Okay, so he’s no Mr. Darcy or Edward Cullen. But he’s my male love interest. Most of the book revolves around Matt and Kylie’s relationship. You meet him abroad a plane coming into JFK from Heathrow in London. He’s ready to settle back in on the North Shore and enjoy a nice Thanksgiving. But his twin sister Siobhan and friend Ben are ready to play matchmaker.

Matt gets much more interesting as the novel progresses. In fact, I’d wager that he’s the most dynamic of the characters despite his narrative style being more economical than the others.

Chapter 11

Trapped

(MATT)

            And it’s now save to turn on all electronic devices. If you have a cell phone, you may use it. But make sure to keep your seatbelt on as we are still taxing in to the gate. And thank-you for choosing British Airways.

I adjusted in my seat for the thousandth time. I could not wait to get off that plane. I hadn’t been home since last Christmas. Plus, I never liked sitting in one place for too long. And I’m pretty sure that my Dad flew me in business class because I hadn’t made time for a trip home in almost a year.

I grabbed my backpack off the floor in front of me. I started to text Emma when I noticed that I had a few messages waiting. My sister. All of them were from S.J.

I started texting Emma anyway. Just got in. Miss you already. Then I deleted it. Too pathetic. Landed safely in NY. Just in case you were wondering. Nope. Too passive aggressive. I threw my cell back in my bag and put it on the floor. Why was I texting my ex-fiance again?

I let my head fall back onto the headrest and I checked out the window-view. Couldn’t see too much. It was drizzling so all I got were raindrops smeared across the window pane and the slick blacktop of the runway lit up all orange from the airport lights.

Then my phone beeped. Another text. I grabbed my bag, pulling it up between my knees, almost hitting the person next to me. I flipped the phone open. It was from Taylor. I clicked on the message to read it. u home yet? ur gonna flip when u hear this. Then nothing. I wasn’t too nervous though. Knowing Taylor it was probably some stupid shit like he got tickets to Monday Night Raw at the Coliseum.

The phone beeped again. The rest of Taylor’s message. we saw Kylie today. me and ben. wtf! It didn’t even register at first who Taylor was talking about. There was this girl Kaitlin at school in England who stalked Ben for our whole first semester. She was from the states too. From Texas. At first we all stuck together because of the American thing. But she turned out to be a complete psycho.  I laughed when I thought about how in love she was with Ben. Then I started thinking, where the hell would they have since Kaitlin Farris? I thought she was back in Texas, married already, probably with a kid too.

The lights went on in the cabin and I got up. My ass hurt like hell. And I had to pee so bad I got lightheaded when I looked at the empty water bottle the guy next to me left on the seat. I don’t go to the bathroom on planes. I hate the crammed space of that closet they call a bathroom even worse than I hate the urgency to pee. I grabbed my stuff and started shuffling off the plane with everyone else.

My damn phone went off again. This old lady who had been sitting behind me said, “Someone’s really trying to get in touch with you. Girlfriend?”

I tried to smile and said over my shoulder, “No, just my sister.”

“That’s sweet. Enjoy your Thanksgiving, dear.”

“Thanks. You too.”

I grabbed my phone and flipped it open again as I was walking up the ramp to the gate. It was Siobhan, of course. U took 2 long. So we parked. @ the luggage area now. How exactly did I take too long? Like I wanted to stay on the plane longer.

I started scrolling through some of the other texts. There were the ones from Taylor and then three more from Siobhan and one from my mom. The one from my mom was blank. She doesn’t know how to work her phone. Then I almost tripped on the escalator trying to retrieve all these stupid crytic texts.

I finally got to the earlier ones from Siobhan. The first one read like this: big surprise. call right away when u land. Suddenly I got really nervous. I rounded the corner and I could see the luggage claim in the distance. Surprises from my sister were never good. I toyed with the idea of going back to the plane. Maybe I could just get a flight back over to England. I scrolled down to the second text. This one was left five minutes after the first one. Siobhan was never great with keeping surprises a secret. ben saw Kylie today at school. she looks great. and she was nice.

That Kylie. Not the one from Texas.

I tried to get to the third message quickly but I accidentally went to the main menu instead. Shit, I said and I stopped walking for a moment. I stood there with people filing all around me and I read the third message, left about fifteen minutes after the second one. we have plans with her on sat yay J

I flipped my phone closed and shoved it in my pocket. I barely looked up when Siobhan almost mauled me.

“Mattie!” She hugged me, “I’m so psyched that you’re home.”

“Hey, bro.” Ben said. He took my backpack off my shoulder, “I’ll get that for ya.”

“Hey guys.” I tried to smile but those texts from Siobhan made me queasy. I looked at the luggage going around the carousel. It made me a little dizzy. “I’m going to get my stuff.” I walked away from them. Those text messages were really bad timing. Then I had a brilliant idea. I don’t have to go on Saturday. Just because my ex-girlfriend invited my sister and Ben out doesn’t mean that I have to go. I have other friends to have out with. I’ll just make other plans. In fact, I’ll just say I already had the fake plans.

I grabbed my suitcases and turned back to them. “I got your texts. I’m not going on Saturday. I already have plans.”

Siobhan’s smile fell off her face. She looked at Ben for help.