Jayde woke up early the next morning and wondered the apartment to see if anyone else was awake. She peered into Zandria’s bedroom to see her sprawled out in every which direction. She smiled at the sight and shut the door softly. She continued down the hall toward Rylann’s bedroom. Rylann had her back toward the door, so Jayde crept in very quietly. She walked to the opposite side of the bed, to see Rylann’s eyes clenched shut. She turned to leave the bedroom when something caught her eye. She turned her gaze back to Rylann’s sleeping figure. She saw the frame still being held loosely by Rylann. A smiled crept onto Jayde’s face as she exited the room. Once in the living room, she dialed the number she was so familiar with.
“Hmmm…” a very groggy voice answered.
“Morning Baby…” Jayde said softly.
“Jay…how’s it going? I miss you, my bunk is too big with out you.” Joel answered becoming more alert.
“HA! I’m sure the bunk is the perfect, if I remember correctly we were quite squished..” she laughed.
“Yea…but I still miss you.” He paused “So, how goes the plan.”
“Good…she still doesn’t want to talk, which you have to understand. She wants to talk to Benji before anyone else. But, I do have good news. Last night, I dropped the letter from Benj on the table and it’s not here.” Joel interrupted.
“That’s good right? I mean, she read it then…”
“That’s what I am assuming, AND as I was gonna say before I was interrupted, “she kidded, “I was checking to see if she was awake a few minutes ago, and I saw her holding a frame with a picture of the two of them as she slept.” Jayde beamed to herself.
“AH..Baby this is great. It means, I dunno…but this shows she still loves him right?” Joel exclaimed.
“That’s what I was thinking…I defiantly think this is good…ohh, but Babe, I gotta go..someone is coming down the hall. Listen what time does your flight leave?” Jayde whispered.
“Ok..umm…we leave at 3:20, why don’t you call me later and I’ll give you all the flight information?”
“Ok..I’ll call you around 2:30. I love you Babe.”
“I love you too Jay.” Just as Jayde hit end on her cell phone, a hardly awake Rylann shuffled into the living room.
“Morning Ry…sleep well…” Jayde said, waiting to see if Rylann mentioned the letter.
“Umm…pretty good, I just had some stuff on my mind.” She answered shortly, before joining Jayde on the sofa.
“You wanna talk about anything?” Jayde offered.
“I think you know what it’s about…I got the envelope.” Rylann said, looking Jayde in the eyes for the first time that morning.
“Right…yea, so…what are you thinking?” Jayde glanced away and when she looked back, the reflection of the engagement ring caught her eye. She hadn’t seen that before.
“Well, more like what ain’t I thinking…I really don’t know, I have much going on in my head…I think maybe I’ll try to talk to Benj later on tonight…”
“That’s Great!!” Jayde said, unable to control her excitement. “ I see you’ve…” she motioned toward Rylann’s left hand.
“Yea, I put it back on. I never exactly wanted to give it back, I just thought it was right. And I gotta say, it feels really good to have it back on.” Rylann smiled.
“Ry…I wondered, can I just ask you one thing?”
“Yea, sure…what is it?”
“I just wondered, did you leave because of something Benji did, or..” Rylann cut in before Jayde finished.
“NO! Not at all…that’s why I was so scared of hurting him…this is all me, it’s all in my head…the day I left,” Rylann swallowed hard before continuing, “was one year after Jace left…it was the anniversary of the night he had me committed. I guess that is what fueled everything…”
“Gosh Ry…look, I think it would be a really good idea for you to talk to Benj…tell him everything you told me…”
“I know, I will…I just have to sort through how I am gonna tell him. They leave for Europe tonight, right?”
“Yea…Joel said the flight is around 3:20…I am gonna call him this afternoon for the flight info and everything, incase the time changes or anything.”
“Ok…maybe I’ll just wait till tomorrow, when they are settled and everything.”
“Whatever you feel is best Ry…just don’t wait too long, you never know when the moment could pass you.” Jayde finished and excused herself to go shower. Rylann thought about Jayde’s words, and decided to start writing everything she was thinking. After she had poured her heart onto paper, she asked the girls if they wanted to go get some lunch. When they returned, Jayde called Joel and wrote all his flight information down, incase she needed to check on their flight status for any reason. Jayde secretly informed Joel of everything Rylann had told her earlier that day. She made Joel promise not to say anything to Benji, and although it killed him, he agreed. They said their “I Love You’s” and were about to hang up when Jayde told Joel to hold on…
“Ry…I have Joel on the phone, if you think you’re ready to talk to Benj…”
“Thanks Jay…but I think I’ll wait, I still have some things to work through…”
“Ok, I understand.” Jayde went back to Joel and again told him she loved him before handing the phone of to an eager Zandria who waited for Paul on the other end. The two exchanged their “I Love You’s” and other pet names before hanging up.
* About three hours later *
“ All right Girls, I’m gonna go take a cat nap before we go to dinner.” Zandria said as she headed toward her room.
“Yea, I am gonna go work on one of my drawings…I’ll have to show you later Ry, it’s for my new tat…”
“Sounds good Jay…I’m just gonna, well…work on my thoughts some more...”
“All right sweetie, you know where to find me.” Jayde said as she walked toward the back rooms. Rylann sat and tried to think of all the things she wanted to tell Benji. After she got all everything she could think of, and checked to make sure it sounded ok and she hadn’t forgotten anything, she put her notebook aside. She put her feet up on the couch and flicked on the tv. The news, ‘ew’ Rylann thought. Just as she was about to change the station, something caught her eye.
“This is breaking news into the station. It seems American Airlines Flight 311 out of LAX was experiencing a difficult take off and during their lift erupted into flames on the runway. 23 people are confirmed dead and numerous others are injured. We will bring you up to date coverage as soon as we have more information.” Rylann’s jaw dropped and she immediately jumped up.
“JAY!! JAY… JAY c’mere..JAYDE I NEED YOU!!!!” Jayde came running into the living room with a panicked look on her face. She looked at Rylann who was shaking violently.
“What Ry, what is it?!?” Jayde looked concerned at her friend.
“What was the guys flight number…?” Rylann said horse as she cried hard. Jayde shot her a confused look and Rylann motioned toward the tv.
“OH MY GOD!!” Jayde screamed…..