Page 101 of The Fate Of Us

She bounced her head at me a few times, the words sinking in as she muttered. “Okay.”

And as she let her hand drop from mine, the warmth her touch brought left; it was like all the sunlight had faded from the world, like the biggest star in the universe had lost its spark.

Her eyes smiled at me as she took a step back. “See you at home.”

And before I knew it, she got lost in the crowd.

Chapter twenty-eight

Adaline

“MissMoore?”Myheadswivels from the plane window to the co-pilot, who popped hishead out of the cockpit door. “We’ll be landing at LAX in around fifteen minutes, go ahead and put your seatbelt on."

Great.

“Okay,” I do as I’m told, strapping my seatbelt around my waist and slyly hoping there’sa problem with the landing gear so I can stay in the clouds for a while longer. I tell myself that the wind speed will be too high, so we have to circle the airport before attempting to land. I pray that the grey may the city is cursed with every year will for once be a blessing, and the smog is so thick that no one can see the runway.

But then I think about the little sister I’ve been dying to see since she called me twoweeks ago, and suddenly LAX becomes the most appealing it ever has.

And I love Miley Cyrus, I do. But I can confidently assume that every person who haslanded in LAX has been extremely disappointed that it was nothing like she told us. Sure, when you land here for the first time, you have a little montage play out in your head about the bright lights and movie stars you’ll see whilst exploring the city of angels, but once you walk through one too many never-ending grey hallways just to grab your luggage, it sure does lose its sparkle.

So does the rest of L.A.

When I jump in the cab, all I’m thinking about is how long it’s going to take to get to thehotel all of the cast will be staying at. It’s in West Hollywood, which, when you look at the distance from LAX on the map, doesn’t look too far away. But I can bet my life on the fact that I’ll be sat in this car for over two hours.

When I look to my right and see the Hollywood sign, firstly, I can barely see it, andsecondly, all I do see when I make out the big white letters through the fog is a career that I never loved the way I love writing.

But it’s home, and if I shut my eyes tight enough, I can overlook the bad and rememberthe one speck of goodness waiting for me.

We landed on time, right into the welcome party of paparazzi on the runway there to greetme with deep heckles and camera flashes. Why do they even let them on the landing strip? Surely this is a safety hazard? Right?

I hurry past them with not a hint of a smile on my face and hop straight into the car that’swaiting for me, along with my bags, and I speed off onto the 405. And just as suspected, it takes just over two hours for me to step out of the car at the hotel, the highway fumes from L.A. traffic clinging to my clothes and making me feel, weirdly, at home.

I spot Nigel in the lobby as I check in, giving him a quick hug before I head off to myroom, the penthouse suite, and wait for my luggage to be dropped off.

I would say that the view from the stretched-out balcony makes the trip worth it, but itdoesn’t, not when it’s three o’clock and the smog from the roads is the only thing noticeable about the view. I can hardly make out the horizon, the slight glisten from the ocean barely a glimmer.

At least the sun was shining, directly on me, like a spotlight, but one I didn’t want to shift from under. I liked this one.

But before I get too comfortable and spend the rest of the day falling asleep in thesunlight, I duck back into the living area and pick out an outfit I’d rage-packed into my suitcase last night. I settle on a ditsy floral summer dress, green with tiny white flowers, and some sandals to slip on, and with a quick curl of my hair, I head out the door and find the car I’d requested waiting out front of the hotel.

Luckily, the school that Goldie attended wasn’t too far from the hotel, meaning the trafficI expected to run into wasn’t as much of an inconvenience as it was earlier. She doesn’t know I’m picking her up today, so once I arrive in the school parking lot, I park right by her car. I know it’s hers because I bought it for her. A 2006 VW Beetle. Convertible. A present for her sweet sixteenth.

I get out of my car and make headway for hers, admiring how perfectly clean it is, howthe lemon-yellow paint is gleaming in the sun, not a scratch in sight. I did want to keep the car for myself when I found it, but I suited her, and the coast, far better.

Plus, the look on her face when I drove it to her was worth more than a car. More thananything, really.

I perch on the edge of the hood for around ten minutes before I hear a bell sound outinside the school, floods of high-schoolers pouring out of the doors the second they could, before a familiar face, one similar to mine but with more freckles and blonder hair, becomes clear, easy to spot.

I felt my body breathe a sigh of relief when I saw my sister.

“ADDY!” She screams as she runs towards me, not caring about the people she has topush past, rushing out 'sorry’ as she does, as she bounds over to me, her arms flailing in a way that makes me want to cry and laugh at the same time.

And I do, I don’t realise it for a second, but I soon feel the stream of tears running downmy face. But I’m smiling, my cheeks hurt from how much I’m smiling, watching my baby sister get closer and closer to me. I wipe the tears away just before she reaches me and throws herself into my arms, as I wrap mine around her, squeezing just enough so she doesn’t suffocate.

“I’ve missed you,” I mumble into the top of her head. She got mom’s height like I did,but I was an inch or two taller for whatever reason.

“Missed you more,” she mumbles beneath me, pulling her arms tighter, synching mewith the strength of a year’s worth of hugs all in one.

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