Former Ties

Laura sat on one of the wooden chairs in LAX, staring at the board that listed all the flights departing and arriving. She could never remember what on earth that board was called. She reached into her backpack – her only luggage – and pulled out a package of gum, popping a piece in her mouth while she tried to calculate how much longer until she would be boarding her plane to New York. The flight was leaving at 10am, and it was now 7:45. ‘Only 2 hours and 15 minutes to go,’ she thought, fighting to keep her tired eyes open.

Half an hour later, a boy came and sat in a seat two chairs down from her. He was wearing sunglasses even though he was inside, and a hoodie that he wore zipped up to his chin, with the hood obstructing all views of his face. He was staring intently at the board, occasionally glancing over his shoulder anxiously.

He looked like he might be in some sort of trouble, and Laura was wary of him. As quietly as she could, she grabbed her bag from the seat next to her and tried to move down a few chairs; away from the boy. Of course, she tripped over the leg of the chair and went tumbling to the ground, the contents of her bag flying everywhere and banging her knee off the ground. ‘That’s gonna leave a mark…’ Laura thought sourly. She heard a chuckle, and looked up to see the boy sitting there, still staring straight ahead. His mouth, however, was turned up into a smile and his body was shaking with suppressed laughter.

Laura finished gathering her things and shoved them back into her bag. She then stood up, brushed herself off and, with as much dignity as she could muster, walked to the very end of the row of chairs and sat down, determinedly ignoring the stare she could feel burning a hole through the side of her head.

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An hour and a half later, her flight was called. The boy wearing the sunglasses and hoodie was still sitting there, staring at the board. Laura stood up, straightened her jeans and grabbed her backpack as she attempted to make her way out of the crowded terminal, filled with teary goodbyes and hopeful “I’ll see you soon” ’s. She handed her boarding pass to the man, and made her way onto the plane, not looking back.

She made her way to her seat, 24C. A window seat. Great. Laura had never been a fan of plane trips, and she wasn’t looking forward to this one. Annie usually made her take about 10 ‘Gravol’s before the takeoff, and then they would play little games and talk the entire time, to distract Laura from the thought that they were hovering hundreds of feet over the ground.

She pulled out another piece of gum, as the old one was long past stale, and settled back into her chair, attempting to relax. She closed her eyes and tried to imagine how Annie was getting along at home, fooling everyone into believing that they were both there. The thought brought a smile to her face as she felt someone sit down in the seat next to hers.

They reached over and tapped her on the shoulder and Laura opened one eye to look at the person.

Of course, it was the boy with the glasses looking over at her, with an amused look in his eyes, the glasses now gone. The hood, however, was still covering his head.

“Hi, I’m Joe. I was just wondering… how’s your knee?”