Margalo and her friends climbed out of Lauren’s family van, walking slowly towards the airport building. Looking at the planes taking off made Margalo feel sick to her stomach, realizing that in just half an hour, she would be on one of them.
The four of them stopped at security. Margalo looked at her friends, tears welling up in her eyes, and she pulled all of them close in a group hug. “Don’t forget about me, guys.”
“We could never forget about you,” said Luke.
“Promise?”
“Promise. And Margalo,” Luke said, separating from the embrace. “There’s something I wanted to tell you.”
“Me too,” said Margalo quickly. “I really hope you enjoy your date with Lauren tomorrow. I think you guys would be really cute together.” She looked at Luke, trying to convey a message without speaking, and he seemed to receive it.
“Thanks,” he said quietly.
Margalo hugged each of her friends one last time, and after a thousand goodbyes and “I’ll miss you”s, she loaded her bags through the security belt. As her bags were cleared and she tried to pick them up and move along, she heard two familiar voices speaking to the security guard.
“That’s our daughter, we need to see her.”
“I’m sorry, ma’am, but we can’t let you through without a plane ticket.”
“Then can you please have her come back for a moment?”
Margalo turned her head to see the security guard pause and think. “I suppose that would be alright. Miss, someone wants to see you.”
Margalo turned around and rushed towards her parents. “Dad, Mom, please don’t get mad at me, okay? I just—you kicked me out, and I just didn’t—I didn’t know what to do. I’m sorry, but I wanted some space. I should have said goodbye, though. It was stupid of me.”
Her mother hugged her and kissed her forehead. “We’re not mad, Margalo. We just wanted to see you before we went.”
“We’re going to miss you so much,” her dad said lovingly.
“Really?” Margalo said, a lump forming in her throat. “You won’t be glad I’m gone?”
“Of course not. We just think this is the best thing for you.”
Margalo nodded, overwhelmed by emotion. “Okay.”
“We love you,” her mother said.
“I love you guys too,” Margalo replied. “I’ll call you when I get to Aunt Cathy’s.”
With that, she took her bags and walked to the area where she could wait for her plane, feeling a pang of loneliness.
YOU ARE READING
Haunting Margalo
Teen Fiction{NANOWRIMO} Margalo and Violet are rivals. They have been since the second grade, and they will be until the day they die--which, for Violet, is a little sooner than expected. After Margalo almost burns her house down, she's sent to stay with her au...
