Chapter One

I'm throwing my clothing into my suitcase as if my life depends on it. Frankly, it does. Shirts, shorts, pants, shoes, dresses, and every other article of clothing that I own. Toiletries? Check. Do I have my charger? There it is. Headphones? Got them.

"Alex! You're going to miss your flight!"

"Coming!"

I zip up my carry-on as quick as I can, grabbing my phone and throwing my backpack over my shoulder. I throw one last glance into my room. Who knows when I'll see it again? Hopefully not for a long time. I turn away before I can get too sentimental, and run down the stairs as quickly as my carry-on will allow. Mom is waiting in the kitchen, keys dangling from her paint covered fingertips. She's an artist, and frequently forgets to wash the paint off of her hands. Today is no exception.

"Let's go! You're going to miss it!"

"I know! Just let me grab some breakfast."

"Already done."

She gestures to the paper plate on the counter, half of a homemade chocolate chip muffin resting on top. Good enough. I can buy food on the plane. I snatch up the plate and we head out the door to the car. I toss my suitcase and backpack into the trunk as Mom starts the engine. I hop into the passenger's seat, barely having enough time to close the door before she speeds off.

"We can still make it if I hurry." Mom mumbles, more to herself than to me.

"Just don't get pulled over."

"I won't."

She speeds to the airport. I turn on my phone at least once every minute, checking the little white numbers on the screen. Dad already checked me in online, so that's covered. I'll have to make it through security in time. I check the clock again. It's nine thirty, my plane leaves at ten fifteen. Luckily, we don't live very far from the airport. Mom pulls in to the drop off area. She climbs out of the car and grabs my suitcase from the trunk. She wraps her arms around me in a tight hug.

"I love you so much. I'm going to miss you." she says into my hair.

"I'm going to miss you, too. Tell Dad I love him."

"Of course. Make sure to call me when you land, okay?"

"Alrighty."

She kisses my cheek, and I sling my backpack over my shoulder. I grab my suitcase.

"Bye, Mom."

"Call me when you land!"

You said that already. "I promise."

I walk into the airport without a backwards glance. If I turn around, I might start to cry. I'm going to miss my parents. Well, at least I refer to them that way. I'm adopted. I don't worry about it too much, but I'd like to know my biological parents at some point in my life. I digress. But anyways, it's good for me to get out of here. Spread my wings. Right? Larry will take good care of me until I'm ready to move into my own place, and until then, I'll have him and Nicky. Maybe then I could find my birth parents. I'll be fine. I walk as quickly as I can. I'm only five foot six, so I can't cover as much distance as I wish I could in a time like this. I run to security, getting my phone out and pulling up my boarding pass. The line is short, thankfully, and the TSA agent scans my pass with barely even a glance at me.

"Alexandria Monroe?"

"Yep."

"Third line, please."

I jump into the third security line, taking off my shoes and throwing my luggage onto the conveyor belt. I feel like screaming, but I'm keeping it under control. I check the time on the wall clock, it's nine fifty three. The plane leaves in twenty minutes. I can make it. I get through security and rush down the escalator with my luggage. The gate is at the end of the terminal, and I have ten minutes. As if to taunt me, the flight attendant announces the first round of passengers have boarded the plane, and the next group can start boarding. I can see the gate, B25, to New York City, at the end of the terminal.

I rush into the boarding area, trying to act like I didn't almost just miss my ticket out of Oregon. I'm here. I made it. I hand the woman my phone for her to scan. She wishes me a pleasant flight, and I make my way down the hall to the plane. I climb on, where the flight attendants greet me with complimentary headphones. I'm in the middle of the plane, by the window. No sooner have I sat down they begin the safety speech. This flight doesn't have televisions, so I'll have to rely on my music. No loss there, in my book. The seatbelt signs flash. The plane begins to move. I pop in my earbuds and turn on some music, an alternative rock playlist that I haven't listened to in a while. I fall asleep.

A ding wakes me from my nap. I look around to find passengers standing up and grabbing their suitcases from the overhead compartments. Here already? I stand up and stretch. I make my way out of the row of seats and grab my suitcase from overhead. I slide my backpack strap over my shoulder and make my way off of the plane. Larry said that he would meet me by the baggage claim. I see a sign directing me to it, and I follow the rest of the passengers. New York is three hours ahead of Oregon, and the flight was five hours… So it's about six o' clock here? I'm starved, all I've eaten today was that muffin. I make it to the baggage claim, and there's Larry. He hasn't seen me yet, he's looking at the passengers in front of me. I hide behind a taller man until I'm close enough to run at him.

"Larry!"

I wrap him in a hug. He stumbles back a little before hugging me back.

"I didn't recognize you! Look how much you've grown. You've just graduated high school, huh?"

"Yep."

"Wow. You're almost as old as me."

We laugh, before he turns and leads me out the door into the warm summer evening. It seems as if everything has fallen back into place. Larry and I have an amazing bond, he's almost like a father instead of an uncle to me. Well, we aren't necessarily related, like, at all. He married my aunt, they got divorced, and we still hang out all the time. We may not see each other much, but when we do, we always have the best times. This is going to be an amazing year.

"Are you hungry?"

"Starved, actually."

"Good. I ordered a pizza for the three of us back at the apartment."

"Three? Nicky's here?"

"Yeah. He decided to take a year off from college, like you did. I didn't like the idea at first, but I'm realizing it's good for him."

"Oh. Well, that's cool. I wasn't expecting to see much of him."

"Well lucky for you, he's still living with me. I'll kick him out eventually."

I laugh, "You don't have the heart."

We walk up next to his car, he opens the trunk and puts my suitcase inside. It's a nice car, black and sleek. I don't know much about cars, but it looks expensive. Ever since he sold his company, he's had some good money to play with.

"You went back to that night guard thing, right?"

"Yeah. Full time head of night security."

"Wow. That's cool! Maybe I can come with you sometime?"

"Maybe. Maybe."

He sounds a lot less sure than I thought he would. Does he not want me there? He pulls out of the parking space and out of the airport, hopping on the freeway. His apartment is a good half hour from the airport, so we have a while.

"So what's been going on with you?" Larry asks in an attempt to break the silence.

"Not much. Just trying to figure out what to do with my life."

He chuckles, "Don't worry about it. You're now in the same boat with Nicky. I'm sure he can give you some advice. After all, he's been 'figuring out what to do with his life' for the past year."

I laugh, "I guess so. I think a year off from school will be good for me. I can learn about different careers and stuff."

"Like…?"

"I'm really interested in history. Especially Egyptian history. I just find their culture so fascinating. They were really ahead of the times for living as far back as they did. That's kind of my main idea now, but I want to maybe get some field experience before I go jumping into a college degree."

Larry makes a soft sound of approval, "Makes you wish you could talk to a pharaoh, huh?"

I laugh, "If only life was that kind."

"You'd be surprised."

"What do you mean?"

He clears his throat, "Nothing. There's just so much information floating around that you shouldn't have too hard of a time."

"Right. But that's my point! I want to find new stuff. Undiscovered information. Exciting treasures. I don't know. I'm going off on a whim, now. It's not like we could afford to go to Egypt."

"Oh, I don't know about that. Raise the money! And I could help a little bit, too. It would be a fun adventure."

"I suppose it would."

We drive the rest of the way in silence, allowing the radio station to do the talking for us.

boom dropping that chapter bomb! hello again. it's been too long. at lot has gone on since I've last been here, I've started writing three new stories (this one being one of them) that I'm going to be updating as I write. I've decided to stop putting pressure on myself to post things, because then I rush the creative process and the chapters never turn out as good :/ so stick around, because a lot of new stories will be popping up in tons of different categories. much love! please review, favorite, and follow, and I'll see you soon! :D 3