Not the One

For the next two days, I was jumping around the house, excited. I was already packed by the first night. I was going to miss Iowa and my parents, but my excitement was too strong for me to be sad.
Then it was time. My dad drove me to the airport. I wished my mom came too, but she had a headache and had no energy to come along, so I said goodbye to her before we left.
The airport was huge. This was the first time I have been here. My thoughts travelled over to Jane. I wondered where she sat when she was here, waiting for her flight. Could it be the same seat I was sitting on? Most likely not.
My dad informed me that Daniel was coming in an hour. Our flight was going to take off in about two hours. I was a bit nervous about getting on an airplane because I have never been on one. Hopefully it was like being in a car but high up in the sky.
“Do you want coffee?” My dad asked suddenly.
“Isn’t the stuff here expensive?” I didn’t want my dad to be spending his hard earned money on some overly priced coffee here.
“Yeah, I guess, but I was just wondering if you wanted something to drink.”
“No, thanks. I’m good.”
We both sat there, dad reading a travel magazine, me admiring the airport and looking around for Daniel.
I was looking up at the screen that displayed the time flights and where the planes were headed and coming from. I was fascinated by everything in the airport. The tired people in their sweatpants, some with and some without luggage, the security guards looking alert and bored at the same time, and the announcements that came on every few minutes. It was all new to me, and I enjoyed every moment taking in everything.
I was too busy staring at a girl handling the coffeemaker to notice Daniel coming. He tapped me on the shoulder.
“Ready to go, Leo?” He asked.
“Yes, I am,” I stood up.
“All right. I’m going to miss you,” my dad said, getting up and giving me a hug.
I think he was about to cry.
“Goodbye, Mark. I’ll see you again soon,” Daniel waved goodbye to my dad.
“Take care! Both of you!” My dad was waving with both of his hands.
Daniel and I headed to the gates where our flight was. I knew this was stupid, but I had to know. “Um, Daniel. I have a question… How often do planes malfunction?”
“Ha, not that often. Well, not that I know of. Nothing bad has happened to me, and I’ve been on plenty of planes in my life.”
“Okay. I think I feel a little bit more relieved.” I was still scared though. What if this was one of those rare times when something did went wrong? My life could be all over in an instant. Weirdly I didn’t think about these things when I rode in cars. I guess experiencing new things scared me, especially if it involved being up so high in the sky.
“Don’t worry. Just enjoy the flight. You’ll be amazed by what you can see up here.” We were now walking down the aisles inside the plane, finding our seats.
Daniel stopped near a row of seats in the middle of the plane. “Here are our seats. You get the window seat. Window seats are the best,” he said.
“Thanks.”
An announcement was made that we were about to take off soon. I got comfortable in my seat. I didn’t bring anything on board with me, so I grabbed a magazine that was slipped in the back of the seat in front of me. Of course, it was a travel magazine. I flipped through it and stumbled upon a page with the words “Malibu Life” across the page in huge yellow font. Since I was heading to Malibu, I thought I should read more about it.
I was amazed by the huge, fancy, expensive-looking houses shown on the page. I’ve actually never heard of Malibu before Daniel mentioned it. I assumed it was a rich city because Daniel lived there and he was the CEO of a company that sold sunglasses.
I wanted to ask Daniel more questions about the company and what my hours would be, but when I looked over next to me, he was asleep with headphones on. Okay, I was not going to bother him.
I closed the magazine and looked outside the window. The sky was getting dark. All around were clouds. My anxiety level went down because so far, it was a smooth ride.
Before I even realized it, we were descending to the ground. It was a nice 3-hour plane ride that I would never forget.
When Daniel and I were going through the luggage and getting all our things ready to leave, I saw a girl with beautiful blond hair waving at our direction. She looked to be about my age.
“Daddy!” she yelled when we walked closer to her.
“Hi, pumpkin. How are you?” Daniel asked her.
“I’m great. I missed you.” She leaned over and gave him a huge hug. They let go. “Who’s this?” She looked at me and smiled.
“Oh, this is Leo. He’ll be staying with us for 2 months. He’s going to work for me.”
My heart was racing. I was going to be staying in the same house as this girl? I could already feel myself sweating.
“Hi,” I finally managed to say.
“Hello. I’m Tina, nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too.”
“Well, Leo, this is Malibu,” Daniel said once we were outside.
“I can see that. It’s gorgeous. I love the palm trees.”
“Get ready to see our beach house!” Tina said, all jumpy and excited. Just then, a limo rolled by and stopped near us.
“This is our ride. Get in,” instructed Daniel.
Wow, so many first times in one day. The limo was black on the outside and inside. It smelled like fancy furniture, if I even knew what that smelled like.
“This… is awesome,” I said.
“I’m excited to have you here,” Tina said. “I can’t wait to show you around.”
Oh my God, a gorgeous girl was going to be taking me places. The thought made me sweat so much. Daniel saw me wiping my forehead.
“Is it too hot in here? I can open up a window,” he said.
“Oh, that would be good,” I said. He rolled down all the windows, and a blast of wind hit me. It was night time so I couldn’t really see the streets and where exactly we were headed.
After a few minutes in the limo, I heard the ocean. We must be nearing the beach and the house. The fresh, salty ocean water scent filled my nostrils. It was amazing. I have never been near an ocean before, so this was an exhilarating feeling.
The limo stopped on a huge driveway.
“We’re here,” declared Tina. She grabbed my wrist and scooted herself out of the car. This girl wasn’t one to be shy. I knew Jane would never touch anyone unless she really knew them and it was absolutely necessary. Suddenly, I realized my thoughts were on Jane. I missed her, and I wished she knew where I was right now. We haven’t spoken since the day she left, and the only way I could contact her was through her parents, who were still in Iowa.
We stepped inside the beach house. It was really large. Probably three stories high. A maid greeted us.
“She’s Lynne, our housemaid. Feel free to ask her for anything at any time,” Daniel told me.
“Okay.”
“Daddy, show Leo his room,” Tina suggested.
“Okay, follow me upstairs. It’s on the third floor,” said Daniel. We all went up the spiral stairs. It was shiny and looked new.
“Here it is.” Daniel opened the door. It was as large as my whole house. I could not believe I was going to be sleeping in such a big room by myself on the top-most floor.
“Wow, this is amazing. Thanks!” I said.
“Oh, and if you need anything from Lynne, just press this button over here.” Daniel pointed to a red button next to the king-size bed.
“All right.” I was still amazed by how enormous the room was. Imagine how big the other rooms were, since this was just the guestroom.
“My room is next door,” said Tina. “Come hang out with me whenever.” Seriously? She actually wanted me to hang out with her whenever?
“Okay, I will,” I said.
“It’s getting late, so maybe you two should head to bed. Get comfortable, Leo.” Daniel said goodnight to us and went downstairs.
Oh, I was so going to get comfortable. I climbed into the bed and curled up into a ball underneath the soft, white blankets.