Belongs To Him

1 | I spy with my little eye

Alina Windsor

Nobody can ever predict how your life will turn out, even if you have a million ideas for your future or are a fortune teller. Fiction or fact, it's never fully what you imagine because plans always change, or rather people.

As my fingers tapped against the cold glass on the oval window of the plane, I didn't know how to feel. We were just minutes away from a destination I'd imagined my entire life. But for some reason, it seemed more bleak than before. It wasn't that I wasn't thrilled to be in Italy; it was that I wasn't fully there.

Over a month ago, I thought I was in love with someone I'd be with forever. Now, I'm on a plane to Italy with my best friends, grieving a four-year relationship.

I didn't expect a proposal at graduation, but I definitely didn't expect a breakup either.

I'd move on, I'd live my life—hell, I was living it right now—but that didn't mean the pit in my stomach of the feeling that I wasted four years of my love life wasn't there.

The circle of a bag distracts me, and I turn to Townes, her hands stuck in a bag of pretzels. She shakes the bag slightly, attempting to dig her hand out, and as I look across from me, Molly's just trying to keep it together.

"You need a little help there?" I ask, and she turns to me, shaking her head no. Molly glances at Viv beside her, sound asleep, and then back to Townes, shaking hands.

"You'll wake Viv, and I don't want to see her face when she realizes she woke up because you're fighting with a bag of Pretzels," Townes shushes her and places her hand on the table shared between them.

Maybe getting seats across from each other was a dumb idea.

Townes slams her hand down, and the bag of pretzels bursts. I watch as they fly across the table and right onto Molly's lap. I bite my lip at the scene as I watch it unfold. It wakes Viv up, and they attempt to keep themselves from laughing.

It was never boring to travel with the three of them. We'd been friends since high school because we did sports together, but we went our separate ways travel-wise in university. We never grew apart, though; we stuck together.

But even through a breakup, Townes said this was the best way to move on. I agreed but it didn't mean that I wasn't sad. She said distraction was a key point, but grief would always still be there.

"Can you guys keep it together before the Air Marshal detains us?" I snapped, and then the three sat silently and awkwardly, like kids in the principal's office.

My gaze shifted to the window as we grew closer to our descent. I just needed to get off this plane because, at this point, I almost felt suffocated.

"Looks like someone is cranky... I spy with my little eye, Alina's impatience," Molly teases, and I can't help but glare back at her.

"What I can't look out the window, I paid more for this seat to see the Alps when we'd fly over" She raised her hands in apology and reached for her deck of cards.

"Who dares to go against me in Uno?" And with that, I reach for my blinders and slip them over my head because even pretending to sleep was better than this.

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It felt almost weird getting off the plane. I was in a foreign country, yet for some reason, I still felt like I was in America. That was until we made it through customs. Of course, Molly bickered with the people there, causing us to have to wait an extra 45 minutes. I just wanted to go to the hotel and take a nap; I deserved it at this point.