(Hey:) This chapter is purposely short due to what the next chapter is about, but I hope you're enjoying it so far<3

Proverbs 15:13 "A glad heart makes a cheerful face, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is crushed."

Chapter 5

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We just made it to the hotel.

Overall, Aspen's and I conversations have been on the down low since we left the burger place as I assumed it was the chocolate cake, but we were both at ease with the silence so it wasn't awkward at all.

We stepped out the elevator and Aspen walked me to my room and he chuckled saying, "Hey, I didn't even notice our rooms were only 4 doors apart," he smiled with a deeper voice. He must've been tired.

Why are guys when their sleepy or half sleep their voices just sound so....amazing??

"Hmph, me either," I squinted with exhausted eyes. I unlocked my room and I was about to walk in, but I turned pink as I didn't even have my bag.

"Almost forget something?" he smiled at me handing me my backpack. I chuckled embarrassed.

"Ugh thanks, and sorry for letting you carry it around all day. I bet it was a struggle," I rolled my eyes. He shook his head.

"Nah don't apologized. I offered to carry it and I honestly didn't mind. It wasn't too heavy. Almost just right," he nodded. I blushed.

"Thanks Aspen. I'll see you tomorrow," I told him.

"Goodnight," he did a little wave.

"Night," I smiled at him.

We then kind of stared at each other for a few seconds with mini smiles on our faces like we were waiting for something.... something....unexpected ....but he quickly shook out of it.

"Sorry. I better go," he pointed to his door slowly backing away. I blinked myself back to reality too.

"Oh yeah...right. Bye!" I told him.

"Ha, bye." and I slowly closed the door as I heard him unlock his and I locked my door behind me and I sprinted to my queen size bed and jumped in it.

"Ahhhh!" I screamed into the pillow. "What the world is wrong with you Amanda?" I buried myself in the pillow. They must've used feathers. "Traveling with a boy you barely know!? Are you CRAZY??" I asked myself. One half of me was like,

"Sorry!? I don't what's wrong with me! He's probably some secret mass murder!!" But the other half was like,

"Girl, chill. He's a GOOD guy. What WRONG has he done to you yet? If anything, he's the coolest person you've meet in long time besides Vanessa!"

I sighed flipping over on the bed looking up at the ceiling with both my hands on my stomach. A blew a strand of hair out my face as it fell right back down again.

"Well....even if I wanted to change anything about it, I couldn't. I already told him he could travel with me and I agreed to that and just leaving this hotel without telling him is just the wrong thing to do and a waste of money," I whispered to myself. I sighed closing my eyes.

"Well...I'll stick it out with him....but if he gets too weird or creepy-with murderer traits or he ends up being some cute kidnapper-that's when you better run Amanda," I yawned turning over. I got comfortable and as I began to close my eyes just for a few minutes, I gave one final thought,

'Well....he did buy me food....'

~

I heard a knock.

I fidgeted in bed and I repositioned myself to get comfortable again thinking it was nothing, but I heard it again. I moaned looking for my glasses on the night stand (that I don't remember taking off) but while I reached for them with my eyes closed, I unexpectedly rolled off the bed-

"Yelp!!" -doing a one full flip in midair and fell right on my stomach onto the floor just laying there for a seconds taking it all in.

"Uggh," I groaned by my fall still 89.99% sleep. My fall shook the floor which made my glasses fell on top of me when I tried to get up which meant they were in the bed the whole time.

"Hmph," I pouted so exhausted.

I put them on and rubbed my face with my blazer and that's when I noticed.... I never did anything last night!!

I heard the knock again and I thought it was Aspen at the door, and I couldn't let him see like this, so I quickly ran in the bathroom and turned on EVERYTHING to pretend like I was occupied in the bathroom and he could hear me. After a few minutes I figured it worked as I didn't hear the knock for a fourth time.

I looked through the peephole as I saw nobody there and I opened the door peaking just head my out to see Aspen but I didn't, what I really saw was a silver platter on the floor and I assumed the hotel just brought me breakfast.

I grabbed it and placed it on the table by the tv and I turned it on while I was in the shower and washed up as I must've been so mentally and physically drain from yesterday, I didn't even get back up to take a shower after my self pep talk before I fell asleep.

I took the shower, washed my hair with the hotels toilettes, my face; brushed my teeth, and put on some clothes. I decided to put on my oversized loose black t-shirt that always fell to the side to "show off" my bra strap, some light blue jean capris and my black wore down Vans I had since forever. I was letting my hair air dry, and it did that, I decided I'd eat breakfast.

I opened the platter and it was more than I expected. There was an egg omelet, lots of bacon, two huge croissants, a bowl of mixed fruit and a bottle of water and orange juice. It seemed like A LOT, and I didn't order it, so I checked the ticket to see if was billed TO ME, but it anonymous. It said PAID and I just sat there confused.

I looked back into the hallway of the hotel to see others have platters too and I assumed it was on the house or something, so I smiled as I looked back at it, but I knew I wouldn't be able finish it alone.

Aspen didn't have a tray, but I assumed he was up already to get it and I kinda didn't want to eat alone so I held my door open and walked four doors down to his and when I made it, I nervously knocked thinking the worst....

'Wait, what if he bailed out on me and he's not there?' I told myself. 'What if I look disgusting because it's early in the morning and he thinks I look hideous? What if-' but before I could finish my thought, a boy with kinda messy black hair, and tired deep blue eyes opened the door with a crooked smile and I quickly blushed by how cute yet tired he was and I almost forgot WHY I even came to him in the first place.

"Uh....hey," I said quickly smiling at him with a wave. He nodded.

"Hey," he said back. I wanted to creep in his room and see if he had a platter too but I forced myself to ask,

"Uh.....did you eat already? I have food," I asked pointing to my room.

"No I didn't," he told me. "Actually, there's a lot of things I didn't do yet. But I'll get it done," he smiled at me. I smiled a little too. "Eventually." I giggled amongst myself.

"Oh well....I got this platter thing from the hotel. I GUESS I accidentally asked for this, but I didn't when I paid at the front for my room but....it was a lot of food so I was wondering if you'd want to share it with me since you didn't yet? I don't mind," I shook my head with a uneasy smile. He brighten.

"Well sure. I'll be right over, okay? It shouldn't take me long," He told me. I nodded with a smile.

"Alright."

He held his door open as I turned away jumping on my feet with my mouth closed as Aspen looked so CUTE with his jeans on that had a silver chain coming out his pocket, a white t-shirt that was SO CLEAN, a gray vest type jacket thing with a hood on it, and grey Vans.

Despite his messy hair and slow to blink eyes, which didn't interfere at all...

I noticed when I walked into my room it was a MESS, so I did the fastest clean up in my life, and stuffed everything in my backpack, I folded the bed covers over where I slept as it was all wriggly and unattractive, I threw all the dirty towels on the floor in the bathroom, and I placed my hair in a high pony tail to the side to make it look like I tried.

What felt like one second later after I carefully placed the platter on the bed as a finished touch, I sat in a roller chair acting as if I never did ANY of that, and Aspen came in with his longboard and backpack right on cue.

"You made it," I told him with a nervous chuckled. He smiled.

"Of course. I'm always up for food," he set his stuff by mine at the door. I rolled over to him in the chair as he sat on the bed.

"Say grace?" He asked me.

I shook my head. He offered; we both bowed our heads.

"Father, I thank for this food we're about to receive and I thank you for protecting us last night in our sleep. I pray you guard our footsteps for another day, and you bring unexplainable joy and happiness to this day. In Your Precious Name....Amen."

"Amen," I said after him.

I took a grape and rolled away as he got a piece of bacon and he was the first to asked me, "Sleep good?" I rolled my eyes at him.

"I was so tired last night, I don't even remember taking off my glasses or anything. I was knocked out within seconds right when I laid in the bed!" I told him still surprised. He chuckled.

"Yeah, me too. I don't know why I was so tired. We were just on a plane and walking," he thought. I came back over on the chair.

"I know.... What's our destination today actually?" I asked him grabbing a croissant. He looked at me.

"Like, where are we going to stop?" He asked me. I nodded.

"Hmhuh," I said through my lips.

I got out my phone and typed in Google Maps and as it loaded, I began to think how I still, 'till this day, don't get how my phone works.

Kelly got me this phone a few months before the breast cancer treatments. It was suppose to be my, 'finally going into high school back to school gift' in which it was and I had only a few numbers on there. My middle school friends, Kelly, and her sister.

That's all I needed at the time and most the time all I ever texted was Kelly in the same house, but she played along.

I secretly kept my phone after I got into the orphanage and I can still get on the Internet and everything, I just can't make calls or texts to people.

I honestly don't know whose buying all that Internet on my phone, but knowing Kelly, she probably got some deal with the phone to where she didn't have to pay for Internet cause she was so rich.

I stared at my phone surprised, hiding a smile, looking at our destination.

"What is it?" Aspen asked me. I handed him my phone.

"Well....it says there by walking it'll take 120 hours to walk from here to Virginia Beach.....that's approximately 5 days," I did the math.

"Well we have skaters," he added. "By biking it says, 37 hours. So it's going to take us about 3 and half days to get there....if we just don't stop for anything and travel day and night without breaks and have no sets back,"  he added quickly. I laughed as he handed me my phone back as we both knew, that was impossible.

"Haha, right. Any stopping point in particular?" I asked him. He got out his phone too and he looked as I grabbed two pieces of bacon and he was picking on the fruit.

"How about Annapolis?" He asked looking up at me.

"Annapolis? In Maryland?" I asked him a bit puzzled. He nodded.

"Yup. It's 42 hours away by walking, but I'm pretty sure we'll be able to find a bus that could take us part of the way there. It won't be so bad," he told me with optimist eyebrows. I nodded and I got up from the chair grabbing a handful of fruit and I went to my backpack stuffing some of the fruit in my mouth as I checked my money stash. Checking to see if they were still where I left them and I went to my brown cross-body purse and I had everything.

"Sorry. I was just checking to see if I had all my money, but I do think I can afford a bus ticket all the way to Annapolis. You?" I asked him. He nodded.

"Yup. So, one way tickets to Annapolis?" I smiled at him as I sat back down in the chair and said coolly,

"Alllllll the way."

~

(Haha, Amanda is honestly clumsy and awkward while I reread this story, and I'M the author:D I hope you enjoyed the chapter and read on to the next:) Bye<3