Six Feet Under The Stars

I had never been a fan of public transport. I rarely ever took it because of what I classified as a fear of buses, trains and anything alike. I wasn’t scared of them really; I just had a great dislike of them. It was like how I felt about clowns; while I wasn’t genuinely scared of them they still made my skin crawl and the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

Public transport however was the only way Colby and I could get to the airport. We didn’t live all that far away from Gatwick and while it wasn’t the most comfortable mode of transport I knew that the bus was better than a sixty pound taxi fare.

“I hate to ask but, are we there yet?” I whispered turning to face my brother. His face showed that he was just as paranoid as me and that just made me feel worse.

“No, but we just passed a road sign so I don’t think we’re far off.” I nodded slowly before returning my gaze to the back of the seat in front of me. Although the obnoxiously coloured pattern that they had been upholstered in was making my eyes hurt it was better than looking out of the window at the passing scenery as that would have made me sick.

The decision to leave was starting to repeat on me, I could only see the bad side; the negative outcomes. Nowhere in my tiny little brain were there thoughts of what good could come of this, once we got to the states we had to hope that Aunt Michelle wouldn’t freak and send us back home on the first flight out of there. I was already starting to picture her angry shocked face as she shouted at us to go home.

Home. The word almost seemed foreign to me now; as if my mind couldn’t register what one of those was exactly. Sure I had a house that I could go back to but a place I could actually call my home, I wasn’t so sure about.

“Hey look, we’re here and right on time,” Colby grinned as he stood up to stretch in the gangway. I followed suit and made my way off the bus, sending the driver a smile as I went. It must have been a terribly boring job driving that huge contraption around all day, ferrying ungrateful people back and forth.

Colby shook my arm when he realised my mind was elsewhere before handing my bags over. I held them in the most comfortable way possible before beginning the small trek into the airport terminal.

I made my way right over to the check in desk, eager to get the boring part over with. Colby followed behind me closely, the printed flight confirmation gripped tightly between his fingers.

“God I hate airports, everyone is freaking rude,” I mumbled under my breath as someone crossed the path in front of me without a second glance. “The least you could do is apologise.” I understood that people had places to be but what did it honestly take to stay ‘sorry’?

I heard Colby laugh softly behind me and I turned to face him abruptly, “Give me that,” I snapped snatching the piece of paper off of him. He let out a cackle which caused me to raise an eyebrow at him and once again question my brother’s sexuality.

It was something I did often.

“Come on, we’re next,” Colby grinned snatching the paper back from me as he waltzed over to the desk. I listened as he explained why we didn’t have our actual tickets and handed the young girl behind the counter our passports.

“Did you pack your bags yourselves?” she asked and Colby nodded before answering. “Has anyone put anything into the bags without your knowledge?” I rolled my eyes quickly at Colby and he snickered before ensuring that she knew no one had.

That question had to be the most ridiculous one ever; like I would know if someone had put something in my bags without my knowledge, I mean isn’t that the point?

Once our bags were checked in and we had been given our freshly printed tickets we made our way though security and into the departure lounge.

The departure lounge had to be the only place in the airport that I didn’t detest. I could never understand why but it always seemed to be the place that people relaxed in. Maybe it was because they knew that they had checked in on time and made it though security without a hitch.

“I’m just gonna go to the bathroom,” Colby whispered in my ear before he disappeared. I waited for a few minutes before deciding to grab a drink.

Coffee never appealed to me; I was a tea girl through and through. I love the smell of coffee but I couldn’t stand the taste, it was far too bitter for my liking. I ordered my white tea and picked it up along with several sachets of sugar and a little wooden stirrer.

I also hated those little wooden stirrers, mainly because they never seemed to be long enough to fit into a large cup properly without disappearing all together into the liquid.

I was still busy pondering the little stick when Colby sat down at my table with a large mug of coffee. I didn’t need to ask to know that he had also asked for an extra shot and a dash of caramel sauce with it; it was what he always had.

“Is there anything we need that we could get whilst we’re here?” I asked slowly looking over all of the shops I could see. Whatever happened to us we’d need toothpaste and toothbrushes along with other toiletry stuff I would have rather not discussed with my brother.

“I don’t know, I guess so like socks and stuff.” I stared at him stupidly. When I told him to pack clothes I figured he would realise that meant socks as well.

“Wait,” I instructed holding up a finger. “Did you pack underwear?”

The thought of not having any clean underwear made my skin crawl.

Colby sighed before cringing slightly, “Yes and let me tell you, never again.” I let out a laugh as he continued, “Seriously Bee, being in your underwear draw was bad enough but having to pick it up and put it into a bag was just wrong on so many levels.” I waited silently as he paused and looked at me through squinted eyes, “I mean I know we’re close but sis, if I ever have to see your underwear again I think I may hurl.”