Chapter 1: It Never Rains in Southern California...Right-2

“Excuse me, miss?” A male voice says. I look up again and see a flight attendant standing before me. “What?” “This lady says that you are in her seat. You can change after if you’d like, but it’s critical that you sit in your assigned seat. “Well sir, obviously your stupid plane has been overbooked, because this is my seat.” “May I see your ticket?” He asks. I hand it to him and say, “See? 24A.” “It appears that the plane has indeed been overbooked. I’m sorry for the inconvenience.” “But I want that seat! It’s a window seat!” She says, huffing. “Ya know what? Fine. Take it, I really don’t care.” I say, unbuckling the seatbelt and sitting in the aisle seat instead. “Thank you.” The lady says as she sits in her seat. The flight attendant smiles and leaves. I roll my eyes at his retreating back. I pull out my iPod Touch, and put the buds in my ear. I hit shuffle, and my favorite song comes on. The A Team by Ed Sheeran. I love this song so much. It’s like so heartfelt, and Ed’s voice is so wonderful. As the plane takes off, I keep my eyes trained on page in the Sarah Dessen book I brought with me to endure the long plane ride. Along for the Ride. I actually brought a lot of Sarah Dessen books with me for the summer. I’m not really a fan of reading, but I love Sarah Dessen’s books. Someone Like You, Just Listen, Keeping the Moon, Dreamland, What Happened to Goodbye, Lock and Key, and The Truth about Forever are all of the one’s I brought. I don’t own the rest, but I’ve read them all. But I mean, ya know, Sarah Dessen’s books are so good that you can just read them over and over again. Two hours and fifty very boring minutes later, the pilot says we have arrived in Los Angeles. I-being in Coach-have to wait until the other passengers get off the plane. Bummer, I know. Once Coach is finally released, I am more than happy to get away from the lady who I was on the plan beside. I walk out of the terminal with my luggage, and go and sit down at a bench. IAs I said, it’s been a whole seven years since I’ve seen Sarah or any of the O’Connor’s. I do, however, vaguely remember that Sarah has blonde hair, so I guess that’s what I’ll watch for. “McKenna?” An angelic like voice says from behind me. I turn around in the bench and see Sarah standing before behind me. “Hi Sarah!” I exclaim. “My God, it’s been forever since I’ve seen you. How are you?” She asks, hugging me tightly as I stand up. “I’ve been pretty good.” I tell her. It’s true, I have been pretty good. My Dallas life is wonderful. Well, for the most part. “You look so beautiful; you’re all grown up now, aren’t you.” She states, as she takes one of my bags. I take in her long blonde hair, and realize that she still looks the same as she did seven years ago. “Mickey! Look at you.” A voice booms from behind me. I turn around to see none other than Ricky O’Connor. That’s Sarah’s husband. I love Ricky too. He’s almost as amazing as Sarah herself. “Hi Uncle Ricky!” I say, as he hugs me. Uncle Ricky has a heavy country accent; and I think he was born somewhere in the south. Uncle Ricky isn’t my uncle, but I’ve always called him that. Sarah isn’t my aunt, but then again I’ve never called Sarah ‘Aunt Sarah’. Why? I don’t know. Just doesn’t sound right. “Aww you’re a beauty.” He tells me, as he grabs my other two bags. “Aww, thanks.” I say. Sarah smiles and says, “Well we’d better get going. They’re so excited to see you McKenna.” Somehow, I seriously doubt that. As soon as we step outside, it literally pours down raining. No joke. A flash of thunder hits and I run towards Uncle Ricky’s car, as to avoid getting wet. My attempts didn’t help so much. I still wind up getting soaked in water as I wait for Uncle Rick to unlock the doors so I can get in. But when he does, I quickly throw my bag into the trunk, and hide from the rain coming down hard. It doesn’t take very long to get from Los Angeles to Vernon. It only takes about fifteen as a matter of fact. “So how’s school been for you Mickey?” Uncle Ricky asks from the driver’s seat. I push my hair behind my ear and say, “It’s been going great for the most part.” “Your mom says you were the Junior Prom Queen.” Sarah says. I nod, “Yeah I was. I didn’t wanna run or anything, but I was nominated.” “That’s so wonderful. I wish I could Hailey to do something like that.” She tells me. Hailey O’Connor. I hate that bitch. I’ve hated her since I knew what the word, ‘hate’ meant. Since we are around the same age-she’s 16, I’m 17. We’re about seven months apart, Sarah and my mother tried to pair us up, ya know, make us friends. No, didn’t work. She just not a nice girl. I mean, sure I wasn’t that nice to her, but in my defense, she started it. So our pure hatred for each other spanned out over the next ten years. She was one of those girls who everyone thought was sweet. And sure, she was on the outside. But her heart is made of ice. You’d think living in Vernon would nicen her up a bit. I mean the population of Vernon is only one hundred twenty or something like that. So naturally, most people know each other. I am so not looking forward to seeing Hailey or any of her stupid brothers. “Well my mom told me that Hailey plays volleyball, surely she’s got something for that.” I offer. “Yeah, she has. The team is pretty good. I know she can’t wait to see you again.”