West Coast bound! Allyson texted to JC and then to Liz, one of her best friends from childhood who had moved to Los Angeles to go to UCLA and then landed a job at Disney Animation as a computer graphics engineer. She had the coolest job that she couldn’t tell anyone details about until they saw the finished product on the big screen.

As Allyson’s plane touched down, Liz was already en route to Hollywood Burbank Airport, a change Liz suggested to avoid the chaos of LAX. Before turning the car off, Liz made sure her mix CD for the summer was ready to go, starting off with Tupac’s “California Love.” She couldn’t think of a better way to welcome Allyson to the City of Angels. With it prepped, Liz headed toward baggage claim to wait for her friend.

“Allie! Oh my gosh! I can’t believe you’re finally here!” Liz jumped off the bench to hug Allyson.

“I know! It’s only taken me five years to get out here.”

“Well, it’s not because you haven’t been invited,” Liz said, giving her a side-eyed glance.

“I know, I know. I’m sorry. You know I wanted to be here sooner.”

“Yep! And you made it, which is all that matters.”

Just then, the alarm on the carousel began blaring, alerting the travelers that bags would soon be coming around.

With a swift yank, Allyson pulled her large hard-sided suitcase off the belt.

“Wow, and I thought I packed a lot,” Liz said.

“Well, I’ll be here a week-plus, and I had to have options. I have to keep up with you LA people,” she laughed.

“Yeah, OK,” Liz joined her laughter. “Come on, so I can show you the life of luxury we all live.”

About 45 minutes later, the pair pulled into Liz’s driveway in Pasadena to let Allyson get settled in and freshen up before going out for dinner. First night’s dinner was not exactly five-star but it was quintessential California: In-N-Out.

“Oh my gosh, this is amazing! The sauce is so good!” Allyson said between bites.

“The sauce makes the burger for sure,” Liz nodded.

After dinner, the pair got their shakes to go and headed for Liz’s for a chill evening, knowing it might be the last they have for the next few days.

The friends used the time to catch up on each other’s lives, chat about everything they couldn’t go into details with over text and just enjoy each other’s company with classic teen movies – Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off – playing in the background into the early hours of the morning.

“So tomorrow we’re going to go for a bus tour?” Allyson asked.

“Yep. It might be terrible, but I’ve always wanted to do it and been too worried people would judge me, so you give me a perfect excuse to try it.”

They retired to their rooms just to be up in a few hours for Allyson’s first full day in California.

Allyson looked at her phone for the first time in a few hours, seeing she had a missed text from JC. How do you like CA so far?

Allyson looked at her watch. It was nearly 3 a.m., so she decided she would text him tomorrow. She wasn’t entirely sure how she was still functioning, given her body felt like it was 6 a.m. Credit to either the sleep she got on the plane or just the joy of being with her friend – or both – she didn’t realize how tired she was.