Young Writers Society

"Yeah, we should of," Alex agreed.

Alex and Avery walked into Toronto Airport and found a place they could stand without being interrupted. Alex pulled out her phone and pulled up their tickets.

"So, next stop is Frankfurt," Alex said, "Do you see gate F66A anywhere?"

Avery pointed to their right, where there was a sign saying "<-- Gates F50 to F68B" hung.

Alex quickly put her phone away and grabbed her bag from Avery. They had about two minutes to make their flight and the gate was pretty far away. Alex and Avery sprinted as fast as they could without trampling anyone to get to their flight. Finally, they made it to the gate, where a smiling man greeted them.

Alex hastily showed her phone to the man, "Did we make it?!"

"Yes ma'am," the man said, "Thank you for choosing Air Canada! There should be two seats in the back waiting for you."

Alex and Avery boarded the plane and walked through to their seats. They received some condescending looks from other passengers, as if they had stopped the whole flight just to wait for them. Alex collapsed into the aisle spot. She was ready to nap.

Avery held back his laughter at how frantic Alex had been.

He slid deeper into his seat when he noticed the woman in a business suit sitting across the aisle, glaring at him. He smiled, looked away and took out his Harry Potter book once again.

Two hours later, while the plane was still in the air, he dozed off, snoring lightly.

Alex woke up from her nap as the plane touched down at Frankfurt Airport. Usually, she would have woken up earlier, but she had hardly slept the night before. Alex checked her phone. It was 11 a.m. local time, meaning the airport was probably bustling with activity.

Alex and Avery, again, waited until the last moment to exit the plane. As they entered the main part of the airport, a large blue sign welcomed them to Germany. Alex and Avery were directed towards the "non-German passports" line to get ready for their next flight. Luckily for them, it was an hour away, so they had time for breakfast.

After getting their passports checked and grabbing some postcards, Alex and Avery waited in line at a small deli and bought some sandwiches. They hadn't eaten for nearly 10 hours. They briefly went over their plans before rushing to their next flight.

The lady at the desk greeted them with a smile, said something in German, and let Alex and Avery onto the plane. They sat down, patiently waited through the safety instructions, then carried on with their business. Alex's dads had wanted her to write frequently (alongside calling them everyday), so she started to fill out a postcard to them.

Avery yawned as soon as he plopped down on the plane.

One more long flight and they'd be in Cape Town.

Once the plane was in the air he checked the schedule on his phone. He had a couple of assignments and the other professors had emailed him and Alex about the class work that they had to complete.

Avery made a clicking sound. He watched as Alex put away the postcards she was writing on. It was for her dads, Avery was sure of it.

"How long is this flight?" he asked tiredly.

Alex pulled out her phone and checked, “Twelve hours. It’ll be about five a.m. when we get there.” Alex could not wait to be in Cape Town, especially after nearly a day in the air. She needed to relax.

Alex put her phone away and pulled out some more schoolwork. She figured she could finish most of it and have time to rest after, maybe even watch a movie. The stewardess came down the aisle to offer them some drinks and Alex ordered some tea. She was tired, but wasn’t tired enough for coffee.

The flight attendant turned to Avery, “Would you like anything, sir?”

"Coffee's cool," he said with a tired smile.

He was given his drink and Alex was given her tea. Avery took a sip of his coffee and took a deep breath as the air hostess stated the safety instructions. Soon enough, they were in the air, and the two of them were scribbling away on their notebooks/textbooks.

"Good morning ladies and gentlemen," a voice over the intercom said, "We are just about to touch down at Cape Town International Airport. Please fasten your seatbelts and enjoy the last moments of your flight."

Alex and Avery did as they were told and buckled up. Alex made sure to complete the last bit of her homework before putting it in her bag and closing it. Alex leaned past Avery and looked out the window. The land near the airport was bland and grey, but in the distance Alex could see the ocean.

Alex tapped Avery on the arm repeatedly and pointed out the window when he noticed, "Look! The ocean!"

"Mhm, and hopefully I can swim in that as well." Avery said as he finished putting his things away.

The voice on the intercom came on again, thanking the passengers for flying Lufthansa and explaining how to call an Uber. Alex ignored anything past that and just watched the airport pass by as the plane landed. Eventually, they were allowed to exit the plane and start their trip.

Alex and Avery grabbed their bags and quickly left the airplane. They navigated their way through security and out of the airport. Alex scrolled through her email and notes, trying to find where they were going to live, but she couldn't.

"Um, where are we staying?" She asked Avery.

Avery panicked at her words. He tugged at the end of his t-shirt and bit his lip. "What do you mean? Didn't you book the hotel room? We decided on The Clifton, didn't we?" he said, his voice an octave higher.

If we haven't booked a hotel room, and if we don't have a place to live at, we'd be homeless, and we'd be on the roads, begging for money -

Avery shook his head. They were standing at the front of the airport, where all the taxis, Ubers, and cars were at.

Alex began to feel sick. What if they were stuck here without a place to stay? Where would they go? What would they do?

Alex pulled out her phone again and opened up safari, "I'll check Airbnb. That has to be where we booked the place, right?"

"Right," Avery agreed in a high-pitched voice. Alex could tell he was nervous. His voice always was higher when he was worried.

Alex started scrolling through the Airbnb website trying to find where they showed her bookings, and finally, she found it. Alex clicked it and went to her most recent, aka only, booking. She breathed a huge sigh of relief, "We booked it. Thank God!"

Soon enough, a taxi pulled up and Avery and Alex set their bags in the back seat before they climbed in.

"Where to, folks?" The cab driver turned around and asked.

"The Clifton, please!" Alex answered and they were on their way.

"You freaked me out so bad, Alex," Avery said, his voice now back to normal.

Alex chuckled nervously.

Soon enough, they were at The Clifton. Avery and Alex thanked the driver, paid they're fares and headed into the hotel. They checked in and the clerk gave them the keys to their room and flashed them a smile as well.

As soon as they reached their door - door number 403 - Avery sucked in a deep breath. He threw Alex the keys. "You open it."

Alex caught the keys and unlocked the apartment door.

"Let's hope this is as good as the pictures," Alex said as she opened the door. Avery stepped in first and let out an audible gasp. Alex quickly followed behind him and instantly saw what he gasped at.

"There's a balcony!" Alex dropped her bags and made her way to the glass windows, "The ocean's right there!"

Avery let out a short laugh. "You sound like Izzy." He dropped his bags, but went to go check out the view as well.

"I told you, I've never been to the ocean!" Alex exclaimed, "I'd go out there now if I wasn't so tired."

"Even if you weren't tired, we have to unpack, so." Avery crossed his arms.

"Oh, yea, right." Alex backed away from the glass and turned around to face where they had entered, "Well, let's get onto that."

The furniture looked so royal that Avery made sure not to touch anything as he made his way into one of the bedrooms - there were two. He peeked into the closet, opening the door gently and was relieved to see hangers. He hated folding clothes.

He hung up all his clothes and set his laptop and phone on the side table. "Alex," he called out. "Do you know where my iPad is, by any chance? I think I gave it to you."

He scratched the back of his head and softly sat down on the silky comforter, waiting for a reply.

"Yeah, hold on!" Alex shouted to Avery.

She had gone to the bedroom across from the kitchen, closest to the balcony. It was huge. Even the bathroom was bigger than her bedroom back at home. Granted, her bedroom was a former storage space that they renovated, but Alex figured the bathroom was still huge compared to any normal bedroom.

Alex walked over to the dresser and started putting her clothes in the drawers. She was never one to take the time to fold everything neatly, just her nice outfits. Once Alex finished unpacking, she set her suitcase down next to the dresser and took Avery's iPad out of her bag.

She knocked on Avery's door and walked in. She tossed the iPad onto the bed. It bounced a couple of times before landing near Avery's legs, "What do you want to do now?"

"Thanks," he said, smiling. "Honestly, I want to sleep or maybe check out the local library, start doing some research so we can be ahead." He shrugged. "Knowing you though..." He grinned sheepishly.

Alex smiled, "We do need to do some studying, so maybe we could check out some books and study on the beach!"

Alex didn't wait for Avery to respond before looking up the nearest library. Surprisingly, there was one just a ten minutes walk away, "There's a library about a mile away and it's right near the beach. How about we go there?"