Truth or Dare

Chapter 1: Arrival

I gaze out the small window by my right and let a heavy sigh escape my lips. At first, I thought the white duvet cloud that surround, engulf, the big plane in a white mist was fascinating, even exciting, but the thoughts are long gone by now. It was fun the first five, no, three minutes.

"Not very exciting, huh?" a voice smooth as silk suddenly says from beside me and I jump slightly in my seat before I turn my attention towards the source of the sound.

"No, not really", I say in my soft voice as I meet the gaze of the guy who sits beside me, "I thought a window seat would make this long flight bearable but I guess not." Judging by the guy's American accent and the flight's destination, I come to the conclusion that he is probably from somewhere around L.A.

"Well", he smiles and show off his dimples, "if you want to switch places, don't hesitate to knock on my shoulder."

A light laugh bubble up my throat and a faint smile creeps onto my face. "Don't get your hopes up", I tell him and he shakes his head and comb his fingers through his honey blonde hair.

"I knew I would get the worst seat", he jokes, "but at least it seems like I got some nice company. My last flight wasn't very enjoyable. I got stuck between two kids with way too much energy and way too little respect for strangers."

"Sounds lovely", I reply in a joking tone while I try not to stare at his emerald green eyes. Truth to be told, I'm a sucker for cute guys with beautiful eyes but I got way too much self respect to throw myself head over heels for the first guy I meet. I like to take things slow, which is why I ended my last relationship. Let's just say my ex and I didn't share the same opinions on that subject.

"I'm sorry", the guy says with an excusing smile, "but I didn't catch your name."

"I'm Linnea", I tell him, knowing there's a chance he may not have heard it before. I don't think it is very common in America compared to the number of Linnea's in Scandinavia.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Linnaya", he says, pronouncing my name wrong, "I'm Chase."

"It's nice to meet you too, Chase."

I thought I would spend the whole flight listening to music, sleeping and catching up on tv shows, but it seems like I was wrong. Chase and I engage in a conversation and I find it surprisingly easy to talk to him. I learn that he is nineteen, one year older than me, that he lives and study in L.A and that the reason to why he was in Sweden is his childhood friend who moved there with his family ages ago.

We both share a burning passion for milkshake and fries and we both think that mustard on a hot dog ruins it completely. We basically talk about everything between heaven and earth and somewhere during the conversation, the butterflies I've had in my stomach disappears or at least goes to sleep. Nevertheless, I feel calmer than I've done for more than a week. Being so close to my dream, close enough so that I almost can touch it, has made its mark on my poor nerves.

I've been stressing, packing and worrying at the same time as I've been happier than in a long time. Ever since I was little, I've wanted to do like a lot of young adults before me; study in America.

I find the dream kind of ironic in a way. I don't really like studying, yet here I am, on my way to live my dream which includes just that. Sometimes, the world doesn't make sense.

Chase and I keep talking until a flight attendant comes with what is supposed to be dinner and after that, I'm starting to feel tired and decide to take a nap. I use a sweater as a pillow before I once again plug in my earphones. I've decided to take it easy with the music listening because I don't want my phone to die before I arrive at the campus where I'll be staying.