Day Zero
We will meet at the airport late in the afternoon. We are group of ten, high school best of friends. We often had this kind of vacation once a year. We are in our late twenties as of now.
It took us months to plan this vacation. It’s really hard to decide the dates because of the availability of each and everyone. Actually, two of our friends weren’t able to join us.
As I arrived at the airport, six of my friends were already there. Our flight will still be two hours from now.
Aaron was the first one to notice me.
“Oh! Steven is here! Welcome aboard!”
Aaron is an accountant and a bank manager. He is married to Juliet, his college sweetheart. They’ll be having their baby very soon. Aaron shouldn’t be with us because of his pregnant wife but Juliet is a very understanding person and she knew Aaron values his friends and this is once in a year get together for us.
“Silly. We’re not going to ride a ship.”
Everyone else greeted me. This is the first time we see each other again since the last time we had this kind of vacation. Well, that was just last year.
Jeremy, Vanessa, Robert, Lindsey and Bill were among the others present with Aaron.
Jeremy is a businessman. He has a grocery and a hardware store. He and Vanessa were couples since we were in high school. Vanessa is an elementary school teacher. Actually, Jeremy had a talk with the boys in our group that he will propose to Vanessa during one of our tour destinations. He asked for our help for the preparation and execution if that what it’s called and of course, a friend in need is a friend indeed!
Robert is a doctor but is still having his schooling for specialization. He was the smartest guy in our class and I believe he is still as of now. Taking up medicine course really suits him up. He never ceased to remind us to take care of ourselves. Back in our high school days, we sometimes wonder why a smartass like him chose to befriend good-for-nothing guys like us. Jeremy and Bill used to live in the Internet café but we really cannot tell the future. Look at them now, a businessman and a future CEO.
Who I meant for future CEO is our Billy boy. The former heartthrob chick magnet of our class but now a changed man, according to him. Our trip was just in time for his pre-celebration of his promotion. It’s just one board interview away that will be the day right after our vacation and he’ll reach his dream. Hooray for him!
If we have a heartthrob, we also have our class sweetheart and that’s Lindsey. Being called the class sweetheart didn’t get through her head. She’s kind, caring and sweet so a lot of boys got attracted, of course even me but all of us got rejected. Ouch! Until now she didn’t have in any relationships yet as she is dedicated in her studies in law.
“How’s your story going on?” Robert asked me.
I am a nurse but I have passion in writing novels ever since we were in high school. My parents didn’t let me pursue my dream to be a writer so I just made it as a hobby. I’m glad my friends support all my stories.
“I just finished the story I’m working at. You can check it on Inkitt. As of now, I’m thinking of starting another one. Our vacation is right on time for me to think of a new story.”
Few minutes after I arrived, here comes the boy scout of our group, Darwin.
“Hey my good friends! Your handy man Darwin is here!”
Yep. He really is our handy man indeed. Beside his bag for clothes and hand carry for personal stuffs, he has his other bag for what he calls emergency stuffs. It’s really awkward for him to bring those things like flashlight, rope, and first aid kit during vacations like this but Darwin is Darwin. Besides being the boy scout of the group, he is also the joker of the class. The trip won’t have extra fun without Darwin in the group. He always has his bag full of jokes. Oh, and he is a civil engineer.
“Whom else are we waiting for?”
Darwin asked and I answered.
“Hmm… Hazel and Audrey?”
It took an hour and a quarter of sharing stories of what happened after the last time we saw each other and a little bit of reminiscing the past before the two girls arrived.
“Hey guys! Sorry we’re late!”
Well, we are used to the two always being late in our trips ever since in high school. There’s nothing new to it but they’re still right on time before the check-in time closes.
Hazel is a chef overseas. She went home just to come with us in this vacation. Her sacrifice for her friends is very touching indeed. She really values our friendship. She is the walking refrigerator in the group. Her bag is always full of snacks so we never got hungry during class. She didn’t changed a bit up until now. If Darwin has an extra bag for his emergency stuffs, Hazel has her extra bag for snacks. Being a chef really suits her.
Last but not the least in our group in this vacation is Audrey. She is the singer and musician of the group. She always brings her guitar in school and we always jam in our free time. She pursued her dream to be a singer and musician and now she is currently in a band performing on stage. We are really proud of her. She brought her ukulele in this trip therefore we were expecting an all night jam in our vacation.
We checked our baggage and among us ten, Hazel has the most number of baggage. She even exceeded her baggage allowance so she removed some foods in her bag.
“Why did you bring your refrigerator in our trip?”
Darwin jokes at Hazel and everyone laughed.
We proceeded to the terminal until we boarded the plane.
The plane departs early at night and our flight will last for 8 hours.
