Portal (28 page)

“Ready, everyone?” Mom shouted from the hallway.

Harry and I threw our bowls into the dishwasher and headed out into the car where Ella and Jonas were waiting impatiently, already strapped in.

The flight to New York was uneventful. We met up with the others at the airport and battled it out for seats. I sat between Kellan and Ariele. I noticed that they seemed out of sorts with each other, barely being civil and wondered what that was all about. I asked but they just blew me off. So, Ariele did not say much and I spent most of the flight watching a movie with Kellan and cozying up to him. I must have fallen asleep.

“Shrimp, wake up! We’re here, look at all the buildings! We’re landing soon.”

I lazily extracted myself from Kellan’s chest and looked out. The view was unbelievable, and I could feel the excitement building.

“Lean over, Ariele, you can’t miss this view!” I shouted and I nudged her sharply.

She leaned over hesitantly, peered out the window and broke into a smile. It was hard not to. I reached out, took her hand and squeezed it as I winked at her. This was our playground! I held on tightly to her hand and Kellan’s as we landed at Newark airport. We had a stretch limo waiting for us. I was overcome by the feeling of familiarity. Even the air felt like
home
.

As the limo reached the Turnpike and headed north, I wistfully glanced back at the southbound traffic. That’s the direction I wanted to be going in. However, once we reached the Lincoln tunnel those thoughts were behind me, at least for a while. Familiar sights hit me as soon as we exited the tunnel into Manhattan, the first of which was the bus station and the big parking lot. We took 38
th
street up to Madison Avenue and drove north on this shopping mecca. I looked at all the shops as if I was seeing them for the first time. Arizona Stevens had never had any interest in them, but Darley couldn’t wait to explore them!

When we arrived at the Waldorf, we went straight to our rooms to unpack, the boys in one and the girls in another. Rupert had a suite reserved for himself, which he expected would get used by Jonas and Ella when they wanted to get away from the teenage ruckus. There wasn’t really enough room in the girl’s room so we ordered up an extra cot for Ella in case she wanted to stay with us, although we were hoping she wouldn’t….

The time difference meant that it was already evening here. We changed our clothes so we could go out and hit the clubs later. Ariele had managed to get us some fake ID’s so we were all set.

However, we first walked over to Times Square for some dinner. Ella had requested
Mars
on 5
th
Avenue. Not my favorite place, I much prefer
Tea and Sympathy
, but that was much further south and this was Ella’s time. We entered the spaceship elevator, which took us up to the restaurant. This, for Jonas and Ella, was the highlight. They had a ball chasing the “Aliens” walking around. I don’t expect that the poor Aliens were quite prepared for the onslaught of naughtiness that Jonas and Ella demonstrated. They were on a high after the long flight from California. Rupert finally had to get firm with them and ordered them to sit down. The food was average, but it was fun spending time with everyone. Rupert decided to head back to the hotel with Ella and Jonas after dinner. Ella had an early audition the next day.

The rest of us hit Times Square. We wandered around and spotted the Naked Cowboy. What an odd sight! Ariele and I knew all the places to go to, it was home ground for us. Everyone was impressed as we marched from one store to the other. We headed over to Club Mango when we’d enough walking around. The ID’s worked like a charm and we were allowed in without any questions. It was so cool being at Mango. The music was awesome and I loved spending this fun, uncomplicated time with Kellan. We got some drinks and danced into the small hours. I can’t remember when we got back, or how we got back.…

I woke early, way too early, so I lay in bed quietly so as not to disturb the three sleeping beauties. Well, maybe not sleeping
beauties
. I smiled as I looked at them more closely. We had all fallen asleep in our club clothes. No one had bothered with tooth brushing or make up removal. I looked over at Maria, who was fast asleep next to me. Her head was on the pillow, her lips slightly apart with drool stuck to her lipstick-encrusted chin. Her mascara was smudged all around her eye area, she reminded me of a panda. I tried not to chuckle. If Harry could see her now!

She opened her eyes and stretched. Then she looked over at me and started giggling.

“Geez, Arizona, what happened to you? You look awful. Kinda like a skunk!”

“Take a look at your self, twin!” I guffawed.

We got up and stumbled over to the mirror and stared into it. We turned to each other and collapsed with laughter, waking up Ali and Ariele. They just grunted, turned over and went back to sleep.

“We better get cleaned up,” I whispered to Maria, “We’ve got to go and get Ella ready for the auditions.”

I looked at myself in the mirror again. This was no small cleaning job! I started with the make up, taking the remover pads that Maria handed to me and wiped the mess off my face. Five pads later my face felt raw, but at least it was clean. I combed my hair through, unknotting the tangled mess before I hit the shower where I applied generous amounts of shampoo and conditioner. Then, I wrapped my hair in a turban and went to the sink where I scrubbed my teeth till my gums nearly bled and splashed my face with cold water. I looked at myself carefully. While I couldn’t spot any blemishes, I could feel that familiar tingling sensation on my chin that occurred just before a nasty zit reared its ugly head. I gave the area an extra scrub and then moisturized copiously, and stepped back into the bedroom where Maria was waiting impatiently, pointing to her cell.

“Arizona, Ella needs us right away. Can you go and get started while I get ready?”

I nodded, threw on a bathrobe and headed over to Ella’s room. She shooed Rupert and Jonas away as soon as I entered the room.

“Arizona, call me when you’re ready. We’ll head down to the lobby in the meantime,” said Rupert.

“Will do,” I said and turned to my little sister.

“Big day, Ella! Are you nervous?”

“A bit,” she admitted reluctantly.

“So, what do you want me do?”

“Not a lot. I need to wash my hair. I have to leave it curly so maybe you could help curl the bits that don’t dry right? I’ll also need some help with my bow and my lip gloss?” she said shyly.

“No problem, go get into the shower and I’ll pull out your outfit. It’s in that pink suitcase?”

She nodded as she skipped off to the shower. I removed her outfit and put it down carefully on the bed. It was not what I had expected. For some reason I had thought it would be a pink princess number, but instead it was a junior “rocker” look, studded leather jacket included. Very cool! My phone rang; it was Maria.

“Do you need me? My head suddenly hurts so if you don’t absolutely need me, I’m going back to bed for a while. Is that ok?” she pleaded.

“Sleep. I have it under control here.”

I decided to dry my hair as I waited for Ella to finish washing hers and found her blow dryer and turned it on. I was nearly done by the time she came back through. She was soaking wet. Drying off has never been her strong point.

“Ella, finish drying yourself. I’ll be done in a minute to help you into your outfit. You look rocking, by the way!”

She looked pleased and proceeded to mock pat herself dry.

I finished drying my hair, helped get her dry and then started handing her the clothes. She put them on and stared at herself in the mirror. She looked awesome in them. Her hair was naturally curly unlike mine, so we didn’t really have to curl any bits. We just let her hair dry into natural ringlets. She didn’t really need any make up, but had brought her theater make up kit out so I applied some light gloss onto her lips and dusted her cheeks with a hint of blush. I took a step back and looked at her.

“Awesome, Ella! You look fantastic. Let me walk you down to the lobby. Dad and Jonas are waiting for you there. Is Jonas going with you?”

“Yes, he really wanted to so he is going to wait outside with Dad while I audition. I’ll lend him my iTouch to keep him busy. I downloaded some cool new games. Dad’s taking us to the M&M shop after the auditions.”

I was relieved to hear that. I needed some free time today and babysitting Jonas was not really what I had in mind. I had plans.

“Ok then, come on, let’s go! Don’t forget your make-up kit and bag!”

I took her down to the lobby and looked around for Rupert. I spotted him and Jonas sitting on the lounge chairs looking busy. Rupert had his head immersed in a newspaper and Jonas was concentrating on Ella’s iTouch. We walked toward them and Rupert stood up as he noticed us approaching. He wasn’t alone. I noticed Harry and Kellan get up from another couch. I looked down at my bunny slippers and bathrobe. Great!

“You look awesome!” the four of them said in unison looking Ella up and down. She glowed with pride and nodded bashfully.

Kellan pointed to her motorcycle boots, “Whoa, Ella, those are just like mine!”

She looked down at them proudly and smiled, then went over to Rupert and took his hand.

“Let’s go, Dad. I’m ready.”

We all wished her the best as she waved at us before getting into the limo with Rupert and Jonas.

I turned around and looked at Harry and Kellan. They both looked amazing. Did they not come out with us last night? They were both looking at my hideous attire with amusement, as were most others in the lobby. I rolled my eyes at them and walked back toward the elevator making sure that the doors closed before they could get in.

Ariele and I had made plans for today. We had decided to give the others the slip and head down to New Jersey for the day to see if we could locate my dad. I considered taking Kellan with us, but he and Ariele were not getting along at the moment and I needed her more than him for this expedition. So he would have to stay behind.

I did want to be upfront with him though, and let him know what we were doing so as not to upset him, like the last time I had hidden things from him. I cared too much for him to risk that. Once I reached the room, I called him and asked him to meet me for breakfast. Ali and Ariele were still asleep and Maria was getting ready for some alone time with Harry.

“How did you manage with Ella? Bet she looked cute!” said Maria

“She sure did, that rocker outfit is amazing! I’m sure she’ll do well. She seemed totally confident.”

I stopped as we heard a retching sound from the bed and watched in dismay as Ali sat up and looked as us pitifully before she hurled – right on the sheets, narrowly missing Ariele’s hair. Ariele sprang into action jumping off the bed and looking at Ali in horror. I went over and held Ali’s hair back as she wretched again. She looked up at me miserably.

“I’m ok, I just needed that out of my tummy. My head hurts, do you have any Tylenol?”

Maria came over with some pills and water and handed them to her, carefully avoiding touching the vomit covered bed.

“Drink that down, Ali. It will make you feel better, I hope. Look guys, I hate to leave you like this, but I promised Harry I would meet him for breakfast. Is it ok if I go? I’ll be back in half an hour. Will you guys stay with her until then?”

I nodded and she went off to see Harry. Ali stumbled toward the bathroom while I stripped the bed and threw the sheets into a plastic bag. Ariele just watched, she wasn’t being much help. She’s never been much good in the vicinity of vomit. I had to go as well, though.

“Ariele, you’re going to have to deal with this while I speak to Kellan so that we can head off to New Jersey soon. Ali will be ok once she’s cleaned herself up. I’ll be back shortly. I promise.”

She nodded, unenthusiastically.

I quickly changed into black jeans and a rose-colored hoodie, dug my feet into my Uggs and left while Ariele started protesting at being left alone with Ali. I really could have done without this. I had enough on my mind. I felt overwhelmed, almost ready to burst into tears, but I kept myself in check. This day was going to be difficult enough. I first had to tell Kellan what I was up to and that wasn’t going to be easy for starters.

When I saw Kellan waiting for me in the lobby, I ran up to him and threw my arms around him squeezing tightly so that none of my tears could escape.

“You ok, Shrimp?” he asked concerned, loosening my grip around him so he could see my face. I nodded and he picked me up and carried me over to the seats where he held me silently while I composed myself.

“I’m sorry, Kellan. Ali’s not well and I’m just feeling a bit stressed out with everything going on. Can we get some breakfast?”

We got up and walked over to the Peacock Alley for some food. As we were sitting and eating, Kellan looked at me and asked, “Feeling better? What’s up, Arizona? What’s stressing you out?”

“Kellan, I was thinking of spending the day with Ariele today if that’s ok with you?”

He looked disappointed, “Well, I was sort of hoping to hang out with you. What are you and Ariele planning to do?”

“We’re going to head down to New Jersey to find Dad.”

I could see his muscles tighten and his lips form into a thin line. He was angry.

“I’m coming with you,” he said un-compromisingly.

“Kellan, I want you to, I’d love for you to come. I just thought you would be happier not to since Ariele is coming. You two don’t seem to be getting along?”

He looked at me defiantly and shrugged his shoulders and said simply, “I’m coming.”

I reached over and took his hand. He melted slightly but not much, “I’m so glad. We have to leave soon though. We need to get there before school is over.”

“How were you thinking of getting there?” he asked.

“There are trains from Penn Station to Princeton Junction and we can cab it from there.”

He smiled, “Shrimp, go get ready and meet me down here in twenty minutes. I’ll have a limo ready to drive us down there, the train will take forever.”