𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 • 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐛𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐤

one

I stared at the screen of my phone, trying hard not to drop the entire device. Snow fell down on me in big flakes, it was freezing here. The harsh winter wind was nibbling at my fingers - draining all blood from them. I regretted not bringing gloves as I stood outside of the Kansas City International Airport on this dark evening, patiently waiting for my childhood best friend to send me his flight information.

Sam Golbach and me went to the same elementary school, before we got split up and went to different middle schools - and later on different high schools. I had found him through his mother's Facebook, and she informed me that he was living in Los Angeles nowadays, as he made a pretty big career out of social media. At first I was surprised as I had never really seen him anywhere, but when I made an Instagram - especially for this purpose - and looked him up, I saw that he indeed had well near a million followers. I reached out to him through Instagram DMs and his mother told him to look at it. Turned out he was visiting Kansas again for the holidays and we arranged a small reunion. And so, here I was.

My phone buzzed as I walked across the giant parking lot. I really should have parked my car closer to the entrance but I really had no idea of where I was as I had never been to the airport before.

[Instagram] samgolbach sent you a message: Just arrived at terminal C, see you in a bit!

I looked around and scanned the area for any signs and it seemed I was already heading towards terminal C, so I walked there as quickly as I could and entered the building nervously. You see, I was excited to see him again after all these years, but I was naturally introverted and by now - he was practically a stranger.

i'm in front of the starbucks :), I quickly sent back to him and looked at the hour. It was nearing 11 and I was growing sleepy from the pleasant warmth that was in this building.

"Hey, Ellie!" I heard someone call out for me, and I quickly turned around. A big smile grew on my face as I saw Sam walk towards me, engulfing me in an embrace.

"Hey there, Samuel," I replied, all my nerves instantly fading away.

"Samuel, huh?" I heard someone say, softly snickering, and I opened my eyes as Sam and I let go of each other.

"Oh shush, you," Sam told the boy, and I turned to look at him. He stood there, smirking at us, patiently waiting. He was cute and I vaguely recognized him from Sam's Instagram pictures, but I hadn't really looked at them so I couldn't tell who he was even if I tried.

He looked at me and tilted his head slightly to the right, as he held out his hand. "Hi, I'm Colby."

"Elisha," I replied and softly shook his hand. "But Ellie to most."

"He's been my best friend since middle school," Sam explained. "You know, after we very harshly got ripped apart from each other."

I laughed and looked at him. "So he's the one who took my spot by your side?"

"You could say so," Colby winked at me jokingly and I shook my head, still silently laughing.

"Do you still live in Overland Park?" Sam asked me and I nodded.

"Unfortunately, I haven't been able to escape the deadly grip of Kansas. Though, I have visited Missouri. When in Kansas City," I joked and watched as Sam gathered his luggage from Colby.

"How interesting," he chuckled as we started walking towards the exit.

"How is Los Angeles?" I asked, opening the door for them to walk through with their bags.

"Different," Sam nodded and shivered slightly, zipping up his jacket.

"And damn, a lot warmer," Colby said and I realized he really was only wearing his t-shirt.