Finding Laila: Some Changes Are Necessary Part 37

Braxton pulls out his phone and sends a message while I run to make sure I haven't forgotten anything. Luka is asleep on the couch, despite me telling my parents to leave her alone. I grab my purse and phone charger before heading outside.

It's dark out here; the light coming from our front porch barely allows me to see anything.

Mom and Dad step through the still open door and check to make sure that everything is ready to go.

"Call or text along the way?" Mom asks, though we both know it's a demand.

"You know I will. And don't worry, we'll be safe," I say, trying to ease her fears.

"I'm a mom. It's in the job description, right under the part about letting go," she replies.

"That's right, Mom. No matter what happens, I love you both and you are my parents. Okay?"

She takes my face in her hands and her eyes well with tears. I feel like I'm breaking her heart, but it's something I have to do and the thought makes my heart ache. My own tears roll down my cheeks, but she swipes them away with her thumbs and shakes her head in an attempt to stop them from flowing.

"I love you, baby girl. So much. You be safe and if you do find her-I hope she's everything you imagine." Mom's voice cracks and I pull her tightly to me.

"You're my mommy," I whisper in her ear so only she can hear, and she nods in agreement.

"I am," she says softly. "Always."

Dad gives me a hug and I see him fighting to stay strong for Mom, but it's not working for him. As if on cue, Luka groggily walks outside and rubs her eyes as she tries to figure out what's going on. Dad swiftly lifts her up and tickles her chin while she laughs, effectively distracting him.

"Be careful," he says in his stern tone.

"I will," I agree and kiss his cheek and hug my sister before joining the guys, who are standing at the car waiting for me. I turn around and wave once more as my dad holds my mom close while they say goodbye.

"Did you get ahold of Joey?" I ask of the group.

"He overslept so we're going to pick him up." Cole climbs into the driver's seat and starts the engine. Mom and Dad are still standing outside watching as we drive down to Joey's, and I feel so sad for them. And for me.

"Can you see through the back window?" I ask Cole, who ignores the question.

It's something I should have checked before we got on the road this morning, but it was early and I was too tired.

"Brax, play some good music," Joey requests from next to me in the back seat.

Braxton pulls out his phone and searches for something to play before attaching his device to the cord.

"What time did you say we should get to Roswell?" Braxton turns to me because I'm the one who set our itinerary.

"Around three," I answer.

"That doesn't give us much time to go to the UFO Museum," he states with a hint of disappointment.

"We'll have plenty of time. I called ahead to make sure that we'd be able to see everything and they said that two hours is more than enough time," I smile.

"Why Roswell, anyway?" Joey asks. It's been the source of debate for a few weeks now, though none of us understand why.

"Don't really have an answer-just something that sounded interesting," he says.

The five of us continue talking about how busy the summer's been. Despite the fact that none of us have moved yet, we haven't seen much of each other. My mind starts to wander and I replay the summer-or what I can remember of it-as I try to hold onto the last pieces of us.

A week after graduation, everyone started going in ten different directions. It was obvious that life was going on, exactly as Joey said it would.

He went to the Bahamas with his family back in June before the big breakup. They got home and he seemed so relaxed and happy. When I talked to Bailey last week, she said his vacation was the beginning of the end for them. By the time he got home, she was heading to Europe with her parents for two weeks; and when she got back, things were different between them.

I look over at Joey, who is blissfully unaware of how miserable his ex is without him. But then again, I think it's safe to say he's just as sad.

Haden went to Laredo to visit his grandma for a week, but he called me every day. His grandma told him she was worried about his mom, but he seems to think she'll be okay. I missed him, but the time apart was good and I got to hang out with Braxton-at least before he took off to Colorado with his family. He wanted to visit his brother before school started up.

Cole was the only one who didn't go anywhere, but he was constantly doing something to prepare for his move and make sure that he had everything together. When I tried to talk to him about his career plans with the military, he would give me a look that said I was being over the top and hug me until I dropped the subject.

Overall, I think there were only a couple of weeks when all five of us were around at the same time.

"My grandma is going to move in with my mom," Haden announces, seemingly out of the blue.

"When?" I ask.

"About a month. I told her I'd help move her down."

"Is she okay?" Joey c.o.c.ks his head to the side and raises his brow.

Haden never told anyone about his mom's drinking and they never knew why we missed prom. I don't expect him to say anything, but then he surprises me with his answer.

"She's getting older and Mom's been worried about her anyway. It's good, they'll have each other to look after," he says.

"Where is this place?" Cole starts pus.h.i.+ng b.u.t.tons on his GPS, but the museum isn't showing up.

We all start to look around to see if we can spot it, but I think we are on the wrong street.

"There it is," Braxton points way down the road. "Down there on the left."

As the car reaches our destination, albeit a crazy destination, we file out like kids on Christmas morning and almost forget to lock up the SUV. With money in hand, we walk over to buy our tickets so we can see what strangeness awaits us inside, and we aren't disappointed. We each head for a separate part of the museum to learn what we can about the mystery surrounding the now infamous Roswell Incident.

Joey immediately heads for the facts, because that's how he rolls. He likes to have as much information as possible so he can make an educated conclusion about things. However, this place is fun, so he'll have to put aside his need for proof and accept it for what it is: entertainment.

Braxton, on the other hand, embraces the whole thing. He's like a kid in a candy store and I laugh watching him walk from exhibit to exhibit, reading the placards and taking selfies with the faux aliens. I decide that I like his enthusiasm and pair up with him to make the most of it. Cole and Haden meander aimlessly, sometimes taking pictures of the aliens and others reading about the history. The museum isn't too crowded, so we make the most of our time.

"Excuse me," I ask the gray-haired woman who looks like she's been plucked from the forties. Her wire-rimmed cat-eye gla.s.ses and perfectly coifed hairdo only help to sell the era of times pa.s.sed. "Could you take a picture of us?"

She almost looks like a waitress from a diner, and the thought causes me to smile. I hand her my phone and show her how to work the camera before I call the guys over so we can take a picture with the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p and commemorate one of the crazier things we've done in our twelve years of friends.h.i.+p.

The woman waits for us to figure out where we want to stand and smiles politely until it's time. She counts off before taking a picture, or perhaps ten. We do our best horror look as if aliens have abducted us, but the rest of the images are of us laughing hysterically.

Haden hands the woman a small tip to show our appreciation for her patience and time, which she refuses.

"I'm so tired," I say, noting the time. "We should check into a hotel."

"What are the sleeping arrangements?" Braxton asks as he wraps his arm around me.

"I think those three have to figure it out who's sharing a bed, but you're with me," I tell Braxton and he nods in agreement.

"Works for me," he says. "Hear that, Searle? Lai's with me."

"I'm not sharing a bed with these two," Haden protests, pointing at Cole and Joey.

"One room, two beds-I suggest you make sure there's a couch or cot," Brax says with a smirk as he leads me out the front doors, followed closely by the others.

We reach the car and Braxton lets out a groan so I turn to see what he's looking at. The car is still parked beneath the hot sun where we left it, but the hissing tire was not something we noticed when we got here.

"Cole's going to be p.i.s.sed," he mutters and I fight laughing at his antic.i.p.ated reaction.

"I don't want to share a bed with either of you," Cole says from behind us, and it occurs to me that he heard what Braxton said but doesn't know the context.

Braxton and I step aside, revealing the deflated tire, and watch as Cole freaks the h.e.l.l out.

Chapter 32 ~ Finding California.

"Hey," I whisper before removing Braxton's arm that's resting across my head. "Wake up."

"Go back to sleep," he groggily demands.

"We need to get up," I counter.

I try to sit up, but the sheets pin me to the bed so I attempt to slide out so I can get to the bathroom before the guys get there. It takes some maneuvering, but I manage to escape the sheets from h.e.l.l and land on the floor with a thud.

c.r.a.p.

I peek over the edge but the sounds of peaceful snoring let me know that it's clear. Slowly I stand up and head to the bathroom. But when I emerge a few minutes later, the room is no longer peaceful as all eyes fall on me.

"We can skip Tombstone," I announce, as if it's a viable option to allow us more sleep.

"And miss the OK Corral?" Cole yawns. "No, get moving. We need to eat and get on the road."

Apparently seeing this historic site is motivation enough for him, but I climb back into bed and we fall back to sleep, even if only for a few minutes.

"I'm up," Haden calls out and stumbles from the sofa bed toward the hotel room door. "What time is it?"

"Six," I reply and pull the covers over my head.

"Screw that," he answers and falls onto the bed with Braxton and me. "Wake me up when it's eight. I can eat junk food."

Joey waits for Cole to finish cleaning up before he hops into the shower and changes while the rest of us sleep. Those two are ready and I'm half tempted to tell them to go without us, except that it's a long drive and I need them in order to get to San Diego-the point of the whole trip.

Fine. I'm up.

We get dressed and load up the car with our bags before grabbing a quick breakfast to take on the road. Cole doesn't seem too pleased with the mess we're making of his nice car, but he keeps his mouth shut. For the most part.

The drive is long and uneventful, but we make the most of it by listening to music or talking about people from high school. It's a subject we have to tiptoe around because of the recent breakups. Neither Cole nor Joey appears too torn up, but I'd rather not push it because we're all having a good time.

We've been on the road for hours with Cole behind the wheel so Haden pulls out the game Cards Against Humanity. I've never played it before, but I catch on quick and discover that these guys are some twisted individuals. Okay, I already knew that-it's part of the reason why I love them.

"Can you repeat the question?" I ask Joey who is it this round.

"Last time," he says, and asks the question again. "What ended my last relations.h.i.+p?"

I look at my cards and try not to laugh because it's a sick answer to his jacked-up question. Haden and Braxton study their cards a bit more before selecting one to toss in as their answer. Joey collects them and shuffles before reading out loud the question and answers.

"Okay: 'not wearing pants,' 'grandma in a bikini.'" He laughs out loud. "Who the h.e.l.l picked 'menstrual rage'?"

Braxton raises his fist in victory and is rewarded with laughter all around. This goes on for a while before Cole tells us that he's tired of driving.

Haden jumps at the chance to be in the driver's seat for a while, so I move to the pa.s.senger side and let the others sleep or chat in the back.

"You nervous?" he asks. His eyes are trained on the road ahead, but I know he's keenly aware of everything I'm doing and thinking.

"A little, but who knows, maybe she's not even there anymore," I shrug as I try to ease my own fears. "Maybe she doesn't care about seeing me."

He reaches for my hand and kisses my wrist before looking at me. "There's no way she doesn't care about you."

"You can't know that." I try to laugh convincingly, but it falls short.

"Based on the letter she left you, she cares."

"I'm with Searle," Joey pipes up and I turn to face him.

We'd been driving for a couple of hours, and somewhere between talking about packing, biological mothers, and avoiding the topic of exes, Braxton and Cole had fallen asleep. They're blissfully unaware of the conversation we're having, but Joey is always aware. He winks at me and smiles the way he always does when he's trying to sell me on his theories.

"Why don't you wake those two? We should be in Tombstone soon," I say.

I love that these guys always have my back, but this thing with Andie could be huge and I'm not sure how any of it will work out. Sometimes a girl needs to prepare herself for the worst, even when she's silently hoping for the best.

"I can't believe we're actually here," I say after the long drive from Roswell to San Diego.

"Took us long enough," Joey scoffs. "You drive like an old lady, Cole."