Nothing in Between

08

Clyde didn't know what to feel, but that obviously wasn't new.

There she was, standing by the luggage claim area, waiting for her suitcase to appear on the carousel. Clyde landed about ten minutes ago, and the walking had already made her feel extremely winded and tired. She just wasn't used to travelling anymore.

Well, Clyde just wasn't used to visiting her family.

Clyde never really liked it. She didn't have the best relationship with her family, but it was definitely not like they despised each other, so she still visited from time to time. It wasn't like they had no contact, either, they just weren't close now that she was older.

It was fine, though, it wasn't like they had nothing to talk about. She had an okay relationship with her parents, not the best, but it could definitely be a lot worse. Clyde was obviously fine with that, mainly because she didn't really live with them anymore.

A soft sigh left Clyde's lips, and her eyes suddenly caught a glimpse of her luggage. She rushed to take it from the carousel after carefully checking if it was actually hers, before heading to the pick-up area, where she knew her parents were going to be.

Her empty hand was shoved into her pocket as the other one pulled the suitcase along with her. Clyde anxiously glanced around for any familiar faces. There were just so many people that Clyde wasn't completely sure she was going to even find them.

"Clyde!" she suddenly heard a yell from afar.

And Clyde raised her eyebrow. She had never been good at looking for people who called her name, and her friends loved using that for their entertainment. Clyde began blindly walking around, trying to check if she could see any person who could've called her.

Then, she saw her mother's face. Clyde's eyes widened, and she immediately rushed over to her, quickly pushing her glasses up as it started slipping. She saw her dad's face beside her mother's, and she didn't waste any time before quickening her walking pace.

"Hi," Clyde greeted, feeling breathless.

"Hey, kid," her dad's voice filled her ears, and she smiled softly.

"Here's my stuff. I didn't bring much, obviously. And I'm not a kid anymore."

"Well, you're still a kid in our eyes."

Clyde wanted to roll her eyes, but she stopped herself, shaking her head instead. There was a big smile on her dad's face as he took the suitcase from her, resting his other arm onto her shoulders and carefully pulling her outside, walking to the parking lot.

The family made their way to their car within a brief number of minutes. Clyde got into the backseat and shrugged her backpack off, watching as her dad lifted the suitcase up and placed it beside her. She shot him a thankful smile, hastily buckling her seatbelt.

Her fingers began rhythmically tapping on her lap as she waited for her parents to get inside, thinking of the many possible conversations they were going to have even before arriving at their house. Clyde hoped they were simply going to ask about work.

A minute passed, and her mother got inside, followed by her dad. Clyde hummed to herself, finally hearing the engine roar to life. Much-needed cold air flowing in through the air conditioner vents allowed Clyde to relax, exhaustedly slumping down in her seat.

She didn't have to wait any longer before her dad started driving, and her eyelids slowly began fluttering shut. Clyde wouldn't usually let this happen, but she had just gotten off a plane after a long flight, which definitely permitted her to sleep inside the car.

It was about an hour later that Clyde woke up from her much-needed rest, and she saw that they were only a few turns away. And so, though slightly hesitant, Clyde sat up and looked out of the window, waiting for them to pull into the familiar driveway.