"Bye mom! I'm off to California with Carl!" Mariana yelled from the front door to her mother. She held a charcoal black luggage and a jansport on her back.

"How are you not worried? She's fourteen?" Danny asked, his perfectly arched eyebrow going up a bit. Their mother looked up at him from her fashion magazine.

"You know our family. And besides, she's Mariana, she lived in Los Angeles for a year and survived. I'm a proud mama." Her mother spoke in a slight Hispanic accent.

"If you say so." He continued to drink his FitTea, which he swears works.

Mariana lugged her baggage outside, only to see Carl outside as well. It was early in the morning and Mariana could see Carl's breath in the brisk air.

"Are you ready Gallagher?" She smiled.

"Just as ready as you are Mendoza." He smiled back, looking at her in her sweatpants and his old sweater. Carl himself wore almost the same thing, but wore converse instead of slides.

They stood hand in hand as they waited for their uber driver to stroll up. It took them a few days to plan out the whole thing, but they actually did one hell of a job.

Soon enough a dark cobalt Acura pulled up. Off it was to the Chicago airport. Mariana was excited to be in California again. She had her heart set on moving there when she turned eighteen—with Carl of course.

She loved the people, how diverse and unique each person was. And the weather, probably the best weather in the whole entire world to her standards. She fell in love with every single little thing.

The air would smell fresh in the woods.

Or like salt by the beach.

It'd smell sweet and rustic.

The whole thing was an experience you'd have to first-hand encounter.

*

"You may now exit the plane." A stewardess spoke through the airplane's intercom. Mariana and Carl walked down the aisle, carry on bags in hand.

"Here we are Carl, California." She squealed as she squeezed Carl's hand in anticipation. She felt that rush of energy in her veins that she first got when she arrived to California.

They purchased a rental car with Carl's fake ID and went straight to the hotel. Mariana grabbed a bellhop cart while Carl unloaded the luggages from the trunk. The hotel was extravagant, and free of charge due to Mariana's California connections.

The floor was swirled marble and the ceilings were high. The ambiance was mature and sultry. A classy restaurant was attached, you could smell the steak and seafood.

"We should go there one day." Carl spoke softly, his nose ticking Mariana's ear. She tried to stifle a giggle, not wanting to attract any attention. They walked up to the elevator, which was geometrically shaped in stainless steel and glass.

As soon as the door opened, Mariana fell onto the bed. The jet lag was unbearable. Carl unloaded their luggage and dropped the luggage trolley off to the front desk.

"I can't feel my fucking legs." Mariana groaned with a pillow shoved over her face. It didn't help that the rowdy duo had to be on their best behavior, so they wouldn't risk getting kicked out.

"What are we doing today?"

"You mean tonight? It's like 6:30." Carl would have to get used to the time difference of Chicago and Los Angeles.

"Yeah, tonight."

"We could do one of two; stay here and relax or go hang out with my California friends." Mariana secretly hoped that Carl would choose the first of the two options.

"I want to meet your friends." He smiled widely.

"Ew, why? They're weird." She sat up, her back hunched slightly. Mariana's California friends were very different from her Chicago friends, although they shared some similarities.

"I want to meet my baby's friends, what wrong with that?"

"Nothing, it's just—sometimes they can be a handful." She shook her head slightly.

Carl scoffed,"How much of a handful can they be? You've known me and my family for years."

Mariana contemplated, and had come to the conclusion that it might not be such a bad idea. "Okay then, you'll meet my friends."