"Are you sure you have everything?" My mother asked me for the billionth time since arriving at the airport. "Your passport? Your boarding ticket?"
"Yes, mom." I exhaled, already tired of her constant need to check up on me.
"If you forgot anything that you'll need before the holidays just tell me and I'll send it to you." I nod my head, acknowledging her. "Your flight is boarding at 5pm. Do you want any money for food or anything?"
"No, we get an inflight meal."
"Well, here's $20 just in case you change your mind." She cooly responds, shoving money into my bag so that I couldn't refuse it. "I love you, and I'm doing this for your benefit, please remember that." My mother reminds me before pulling me into her arms and squeezing the life out of me.
Don't cry, I think to myself.
"I love you." I respond, swallowing the lump in my throat, keeping the tears caged within my ducts. "I'll miss you, Goldfinch. Look after my mother and tell my lovely step-siblings that I love them and that I'll be back soon to give them my life anecdotes."
"Ha-ha." He sarcastically responds. "Come here." He calls, forcing me out of my mothers arms and into his for a quick hug. "I'm going to miss our weekly book club."
"Me too." I sigh, not fully understanding that I'm leaving until now.
"I've put enough books in your bag to last you all the way to November." Goldfinch says to me. He really is the father I never had the chance to have.
"Thank you. I best going. It's 3pm and I still need to check in." I say to the two of them, pulling myself out of my mother's and Goldfinch's grasp.
"Okay, well I love you."
"I love you. I'll see you soon. Please don't cry, mom. You're the one that's sending me away remember." I joke, attempting to lighten the mood. Kind of. It is the truth.
"You're right. I'm sorry. Have a good time with Wanda, call me as soon as you land."
"I will, bye." I call as I begin my incline up the elevator towards the check in desks, my suitcase dragging behind me. Leaving my mother and step-father frantically waving their hands in a goodbye wave.
...
I've travelled by airplane more times than I can remember. I'm used to it now. The taking off; the popping of the ears, the shift in air pressure, it wasn't new to me. However the young man sitting next to me clearly didn't share my experience. Great. Just what I wanted for a 5 hour flight. A leg shaker.
"It's okay you know." I say to him, attempting to soothe him. More for my benefit than his. The last thing I need is for him to disrupt my flight.
The man, no older than 20, has short, dark hair and pale skin. His face is round yet his jaw is firm. Clad in a dark, plain t-shirt, jeans and burgundy converse, he turns to face me. Allowing me to see that his eyes are a dark shade of blue.
"What?" He gapes, clearly taken aback by my interference.
"Travelling by plane, it's not scary." I elaborate.
"How do you know I'm scared?" He asks, his hands and legs shaking out of sync with one another.
"Your aggressive leg shaking is quite a give away. Plus, I haven't yet seen you blink, your fingers are white from the aggressive grip clasp you have your hands in and I'm pretty sure I haven't heard you breathe since I sat down." I further explain.
"Oh. I didn't realise I was that bad." He falsely laughs, nervousness still apparent in his actions and voice. "I'm Colt, Colton, I'm 18 and my hobbies include, hiking, soccer and keeping my feet firmly on the ground."
I chuckle at his lame joke, not necessarily because it's funny but because I already feel bad for him. "Hello Colt Colton. I'm Dakota. I'm 17. My hobbies include reading, hiking and giving prep talks to strangers on planes who are afraid of flying."
"Hello, Dakota. It is nice to meet you." He smiles. "I hope you realise that my full name isn't Colt Colton."
"What is it then? Colt Colton Matthews? Colt Colton Johnson? Smith? White?"
"Colton King. My first name is Colton, Colt is short for it. Last name King. Not Colt Colton." He verifies. I thought he'd had realised that I was messing with him. How stupid would someone's parents have to be to name their child Colt Colton?
"It's nice to meet you, Colt Colton. What brings to you to the big city?" I ask in an attempt to take his mind of the impending take off.
"College." He quickly responds, still shaking his leg, slightly less vigorous than before.
"NYU?"
"Wow, how did you guess?" He asks, a fake, slow, high pitched laugh splurging from within his throat.
I bring my arms forward and slam them onto his legs, preventing his legs from vibrating any more. "Stop shaking your legs. We are on a plane, not lining up to be shot in the head. I hope you realise that travelling by plane is the safest way of travel, less people die a year travelling by plane than they do by car. You are not going to die, I promise you. Okay?" I ask, keeping my eyes locked onto his.
"Okay." He answers, stopping the jerk of his legs. "Umm..." He begins. Most likely slightly weary of my affirmative tone now, it's almost if he's scared he's pissing me off. "Why are you travelling to New York?" He averts.
"Long story."
"I have time. Roughly 5 hours and 33 minutes to be exact."
...
"I just knew you'd have a cool story like that." He comments after I finish telling him the tale of my reasoning for moving to New York.
"How was that a cool story?"
"You're being sent away. What's not cool about that? You're a badass."
"Thank-you, I guess. However, I'm sure my mother doesn't see it that way. Tell me, Colt Colton. How does someone who's never been on a plane know that they want to move to New York."
"I have been to New York before." He retorts.
"How? There's no way you've driven 12 hours in a car, surely."
"Not a car."
Oh god.
"Don't do this to me, Colt Colton. I thought you were cool."
"I happen to like trains actually. I'm sorry. I feel like I've embarrassed myself now."
"Don't worry. You embarrassed yourself about an hour ago when you nearly threw up over the take off. I think you broke my hand from squeezing it too hard, I need to go to the emergency room as soon as we land."
When the plane began to move, I could actually feel the guys heartbeat pounding next to me. "Grab my hand and shut your eyes." I told him, and boy did he grab my hand. I must've missed school the day they taught us the definition of grab because my understanding of it was never to squeeze the living day lights out of whatever you're holding until it bursts.
"I'm sorry." He says, eyes full of regret.
"Please don't make yourself any less of a man. It's fine. I was kidding. If you really did break my hand you would be on the floor wincing right about now." I laugh.
"Oh really?" He challenged, raising an eyebrow at me.
"Yes, really." I countered.
"As much as I'd love to sit here and debate with you over which of the two of us is manlier, I really need to pee so if you would excuse me." Colt says standing from his seat and making his way down the aisle towards the toilet. God, why does he have to be so damn attractive? I turn my head to watch as he walks away, the way his muscles constrict in his shirt as he strides away. Damn the world and my female hormones.
...
"Umm, would it be weird if I asked for your number?" Colt shyly asks me as we walk into the arrivals hall.
"I think it would be acceptable, yes."
He digs his hand in his pocket and brings out his phone. "You can just type it in yourself, unless your hand is broken of course."
"Ha. Ha." I dryly respond, taking the mobile from him and adding my phone number into his contact lists. "There you go."
"Well, I'm gonna go get settled in my new dorm, I'll call you when-"
"DAKOTA! DAKOTA! Over here!" Wanda screams, attempting my gather my attention.
"I better go, that's my aunt." I say, stating the obvious.
"Yes, that would be a good idea, before she deafens everyone within 100km. Thanks for everything today, you really calmed my nerves."
"DAKOTA! DAKOTA! CAN YOU SEE ME?" Aunt Wanda shouts again.
"I best go. Nice meeting you, Colt." I say correctly this time.
"Nice meeting you, Dakota." He smoothly responds, a small smile evident on his face.
The noise of greetings fills my ears as I watch Colt disappear into the mass amounts of people. JFK is without a doubt one of the worlds most busiest airports but it's never been this busy. I groan and sigh as people push past me as I make my way towards my Aunt Wanda. Dressed in fitted black pants, a black blouse, dark lensed aviators and a black fedora to match, as classy and as glamorous as usual. She looks the same as always, which isn't bad. I like constant. Constant is good. Constant is stable.
"Dakota!" She screams once more as I reach her. "I've missed you so much." She exclaims, pulling me into her arms in an embrace identical to my mothers; her sister's.
"I've missed you too, Aunt Wanda." I exhale. I really had aswell. I've always been dependent on her. Everytime something happened or went wrong, I'd call and tell her or ask for her advice. Despite her busy schedule, workload and her inability to answer my calls due to that fact, she always managed to get back to me. Whether it was a text or a voicemail, she always did.
...
[A/N] Remember to vote and comment if you enjoyed the chapter! Feel free to send me any of your stories and I'll be happy to add them to my library to read :)