We'll all be running
Don't care about the warnings
~•~

Jade

"Come on, Jade, don't let us down!" they all scream at both sides of my ear. My hands are shaking, and I'm scared. I was the one who won the beer pong we played, so I have the power to choose. It's freaking me out because if I choose a terrible place, it'll be all my fault. Not only will I not like it, but the rest of them will hold it against me.

The blindfold around my head is tightened a bit more, and Leo whispers threateningly in my ear. My hands are shaking as I try to position the dart and hope it lands in a nice place. "Three, two, one... go!" I release the dart, and the sound of it embedding into the foam board in front of me can be heard perfectly because everyone is dead silent.
Before I can ask, everyone starts to cheer.

I swiftly take off the blindfold, and my eyes scan the board. The first thing I notice is that the dart landed on Europe on the map, which could be good or bad. Then I look closer and realize it landed in France, specifically Paris.

"You're so lucky," Leo says.

"Geez you blindfolded me!"

"Oh my God, this is amazing!" Ivy starts. "Since we have to resume for the semester in two weeks, I was thinking we should go by the end of this week and spend a few days together before getting back and going to our respective homes to chill out before we resume."

We all agree.

"So, how are we gonna cover everything?" someone asks.

"Don't worry about that," Leo says. "Jeremy's gonna cover everything."

"Pros of having a rich boyfriend I see," Rhea says, and we all laugh. "I've been to Paris once, but I was so little I remember nothing. I'm so excited to go with you guys. There are so many places I've heard of that I want to check out."

"It's a city of love, they say; love blooms everywhere," Ivy says as we step out of her room and walk out to the street.

"Who wants candy or ice cream?" he asks as an ice cream truck passes by.

"You're a literal child," Rhea teases. "You never actually had a childhood, and now you want to be a child as much as you can."

We all laugh at that except for Leo, who turns serious. "You're right, though. But who cares? I can be a child forever. Who's stopping me?"

We all laugh and decide to give in to his wishes. We head over to the nearest ice cream place to get ice cream for ourselves.

"Ivy please get something other than mint choco."

Everyone laughs while I roll my eyes at him.

◑ ⁠◑⁠ ◑
Rhea

I roll my luggage across the airport floor with the rest of the guys as we go to board our flight to France. A few years ago, I couldn't imagine myself doing this, being here. I always thought I was meant to be on the street with these people, living a rough life. And sometimes life just happens, like it's like you don't even have any control, you could just go from being nobody to having a life that a lot of people could envy.

And my life is not really like enviable, it's just something that is nice, you know, and it's just there in the sense that it's not so extravagant, it's not terrible. I feel like a lot of people will disagree with me, and it's an unpopular opinion, but being a middle-class person and having an average life is actually the most comfortable. Because if I was poor, depressed and had bad mental health, that's terrible. If I was a celebrity, I'd face a lot of hate, lack of privacy, anything I do, people will use it against me.

But being in the middle, you avoid both of that. You can have peace and love and happiness, and you're comfortable. You can live the life you want without people judging you. And I don't know, who knows, maybe I'm gonna grow up to be a famous singer, but for now, I'm liking this kind of life. I never knew that after the fire incident that I'll ever come to say these words, but I love my life.

We board the flight and we take our respective seats. Jade is by my right, and Asher is by my left, leaving Leo and Ivy to sit behind us. They seem so comfortable and chatty for people who just broke up.

I'm happy they get to have that close relationship even after everything. I do notice that Asher is a bit uncomfortable by the whole thing though.

"What's going on in your mind, Asher?" He chuckles.

"What do you think?"

"Relax. She cheated on him because of you, calm down."

"I don't know, I've always felt like I'm never gonna be the first choice or that I'm never gonna be the choice someone wants to be forever. I've always felt like I'm the side character, you know."

"That sucks but trust me on this one. And besides in my life you're definitely not a side character."

"Thanks Rhea." He lets out a breath and rests his head on the headrest.

"Now let's just enjoy the ride and have a great time. Remember it's about having fun, leave all your little worries about your little heart, and let's have fun. Besides, you have a lot of time to worry about love since we're going to the city of love."

"Oh my God." He facepalms I let out a laugh.

Before we know it, the plane starts to move, and in a few moments, we're in the air.

And in my head, I'm also airborne. It's like for the first time in years, I'm not being cautious of my words or actions. I've just...let go of something I've always held on to. It's like I'm not scared anymore.