Two weeks later, it was time to go home for Christmas break. Zac was leaving right away, but Ricki wasn't able to leave until five days later due to flight arrangements.
Zac was busy packing a few necessities he would need for the trip back home. He slowly noticed that Ricki was watching him pack from her postition on the bed where she was reading.
"Why aren't you packing? I know you're going home too." Zac said.
Ricki's eyes quickly darted back to her book. "I am going home. Not for another five days."
"Soo...that means you won't get home until after Christmas?"
"Correcto." Ricki said sarcastically, not looking up from her book.
"Why?" Zac asked.
"Because that's when my airplane tickets are for."
"Oh." Zac said. He was silent a few moments, then he spoke again. "Why don't you just get different tickets? Ones for tomorrow, like mine? That's when everyone else is going home." Zac said.
"Well, my parents forgot and didn't buy my tickets in time, and so all that was left was the day after Christmas." Ricki said.
"Oh." Zac said. He knew the Campus would be deserted Christmas eve. No one would be there. He felt sorry for Ricki.
"Well...I could stay with you, if you want. I have private jet. I mean, I can leave whenever I want." Zac said.
Ricki looked up from her book, shocked. "What....er, no, no. Don't do that."
"No, it would be fine, we could just-"
"Zac, I said no." She said.
Zac opened his mouth to say more, then closed it quickly. He was in enough trouble.
"Hi honey."
"Hi mom." Ricki said.
"Did you get your tickets?"
"Yeah, I got them last week."
"Oh, that's good."
"Mom, they're for the day after Christmas." Ricki said.
"Oh, I know honey. Your father forgot to reserve them for your flight when I told him too. That was the best we could get. I'm sorry sweetie."
Ricki could feel tears welling up in her eyes. She quickly wiped them away. "That's okay mom." She said.
"Okay. Well, we'll be there waiting for you then. Ten am?"
"Yeah." Ricki choked out. "That's right."
"Okay sweetheart. We'll see you Tuesday." Her mother said.
Just then, Zac walked in the door, unnoticed.
"Okay. Bye mom, Love you." Ricki said, hanging up the phone. She his her face in her hands and sat for a moment before she heard the leather of Zac's coat make a noise. She jumped and wiped frantically at her eyes to try to hid traces that she had been crying.
"Ricki?"
"What?" She asked, pretending to look for something in her nightstand.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong." She said, walking to the bathroom. She shut the door and as Zac took off his coat he heard the lock click. He wasn't sure what the phone call had been about, but he was guessing it was about Christmas.
Ricki sat on the edge of the tub, wiping her eyes. She didn't mind leaving a little late, that was fine. Not great, but okay. It was the fact that her parents had been fussing over her two little sisters, Morgan, 17, and Megan, 16, when they had forgotten to buy Ricki tickets to even come home. Now she would have to hang around a deserted campus for days until her flight came. She would even be alone on Christmas eve.
As she splashed cold water on her face, she had never felt more sorry for herself. It was one of the worst feelings in the world to be forgotten by your own parents.
Zac was walking down the hall to the main floor so he could go downtown to finish some shopping when he saw Mary Anne.
"Hey." He said.
"Hi." Mary Anne said. "Where ya off to?" She asked.
"Oh, just finishing up some Christmas shopping. You?"
"Oh, Ricki just called me. I gotta go." Mary Anne said.
"Wait!" Zac grabbed her sleeve before she walked away.
Mary Anne stopped and looked at him quizzically. "What?"
"Why isn't Ricki going home for Christmas?"
Mary Anne turned to face him, rolling her eyes. "She is. She's just going later."
"Why?" Zac asked, tucking a loose strand of hair behind his ear.
Mary Anne sighed. "Because...her parents forgot to buy her tickets, and all they could get were crappy ones before they were too busy with her little sisters to even care, and I dunno, it really pisses her off, so don't bring it up, okay?"
"Well...-"
"Listen Zac; I gotta go. I'll see you after break, right?"
"Um, yeah." Zac said.
"Bye!" She yelled out behind her shoulder, trotting down the hall.
"Bye." Zac said quietly. He was at loss. Forgotten by her own parents? He thought a moment...maybe there was something he could do...