imperfection

T H R E E

"mommyyy"

"yes sweetie?"

"i'm scaredd"

"the nice security guards are just going to lead you into a really cool metal detector. it won't hurt baby, i promise."

"okay mommy."

she was right, i was perfectly fine after the security. but i was lost. i couldn't find my mother.

"momma?"

no answer.

"mommaaa?!"

still no answer.

"MOMMA?!" i was screaming and crying in the middle of the airport. sure, i might have been embarrassing myself in front of hundreds of people, but hey, i was five years old.

i eventually found her, still didn't know where she was though, and we headed out for LA.

• may 7; 6:32 •

car ride, checking my luggage, security, breakfast, delayed flight, bathroom, and waiting.

the airport i was at was always busy. i mean, dallas, texas was a pretty busy place in general...

...andd my flight got delayed. great. two more hours in this germ infested, stuffy airport.

skip one hour

i'm drawing the scene in front of me which is a large man sitting eating a hoagie, a woman with twins, failing to stay awake, and a kinda cute boy, looks around my age. drawing helped cure my anxiety. right now, i carried a lot of stress on my shoulders, so i drew when i could.

my dad did throw away drawings of my mother and when we went to the beach for the first time in Florida. i'm not exactly sure why he did, but i think it was because he missed mom too much, and he hated my art.

skip a half hour

i noticed our plane coming in, but still had to be cleaned out so that should take about thirty more minutes.

i glanced at the cute boy from earlier, and just my luck, he looked at me at the same exact time.

dang, his smile was gorgeous.

i quickly looked away and finished my drawing with some watercolor paint.

i looked up and there he was. standing, looking at my painting.

then i realized that he was in it. uGh he probably thinks i'm weird now.

"hey you're a good observer."

"uhh thanks? i think that was a compliment."

"haha, yes it was."

he points to the seat next to me and i nod my head.

i turn to him and hold my hand out. "hey i'm bethany."

no last names yet. for all i know, this kid could be part of the FBI or an undercover fifty-year old man dressed up as a sixteen year old boy. yeah, i read a lot of mystery books at the library when i escaped from my house.

he returns the favor and says, "hey i'm zach herron."

"nice to meet you zach."

"so bethany, what are you doing here alone?"

"long story, you?"

"yeah, same."

"ah."

the conversation was awkward. we just sat in silence until the voice over the loud speaker explained, "group A 1-50 boarding now."

"hey let me see your ticket." zach takes my ticket and examines it.

"oh you're group B 26."

"that's what it says ahah."

"well i'm group A 51. i'll save you a seat by me? we can catch up more."

"well i have no one else to sit next to, so why not herron." i smile.

"group A 50-100 boarding now."

"that's you, save me a seat!"

"okay, will do!" zach yells as he boards the plane.

i grab my painting, my paints, brushes, and the rest of my carry on items and get ready to board the plane.

just as i'm about to get in line, a little girl runs up to me. maybe about five years old, explaining to me how she had lost her mother during the security process.

***

A/N: this one seems a bit boring so i'm sorry :/ i wanna try to make these interesting. soon hopefully hahah. well, i posted three times in a day which is probably not going to happen in the future but idk yet ahah. thank you all for reading! (672 words)
🍋💡⭐️
paige