Vanilla

Fourteen

A/N: Sorry for the wait! ^^ It's a long chapter so hope you like it. I'm flying in a couple of days so I don't know how the update schedule will be like but I'll be sure to update everyone on my Instagram! Ah I'm so tired ;-; so so tired

_____________

[Vanilla]

Clearly, Leroy was flattering himself. Not once did thoughts revolving around him surface while we were in the air, let alone anything close to missing that awfully attractive face I absolutely could not stand looking at for more than three seconds. This feat, however, was mostly achieved with the help of a trusty friend—and what else but an amazingly written, detailed travel guide that provided the best of company? Nothing. After all, books were more famously known as man's best friend. Or mine, at least.

"Why does your book say 'Brazil' at the top?" Si Yin had somehow convinced the student seated beside me to swap seats with her within five minutes and, amidst her attempt to concentrate on the X-Men movie on the screen in front of her, looked towards me for apparent inspiration. "I thought we were heading to this cool town somewhere along Rio Negro. I heard it's part of the Amazon river thing. It's called a depository."

"I think you mean tributary," I'd laughed at the snake hands she was making. "And Rio Negro is a river in the State of Amazonas, which is part of Brazil. So there you have your answer."

Her lips had shaped into an 'o' before peering over to catch a glimpse of the page I'd flipped to. "Cool. But... how'd you know that was the right book to bring along?" She frowned, glancing at the tote bag under my seat that, apart from my laptop, was stuffed with varying guidebooks of four other countries. "Those don't look like the ones you and Emily 'predicted' on Instagram."

"Well," I'd sighed, lowering my voice after glancing around and noting that everyone else seemed fast asleep. "I had my doubts. Do you really think I'd choose to bring along an outdoor camping bag—absolutely hideous in terms of colour and overall appearance—over a handy suitcase? I had a feeling it wasn't going to be the luxurious sort they had last year."

Si Yin had nearly burst into laughter in an otherwise quiet plane full of students behind eye masks, still and unmoving. Some, snoring.

"I wasn't going to tell you but," she had shrugged, grinning from ear to ear. "I saw Leroy's bags when he checked them in? And you guys literally have the exact same camping bag so I hope you put a tag or something on it or, like, you could end up with his underwear."

She'd paused right then, as though a completely nonsensical but amazingly attractive idea had hit her in the head and there was no way she could un-see it. "So that was your plan all along," she breathed and I had to stop her there.

*

The remaining time till our arrival I'd spent watching Si Yin's downloaded Korean dramas after realizing that my language capabilities had yet returned to a decent level of understanding from the barely-functioning state Leroy had left me in at the departure gate. With working on my article out of the window, I had hence resorted to other means of entertainment.