04.17 - c.s

tjueåtte

"Come here, you," my mom reached out for me and gave me a hug. I hugged her back tightly and sniffed in her scent. "I'm going to miss you," she whispered in my ear.

"I'm going to miss you too, mom," I mumbled back, squeezing her against me once more before releasing myself from the hug. She hugged Nadine too, making a small conversation with her before releasing her. She turned to Chris and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Be good for my daughter," I heard her say softly. Chris wrapped his arms around her waist and chuckled.

"I promise," he whispered back before releasing her. I smiled at my mom, loving how she involved Chris in the family like this. Chris wrapped his arm around my shoulder and kissed the side of my head.

"Bye, mom," I briefly pulled her in for one last hug and then the three of us turned around, walking towards security. We waved at my mom one last time before she turned around and disappeared in the crowd.

"Ticket and passport, please," the big man of security commanded. I pulled my ticket and passport out of the pocket of my coat, showing him. He shortly nodded and then gently pushed me further, to the place where you had to put all your belongings in a bin so they could be scanned. Nadine followed after me and then Chris. Chris had insisted to go last, so we'd be sure we wouldn't lose anyone. He was so sweet.

"Here ma'am, you can put your belongings in this bin and then walk through there, so we can see if you're carrying anything that isn't allowed," a woman explained to me, pushing the gray bin into my hands and pointing at the full-body scan. I put my bag, phone and other belongings into the bin and placed it down on the scan, like I had done so many times before.

"Are you done?" Nadine's voices sounded from behind me. I nodded and softly pushed her into the direction of the full-body scan while looking where Chris was. He was right behind me, so I kept walking and went through the scan. When Nadine and Chris were on the other side too, we picked up our stuff at the other side of the scan and started walking across the other side of the airport.

"Do you see her?" I whispered to Chris, pointing at a Chinese woman. Chris nodded. "I love the way she's wearing her hair. I wish I could pull off something like that."

"Who says you couldn't?" Chris whispered back, "I think you'd look awesome with that hairstyle." I smiled at him but shook my head.

"No, because what makes it so beautiful is the black hair and tanned skin. The colors of the flowers in her hair make a really nice contrast. But if I'd put those in my hair I'd deadass look like a clown," I explained. Chris laughed softly.

"Oh and him," Nadine pointed towards a guy with platinum hair, "his hair's awesome." I nodded in agreement. We kept observing people for a while, pointing out what we liked about each of them, until it was time to go to the gate.

"It's this way," I groaned, trying to pull Chris towards me. He shook his head, showing me the map of the airport once again.

"It says here that we should go right, not straight ahead. If you'd go straight ahead you'd have to walk all the way around the shops and then go back," Chris frowned.

"How many times do I have to tell you, there's a shortcut here which makes going straight ahead a better plan than turning right," annoyance was clear in my voice. I'd been at this airport so many times, Chris just had to trust me on this one. He finally gave in and we walked via my route, arriving at the gate less than ten minutes later.

"See?" Nadine said, "if we'd taken the route the map said we should take, we'd still be in hallway three right now." Chris rolled his eyes and sat down at one of the couches after getting his backpack off his back. I sat down next to him and let my head rest on his shoulder.

"How long until the flight takes off?" Chris asked, checking his watch for the time.

"Fifteen minutes," I replied, closing my eyes. Chris hummed as an 'okay' and let his head rest on mine. After a while I opened my eyes and Nadine and I started observing people again. Chris joined in soon after and we were all pointing out little things we saw in people again. Then suddenly that same monotone voice as always sounded through the airport speakers, making me stand up quickly.

"Flight 78951 to Los Angeles is boarding right now."