[LoyalSamy]

Part 11:

What would she do? What would she say? It was Claire’s last day at home. She couldn’t believe she was going to be on a plane at 10 am tomorrow morning, alone. Well not hopefully not alone. Claire convinced herself that she would make a friend on the flight who was just as scared as she was. She knew she had to be up at 9 am so she could have her last breakfast with her parents. When she woke up, Shadow was already awake, lying there licking his paw and looked at her when she looked at him. She pulled him closer to her. “I’m gonna miss you little guy.” She kissed him. “ lets go to the kitchen shall we?”
“Good morning” Claire walked in. “ Hi Claire, Hi Shadow.” Her dad happily said. Claire sat at the table where her mom was sitting already starting to eat. Claire put Shadow down so he could get a drink. Claire saw some good things on the table. Cereal, hard boiled eggs, Greek yogurt, and bagels. She took a bagel, and an egg and knew she would only eat the white part. Her dad took his plate and joined them. Claire started picking at her egg and moving her shoulders side to side like she had a song in her head.“Ready?” her dad asked.“ I think so” Claire looked up at her parents, as she put a piece of the egg in her mouth, and smiled. “Breakfast is okay?” her mom asked. “ um hum” Claire nodded. “Just think tomorrow afternoon you’ll be in the sun underneath palm trees.” Claire reached for a bowl and spoon to have some cereal. “ I’m gonna miss you.” Her dad said. “I know.” Claire commented, and started pouring the grape nuts into the bowl. “Oh that reminds me” she started. “I wanna make sure I bring some pictures.” She knew what she would do after breakfast. “After you finish packing, want to come with me on my errands?” “I don’t know “ I know your anxious about the plane ride, so we should do something to keep your mind occupied.” “ True” Claire agreed. She happened to notice that her nails needed attention. “While were out can we get a manicure?” Her dad then jumped in. “ haha, if you were a celebrity I could just see it -Breaking news, Claire did not get a manicure before going on vacation!” “ Dad, I wanna look as nice as possible, and that includes my nails.” “ Sure honey” her mom told her rolling her eyes at her husband.
Her mom didn’t change any of her plans because her daughter was going away. By the time they got to Nails in Paris, Claire was ready for some warmer weather though she didn’t mind the cold at all. . “Hi two manicures” her mom told the lady at the desk when they walked in. “Pick a color” she told them. Claire didn’t take her jacket off and went over to the area where the nail polishes were sitting. With so many, Claire always thought that she could never try all of them before she died. She looked them over. “Know what your getting?” her mom picked one up quickly. Still looking at them, Claire didn’t know. “Nope, you?” “Well since its winter, I’m gonna go or something subtle” she picked up a “misty rose” which was like baby pink. “You should do something fun” she nudged her daughter. “Ya, I thought so, I don’t know what though.” She decided to look on the right where they kept all the brighter colors. For some reason Claire wanted to do a color that would match the band that was on her wrist, but then grabbed a bright pink, when she noticed that someone was waiting for her. When Claire and her mom were at the drying station, she looked over at a woman who was reading a magazine, and then closed it. Claire glanced at the cover. Something caught her eye. “Could I see that magazine?” She asked the woman. “Oh sure.” The woman passed it over and Claire and her mom looked at the cover. After about a second, Claire turned her head slowly to her mom. On the cover there was a square size of a photo of Criss with title “ 7 days with 7 loyals”. “Open it, and read the article” her mom was just as antsy as Claire to see what this was about. Claire lifted out her right hand turn the pages.
“ Oh my god, what a..” Claire couldn’t finish the sentence when she and her mom walked back to the car. “Claire, don’t let it get to you.” Claire shut the door to the car. “What a bitch” was the only word at the moment Claire could think of, she was so pissed. She took out her phone to see if she had any messages. Her mom was stronger with not letting what people say about her or others get to her. As she backed out she told Claire “ You’ll be with Criss for a week. When you come back, you’ll be able to prove everyone wrong.” “ Thanks mom” Claire sighed. “ Now, let’s get some dinner shall we?” and they left. When they came home Claire was glad she got out of the house. She took the magazine with her and wanted to put it somewhere where she would never see it again. She hid it under her bed, so it was “beneath her.” She looked up at her Criss photos and read a quote of his to always remind her: NEVER WASTE YOUR TIME WITH NEGATIVE PEOPLE OR WHAT THEY SAY. THE BEST REVENGE IS YOUR HAPPINESS AND SUCCESS. Tomorrow she would be able to talk to him face to face. But for right now she was getting hungry.
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Part 12:
Claire didn’t know what to watch when she got into bed that night. She was ready to go, and her luggage was out near the dining room. She hoped she didn’t forget to bring anything. She was flipping through the channels when she heard a scratch at the door. She got up and opened it, and no surprise there was Shadow wanting to come in. He looked up at her and she picked him up and carried him over to her bed, and got comfortable. It was going to be weird not sleeping with him again, just like at college. She started flipping through the channels again, and stumbled at the travel channel they were talking about the Top 10 best vacation spots. They were just finishing number two which was Zambezi River Rafting, in Zambia. Claire was interested in hearing what would number one be, but didn’t expect to hear that number one was Mexico. She was playing with Shadow when she heard it. “ Mexico?” She looked at the TV, and squinted her eyes skeptical. “ Why is it that Mexico just happens to be number one?” she said out loud as she watched as the TV showed images of amazing beaches and places to go. After a few minutes.. “Oh wow, it’s a sign. Its. a. sign.” She looked up at her ceiling. She continued watching, growing more excited for what was about to come. Finally she turned it off, and it was time to sleep. “Goodnight Shadow.”
The next morning she felt organized although she was nervous like hell. Both her parents called a cab to take them to the airport. Her parents would stay with her before she would have to board. The cab was going to be there in one hour. Until then, Claire’s mom made her some tea and Claire was getting dressed. She realized quickly that they didn’t tell everyone to wear anything special so they would know who belongs in the group, but she figured something with Criss on it would help. She decided for the flight there, she would leave with her black very comfortable sweat pants, sneakers, long sleeve shirt, and her Mindfreak hoodie. On the plane she would change in to a tank top and jeans. She looked in the bathroom mirror and thought she looked pretty good. She didn’t put any makeup on, and straightened her hair last night. It looked the best that way. “ Claire, your tea is ready” her mom called. “Coming!”
Claire sipped her tea, “Nervous?” her mom asked sitting at the table with her. “Very” Claire said going in for another sip as if the kitchen was freezing. “You can do it.” Her mom trying to reassure her. “ thanks for trying to make me believe that.” “ Hate to tell you this, but the cab is here.” Her dad said from the front door. “ Wow, did an hour go by that quick?” Claire got up and went to go pick up her carry on. Her mom and dad grabbed her two other bags. She was the first one to get into the car and the cab driver was curious as to why there were only 2 pieces of luggage. “Oh, those are mine. I’ll be going alone.” Claire said to him. Her parents both joined her in the backseat. As the car left the driveway, Claire felt so bad. She forgot to say goodbye to Shadow. It was so early she couldn’t think. “Oh god, mom, dad, I forgot to say goodbye to Shadow” She put her hands in face. “ Its okay” her dad said. “Will you say goodbye for me when you go back home?” “ Of course.” Claire still felt bad, and on top of that she was all nerves. She couldn’t wait to take notes on how Criss deals with these kind of emotions. It was an hour till they would get to the airport. By the time they got onto the highway, Claire decided she needed something quick to calm her down, so she took out her headphones, and listened to Fear to start, followed by other Criss songs. As she listened, she looked out the window. Men on motorcycles whizzed by, along with a few black SUV’s, and when they were closer to the airport and hit a red light, a truck advertizing Corona stopped on the right side of the cab. It took her a minute, and then she smiled. She always had a piece of Criss with her. She could now see the signs for JFK. She was relieved that at least her parents didn’t send her off to the airport alone. The cab turned onto the road for outgoing flights, and Claire took off her headphones, and whipped out her camera to snap a picture. “ What airline?” the cab driver asked again. Her parents knew she would have to speak for herself now. “ AeroMexico” Claire replied and put her stuff away.
When she got out, the noise of everyone and everything made Claire feel like she had to rush to, even though they got there early. She saw the trash and threw out her travel cup, and came back and got her luggage. She was in charge now. “Thank you” she said to the cab driver. She started to walk away, with her parents following her. When she got to the doors she asked security: “Hi, check in for AreoMexico?” “ Through these doors and down to your left” he said. “Thank you.” “ See you can do this” her mom said patting her shoulder. Checking in wasn’t going to take too long. There were about 20 people in line, and even though she could check herself in, the line looked like it was going pretty smooth. Claire was able to pick up on what she had to do. Without asking she took out her ID and passport. As she stood there waiting, her mom was talking about everything she noticed. Towards the front of the line Claire first noticed a mother and her daughter. Both the little girl’s shirt and the mom’s purse were the same color, although the mother’s purse was a magenta. She wondered if that was supposed to be on purpose, but it was cute. It was then that Claire saw another girl wearing… the same hoodie as her, or so she thought. The girl happened to look at her. Claire smiled at her and she smiled back. The girl raised her arm to show the side of her hoodie which indeed did say Mindfreak. Claire’s mouth dropped open a little, as she and her parents moved forward in the line. “ Cabo?” She yelled questioning. “ Ya!” the girl yelled back. “ Oh my god, hi” Claire said, getting excited. “Who’s that?” her mom asked looking at the girl. “ I think that’s loyal Kate.” Claire said wondering herself. “I’m loyal Claire” Claire told her. “ I’m loyal Kate” “ I thought it was you!” Claire said back starting to feel better. Claire then noticed that Kate was being called up. “Oh go ahead” she pointed. “ I’ll talk to you later” “ Ok” Kate said back. Claire turned to her parents really excited now. “ wow, I met someone else already! Maybe I’ll get to sit next to her!” “ Or maybe you’ll sit seven rows behind her” her dad knew that would get to her, and laughed. It was then Claire’s turn. Claire took out her tickets. “ Hi Claire Epidavaros, I have my tickets here” she handed them, her ID and her passport to the woman. The woman looked up once and went back to the computer typing away. “ Your all set.” “ Thank you.” As Claire walked away, she turned to her parents who were proud of her already. “ Phase 1, done.”
Going through security was fairly easy, and her parents waited for her at the end so she could learn to do it alone. “Got everything?” her mom asked, as Claire looked around gathering her things. “I think so.” As she started to put on her sneakers and flung her carry on hanging on her shoulder. “ Lets go.”
“ Well its time.” Claire took a deep breath. “Claire, its gonna be so great, when you come back, your gonna say : I wanna do it all over again!” “ I can’t wait to see pictures!” her mom said as they walked her towards the line. “ Alright, you guys can go. I call you one more time when I’m on the plane.” Claire had to let go. She gave them both a hug. As they walked away she heard “ We love you!” She waved to them. As she started walking to board, she heard her name being called. “Claire!” She turned around. “ Oh hi!” she exclaimed. It was Kate. She caught up with her. “ I didn’t see you waiting out there?” Claire asked. “ Ya, that’s because I was at McDonalds. “ Ah ha.” “hey, did you see where were sitting?” Kate asked breaking the ice, and like she already knew. “ No”. Kate showed her, her ticket. “ First class?!” Claire was shocked and looked back at her ticket “ Oh my god!” Claire looked at the number of her seat: “5A “she said outloud. “5B.” Kate said. “Were sitting together, thank god.” Claire let out a sigh of relief. “Your really nervous aren’t you?” “ Ya.” “ Don’t worry, I’ve done this twice already, the first time I was nervous like you.” They were about to board the plane. So I guess were the only ones from New York? Claire said. “Yup” Kate looked behind her, and gave Claire a high five. “ tickets?” the flight attendant asked. Kate let Claire go first. She stepped in, and waited for Kate. They were escorted to their seats. Kate went into her seat first, and looked out the window. “ So glad I have the window seat”. “ So glad I don’t.” Claire replied. They laughed. “Afraid of heights?” “ No” Claire told her after putting her carry on under the seat in front of her, and sat down, “ I just feel kinda cramped in.” It didn’t matter now, Claire noticed she was quite comfortable. “Are you surprised as I am that Criss got everyone first class?” Kate didn’t see it as a big deal, and she put her head back and closed her eyes. “ Loyals aka VIP’s.” Kate spelled out with her hand. Claire chuckled. Claire felt like she maybe was talking too much. She took out her phone and called her parents one last time.