The Unstoppable Zuri

The Second Leg

Our flight to Atlanta was only a little over two hours long. I was watching a movie but ended up taking a nap, so I'd have to go back to where I left off before I fell asleep on the next flight.

We got off our plane, walking into a busy and crowded Atlanta airport. I thanked my besties for bringing my scooter on and off the plane for me. We got it unfolded while some of our classmates took bathroom breaks.

Once everyone was back from the bathroom, it was time to make the long trek to the other side of the airport, where the international flights would be. I hopped on my scooter and we were off. The airport was so big that we needed to ride on a tram to the other side.

I rolled up the sleeves of my sweater. It was cold back home and going to be cold in Paris, but it was hot and muggy here in Atlanta. The doors of the tram opened, and we were back in the AC of the airport. Our teachers made sure they had everyone, and then we made our way to the gate.

By then, even more of us had to use the restroom. I found a stall that was big enough to fit my scooter, thankfully. I met back up with my friends and we browsed the gift shop. I started to feel uncomfortable when I was in there, especially looking at the rack full of expensive keychains.

Elliot had a fascination with those things. He collected as many as he could over the years. In the spring, when I found out I'd been approved for the Paris trip due to my GPA, he was so excited. We were sitting in his backyard, eating ice cream on his patio and talking about it.

"And you'll bring me lots of keychains, right? I'll give you some money," he said.

"Aww, it's okay, babe. You don't have to. They're not expensive. I'll get you one from every place we go," I said.

"I can't wait. I'm going to put them all on my new backpack for our senior year!"

"Hey, Zuri! Look what I've got for you!"

I snapped out of my trance when I saw Lucy next to me. She was shaking a bag of chocolate covered pretzels. I smiled and took them.

"Hell yes! Thank you!" I said.

"This round of snacks are on me. We gotta stock up!" she said. "You and Emmi can split the snacks on the way back."

"Nuh-uh! She's got a baby to save up for!" Emmi said from over by the magazine rack.

I rolled my eyes. "I can't with you guys."

We checked out with our boatload of snacks and went back to our campsite at the gate with everyone else. We had a long, three-hour layover. Our classmates were sprawled out all over the seats, some of them in circles on the floor, using their sweatshirts as pillows as they looked at their phones.

When lunch time rolled around, the three of us went to a restaurant near the gate. I indulged in some chicken fingers, fries, and a chocolate shake. Yes, I was dipping the chicken fingers and the fries in my shake like a heathen. Don't judge a pregnant girl.

When we finished eating, we went back to the gate, again, and caught up on some more TikToks. Lucy said she'd officially become a travel vlogger for this trip and was already taking pictures and videos of us.

In the middle of us looking like idiots with some Snapchat filters, the worker at the gate announced that our plane would be arriving soon. A few minutes later, I saw the big Air France jet zooming down the runway. It lined itself up at our gate and people started getting off. I had my scooter already folded up and left with my friends, and was standing in line at the preboarding section, behind the well-to-do people who were flying first class.

I was behind an older French couple. The wife was wearing an elaborate fur coat and speaking to her husband in a hushed tone. It was loud in the airport and she was speaking so quickly, but I caught a few words like "l'ecole" and "bruyant," probably talking about my rowdy classmates. Now that everyone was actually awake, they were being typical noisy, excited teenagers. I mean, how would we not be? We were on our way to Paris.

When it was finally my turn, I handed the lady at the gate my boarding pass and she scanned it. I went down the long tunnel and got to the entrance of the plane. A flight attendant greeted me with a warm smile.

"Bonjour! Comment ca va aujourd' hui?" he asked.

"Bien," I said.

I walked over to my seat in the front row and looked around while the rest of the pre-boarding passengers, most of them older people in wheelchairs, got situated. This plane was so much bigger and nicer than the last one. All the seats had screens in the back of them, but for me, being in the very front, no screen for me. Or Emmi or Lucy, for that matter. Thankfully we all had phones and tablets.

Since there was assigned seating, unlike the last flight, people got situated quickly. After a little while of waiting, we backed away from the gate and the flight attendants began the safety demo, which they did in English first, then French.

When the demo was over, I quickly sent a text to my dad.

Taking off soon. See you when I get back. J'taime.

Et toi. Have fun. Be safe!

The plane revved up and started shooting down the runway. I was stuck in the middle section of the three rows of seats, so I really couldn't get a good glimpse of us taking off from Atlanta. But at the end of the day, it didn't really matter. We were on our way to Paris.