Young Writers Society

“I’ll probably watch some later.” Alex said, looking at the backseat, then looked at the map on her phone, “Turn right here.”

“We’ll probably get in at about six, so maybe we could just eat somewhere nearby the hostel tonight, then go somewhere better tomorrow. I hear there's a pretty good restaurant near the One World Trade Center, which has an observatory.”

Avery's eyebrows shot up. "Just for your information, Alex, we're not driving eight hours straight, if that's what you meant. We'll probably stop halfway at some place and then continue from there." he explained. "And don't worry, we have two weeks to go find food at every restaurant." he grinned.

“Oh.” Alex said, she thought they were driving all the way through. She did a quick search on her phone, “We could stop in Montreal, then drive five hours tomorrow or stop in Albany and drive two hours tomorrow. I think it’d be better to cross the border today.”

Alex put her phone in a cup holder, “I’ll pay for wherever we stay tonight, then some other things in New York.”

"You pay half, I pay half. End of discussion." he said coolly.

He didn't want to seem so greedy with a thousand dollars in his pocket. He wanted to spend it. He got up onto the highway and looked behind him to see if cars were coming. When there were none, he continued, and put the car on cruise.

"Stopping at Albany sounds good. It'll be easier anyway. Search up a hostel or something there, real quick, will ya?" he asked, speeding up.

Alex grabbed her phone and searched for hotels and hostels, “Uh… $93 for a room at some Marriot hotel. Should I book it? It looks OK.”

"Sure." he nodded, switching lanes once again.

xXx

Soon enough, they pulled up to a large hotel. Avery whistled. "That's bigger than my building."

“It didn’t look this big in the photos.” Alex got out of the car and opened the trunk. She grabbed her suitcase and together they walked to the hotel and through the door.

“Hello!” Alex said to the man at the front desk, “We booked a room, for tonight. It should be under the name ‘Leifsson’”.

Avery let Alex do the talking, because when it came to talking to strangers, he always felt an uneasy feeling settle in his stomach. He nudged Alex just to remind her that he was paying half the payment. Soon they were ready to go to their suite.

The man - his name was Doug - led them through fancy hallways and opened a door to lead them in. "Enjoy your stay." he winked and left them wih their suitcase and backpacks.

"This is one hell of a suite." Avery commented. "There's an indoor pool too. And free wifi. Awesome!"

He dropped his backpack onto the couch, and keys on the glass coffee table. His eyes landed on the wooden study table. Chair and all. He grinned at Alex. There was one queen bed, but there was no way they were both sleeping on it together. He'd have to manage on the couch.

“It’s pretty great! I’ll sleep on the bed, if that’s OK; check if it’s a pull-out couch.”

Alex set her bag down and jumped onto the bed, “Oooo, it’s super comfy.” She laid down and pulled out her laptop, connecting it to the Wifi.

"Do you want to go swim? Or maybe eat first, then swim?"

It was indeed a pull out couch. He grinned at her when it transformed into a bed. He put his backpack on it and took his iPad out, ready to watch movies.

"Nah, we should go for a swim - it'll relax our muscles if it's warm water - and then we'll eat. And watch movies." he waggled his eyebrows, smiling widely.

Alex laughed, and threw a pillow at Avery, “What movies did you buy?”.

Alex rolled off the bed and rummaged through her suitcase for her swimsuit. It was all the way on the bottom of the case.

"A couple of horrors." Avery said cheekily.

He got up, and dug out his shorts from his suitcase. Her went into the bathroom first, and pulled on his shorts. He kept his t-shirt on - he didn't want to go around bare chest in the hallways.

When he came out of the bathroom, he bit the inside of his cheek. "Dammit. I didn't bring towels. Let's just hope they have some here." he groaned.

“Hopefully you rented It Chapter 2, I’ve been dying to see it.” Alex said when Avery finished changing, taking her swimsuit and black shorts out of her bag, “They probably will have towels near the pool. I’ll go change.”

Alex walked to the bathroom and put the suit on. It was an old one-piece that she got when her family went to the beach several years ago. It still fit and she didn’t swim often, so she hadn’t bothered to get a new one. She put her shorts on over it, she always felt weird walking around with just her swimsuit on.

Alex walked back out and put her clothes back into the bag, “Let’s go!”

Avery and Alex walked out the suite, making sure to grab the suite's keys Doug had given him. "Don't you worry - I got a bunch." he told her.

They followed signs down to the basement. There was a door that said "Swimming Pool" on it, so Avery pushed it open, and they both walked in, letting the door flap behind them.

If you were to ask Avery to describe this pool in one word, he wouldn't be able to. There were too many words for it. High-ceiling, two pools (he guessed one was deeper, the other shallower), a diving board, and slides.

Alex followed Avery into the pool area and spotted a shelf full of towels, “Oh, good, they do have towels!”

She took off her shorts and put them down on a chair. Then, she walked over to the pool and sat down on the edge of it, feet in the water. It felt warm, not like children-pee-in-it warm, but warm from the water heater and sunshine from the windows.

“It’s pretty warm, feels nice,” Alex said, pushing herself off the edge and into the pool.