The plane starts to descend. Angus leans over me, anxious for his first look at America. Though I pretend to be annoyed, I feel the same energy. We’re here. We’re finally here. Angus, Jan, Sigge, and I have been saving for this our whole lives. It’s surreal actually, being on the plane, about to land in the U.S.A.
“Do you see that?” Angus yells, receiving a few irritated glances from other passengers. He jabs a finger against the window, pointing at who knows what.
“I’m sorry sir, but could you please sit back in your seat,” a flight attendant politely asks. You can tell by the tone of her voice that she’s more demanding than she is asking. Her brown hair is up in a neat messy style if that makes sense. Jan’s been giving her his “stare” in an attempt to seduce her. Sigge, who has the aisle seat on the other side of the plane, has ruined his brother’s every attempt.
I grip the armrests as tight as I can. My knuckles turn white with the effort.
“Felix? Are you all right?” Angus questions.
My stomach feels like it’s trying to be a contortionist, bending into shapes that organs never should. My heart is beating so fast that I can’t distinguish one beat from the next. My head pounds in rhythm with my frantic heart. “Fine,” I reply through clenched teeth.
Angus squints at me, obviously seeing through my lie. Before he can comment, the wheels touch ground. I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding.
“Land sweet land, yeah Flix?” Jan teases.
I chuckle along. I’ve been scared of flying for as long as I can remember. I finally brought up the courage, told my fear to suck it, and boarded my first plane. It took a few to get here, and the fear stayed in the pit of my chest, but I made it.
Getting off is much easier than getting on. The only complaint I have is the crowds. People push and shove, rudely knocking others out of the way instead of politely asking them to move in order to get to where they want to go. While looking out for Angus’s cousin Lynn, whom I have never seen, one person beside me is roughly jostled to the side. I grab her shoulders and stand her up right.
“I am so sorry!” she apologizes quickly, her face changing to a light pink.
I smile. “It’s not your fault.”
She tilts her head to the side and stares intensely at me. I look back into her hazel eyes until I can no longer stand the silence.
“Are you all right?” I ask.
“Quite. Where are you from?” she replies, tacking on a question at the end.
“Sweden.”
“Sweden,” she repeats. I nod, just so I have something to do. She continues watching me. I shift uncomfortably from one foot to the other, the English I’ve been studying for years suddenly gone from my head.
“Hey Flix,” Jan says, rescuing me from my fate.
I grin. “Hey.”
“So, who’s your new friend?” He sticks his chin out, indicating to the gaping girl.
“Oh I, uh. I don’t know. What’s your name, miss?” I ask.
YOU ARE READING
Soulbound
Teen Fiction"At first, it's like I stepped into a dream. In fact, for a second, I believe I actually am asleep and my unconsciousness is torturing me with visions that could never be real, but then she reaches up to me and I find myself walking closer and close...
