Chapter 2- April
“Flight 217 to Las Vegas will be boarding in fifteen minutes,” the overhead announcement said. I look around but still no sign of my best friend. Where is she? This whole trip was her idea!
From deep within my purse my phone buzzes and I scramble to get it out. “Hello?”
“Hi April!” Kim giggles over the line.
“Hi, where are you? Our flight is almost boarding!”
“Yeah, about that…” Kim trails off with another giggle. Oh no. I knew my best friend was a flake, but really? She wouldn’t bail on a trip out of the state, that she paid for… would she?
“I’m not going to Vegas with you, April.” Apparently, she would.
Okay, April. Deep breaths.
“And why not?” I ask.
“Nathan finally asked me out!” Kim squealed. I actually have to pull my phone away from my ear at the pitch of it.
“That’s great Kim,” I muster up some enthusiasm for her. She’s been trying to get her tennis instructor to see her as something more than a student for a couple of months now. It has been an ongoing topic of conversation. “Why does that stop you from coming to Vegas with me?”
“Well, you see Nathan has a place in Malibu and he wants to spend some time getting to know me, if you know what I mean!” She giggles more and I sigh. Kim must hear the irritation in my voice because she continues. “You should totally still go though. Everything’s all set up!”
Well, she’s got me there. It was Kim’s idea for us to go on a “girl’s trip”. I was thinking we would go to a spa and get our nails done, that way I could still get some extra shifts in at the restaurant. But no, Kim said she wanted to do something more exciting, something she doesn’t already do twice a month. Hence, the trip to Las Vegas.
As we say our goodbyes, I ponder how I got here.
I met Kim through a local volleyball team when we were kids. Even though I consider her my best friend, to this day our friendship surprises me. She comes from money, a lot of money. Kim is the one who financed our trip, paying for roundtrip plane tickets, hotel rooms, the works. Well, it’s technically her father’s money but he lets her do whatever she wants with it. Sometimes, I feel a little like I might be using Kim—I never had a lot of money growing up. I was quiet and spent most of my time in my own head—I still do. I was also home schooled, so I never really met people my own age. Kim’s a flake, but she’s familiar and we have a lot of fun together.
Despite her flaws, she’s a good person. Although, it might take me awhile to get over her breaking the sacred “sisters before misters” rule that exists between all girlfriends! I know I will though. I’m not one to hold a grudge, and she’s really wanted to get to know Nathan better. She goes through boyfriends at an impressive speed, but Nathan is the first man she’s talked about for this long before losing interest. Even though we both know what the innuendo behind “get to know better” entails, she really is interested in him. I can’t begrudge my friend a chance at happiness.
“Flight 217 from Phoenix, Arizona to Las Vegas, Nevada is now boarding, please proceed to…”
Following the directions from the loudspeaker, I shake myself out of my ponderings and make my way through the airport terminal. Las Vegas, here I come.