71
Valentina
Morning comes a few hours later. Considering it morning is a stretch, though, since it’s still dark out.
I slowly sit up on the couch and rub my eyes to see Will placing a third chair in front of the sliding doors.
“How many are out there?” I grumble.
Will turns around and smiles. “At least 30 already.”
I wrap my blanket around me and shuffle over to the window, where a growing line of people is beginning to form outside the Macy’s across the street.
“What idiots.” I look up at Will. “When does the store open?”
He glances down at his watch. “We have about two hours.”
“Perfect,” I say through a yawn. “I’m going to shower, and then I expect an IV drip of coffee.”
His smile grows as he wraps an arm around my shoulders. “You got it.” He kisses the top of my head and heads for the kitchen while I make my way to my room.
“You two are so weird for this,” JJ mumbles as I pass him in the hallway.
“People-watching is fun, JJ,” I add some excitement to my voice that is definitely not usually there this early.
He raises an eyebrow at me. “But at three in the morning?”
I shrug. “Got to get up early to see the most chaos.”
He rolls his eyes, but ruffles my hair up before continuing his trip to the kitchen.
“Good morning, by the way,” I call out to him. He barely lifts a hand in an attempt to wave and keeps on walking—clearly not a morning person, that one.
I shut the door to my room, and my eyes immediately fall to the floor where my phone still lies. I told Huxley I would see him on Saturday, and I meant it.
I grab my phone from the floor, plug it in to charge, then shove it into the drawer.
Don’t think about him today.
I take a quick shower and change before heading back to the kitchen with Will and JJ. JJ finally looks awake now that he’s had caffeine, but it does nothing to help him understand Will as he tells him about our people-watching fun.
I don’t really know when we started this tradition.
It’s just always been something that we looked forward to when we get the chance—seeing who was actually there for the deals and who was there just to cause chaos.
Who would come out with one item, and who would have three carts to their name.
Is it weird? Yes. But we never claimed to be normal.
There was one time when Morgan was still here; she drove us to a store early in the morning just so we could get a parking spot close by.
Some people didn’t like that we were parked there and not shopping, and one guy even threatened to call the cops because we took away a premium parking spot.
We knew the cops wouldn’t do anything about it, so we stayed there all day. Watching and laughing.
On the rare occasion of our outings, we would actually go into the store and buy a random item that claimed it once cost $500, but they were selling it for only $19.99! The fact that people believed the sales that were posted always blows my mind.
And now, it’s a different group of three taking part in the tradition as we all sit in our uncomfortable chairs and watch the crowd continue to grow in front of the store.
As soon as the store opens, madness unfolds as everyone tries to cram in all at once. We each point out random customers. Mainly the youngest and the oldest, hoping nothing bad happens to them.
As the day goes on, fewer and fewer people come and go, but we still sit here. At one point, we started guessing what people bought based on their appearance. Even JJ played along for a few of them. But once the sun went down, we called it a day.
A day like old times, despite the change in lineup.
A day I desperately needed to forget about reality.
Will and I start cleaning up while JJ heads to the couch to turn on the news.
“Hey, Val,” JJ calls out.
“Yeah?” I finish drying off a plate and turn to the living room.
“You might want to see this.”
My eyes lift to the television where the newscaster is talking about a snowstorm that has taken over most of the country. A monitor behind him shows flights slowly canceling one by one.
“Holy shit.” Will turns to look at me, worry filling his eyes. “Do you still have a flight?”
“Let me check.” I head to my room and retrieve my phone from the drawer. The screen lights up, and I’m immediately faced with a message. I really expected there to be hundreds again. But there’s only one.
Huxley: I’ll see you Saturday.
I hadn’t thought of Huxley all day, but this message brings it all back.
Why couldn’t he just delete that photo? I mean, what was he really going to do with it?
The thought of him actually using it to masturbate leaves conflicting thoughts in my head.
The point of me sending him that photo was so he could use it during our phone call.
But him using it again? I don’t know if I should feel flattered or disgusted with myself.
I take a deep breath and try to push all that back down as I check my flight.
I reload the page three times, but everything is still a go.
No delays or cancellations. I’m honestly shocked by that.
It seems like the entire country is under lockdown because of this storm, but my flight is perfectly fine.
Though some may argue that’s not a good thing, I’m not getting stuck here.
I love Will and JJ, but there’s too much shit that needs to be dealt with back home, and I’d rather get it over with sooner than later.
I head back out to the living room, still looking at my phone to check every detail again. “Everything’s still good,” I say while scrolling.
“Are you seeing this, Tina?” Will asks.
I look up at the TV and see nothing but white. Some places already have a foot of snow, and it’s still snowing.
“Jesus,” I breathe out.
“Maybe you shouldn’t go home. I’m sure the college will understand all of this.”
I ignore the concern in his voice and shake my head. “If my flights cancel, I’ll stay. But there’s nothing to worry about.”
“Val.” JJ turns around, his voice carrying some of Will’s concern. “This looks pretty serious.”
“I’m gonna be okay,” I assure them.
They both warily turn back to the TV. Snow continues to pile up across the country, destroying a lot of travel plans for millions of people.
But here’s my thought.
If I’m meant to stay here, my flight will get canceled.
If I’m meant to die, I will on the plane.
But if I make it back to Washington, then that’s what’s meant to be.