My Little Decoy

♪ There's Hope Buried Beneath it All ♪ {41}

"Somewhere weakness is our strength,
And I'll die searching for it.
I can't let myself regret such selfishness.
My pain and all the trouble caused,
No matter how long
I believe that there's hope." - Let The Flames Begin

--

Five days later...

Was this really it then? I clutched the handle of my green luggage bag, one that I had kept at the back of my closet for all of these years. It was always filled to the brim with everything needed for the day I would finally leave my home - my past behind.

The edges torn and frayed, and with one wheel broken and spinning senselessly, it was my lifeline for my future. It was supposed to be the turning point of my life when I held the handle and carried it into a new life. I was going to start fresh because I was finally free, just like I always wanted.

Then why did it feel so wrong?

Standing in front of the doors leading into the massive international airport, the entire situation felt surreal. People hustled and bustled, moving quickly to get to their alotted gates in time. Dressed in coats and dragging behind large amounts of baggage, I suddenly felt self-conscious with my single hoodie and only luggage bag.

The airport was grand; glass windows stretched high above my hands, soaring so high into the sky that the sun's rays bounced off and created rainbows in the blue atmosphere. The ground vibrated as planes took off and landed, and the roads were filled with honking cars and traffic, the smell of exhaust fumes in the air.

Behind me was a yellow taxi, whose passenger door opened to reveal a familiar stout man with a graying moustache, covered in a warm jacket and hat. He picked up his briefcase and bags from the trunk before waving away the vehicle and coming to stand where I was. Together the two of us faced the entrance; Mike's hands were in his pocket as he smiled at the sight, while I felt sick to my stomach.

"You ready?" he asked, casting a look in my direction.

"As I'll ever be." I croaked out, and he began to lead the way in.

Past the rotating doors, we were hit with a gust of warm air as soon as we took a step inside. The inside was as large, maybe even larger, than the outside. With the ceiling high glass windows emitting sunlight through, the lobby area was bright and spacious. Elevators and escalators were scattered in every direction. People had their bags and everything, frantically milling about to wherever they were headed.

There were so many people, but I still felt so alone.

"I'm going to go check in," said Mike, reaching out to take my luggage, which I hesitantly gave. "Wait here." The man began towards the long line towards the back, where people where doing baggage checks and checking into their respective flights.

I stood awkwardly in the middle of the area, people skirting around me, before sighing and moving to the small row of seats facing one of the windows. Placed there for people to wait for taxis or buses, I took a seat at the end and stared outside, growing lost in my thoughts.

Around this time, the band would probably be doing a practice rehearsal for the actual rehearsal, courtesy of Gabriel always being a stick in the mud. During it, Drake would whine obnoxiously and Zac would sip his lemonade, and Xander would be sneaking silly faces at me- No.

I shook my, not wanting to think about them anymore. But thoughts and memories with Chasing Avenues kept invading. I smiled at my reflection in the glass, remembering once when Drake and Xander had decided to prank Zac while he was in the bathroom. The two idiots took five drops of tobasco sauce and put it in the poor bassist's lemonade. Zac's reaction couldn't have been any more memorable.