24 Hours.

0.5 - middle seat

6:42 AM

After sitting back down and waiting for another thirty minutes, Skylar was beginning to lose her patience. They were supposed to start boarding at 6:45, which was only three minutes away but felt like a lifetime. She had bitten her nails down as far as she could without it looking too disgusting and had shaken her leg so much that she felt like it could fall off.

Skylar wasn't anxious about flying, but more for what she was flying to.

"Flight 114 to Sydney, now boarding." A woman's voice came over a loudspeaker and Skylar stood up, eager to finally get on the plane. She kept her headphones in her ears as she walked over to the line of people formed by the gates, keeping her head down.

Through her headphones, she could hear the faint arguing of a flight attendant and someone else, but Skylar didn't bother to look over and watch them. She stayed staring straight ahead, awaiting her turn to get on the plane. It was an interesting argument, though, whoever the boy was sounded very stuck up, but persistent.

"Is there any way I can get into first class? I swear this ticket said first class when I bought it." Skylar recognized the voice, it was the boy she had ran into twice that morning. Of course he would be fighting for a better seat on the plane. He seemed like such a brat, he couldn't even handle not being in first class for a few hours.

"Sir, there aren't any open seats up there, you're going to need to stick with your original seat." The flight attendant told him, and the boy let out a loud groan.

"I can't deal with sitting in economy - not even economy plus, do you even know who I am?" He asked. "I'm tall, I need leg room."

"There actually is a lot of leg room in economy plus, I think you'll be fine there -"

"Uh," He paused, as if he was trying to think up a new excuse. "I have this big issue with germs, I can't be that close to other people. I think first class would be better for me."

"Sir, I'm afraid there's nothing we can do. I'm sorry." The flight attendant apologized, not sounding very sorry at all.

"Americans." The boy scoffed, and he must have gotten on the plane after that, because Skylar didn't hear anymore from him.

After a few more minutes of agonizing waiting Skylar had finally made it onto the plane, and was searching for her seat. She checked her ticket once more, confirming that she was in seat 14C. When she arrived at her row she looked to the side, noticing first that there were only two seats in the row. It must have been a handicap seat, Skylar thought. She also thought that her seat, the window seat, would be empty. But it wasn't.

Skylar took her headphones out of her ears and cleared her throat, trying to catch the attention of the blonde boy who was currently occupying her seat. He slowly turned away from the window and looked up at her, immediately rolling his eyes at the girl that had turned him down a few minutes before.

"That's my seat." Skylar said harshly, hopping that the boy would get the message that she wasn't in the mood for any games.

"That's my seat." He said, pointing to the seat next to him, the middle seat. "I really need this seat, though."

"Why? Do you really need the window seat? What are you, five?" Skylar asked, rolling her eyes. The only reason why she was trying to fight with her seat was because she already knew that this boy got everything that he wanted, and she wanted to be the one to finally take that away from him.

"Well, you see, I don't really like the middle seat. I'd rather sit next to only one stranger than two - especially if that one stranger is you." The boy responded, winking at Skylar. She noticed that he had an accent, it was Australian, just like her mother's.

"But there are only two seats." Skylar said blankly. She wondered how this boy could be so stupid, obviously he wouldn't be sitting next to two strangers.

"I get air sick, I may need to open the window." He shrugged.

"Is that a joke?" Skylar forced out a laugh. "You can't open those windows."

"I deserve this seat?" He sounded like he was asking a question, and if Skylar hadn't known that it was meant to be rhetorical she would have told him that no, he didn't deserve the seat at all.

"Get over yourself." Skylar scoffed. "And get out of my seat."

"Don't make me call a flight attendant." He threatened, sitting up straighter in his seat. Throughout the whole morning Skylar hadn't seen him without his hood, she was beginning to wonder if it was attached to his head.

"Don't make me call a flight attendant." Skylar shot back. The boy stood up, having to slouch just slightly because of his height. Even when he was slouching like that, he was a good few inches taller than Skylar, who was beginning to feel intimated by him.

He came in closer, so close that their noses almost touched. He lowered his voice before speaking. "Okay, what do you want? Booze? Drugs? A quick fuck in the back of the plane? I've got all of that and more, baby, let me have the seat and I'll find some way to pay you back."

"Or," Skylar put a hand on the boy's chest, pushing him away from her, "you give me my seat back and after this we never speak to each other again."

"Or we can just pretend that my ticket originally said this was my seat, and then never speak to each other again." The boy chuckled. He sat back down in Skylar's seat and reached over the side of his armrest, pressing the button so the chair reclined back.

"You know what? Fine! Keep your damn seat, it's obviously pretty important to you!" Skylar huffed. She took her backpack off and threw it down on her new seat, straightening out her sweater before sitting down.