“Fine!” I say through my laughter. “You can stay in here, I guess.”
Rachel grins triumphantly, already pulling the blankets around her like she’s won something. I shake my head, unable to stop smiling.
She’s an absolute lunatic. I love her to death, but she’s definitely watched way too many true crime shows alone in the dark.
Sitting on the plane next to her was an experience, to say the least. Ishould’veput her in the middle seat between two strangers. Maybe she would’ve held it together a little better.
Rachel isterrifiedof flying. Keep in mind she wanted to come on this trip, fully aware how long the flight was. And yet, there she was, holding onto my hand with a death grip, cutting off my circulation the entire way.
And the movie she chose to watch?
Taken.
Of all movies to watch when traveling internationally, she picked the one aboutinternational kidnappings.
I told her she was making things worse for herself. And what was her response?
“I’m just preparing myself for the worst, so I know how to react.”
See what I mean? Absolute lunatic.
She waves me off like it’s no big deal. “Okay, okay. What’s the plan? What time is it?”
I roll my eyes. “Well, I was about to check before you startled me awake like a demon-possessed toddler. I nearly had an out-of-body experience and fell off the bed.”
She snorts, finally bursting into laughter, and I can’t help but grin. Classic Rachel. Chaos first, questions later.
I push myself up, stretching out the jet lag from my limbs. “Do you want to go out tonight?” I glance at her. “Maybe a pub? I’d rather avoid anything too… touristy. Not my scene.”
She arches an eyebrow. “And you think it'smine?”
I shrug. “Touché.”
Checking my phone for the third time, I blink. “It's 6 p.m! We slept that long?”
“Youslept that long,” Rachel announces, pulling out her phone with an exaggerated sigh. “I’vebeen awake for hours.”
I stretch again, trying to shake off the exhaustion, but it lingers. Lately, I’ve been sleeping more than usual. It feels like the kind of tired that sleep doesn’t seem to fix. I’ve just been blaming it on the breakup, the stress, and the fact that I’m finally just catching up on rest after months of feeling on edge.
She rolls over onto her side, scrolling through her phone. Hopefully, she’s actually looking for places to eat because Ihatebeing the one who has to pick.
“ThankGodyou woke up.” Her eyes are still on her phone. “I was seriously about to jump on top of you and announce that I was dying of starvation, and if you loved me at all, you’d wake up.”
Right on cue, my stomach growls, making Rachel smirk.
“Alright, alright. At this point, I’d goanywhere. Just please let it be somewhere with decent food.”
Rachel’s eyes light up as she wiggles her phone at me. “Good news, there’s a pub just a short walk from here. Cozy and not too touristy. Perfect, right?”
Rachel’s been relentless in trying to get me to drink foryears. Especially post-breakup. I told her that on this trip, I’dconsidertrying a drink or two. I’ve never really had much interest in alcohol.
She thinks it’s about time Ilived a littlesince I didn’t party in my teen years like anormal person.
Whatever that means.
It doesn’t help that several of the douchebags I dated also had alcohol problems. So yeah, drinking’s never really been my thing.
He-who-shall-not-ever-be-talked-about… also an alcoholic. Shocker.
