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San Diego University of the Arts offers two summer sessions, and the first ended yesterday. Just in time for me to pack my bags for home. The July session starts on Monday, and I’ve enrolled in two more classes for it, but I’m taking them both virtually.
Between the classes I took over winter break last year, the ones from this summer, and the ones I hope to take next winter, I should be able to knock out an entire year of school and graduate in three instead of four.
Anything to get this over faster.
I shut my suitcase and push down with all my strength so I can actually get the zipper to close around the case overstuffed with clothes. Then I grab my carry-on and purse and check my text messages.
Mom:Can’t wait to see you. Have a safe flight. Your brother is meeting you at the airport.
Aiden:That should read, your favorite brother.
Declan:Make sure you go to the right gate this time.
Aiden:That was a onetime thing.
Carys:It’s the same gate as last time.
Aiden:See? I can’t mess it up.
Nattie:I have faith you can and will, Murph.
Aiden:That hurts, Nat.
Carys:You’ll survive, big brother. See you soon, guys.
I tug my suitcase from the bed, letting it hit the floor with a loud thump. A second later, Theo pops his head through my open door.
“Hey, let me grab that.” He picks up my suitcase and carry-on, then eyes me skeptically. “Geez, CC. Did you leave any clothes in your closet?”
Emerson and Jack left a few days ago to spend a few weeks in France with their mom, leaving Theo and me alone in the house. I wasn’t sure if Em was going to go or not. She really didn’t want to leave Linc, but her mom guilted her into it. She’s good at that, according to Jack. But now, as Theo carries my stuff to the front door for me, I feel bad about leaving him here alone. He’s stopped acting like a horny jackass and turned into a good friend. I asked him once if he wanted to come home with me, but he wasn’t interested. “What are you going to do with the house to yourself this month?”
“Probably pick up a few extra shifts. Maybe try to get a few songs written.” He puts the bags down by the front door and squeezes me in a bear hug. “Have fun, CC.”
“Thanks. You too.” My phone vibrates with an incoming text, letting me know my ride is here. “See ya in a month.”
* * *
The flight from San Diego to Philly International is supposed to take a little over five hours. But that doesn’t include the extra hour we spent taxiing on the runway before takeoff, for some unexplained reason. By the time we’re finally allowed off the plane in Philly, I smell like stale air, am exhausted, and my stomach is growling.
Never a good combination.
Hangry is a real thing.
And it’s not pretty.
I texted Aiden to let him know I’ve landed and should be out soon, and I half expected him to not be here for me when I finally step foot outside the airport exit. But there he is on the other side of the sliding doors, parked in the pick-up zone, leaning against his black Cadillac Escalade, holding my equivalent to a bouquet of roses... a paper takeout bag from Tony Luke’s.
It’s been about six months since I’ve been home, and I guess I missed him more than I knew because without thinking it through, I drop my bags and throw my arms around all six feet plus of my giant ginger of a brother and squeeze.
“Missed you too, Care Bear.” One big arm squeezes me to him, while the other—holding the heavenly goodness that only a roast pork and broccoli rabe sandwich smothered in provolone cheese can contain—hangs down by my side. “Come on, kid. Time to go home.”
He opens the passenger door for me and places the Tony Luke’s bag on my lap once I’m seated, then throws my suitcase in the back and joins me in the front seat. I might have left California at eleven this morning, but between the three-hour time difference and the long flight, the sun has already started to slip behind the horizon as he drives through the streets of Philadelphia on his way to Kroydon Hills, yammering on about everything and anything.
Football, Sabrina, her big move to Georgetown... and the football draft next year. My big brother is a big goofball who hates silence. Whoever said girls talk too much never met Aiden Murphy. I try to concentrate on everything he’s saying, truly, I do, but as the busy city streets transition to the slower pace of our lazy hometown, nostalgia takes over, and I realize how much I miss this place.
“Are you listening to me at all, Carys?”
“Umm...” I stall, grasping for a nugget of what he just said. “Of course, I am. But there’s not much you can do about the Secret Service, Aiden. You’re engaged to the daughter of the president. It’s all part of the package. And she’s moving to Georgetown at the end of the summer, so stop complaining that they’re annoying you. Soon enough, she’s going to be three hours away. And you’ll be wishing she wasn’t, and you’ll miss those agents.”
