Familiar smells of food, people, and plastic filled the air. Typical airport smells. My mom and I used to travel a lot for fun. But this time, I was in the airport for a different reason.
I didn't want to go. I loved living with my mom. Then my mom got fired from her job. So we were broke. I had no choice but to move in with my dad all the way in California. So here I stood at the tall airport windows, clutching my small purple purse that my mom gave me on my 13th birthday. I was wearing black yoga pants and a green sweater, which is what I wore whenever I went on a trip. My dad was already 3 hours late, just like my mom said he would be. I fumbled through my bag for the extra cash that my mom had insisted I take with me. It was her last payment, and she wanted me to keep it, even though our apartment bills were overdue. I pulled out a 5-dollar bill and headed over to a small snack store. I was tired, hungry, and cranky. Scanning the chip shelves, I tried to imagine what my dad would be like. Was he some kind of scary motorbike dude? Was he a thief? Was he a Sci-Fi nerd? I picked up a bag of barbecue chips, trying to push my thoughts away. "Good afternoon. Can I help you?" A short gray-haired lady said, at the same time adjusting her pink apron she was wearing over a gray dress. Who knew you got this kind of service in an airport? "Uh...no, I'm good, thanks. Um, where do I pay for this?" The lady pointed to a tall man at the cashier. "Right over there, dearie!" She said, grinning widely. I forced myself to smile back, and walked over to the cashier to pay.
I felt a hard tap on my shoulder. I spun around, so frightened that I dropped my chips. "Oh, let me get that for you.", said a big and chubby man with blonde hair and green eyes, just like me. "I didn't mean to frighten you. I'll pay for these, and then we'll go on home, eh?"
