The Switch
From D.C. to Cali
ERIKA
1999
"So exactly how long is it going to take to get to California?" Megan, or Meg as she preferred being called, asked for the third time in the last ten minutes. "Well the first time you asked this, I'd said an hour and a half. Second time you asked, I'd said an hour and twenty five minutes-" Mom tried to keep a straight face at my words.
"And now that you're asking the same question, again, I'd say it's going to take an hour and twenty minutes." I stretched out my legs as far as they could. I really didn't have the patience to keep my ass glued to this seat of the plane for this long. But I had to anyway.
"Well, this is boring." Meg mused and rolled her eyes. "It's still better than spending your entire summer in some five star resort with your parents, who are going to spend three fourths of their time engaged with work anyway. And one fourth of it sipping on cocktails along with you, if you had decided to join them, and a bunch if people who you probably don't even know." I snorted, earning two very different reactions from my best friend and mom.
"Oh god, you're so damn right E."
"Erika, that's rude."
"I know, Meg." I replied to my friend before turning my attention at mom. "Mom, you have to agree California's going to be a much better place to spend summer." I said, running a hand through my hair. "You loved it there the last time we visited aunt Maria." I said as a matter of fact.
"Hmm, that's true. Meg, did Erika tell you about my sister's garden in her backyard? It's amazing." Mom said before taking a sip of her water. "If you love the garden, then I'll probably love it too. Our choices are so similar, aunt Jess." Meg replied and put a hand over her heart, which earned her a 'proud to be your godmother' looks from mom.
Meg's mom, Nora Gellar, was best friends with mom since like forever. And that meant that Meg and I used to see each other almost every day since we were kids. She was my best friend since kindergarten, and she'd probably stayed over at our place more than she'd stayed her parents'. So it was of no surprise that mom treated both Meg and I equally.
And not to mention, Meg actually knew how to butter up mom really well at times while I just reaped the benefits of it. For instance, I tried to sneak out to this party once because mom won't let me. And I'd thought of lying, just a little so that she'd let me go. Bloody turns out that the only thing I probably sucked at was lying. And I still did. But thank god, Meg had saved my ass.
"Of course you'll love it, Meg." I snorted before looking out the plane's window. The view below looked so tiny, I'd love to just jump out and go sky diving.
"E, you were saying something about your cousins a while back." Meg said, flipping the pages of the cosmo that she was reading, and a smile spread over my face. "Right, so you have to meet Zack. You won't believe how well we get along." I said proudly.
"Don't forget about Matthew and Zina." Mom reminded. "Yeah mom, but you know that - did I tell you that Zack's in a band?" I said to Meg who looked confused and shook her head sideways. "I don't think so." She shrugged.
"Maria was saying that he left his band, MPA or something, and joined this new band with a couple of friends." Mom informed before she transformed her seat into a spacious bed. Ah, the perks of business class seats. "That's cool, right?" Meg said to me.
"The band? Probably. I mean, that's what Zack told me about his 'band'." I said with a shrug. "I'll just take a quick nap, work's been bugging me a lot lately." Mom sighed as she slipped on her sleeping mask and fell into what seemed like a state of pure bliss.
"What was I saying? Yeah, so my cousin's in that new band or whatever. And he plays the guitar so well." I stated proudly. I may not be interested at all in whichever band he played, but I had to admit Zack was pretty fucking good at what he did.
"He'll show us around, right? Or are we just going to listen to him playing guitar for the whole summer?" Meg asked, scrolling up her playlist. "Of course he'll be showing us around. You can't just expect him to stay busy with his guitar and bandmates all the time." I shot her an obvious look.
"Agreed. So just how many bikinis did you pack? I brought two cause I'll be buying the rest from Cali." Meg said absentmindedly while she focused on her phone. "Let's see, I've got the emerald green one, purple one, and that navy blue pair that I got last week." I said, thinking about the decision of bringing just three bikinis when I'll definitely be needing more.
"Guess we both have to do some shopping." I heard Meg say, did she just read my mind?
"Of course we do. Remember the time Pauline Hamilton went back to London and came back with an even thicker accent and a bunch of colorful hats and jackets?" I said, cringing at the mental image of one of the girls back in school. "Don't forget the lace gloves." Meg added, bringing my imagination to life. "I'd totally thought she'd bring back some pencil skirts or crop tops, but no."
"Me too. I mean, who dresses like the queen to school?" I said, a little horrified. "Pauline Hamilton." Meg said, bearing a similar look as mine on her face.
"Ugh, Pauline Hamilton is not the point anyways. Point is, when we come back to Washington two months later everyone at school will see a new us. A new sense of dressing-" I said, totally picturing it.
"A whole new bunch of hairstyles-" Meg said and I looked at her. "What are you gonna do to your hair?" I asked in confusion. As far as I knew Meg, she never dyed her hair and never even thought about it. I mean, why dye when your hair already looks stunning?
"Nothing eccentric, just gonna buy a shit tonne of hair products probably." She replied with a shrug. "Better than dying your hair blue like Tessa Morgan did last year." I said and sipped on my apple juice.
"Oh god, don't remind me of that E." Meg said in shock while I smirked in response. "Her hair looked like bloody cotton candy, and blue didn't even suit her." She mumbled a while later. "Exactly. I think I'd even told her to change it back to brown, but I guess she thought I was being sarcastic." I shook my head at the thought.
"Enough of school talking, did we reach California yet?" Meg asked, trying to look out the window I was sitting beside. "Nope, it's gonna take-" I glanced at my phone for the time and suppressed a grin. "...an hour and ten minutes more." Meg sighed dramatically and started to toy with a lock of her hair.
"Oh come on, don't be such a sourpuss." I said, earning a pointed look from her. "While we're still seated inside this plane, and that too in business class, I say let's make the most of it." With that, I pushed the small button on my arm rest causing the inflatable footrest to do it's magic and lean back my seat a little.
"Well, then what am I waiting for, Christmas?" Meg said before mimicking my actions. "Ah, that's more like it." I said before slipping on my mask over my eyes.
"I'm in paradise, E." I heard Meg sigh contentedly. "So am I, Meg, so am I." I replied before exhaling in pleasure. California, here we come.
1999
"So exactly how long is it going to take to get to California?" Megan, or Meg as she preferred being called, asked for the third time in the last ten minutes. "Well the first time you asked this, I'd said an hour and a half. Second time you asked, I'd said an hour and twenty five minutes-" Mom tried to keep a straight face at my words.
"And now that you're asking the same question, again, I'd say it's going to take an hour and twenty minutes." I stretched out my legs as far as they could. I really didn't have the patience to keep my ass glued to this seat of the plane for this long. But I had to anyway.
"Well, this is boring." Meg mused and rolled her eyes. "It's still better than spending your entire summer in some five star resort with your parents, who are going to spend three fourths of their time engaged with work anyway. And one fourth of it sipping on cocktails along with you, if you had decided to join them, and a bunch if people who you probably don't even know." I snorted, earning two very different reactions from my best friend and mom.
"Oh god, you're so damn right E."
"Erika, that's rude."
"I know, Meg." I replied to my friend before turning my attention at mom. "Mom, you have to agree California's going to be a much better place to spend summer." I said, running a hand through my hair. "You loved it there the last time we visited aunt Maria." I said as a matter of fact.
"Hmm, that's true. Meg, did Erika tell you about my sister's garden in her backyard? It's amazing." Mom said before taking a sip of her water. "If you love the garden, then I'll probably love it too. Our choices are so similar, aunt Jess." Meg replied and put a hand over her heart, which earned her a 'proud to be your godmother' looks from mom.
Meg's mom, Nora Gellar, was best friends with mom since like forever. And that meant that Meg and I used to see each other almost every day since we were kids. She was my best friend since kindergarten, and she'd probably stayed over at our place more than she'd stayed her parents'. So it was of no surprise that mom treated both Meg and I equally.
And not to mention, Meg actually knew how to butter up mom really well at times while I just reaped the benefits of it. For instance, I tried to sneak out to this party once because mom won't let me. And I'd thought of lying, just a little so that she'd let me go. Bloody turns out that the only thing I probably sucked at was lying. And I still did. But thank god, Meg had saved my ass.
"Of course you'll love it, Meg." I snorted before looking out the plane's window. The view below looked so tiny, I'd love to just jump out and go sky diving.
"E, you were saying something about your cousins a while back." Meg said, flipping the pages of the cosmo that she was reading, and a smile spread over my face. "Right, so you have to meet Zack. You won't believe how well we get along." I said proudly.
"Don't forget about Matthew and Zina." Mom reminded. "Yeah mom, but you know that - did I tell you that Zack's in a band?" I said to Meg who looked confused and shook her head sideways. "I don't think so." She shrugged.
"Maria was saying that he left his band, MPA or something, and joined this new band with a couple of friends." Mom informed before she transformed her seat into a spacious bed. Ah, the perks of business class seats. "That's cool, right?" Meg said to me.
"The band? Probably. I mean, that's what Zack told me about his 'band'." I said with a shrug. "I'll just take a quick nap, work's been bugging me a lot lately." Mom sighed as she slipped on her sleeping mask and fell into what seemed like a state of pure bliss.
"What was I saying? Yeah, so my cousin's in that new band or whatever. And he plays the guitar so well." I stated proudly. I may not be interested at all in whichever band he played, but I had to admit Zack was pretty fucking good at what he did.
"He'll show us around, right? Or are we just going to listen to him playing guitar for the whole summer?" Meg asked, scrolling up her playlist. "Of course he'll be showing us around. You can't just expect him to stay busy with his guitar and bandmates all the time." I shot her an obvious look.
"Agreed. So just how many bikinis did you pack? I brought two cause I'll be buying the rest from Cali." Meg said absentmindedly while she focused on her phone. "Let's see, I've got the emerald green one, purple one, and that navy blue pair that I got last week." I said, thinking about the decision of bringing just three bikinis when I'll definitely be needing more.
"Guess we both have to do some shopping." I heard Meg say, did she just read my mind?
"Of course we do. Remember the time Pauline Hamilton went back to London and came back with an even thicker accent and a bunch of colorful hats and jackets?" I said, cringing at the mental image of one of the girls back in school. "Don't forget the lace gloves." Meg added, bringing my imagination to life. "I'd totally thought she'd bring back some pencil skirts or crop tops, but no."
"Me too. I mean, who dresses like the queen to school?" I said, a little horrified. "Pauline Hamilton." Meg said, bearing a similar look as mine on her face.
"Ugh, Pauline Hamilton is not the point anyways. Point is, when we come back to Washington two months later everyone at school will see a new us. A new sense of dressing-" I said, totally picturing it.
"A whole new bunch of hairstyles-" Meg said and I looked at her. "What are you gonna do to your hair?" I asked in confusion. As far as I knew Meg, she never dyed her hair and never even thought about it. I mean, why dye when your hair already looks stunning?
"Nothing eccentric, just gonna buy a shit tonne of hair products probably." She replied with a shrug. "Better than dying your hair blue like Tessa Morgan did last year." I said and sipped on my apple juice.
"Oh god, don't remind me of that E." Meg said in shock while I smirked in response. "Her hair looked like bloody cotton candy, and blue didn't even suit her." She mumbled a while later. "Exactly. I think I'd even told her to change it back to brown, but I guess she thought I was being sarcastic." I shook my head at the thought.
"Enough of school talking, did we reach California yet?" Meg asked, trying to look out the window I was sitting beside. "Nope, it's gonna take-" I glanced at my phone for the time and suppressed a grin. "...an hour and ten minutes more." Meg sighed dramatically and started to toy with a lock of her hair.
"Oh come on, don't be such a sourpuss." I said, earning a pointed look from her. "While we're still seated inside this plane, and that too in business class, I say let's make the most of it." With that, I pushed the small button on my arm rest causing the inflatable footrest to do it's magic and lean back my seat a little.
"Well, then what am I waiting for, Christmas?" Meg said before mimicking my actions. "Ah, that's more like it." I said before slipping on my mask over my eyes.
"I'm in paradise, E." I heard Meg sigh contentedly. "So am I, Meg, so am I." I replied before exhaling in pleasure. California, here we come.
Notes
I'm so excited to share this story with you all! This one is pretty special, I guess, I'd always thought of writing a story with such a plot. But didn't get much time.
But now it's here!
I can't wait to see how you guys are going to respond to it :D
@Holly
I'm not abandoning it, I promise
5/1/18