Chapter 1
Chapter 1
“NO! No, no, no, no, no, no! MOM! WAKE UP!!” I scream.
********************2 WEEKS LATER*********************
I walk to the terminal to board my flight from Newark, New Jersey to Salt Lake City, Utah. I’m going to live with my Nana in Hawaii. I have to fly from my hometown to Salt Lake City, and then from Salt Lake City to Seattle, and then Seattle to Hawaii.
I board my flight, put my duffel bag into the compartments above my seat. I set my backpack on the ground next to my feet and sit down in my chair. I have the window seat, which is a plus because there is only one person sitting next to me. I put on my Bluetooth headphones and click noise cancelation. My flight is very early in the morning, so it is around 4 in the morning, and I am going to try to sleep.
As the rest of the passengers board the plane, this guy walks toward the row I’m sitting in and puts his bag in the overhead compartments and sits down. I take my headphones off.
“Um, hi, my name is Finn Kay.” he said.
“Hi. Oh, I’m Claudia Gonzalez. Why are you taking this flight?” I ask.
Finn puts his carry-on bag into the compartments above our heads and sits down,” Oh, I’m flying to Seattle. I’m flying to Salt Lake City so I can hop on to a flight from there to Seattle. Where are you going?”
“I guess we will be on the same flight again because I am also flying out of Salt Lake City to Seattle. But instead of staying in Seattle I’m flying to Maui, Hawaii to live with my Nana.”
“Cool. Has anyone ever told you that you have really pretty eyes?”
Of course. My eyes. I knew we would get to that topic eventually. I have very bright emerald eyes. Apparently from my birth dad, who has the same eyes as me.
"Oh, thanks.” I say.
I put on my headphones and my neck pillow and close my eyes. I fell asleep for almost 5 hours, but Finn wakes me up because there is going to be an important announcement over the plane’s intercom from the pilot.
“Good morning, everyone. Hope you got some sleep on this very early flight. We will hopefully land in Salt Lake City around 8:15am. It is currently 7:45 so we should get there soon.”
I pull out my laptop and start working on my application for college in the fall. I want to go to the New York Institute of Fashion, but I haven’t gotten my application in and it has to be in by June 1st and it is currently May 19th.
“So how old are you?” Finn asks.
“I’m 17, almost 18. How old are you?” I reply.
“I’m 21. Can I ask you a personal question?”
“Depends on the question.” I smirk.
" Why are you going to live with your Nana?”
“Oh, um…” I tear up.
“You don’t have to answer that question if you don’t want to.”
“So, my parents are divorced. They got divorced when I was one so I don’t really know my dad, but my mom committed suicide two weeks ago and I am still a minor and my Nana wanted me to come live with her so I would be safe. Why are you going to Seattle?”
"It's a long story."
"Well, we don't land for 15 minutes. You could tell me."
"My Nana lives in Maui too, so I might go see her. My parents are divorced too, and I lived with my dad, so I don’t even know if my mom is alive. My dad kicked me out because he was sick of having to take care of a child. So, I guess I am homeless if you think about it.”
Someone talks over the PA system and says, “We are preparing to land, so please put your seats up to sitting position and fasten your seat belts.”
Finn and I fasten our seat belts and continue talking about our lives and families. The plane starts to descend and lands on the runway. When the plane landed, Finn and I unbuckled our seat belts and Finn grabs our bags from the overhead compartment and hands my duffel bag to me.
“Yours, right?” Fin says, jokingly.
I smile and take it from him. This flight didn’t have that many people, so we get off the plane fast. Finn and I walk to the desk to ask when the next flight to Seattle leaves.
“The next flight for Seattle doesn’t leave for 2 hours. It is currently 9:07 am, so we wait in the lobby of the airport and Fin goes to get food from the McDonald’s in the airport. Finn bought me pancakes and a Dr. Pepper for breakfast. I pull out my phone and text my boyfriend, Antonio, to tell him I landed in Salt Lake City. A couple of minutes later, Antonio calls me.
“Hey baby.” Antonio says,” How was your flight?”
I stand up. Finn looks confused and asks where I am going, and I silence him with a look. I walk over to the windows and look at the rain.
“Hi. It was ok. I met this guy who sat next to me on the plane. His name is Finn. His dad kicked him out and he is going to live with his friend in Seattle.”
“Is he cool? Just be safe.”
Antonio and I talk for about an hour and then someone on the PA system says,” Flight 2B to Seattle, Washington, 11:00am, is now ready for check-in.” Finn was sleeping and didn’t hear the announcement. I put my phone back on airplane mode and put it in my backpack.
“Finn, wake up. We have to go check in for our flight.” I say, shaking his shoulder.
Finn wakes up and grabs his stuff. We walk over to the flight check-in gate and Finn asks,” Who were you talking to on the phone?”
“My boyfriend.” I say.
“Nice.”
We walk in silence to the bag check-in. Finn checks his suitcase and I place my duffel bag next to his. I won’t need it near me on the plane. We walk to the gate and wait until they open it up. Ironically, our seats are right next to each other again, so we put our backpacks in the overhead compartments and sit down. I let Finn have the window seat since I had it last flight.
Finn puts on headphones and falls asleep. I ask the flight attendant for some orange juice and a B.L.T for lunch. After I eat, I put on my headphones and watch a movie on my laptop. Finn wakes up shortly before we land.
