behind your back ~ andrei svechnikov

Prologue

I situated myself in one of the most uncomfortable yet relaxing airport seats waiting for my flight from Denver to Raleigh.

A few months ago I had decided to move from my hometown of Denver, Colorado, to Raleigh, North Carolina to be closer with my older brother. We did everything together in our childhood: play fun and amusing yard games, bake cookies, struggled together on our math homework, watched our favorite shows, all of the stuff you could think of spending your childhood with your sibling.

My older brother, Jaccob, however, was always gone when we got older for hockey tournaments and practices. I was a huge supporter of his hockey career, and when he got drafted by the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2012 draft, I felt nothing but excitement for the future for my older brother.

When I told him that I was moving to an apartment in downtown Raleigh, he sounded ecstatic. We haven't been close in years, other than him moving back to Colorado during the NHL off-season, and this was the perfect opportunity to make up for the lost time.

"Those going to Raleigh, please start lining up with your boarding passes," the person at the gate announced over the loudspeaker.

I groaned as I stood up and threw my backpack over my shoulder. This was going to be a somewhat long flight, and I seriously need to relax before I meet my brother in Raleigh.

I took my boarding pass out of my Hurricanes sweatshirt pocket that my brother had given me last summer and hopped in line for the plane.

The line to Raleigh wasn't that overly long, probably because it was a Tuesday morning and people were out at work and school. There probably were a good hundred people or so getting on this flight.

The gate attendant scanned my boarding pass and I was cleared to follow all of the other people to the plane.

I found my seat and put my backpack in the overhead bin above my seat.

After everyone had gotten onto our plane and the flight attendants showed us how to buckle our seat belts in correspondence with the safety video, we taxied and we quickly took flight and headed to Raleigh.