I walked into the airport closely followed by Ashton, Nikki, Mika, Carmen, Tyler, and Shelby, all of whom were crying, except for Tyler. He said he was too manly to cry. I just laughed at him.
I went through security and waited patiently for my bags to come through, looking around me as I did. I found my name on a sign and I walked over to the person holding it.
"Carmella Bratlie?" the woman asked.
"That's me," I answered skeptically.
"Come with me," she said, smiling kindly.
"My bags haven't finished going through security yet," I said, motioning toward the metal detectors. "And I have to say goodbye to my friends and sister."
"What about your parents?" she asked.
"They're not really in the picture anymore," I said sadly, hoping she wouldn't ask any more questions. I walked back to my group and hugged each of them individually. When I hugged Tyler, I felt the back of my shirt getting wet. "Are you crying?" I asked, pulling away from the hug and holding him at arms length, raising one eyebrow.
"No," he said. "I'm too manly for that."
I laughed at him, then hugged him again before moving on to Shelby. She was silently sobbing, ruining the makeup she had on from a photo shoot she was at when we picked her up.
"I'll be back in three months, okay Shel?" I said.
"I don't want you to go!" she said, throwing herself at me. She was the same age as Carmen, but was definitely more emotional and almost more like my little sister than Carmen was.
"I wish I could take you with me," I said softly, rubbing her back. "So I got you something."
I looked up at Mika and she handed me her purse.
"You didn't need to get me anything," Shelby said, although I knew she really wanted it.
I dug around in Mika's purse until my hand touched her gift. I grabbed Shelby's hand and pressed the cell phone into it. "I know you don't have one, so I got you a phone. This is so you can call me or text me anytime you need to. My number is already programmed into it and is speed dial two," I said, holding up two fingers.
"Oh my gosh! Thank you!" she said, throwing her arms around me. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou!"
"You're welcome," I said, smiling. I tried pulling away so I could hug Carmen, but Shelby refused to let me go. "Shelby. Release!"
She reluctantly let me go, grinning.
I wrapped my arms around Carmen and squeezed her tightly. "You be good for Tyler's parents, okay?" I said. "Clean up after yourself and lock our apartment whenever you leave there, okay? And don't leave the key under the mat while I'm gone. Give it to Tyler or keep it in your pocket, although I don't suggest the last one. Just give it to Tyler or put it on the counter in his apartment, okay?"
"Okay. I won't lose it, I promise," Carmen said. "Have fun in London, okay?"
"No promises," I said, smiling.
When I pulled away, Carmen's face fell a little. She thought I didn't get her anything.
"You didn't think I forgot to get you a present, did you?" I said, feigning horror. I pulled another cell phone out of Mika's purse, this one a bit different from Shelby's so they wouldn't get their phones mixed up.
Carmen's face lit up as she received the phone. "Finally!" she said, grinning. "It's about time you got me one!"
I laughed and stood up as someone over the intercom announced my flight.
"Bye, guys! I'll Skype you as soon as I get to London, okay?" I said, pulling everyone into a group hug, then walked toward the lady with the sign and followed her. I turned around and waved, walking backwards and nearly crashing into a sign. I saw Tyler laughing before he disappeared from view.

Notes

Okay.... so... this one was longer than the last. Still working on it!