I could. I was thinking maybe dad would let you and Tony come up when Mike does. If you guys want to.

I sighed, locking my phone again. My flight was about to be called, departure time was 1:30, and it was 1 right now. My phone vibrated again.

From: Hime- Time
Dude! Yes!! I'd love to come up there and hang out with you. I'll talk to Tony about it later when we hang out! :)

To: Hime- Time
Alright man. I'll talk to you later. Keep me updated on SD life. Love You.

“Flight number, 1-0-4-4 now boarding,” a female voice said over the intercom. I looked down at my ticket and realized that was my flight. I grabbed my book bag and made my way to the ticket woman, and stand in line, getting ready to board my flight.

-_-_-_-

Once I had found my seat on the plane, I noticed that this wasn't a packed flight, and luckily I had the window seat, and an empty seat next to me. I pulled out my phone to see I had a new message.

From: Hime- Time
I love you too Vicky. Have a nice flight make sure to text us so we know youre still alive.

I smile and turn my phone off, sliding it into my book bag that I had brought on with me. I decided that on the flight there I would probably sleep or just read the multitude of music magazines my mom had purchased for me.

-_-_-_-

About thirty minutes into the flight, the buzzer came on, getting the attention of all of the passengers.

“Good afternoon passengers, this is your captain speaking,” everyone turned back to what they were doing, only giving the captain partial attention. “First, I'd like to welcome everyone on flight 1044. We are currently cruising at an altitude of 33,000 feet, and the time is 1:25 pm. The weather looks nice and with the tailwind on our side we are expecting to land in Detroit approximately fifteen minutes ahead of schedule. The weather in Detroit is clear and sunny, with a high of 78 degrees for this afternoon. The cabin crew will be coming around in about ten minutes time to offer you a light snack and beverage, and the inflight movie will begin shortly after that. I'll talk to you again before we reach our destination. Until then, sit back, relax and enjoy the rest of the flight.” I was at least grateful that the weather in Michigan would be nice.

-_-_-_-

After watching a safety video, getting offered drink and snack, and the rest of a four hour flight, I was glad when the captain had announced touchdown.

I currently stood in the Detroit airport, my book bag on my back, two suit cases in my hands, and my eyes roaming the crowds of swarming people for my dad.

After ten minutes of looking I decided I walk closer to the exit doors, and that's when I saw her. Amanda. She stood scanning people, obviously looking for me, her brown eyes darting between peoples faces until she spotted me. A smile spread across her face and she briskly walked over to me, enveloping me in a hug.

“Vic! It's so good to see you!” she said as she took one of my suitcases in her small hands and pulled me along out of the airport. “You're dad couldn't make it to pick you up, he had a meeting come up at the office, so he sent me, hope you don't mind.”

“Nah, it's cool,” I told her, giving her a small smile to reassure her.

“Well, good! I've gotta run to the grocery store, so you don't mind that either, right?” she asked as we approached her white Toyota.

“I don't mind,” I told her, as she opened the trunk to her car, setting my first suit case in there, and motioning for me to throw the other in there also. She closed the trunk forcefully and went to get into the drivers side. I slid into the passengers side, much like I had earlier that day, only this time with Amanda.

“So, how was your last year of high school? Your dad tells me you passed with flying colors! That's a really good thing, you know? Are you still going to go to a community college, or did you change your mind?” she asks, question after question. See what I meant? She can and will talk your ear off.

I gave a little chuckle and answered each question for her, “My last year of high school was okay, I guess. Not much happened, so it was uneventful. And about the college thing, I'm not sure yet. I mean, I guess I could go for like, music technology, or something,” I tell her.

She nods as she pulls out of the airport, “You should do something with music. It comes naturally to you, and that's a good thing. Your dad brags about your guitar playing ability all the time, so I hope you get to show off some for me,” she smiles, stopping the car at a red light.

“How long is the drive back?” I asked, completely curious as to how long I'd be in the car with her.

“About two hours, it's a long drive,” she says, ending with a laugh.

“Dang, you drove all the way over here by yourself?” I ask her. I kind of feel bad now. I didn't like driving that far by myself.

“Yeah, but it's okay! I enjoy driving long distances; it gives yourself time to think about things,” she says as she gets onto a highway. “And besides, I like to look at all of the scenery Michigan has to offer.”

I don't know what to say to this, so I grab my book bag from where I had put it in the back seat and pulled my phone out of the front pocket.

“You going to call your mom?” Amanda asks me.

“Yeah,” I answer, “I told her I'd call whenever I landed.”

I waited as my phone turned on, the screen lighting up with a small apple icon. Once it turned on I dialed my mothers number, pressing the phone to my ear, listening to the ringing.

“Hello?” my mom's voice answers.

“Hey, ma,” I answer her.

“Mi hijo! How was the flight?” she questions “Is that Vic?!” I hear Mike's voice in the background, letting me know that he was home from his summer school thing. “Yes, Micheal!” my mom's voice calls back to my brother. I just smile at them.

“It's was fine, mom. Thanks again for picking up those magazines for me, they came in handy,” I tell her.

“Oh, you're welcome, son,” I can hear the smile in her voice.

“Can I talk to him for a minute?” I hear Mike's voice much closer this time. The phone seems to be shuffled around, and a second later Mike is talking to me. “Hey, Vic! How are you?” he asks me.

“Pretty good,” I laugh. “How was school?” I ask him.

“Boring as hell,” he sighs. “Watch your language, Micheal!” mom shouts at him. I laugh into the phone to let Mike know I was making fun of him for getting in trouble. “Sorry, ma,”

“So, when are you coming over?” I ask him, hoping he'd say a lot earlier than what mom had told me this afternoon.

“I'm not sure, bro. I'll ask my teacher tomorrow how long the course lasts, I know you want me over there with you,” he says into the phone. I nod my head even though he can't see me.

“I do,” I tell him.

“I know,” there was a pause in our conversation. “Well, I guess I'll let you go, I have some lame homework for math, I love you,” he says to me.

“Love you too, Mike,” I reply. I hear shuffling again, and then mom is talking to me again.

“Call me whenever you have another chance, okay?” she asks me.

“I will,” I tell her.

“Alright, Vic. Have a safe trip,”

“Okay, mom. Love you,”

“Love you too, mi hijo. Goodbye,” she says before the line goes dead. I sigh and lock my phone.