More Than One: A Novel by Monica Fowler Page A

from Kansas, I was going to have to buckle down and study to keep my grades at the steady C I was maintaining.
    That night when I made it home from work, I felt exhausted. I wanted to go to bed early since we had to be up for our flight the next morning.
    Rach was out with Derrick and she promised she would be back before it was time to leave. Ash had already left around eight this morning to go see his parents. It was just me.
    I turned out all the lights and tuned into some random program on the television. After the second episode went off, I went to sleep.
    That next morning, I woke feeling rested. I was so thankful for the peaceful sleep. I didn’t have any nightmares and even the darkness didn’t seem so bad.
    I got up and stretched. I looked around for Rach and she wasn’t there. I flipped open my cell phone to call her, when I heard the toilet flush. Soon after, Rach came out of the bathroom, already dressed.
    “Come on, get dressed before we’re late and miss our flight. It was really cool of your parents to buy my ticket. You did remember to thank them for me, didn’t you?” Rach rambled on, obviously in a chipper mood.
    I couldn’t get a word in edge wise, so I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face. I had already picked out the clothes I was going to wear today, just in case.
    I threw my clothes on while Rach was on the phone calling us a cab. As soon as she was off the phone, she looked at me.
    “I take it your night went well,” I said.
    “It looks like yours did, too. You look so rested Jay, that’s awesome. Maybe Dr. Silverman’s techniques did help,” she said.
    “I am rested and I have to admit, it feels nice.”
    “Great! Let’s get this stuff down stairs before the cab gets here. I’m so ready to get out of Georgia, aren’t you?”
    “I am, too. I can’t wait to see my parents. Hopefully there will be some kind of festival in town and we can go hang out.”
    “Sounds like a plan. Just one thing though,” she said, face smooth, “let’s enjoy this weekend. I need you to try to relax. If you don’t want to tell your parents about all this, you need to at least seem happy so they won’t be suspicious.”
    “I got it and you’re right. I’m leaving all that drama here and I will use this time to rejuvenate myself since my dreams won’t do it for me,” I said. Rach knew exactly what I meant.
    She hugged me and then turned to get her bags. We didn’t have to pack much since we were only going to be gone for three days. I looked around the room and collected all my necessities and then we headed out.
    Once in the cab, I looked out the window and took this time to calm my nerves. I leaned back in the seat and took a deep breath.
    We made it to the airport and went through the normal security rituals until we were passed the security checkpoint. We only had to wait for about forty-five minutes before the plane started to board.
    I got on the plane and sat down in my seat, which was by the window. Rach was next to me pulling out her MP3 player and putting on her headphones.
    After the initial enjoyment of the plane ascending wore off, I closed my eyes and prepared myself for the two-hour flight.
    We arrived at the Kansas City International airport around eleven forty. I spent half of the time on the plane telling myself to be calm and to try to enjoy myself this weekend. After we got our bags and went out front, I called my mom to see where they were.
    “Hey mom, we made it. Where are you guys,” I said when she answered the phone.
    “We are out front. Where are you honey? I’ll tell your dad to pull up some,” she answered.
    “We just walked out front, what car are you in? I’ll try to find you.”
    “Dad wanted the car to be a surprise, so we will find you. Just stay where you are and we will come back around.”
    “Okay, we won’t go anywhere,” I said.
    She hung up the phone, but not before I heard her tell my dad to turn around and to hurry up.
    “So,