My Brother's Best Friend

eight

It was currently four in the morning, were fixing to leave for the airport. It's about a half-hour drive to LAX and our flight leaves at seven.

Here we come: Chamonix, France.

I am excited to travel across the world to a whole new place I've never been. I'm not that excited about the seventeen-hour plane ride. I mean that's almost a whole day of sitting at a ninety-degree angle.

At least they'll have reclining seats so I can sleep comfortably. I never sleep in any sort of transportation. Well, unless it had a bed. I just can't sleep at a ninety-degree angle. My body just doesn't like it.

"Hey, Jess?" Garrett whispered in my ear. He had taken the back seat so he could sleep on the way to the airport, leaving me to sit in the front next to my brother.

"What?" I turned slightly around to face him.

"Do you want to sit next to me on the plane?" He asked, smiling.

"Why?" I pulled my arm away from his reach.

He placed his hand on top of my hand, "Because you'll be at the window seat, and I want to look out the window, so it'd be better if I sit next to you." He winked at me before whispering in my ear, "Plus you will be a pretty nice view to look at too."

I raised an eyebrow at him, "Okay, first of all, it is only," I looked down at the time on my phone. "Five in the morning. Let me at least have a few more hours before your flirty comments start."

He chuckled. "So, what do you say?"

"Well considering I'm not moving my seat I'd talk to him." I stuck my thumb out over to Matt.

I wonder how he's not hearing this conversation. Maybe he's just too tired to be functioning yet. Or maybe he is just ignoring us. We pulled into a parking spot near the front and grabbed the bags out of the trunk.

I stepped out of the air-conditioned car and faced a blast of heat in my face. I checked the temperature on my phone; already eighty-two degrees and it's not even six in the morning. That's got to be a new record.

We walked towards the international part of the airport where we checked our bags to the Delta workers and walked into the doors of the musty airport.

We walked through security, only being stopped for fifteen minutes at the security checkpoint, where Garrett had a hard time getting through the metal detectors.

Matt and I sat there in amusement while we watched Garrett get hand-searched by some police. Turns out his shoelaces were metal and it went off because of it. We rushed through the airport trying to get on the train to take us to our destination.

Once again, we were held up because Matt saw a hot girl and just had to get her number. Garrett and I had to wait for him to get off the next train.

We were never going to make it in time.

"Um guys sorry to interrupt your fawning on blondie over there," I stuck my thumb out towards the girl Matt had gotten the girl's number from. "But if we don't run, now, we're not going to make it."

I clicked the home button on my iPhone to check the time, it was almost seven in the morning now, and they just started boarding. And they close it 10-15 minutes before departure. Which gave us only around 10 minutes to make it to the gate.

"Shit." They both mumbled. Then we took off running towards the gates without boarding passes in our hands, book bags slapping against our backs, and carry-ons hitting other people as we ran by.

Suddenly Garrett stopped and I ran straight into him. "What the heck?" I yelled.

"Oh, sorry." He laughed, and helped me up, "What gate are we at?"

"Seven," I said, trying to catch my breath again.

"Great, thanks." He jogged back up to Matt, leaving me alone.

We made it just in time before they called the last call. I need a drink. And I don't even drink. Yet.

Why can't I be twenty-one yet?

Our seats were in row three, Matt had booked us in first class. I don't understand how Matt gets all of this money. It's unfair. Here we go again with my mother liking him more than me. She never said anything about her credit card again, and she never cut it off.

The flight attendants showed a little presentation on how to use the life jacket and oxygen masks in case anything Happened on the flight.

This will be the first time I have flown this far. I'm kind of nervous since we have to cross the ocean. What if the plane just started going down and we got stuck in the middle of the ocean and we lived like the people in LOST? I don't know how pilots stay awake for that long. if I can't make it five hours without having to rest, I have no clue how they do. But I'm guessing coffee.

The sun was coming up as we were on the runway, blinding everyone on the left side of the plane. We were sitting on the right side of the plane, so I got to watch my favorite thing to do. Take off.

"Hey Jess, can you move your head, I want to see out the window," Garrett exclaimed.

I turned towards him and cocked my eyebrow at him. "No." I joked and stared at him with my mouth hanging open.

His eyes widened as he started to almost stutter, "What? No? Just move."

I laughed and turned back towards the window just in time to feel the speed of the plane rise.

We finally climbed to about 15,000 feet in the air and the flight attendants told us it was ok to use our electronics, so I turned my phone on and took a picture of the clouds then plugged my headphones in.

The best part about being in first class is that you can recline your seat without being yelled at by the person behind you for not giving them any space.

I reclined as much as the seat would and tried to get in a comfortable position to try and sleep. Everything was comfier than the economy seats.

This would be my first time to go to France. I used to just travel with my family when we were younger.

Now that we weren't here with any adults, I felt free.

As if the world and I were one.