Chapter Two – The stupid, obnoxious one!

For the next two months, you arrange everything. With Jacks help, you get most of your stuff into storage. The stuff you want to keep, anyway. The old furnitures you can sell with the house. They go with the Victorian style house. Won’t fit into a small apartment anyway. Time flies, when you have so much to do. And before you know it, you’re standing out on the sidewalk, suitcase in hand, and waiting for a cab.

You feel nervous. Are you? He’s your brother, YN! Why are you nervous? It’s not like you haven’t known him your entire life. Do you know him, really? He never told you why he left, and never came back. Why he didn’t talk to you or your mom for years. And it’s not like you can ask your mom any longer.

The drive to the airport doesn’t take long. About 20 minutes. You don’t say anything. Usually you’re pretty chatty. But not today. In about 8 hours, Jack will pick you up at JFK. And your mind is spinning around how it would be to see him again. Do you have anything in common, besides the same parents? Will you even have anything to talk about? God, when did this become so hard?

The airport is packed with people. As usual. It’s summer. Families going on vacation, screaming kids, stressed out parents. Thank GOD, this isn’t your life. You get a headache just by looking at it. How do people put themselfs through this voluntarily? Over 5 hours in a crowded plane, with a bunch of screaming kids. A BIG thank you to whoever invented Spotify and air-pods. You fish them up from your handbag, and turn the volume up. «Centuries» by Fall Out Boy blasting through the air-pods. You lean your head back, take in the music.

You’re so caught up by the music, that you don’t notice at first. But then you look up. It’s like the whole airport has come to a stand still. What is happening? You look up at the board. It’s changing rapidly. Every single flight. Big bold letters saying «CANCELLED» Every single one of them? You start to search for your flight. Please.. Please.. «CANCELLED!». Great, just fucking perfect! There goes the trip to New York!

– Great, just great…

You mutter to yourself, before turning the music off, putting the air-pods back in the box. Bye bye New York, you think to yourself before approaching the bench for your airline.

The lady behind the bench looks nervous, and stressed. You don’t blame her. Her workday just became a lot harder. Keep it cool, YN! It’s not her fault. You give her a little smile, before you put your documents in front of her.

– I’m so sorry Ms. Rollins. I’ll try to see if we can get you on another plane.

She checks her computer, and looks back at you.

– The earliest we have is next week. And that’s economy class. Would you like me to book you a seat on that one?

You close your eyes. Economy class, with screaming kids, and half drunk men with beer bellys and stinking feet. No thank you! Might as well forget the New York summer all together.

– Err.. No thank you. Just reimburse me. I’ll be fine.

No you’re not, YN! You really looked forward to this. And now you have to call your brother, and tell him you can’t come. Fuck!

– I’m really sorry, Ms. Rollins.

The lady takes your ticket, and puts some numbers into the computer in front of her.

– Do you want me to reimburse the amount into the account used to pay for the ticket?

Yeah.. Sure.. Give, Jack his money back.

– Yes. That’ll be great. Thank you.

The queue behind you starts to get longer and longer. And you can hear angry voices. You snatch your receipt and start to move towards the exit. Fish your phone up from your pocket. It’s not hard to find Jack on your list. He’s the one you talked to last. You press the call button, your mind working like crazy. What do I tell him?

– Hi sis! On the plane already?

– Err.. Something came up, Jack..

You can almost hear his disappointment, before he speaks. Great. You hurt him.

– You can’t make it?

– My flight was cancelled. They could put me on economy class sometime next week. But I can’t be stuck in an airplane for 5 hours with a bunch of screaming kids, and old ugly men who can’t hold their liquor. I’m sorry.

– Still sounding like yourself, YN! I’ll see what I can do. OK? I’ll get back to you.

– Ok, b….

He hangs up. Great. You really hurt him. You didn’t even get to say bye. Is he really that mad? Does he think you’re lying to him?

You grab a cab, and start the 20 minutes drive back home. Great. Now you’ll have to stay in that big old house all summer, when all your stuff is in storage. Perfect. Just, fucking perfect.

Just as you exit the cab, Jack calls back.

– I’m sorry, Jack. My flight really got cancelled. I’m not lying to you.

Please believe me. You almost start to cry.

– I know, sis. Take it easy. I have a friend, who is is Sacramento. He’s on his way back to New York. He said he could pick you up.

A Coast to Coast roadtrip. With a friend of Jack. In a car with a guy you don’t even know. Ehh.. You look up at the house. Well, everything is probably better than staying here.

– Sacramento? That’s about 90 minutes away. When will he be here?

You can almost hear Jacks excitement. And, is there a kind of mocking too?

– Great, YN. I know the trip will take a few days. But I’m sure you’ll do great. He’s a nice guy, really.

You take a breath. A nice guy? You know what that means.

– Which friend, Jack?

Jack laughs on the other end. He doesn’t have to tell you his name. You already know. And you curse at yourself, for agreeing to this before you knew.

– The stupid, obnoxious one!

He can’t keep his laugh in anymore.

– Jack… Please tell me you’re joking!

– Have fun, YN. Rumlow will pick you up in about an hour.

Fuck. He is like the last person you want to travel the country with. Hell, you wouldn’t even have done it if he was the last person on planet earth. You HATE him!

– I hate you, Jack!

He’s still laughing.

– I mean it! I HATE you!

– I love you too, sis!

He manage to say, before he starts to laugh again.

– If he kills me, I’ll come back to haunt you!

With that, you hang up the phone. Not even bothering to say goodbye. You put your phone back in your bag, and unlock the door. Better bring some books along. You won’t survive this trip if you can’t drown in your music, and put your nose in a book. You’re NOT going to talk to him, for sure.

Your phone lights up, with a message from Jack. «Have fun, YN! You can thank me later!»

– Fuck you, Jack.

You mutter to yourself, before putting a stack of books in your bag.