The Voice (Luke Hemmings)

47. Flying

I was sitting on an uncomfortable bench at the airport, with a suitcase and a bag next to me. I just said goodbye to my mom and Anna. Hugs and tears and all that. I quietly sipped from my coffee while I was observing people around me. Charlotte sat on the bench in front of me, nodding her head along to the music, while I was sitting here like a zombie. Marcus was jumping around with a bright smile, his energy radiating off of him. Why?! How can he be so happy when he knows he's going to be cramped into a small seat for the next 14 hours? And imagine the jet lag... I groaned. My eyelids were so heavy, I just had to... "Hey, stay awake! Plenty of time to sleep on the plane." Hayley said while bumping my arm. I shot her a lazy half smile and decided to listen some music. Very loud music. So I can stay awake.

Luckily our seats were business class, and very comfortable. I probably wouldn't think that in a couple of hours... Whatever. Luke put Hayley and my bags in the compartment store because we were short and we couldn't reach it properly. I sat down and put my seatbelt on. Hayley was on the right of me and Charlotte was on the other side, with a small corridor between us. The flight attendants did their 'thing' when they explained what to do when the plane crashes. Very soothing. The pilot did a short speech about the flight, which I couldn't care less about. After a few minutes the plane began riding slowly. It rode on the airstrip now and it began riding harder and harder. I saw Charlotte gripping the edges of her seat tightly with her eyes wide and I chuckled. The plane went into the air and she gasped, trying not to lose her shit. "First time?" I asked. Her head shot my way and she nodded. "Not yours?" She asked and I shook my head. "Nah, I'm from LA." I said. "What?" Hayley and Charlotte said at the same time. I shrugged. "I lived there until I was 16. Then my parents divorced and I went to Sydney with my mom." I said and they nodded. "That's a big change." Hayley said and I nodded. "You could say that. But it was for the better." She nodded. After a while she grabbed a sleep mask from her bag. "Well, I'm gonna sleep. Wake me when we'll land." She said and I chuckled. "Will do." I closed my eyes also and let my head rest on the small pillow I brought with me. It took a couple of minutes, maybe even hours, but I fell asleep nevertheless.

I woke up with the unpleasant feeling of not being able to feel my arm. I moved it from under me and tried to sleep again, what didn't work. I opened my eyes and saw Hayley playing a game on her phone while rocking her head back and forth. She also wore headphones, explaining the head rocking. I chuckled and searched for my phone. How late was it? Please let it be like... 7am so we only have to sit here for one more hour... I got my phone out of my pocket, turned it on and saw that it was 1am. Damnit. Still 7 hours to go. I decided to set a countdown on 8am. What? I didn't have anything else to do... When I was done I changed the time into LA time, which was 19 hours behind Sydney time. So confusing. So Saturday 8am in Sydney is... I did a little math. That's Friday 1pm in LA... So weird. It's like time travelling.

I rummaged through my bag, searching for something to do. My hand touched something hard what felt like a book and I chuckled. Book. Like I read them. I grabbed it and saw that it was my old notebook I had packed. The last time I opened it was around 2 years ago. When I wrote a song about my father. Why not finish it actually? There are so many thoughts running through my head about him, especially since we're practically going to him... I grabbed a pen and opened the notebook on the page with the song. I read the lyrics I had already written a couple of times and sighed.

Four years old, with my back to the door.
All I could hear, was the family war.
Your selfish hands, always expecting more.

Am I your child? Or just a charity award?

You have a hollowed out heart, but it's heavy in your chest.
I try so hard to find it but it's hopeless.
Hopeless. You're hopeless.