Knowing You're There

Chapter 1

It was hard to forget that afternoon at the airport. It was calm before the storm, the time where I was at my wits-end with everyone else's judgment, and suddenly found myself getting ready to snap at the innocent woman behind the candy counter.

Wherever I went, people always wanted to know me. They asked my name and showed that special kind of 'I feel sorry for her' courtesy. That was exactly what this woman was doing. I walked up to the counter, debit card in hand, and she was offering to give me the three bags of gummy candy I pulled off the shelf for free.

"Miss, I have a plane to catch. Here is my debit card. I don't want the candy for free," I said to her.

"Oh no, I insist," she replied in the same, sweet voice.

"Please, I really don't want or need any type of hospitality." I paused, placing the card on the counter. "I know what you're doing, and it's not helping. You're only making things worse. Just take the card."

I heard her sigh and slide the card through the register. My nails tapped against the counter. Star's harness slipped out of my right hand as she moved from standing to sitting. I scratched the top of her head. So far she'd had a long day.

"It's okay, Star. You can take a nap soon," I whispered.

Suddenly, there was a voice behind me, followed by tiny footsteps. I reached down and pulled Star to her feet, anticipating what was coming.

"Doggy! Doggy!" the little boy running towards me said with glee.

Instantly, there were larger footsteps. I heard a grab, then a whine.

"Leave that dog alone honey," the woman, who I guessed was his mother, said to him. "You can't play with that kind of doggy."

They walked off, and I gripped Star's harness even tighter. Why was it taking so long to put my card through the machine?

"Your card looks like it's been through the wash," the candy woman said as she typed. "I just have to enter the info manually. This will only take a second."

Behind me, I heard Emmit's squeaky sneakers approaching. Between the sympathy lady, the mother who let her child run lose, and Emmit the Impatient, I was ready to scream.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"I just wanted to see what was taking so long."

"Remember when I dropped my card in the snow yesterday and Star picked it up? It must've wrecked the strip. Now get lost."

I heard his arms cross. "Fine. I'll leave you and your PMS self over here. I'll be outside."

Finally, the woman handed my card back to me. "I'm so sorry about that," she said. I took a deep breath and put the card back into my pocket. "I'm Peggy."

I reached for her extended hand and shook it. "Xylia. I'm sure you saw on my card."

"I know. It's very different. I like it."

Despite the fact that I always thought my name was hideous, I thanked her and grabbed my candy, relieved that I could get out of that store. I waited for Emmit's sneakers. Albany Airport was carpeted, which made listening that much harder.

"Oh look, there's the world's most joyful sister!" he exclaimed as he came over.

"If no one treated you like a human being, I'm sure you'd be pissed off too."

"I saw the whole thing. I can't believe you, of all people, would turn down free candy." I let out another sigh and started walking forward, Star safely at my side. Emmit trotted over, placing has hands on my shoulders and turning me around. "Lia, the gate is this way."

I listened to the sound of his sneakers as we walked. Star was panting next to me. Luckily, we never had a far walk since the airport was so small. Footsteps and rolling suitcases passed me on all sides.

Scents of coffee filled my nose as we passed another hole-in-the-wall type of eatery. As we kept going, the uneasiness started to set in. A few people were talking on their cell phones. One man ran past us in the other direction, breathing heavily. It was anyone's guess, but he had to be late for wherever he was going.

"Emmit, you've got my boarding pass, right?"

He waved the crinkling paper in front of my face. "It's right here. Calm down."

I nodded and we pressed on. It wasn't difficult to sense what was going on as I walked past the crowds. That awful feeling of knowing that a whole bunch of people had to be looking at me was terrifying. I always wished that they could just knock it off, but I was sure that some people found it difficult to understand why a girl would be walking with a golden retriever in the middle of the airport.

"Are we near the gate yet?"

"Yes. It's right here," he said.

"Good. I'm sitting by the window."

I stepped away from Emmit, getting as close as possible to Star and maneuvering my way to the seats facing the window. When I felt the faint light of dusk hitting my face, I knew I was close. Now I just had to find an empty one.

"This one right here is free," I heard a man close by say.

I walked over slowly, and Star nudged me over to the empty seat. As I sat facing the large panes of glass, I imagined the cold flakes of snow making their gentle falls from the sky, hoping that it would be chilly enough for them back home. In November it was highly unlikely, but I still hoped.

My thumbs twiddled as I listened to the footsteps of the passengers exiting the plane step onto the carpet. Every few seconds I reached my hand out to make sure that Star was still with me, even though I could still hear her panting. It wasn't too often that I let go of her bar in public.

Emmit stood over me. "It looks like the flight's going to be full," he said.

"Seems like it," the man who found me the seat said. "Hopefully there's room for Fido here."

I was about to reply when I heard a woman whispering behind me. I could tell that she was purposely trying to keep her voice down, but did she seriously think I wouldn't hear?

"Oh great, now there's going to be a dog on the plane," she said. "I can't stand it when people bring pets on the plane."

"I know," said the woman next to her. "It better not be making noise the whole time."

My jaw was about to fall to the floor. This was what I got for only putting on Star's harness instead of her vest. However, with these women, I'm sure that even if they saw her vest that said "SEEING EYE DOG" in huge letters, they'd still be complaining.

Right when I was about to jump in and say something, Emmit took the lead.

"Are you people stupid?" he said to them, his voice rising. "It's a seeing eye dog! Don't you see the harness?"

I buried my face into Star's fur, my cheeks heated with embarrassment. No, I was not expecting Emmit to yell. Just when I thought the stares couldn't get any worse, that had to bring them to a whole new level. Leave it to my little brother to ruin everything.

The women behind me shifted in their seats, but stayed silent. Moments later, the man near the tunnel called for pre-boarding. I bit down on my lip and followed Emmit over. I pulled the hood of my winter coat over my head, hoping that it would somehow ease the embarrassment.

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As a reference, Lia's name is pronounced "Zye-lee-uh".

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