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It was finally Friday morning.  Nani rolled out of bed as her alarm went off.  5:10.  They had an early morning today.  She and her three best friends were meeting up at the airport to catch their flight to LA.  She quickly jumped out of bed and changed into her outfit for the day.  They’d agreed to meet at the airport three hours before their flight at nine, so she needed to get a move on.

At 5:30 sharp, Nani saw her friend’s car pull up into the driveway.  She knew that cherry red color anywhere.  Moments later, her phone chimed.

“I’m here! ^^”

Nani smiled and grabbed her suitcase before hauling it out the door.  She shut the door behind her and locked it before cramming her keys in her purse.  Once she’d fit her suitcase in the back of her friend’s car, she slammed the trunk shut and headed to the front of the car, slipping into the passenger seat.

“Are you excited?”

Nani looked over at her friend.  Jinie’s gold highlighted chocolate hair was pulled up into two buns today.  Her bangs had been fluffed over her forehead, nearly meeting her coal eyelashes.

“You know I’m not,” Nani replied briefly before setting her purse down.

“Yah…I didn’t mean the flight.” Jinie giggled. “I know you’ll never be ready for that.”

The airport wasn’t too far away from Nani’s dorm, but even early in the morning, Chicago traffic was insane.  The two of them finally made it inside the airport at 6:07.  They were met near the lines by their two other friends, Jae and Jordan.

Jordan’s dark hair was pulled up into a half-hearted ponytail.  Usually, it would brush her shoulders, but today she had pulled it up to reveal the buzzed underside of her haircut.  She was the first one to spot the two other girls.  Her high heels had made her taller than Jae today.  Jae was only 5’5, oddly short for a guy.  But the other three paid it no mind.  They’d all been friends since their late middle school and early high school years.

Once the four of them had congregated, Jinie did a quick run-through of how they’d get through the airport quickly.  She had the most experience in flying, so she knew the best shortcuts.

It took them more than an hour to get through security and customs.  The Chicago airport was most definitely not the ideal place to fly out from.  Soon enough, they were all seated and waiting to board their flight.

“So…are you guys excited?” Jinie asked, extremely lively for 7:30 in the morning.

“Of course, we are,” Jordan replied snappily. “We’re going to a BTS concert and then spending a week in LA.  Who wouldn’t be excited?”

Nani laughed as she watched her two friends banter.  Jae was sneaking a snack from Jordan’s massive stash while they weren’t looking.  Nani smiled.  Just like the old days.

Soon enough, they were about to board their flight.  Nani was getting jittery as Jinie demanded Jordan put her bag of snacks away as they boarded the flight.  Jae had stolen another granola bar and was silently eating it as Jinie chewed Jordan out.

Once they’d settled into their seats, Jinie started passing out gum. “It’s to help your ears pop,” she explained.

Nani was silently thankful that her best friend was a confident flier.  Jordan and Jae were indifferent to flights, but Nani was a bit scared of them.  Jinie, on the other hand, loved them.  She’d claimed the window seat in their row, and Nani had happily given it to her.

Now Nani was fumbling with the piece of gum in her hands.  Jinie was going on and on about something, but Nani wasn’t quite sure what it was.

When it finally came time for the plane to take off, Jinie offered Nani her hand. “In case you need something to squeeze,” she smiled.

Nani took Jinie’s hand, a bit embarrassed of her fear of flying.  Jinie was sitting next to her happily bouncing while Nani could feel her stomach starting to tie into knots.

It took them a good half an hour to get all the way off the ground.  Nani was sure she’d completely squished Jinie’s hand, but she seemed unfazed by the hard squeezes Nani had made.

She looked back at Jae and Jordan.  Jae was silently reading a comic book while Jordan was playing on her phone.  Nani sighed and sat straight in her chair again.  She glanced over at Jinie, who was staring out the window looking like a little kid.

“Nani, look at all the clouds!”

Nani took a peek out the window.  And immediately looked away.  It was bright outside.

“Yeah…they’re cool.”

Four hours later, they were finally on solid ground again.  Nani’s stomach still wasn’t settled from her anxiety on the way down.  Jinie was already running off towards some food court.  Even though it was only noon here, it was two back home.  Jinie was bound to be starving.  She hadn’t eaten at all today.  Jordan and Jae had already wandered off towards another restaurant they’d seen.  Nani reluctantly followed Jinie.  She didn’t want to get lost alone in this airport.

They finally made it to their hotel around four.  Nani was about ready to crash on the sofa from how exhausted she was.  Jordan was going through her suitcase while Jinie and Jae made a shopping list.  Nani set her suitcase to the side and lay down on one of the beds.  Hopefully, she’d wake up feeling refreshed.