Catching the Waves

The plane engine roared to life and lurched forward, vibrating with energy and movement, as I pondered on whether or not I had said goodbye to my parents or not. No matter how hard I concentrated on the day before, the only moments that had come to mind were of my younger sister, Kailee. She was so young, naïve, and unscathed by life, and yet completely aware of anything and everything going on around her; anything and everything going on with me. For the first time since she was a child, we slept in the same bed, and she clutched me tight around my waist as if she could prevent me from leaving before dawn the next day. However, the instant my eyes fluttered open to the dim morning, ears filled with the quiet chirps of chickadees and the whistling breeze, I was off. There were only two things I bothered looking back at, my sister and her alarm clock.

4:45. The green numbers still flashed behind my eye lids as I leaned back against the uncomfortable chair. As was expected, the airline was packed with vacationers and families of young children, leaving east coast for the west. This had always been a childhood dream of mine, to leave this place for California. However, at that time what pulled me there were dreams of college at UCLA or UCSD. Now, college was the furthest thing from my mind, much less the driving force for such a huge change. No, I wouldn’t leave my family for such a reason. At the very least, I would have waited for Kailee, to live out our dream of living together in San Diego and commuting together. Despite being my baby sister, she was sixteen already, only two years behind me. Thinking of her, I found myself rummaging in my pocket and stroking a glossy piece of film residing in it. A picture I’d stolen off her wall.

“Miss!” I blinked my eyes open and stared confusedly in all directions. A short blonde in a blue uniform grinned from the aisle, her hand resting on her cheek. She squealed, “I’m sorry, did I wake you? I just wanted to know if you were hungry or thirsty this morning.”

I furrowed my brow as if I was unable to comprehend what she was saying, and peered at her cart and then at the two other pairs of eyes scrutinizing me. Being on a busy flight, I was forced to sit with two complete strangers. Both were male, which may have sounded nice if they weren’t old enough to be my grandfather and younger brother, respectively. The little boy, sitting between me and who I suspected was his grandpa, had his lips pursed and eyes squinted in a fashion that reminded me of a cartoon character. Matched with a thick, brunette bowl cut, he could have easily been the real-life equivalent of Mac from Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends.

Realizing I had yet to answer the kind stewardess, I stumbled, “Oh, no thank you! I ate before I boarded.” The blonde nodded her head, smiled, and continued down the aisle to the next person. Next to me, the Mac lookalike scrunched up his face and stared at me with wide eyes. Becoming perturbed by this, I squinted my eyes and let my tongue hang out of my mouth in what was most definitely an attractive manner. The boy’s face twisted in horror and he immediately turned the opposite direction. While I was preparing a silent cheer of proudest, a quick look at the elderly man’s disgusted expression with my behavior caused me to back down and stare out the window.

Beyond the thick glass, all that was visible now were the clouds, so white and fluffy they distinctly reminded me of something all too familiar. My nose wrinkled. Snow.

Without a second thought, I gripped the shade and flung it across the window. Again, I received a look from the old man, but this time I answered it with a quick, “I was thinking of getting some shut-eye, to make the time pass quicker. It’ll be another few hours before we touch ground again.”

This seemed reasonable to the man, who turned back to a Bible lying across his lap. Beside me, the young boy proceeded to stick his tongue out at me and thrust his old, mud-splattered Sketchers into my calf. I bit my lip, faintly tasting blood, to keep from pulling the little devil’s ear as chastisement.

For the next couple of hours, I was in and out of consciousness. Whether it was my mind being plagued by memories or the little Mac jabbing me, I was restless. Finally, however, I found myself lulled to sleep. I could see my group of friends in their navy blue gowns and hats, standing around me. Some, I remembered, were teary eyed and red faced, while others had gone stone-faced in disbelief. There was a steady drizzle falling on us, and a muggy breeze hugged our bodies. We stood in groups: even then, we all seemed to migrate to our friend groups, segregating ourselves from the others we had grown up with. Behind us, parents and families were bawling and clapping, ignoring the rain caressing their North Face jackets and overdone faces. And while everyone buzzed around me, all my girl friends crying in the crooks of each other’s necks and the guys bumping fists and awkwardly hugging, my eyes had remained focused on one image. I hadn’t seen it yesterday, when the events were actually occurring. Or had I? I couldn’t remember. But now, a figure burned against my eyelids. They stood erect far behind the group of faculty under the electronic football scoreboard, leaning casually against one of the posts. Blonde-brown hair poked out from under their hat, and a snowboard was held in their left hand…

My eyes flew open and I cursed myself silently as the passengers began to file off the plane on the first stop, Detroit. I stood quickly and retrieved my carry-on bag from the compartment above my head. As our group began to file off and pour into the terminal, everyone almost instantly dispersed in different directions. Some ran off in a random direction, possibly to their connecting flight. Others approached sign-bearers beyond the terminal and embraced them. And then there were people like me, lolling about and unsure of what to do until the next plane arrived for their destination. As the crowd thinned, and only a few people were left at this terminal, I flipped open my phone: 7:50. I have a half hour to kill, I realized then, and my face lit up.

“Time flies when you’re having fun,” people always say, and I made full use of this truth. Though I was running low on cash – I had only grabbed a couple hundred for the flight and some food – I decided that I would at least see what there was to offer. Almost instantly, I noticed that while there were plenty of coffee shops, there was no Dunkin Donuts. I frowned at this. However, continuing to walk around wherever I was allowed, I happened upon a Popeye’s and my mouth began salivating. There wasn’t even a line. No, my better judgment growled in my ear. You’re already running low on cash! Save it for something later!

In the end though, I ended up buying some chicken and devouring every morsel as if it were my last. This process took me to the end of my half hour, and soon again I was sitting in an uncomfortable seat, being lifted into the bluing, cloud-filled sky. Mac and his grandfather weren’t present this time; there was a girl and boy probably a few years older than I was instead. Neither of them tried conversing with me, but then again I don’t recall them speaking to each other either.

As the distance between the plane and the east coast grew and grew, I began to feel a weight being lifted off my shoulders. The air somehow became easier to breathe, and I became antsy. Playing with my fingers, I fumbled around my pockets and pulled out my cell phone to check the time. However, I was instead greeted with twelve missed calls and almost double that in texts from friends. I bit my lip. That’s right, I never told them I would be leaving. At least, not most of them, I thought as an image of a brown haired girl and blond boy flashed into my mind.

Bing! Everyone peered up as the intercom rung to life and a smooth male voice spoke to the passengers. “It is now 10:00 everyone! Only about thirty minutes until landing. As such, we would appreciate it if all would use the bathroom in the next few minutes. Everyone else we ask to remain seated and I hope you enjoyed flying with us this fine morning. Next stop, LAX!”

A shiver of delight ran up my spine and, before I knew it, I had deleted all of the messages without taking a second glance to see who they were from. Sliding the prehistoric LG back into my pocket, I breathed out a sigh and peered out the window at the world below, slowly approaching and just visible through the morning haze. As the time ticked by, more and more buildings became visible and soon vehicles of all colors could be made out. By 10:24, the plane was sliding against the smooth concrete and its passengers were tense with internal excitement. When the plane came to a halt, everyone was jumping to their feet at lightning speed, including myself.

While gathering my trash, there was a light vibrate from my front left pocket. I grabbed my phone just as I exited into the aisle with my half-eaten bag of peanuts. When the name flashed on the screen, my face burned bright red.

In a quick motion, I stuffed the phone into the bag of peanuts and without a second thought, threw the bundle in the trash. The steward flashed me a grin, though seemed completely unaware of what I had just thrown away. He tipped his head slightly, blond locks nearly hiding dark brown eyes, “Hope you enjoy your stay, miss.”

Without hesitation and with a small smile of my own, I looked at the young man and answered.

“Oh, no worries, I will.”