Flight to: Nowhere

Theo

Chapter 1
11pm Love Field, Dallas airport

Her heavy backpack bobbed on her shoulder as earbuds flapped behind. Her sneakers slapped on the tile floor as she rounded the corner dodging past passengers on their way to and from this concert hub. She followed her scents towards the delicious smell. She skidded to a stop when she saw the glorious line stretching across the triminal.

Starbucks. Her haven for the next hour and forty six minutes. The smell of coffee cleansed her nose from the stinginess of the shuttle bus that she took from the parking lot that now housed her beautiful blue truck complete with Star Wars golden dice hanging from the mirror. Her stomach turned just thinking about how she won't get to climb into those dirty seats, where many a memory had been made, until spring.

She weaved through the line at Starbucks until she saw a mess of blond covered up by a green hat taking an order from a middle aged woman holding a screaming child in her hands. She came to the corner of the counter and leaned against it. As the woman left the boy looked down at his IPad taking the orders.

"Welcome to Starbucks.."  he chimed but stopped short as he saw the sight in front of him, he looked up to see the girl and a bright look came into to his eyes.

"Theo!" The boy tried to hug her from across the table but only achieved at knocking the tip jar over sending pennies flying across the counter. He quickly shuffled the coins into to the jar with skill, almost like it happened a lot, and signed to his older woman fixing a latte him and scurried out from behind the desk. A smile stretched across Theo face as the boy waved her over to a table across the entrance.

Another thing she would miss, Anthony.

"Anthony it's been so long!" Theo says dramatically placing a hand on her forehead as if to faint.

"I was at you house yesterday." Anthony said flatly.

"Still it doesn't amount for the time I'll be spending away from you."

Anthony rolled his at this age old scene. Theo making everything big and wild, and him trying to rein her back. Even with Theo's dramatic display of affection there was truth in her words. Theo had never done anything like this, and there was no way of stopping her. And even if there was Anthony had no good reason too.

"What are we ever going to do with you."

Theo thought she would be deprived without Anthony. Her and Anthony had been best friends since the sixth grade. They had been through everything together.She was their when he got his first car. He was their when she struggled through braces. Theo had even been the one to help Anthony bleach his hair purple just to make his dad mad. Thankfully his hair was finally back to its original blond state. They practically lived at each other's houses, both of Theo's foster mom were on a middle name basis for him. But even though their birthdays were only a few weeks apart, Anthony had alway seemed older. With his wire glasses and twenty four hour smirk, he seemed like the cool IT guy, while Theo being awkward intern.

"So first time in my new airport Starbucks, pretty sweet crib right?" Anthony smirked.

"My bathtub is bigger than this whole place."  Theo chuckled.

"Hey, it might not be as big as your 'Barnes & Noble' but I've learned a lot from this job already."

"Really?" Theo questioned.

She knew that Anthony couldn't keep a job no matter how hard he tried, of course not because he didn't meet standards or any thing, on the contrary they saw that he was on of their best employees, which Theo understood , Anthony was a people person. Theo also thought of herself as a people person, but instead over making people smile, she just made them shuffle away to escape her overwhelming awkwardness. Anthony, who people were always attracted to, never ended up staying in a job because he got bored of the same people everyday. And that's why Theo suggested this airport gig which surprisingly he's really good at.

"Yep. And here's a fun fact for you; Starbucks is the same in every language."

"I'll have to jot that one down." Theo smiled. 
A whistle came from behind them. Anthony's boss was waving him over in a frantic motion.

Theo looked over her shoulder to she that the line had expanded into the postcard shop across the hallway with cards reading "Howdy from Dallas!". As well as little miniature cowboy hats,and longhorn magnets. This as no surprise, these kinds of shops were all over this Texas airport. You always know when you see a tourist, because one: their wearing a cheap cowboy hat, and two: they giggle every time someone says "Y'all".

"Duty calls. Oh, can I get you anything?" Anthony calls as he half jogs to the counter.

Theo make the 'ok' sign with her fingers and took out her blue journal which was squashed between The Hobbit and Paper Towns from the front pocket of her carry on bag.

This palm sized notebook was her savoir when it came to stopping boredom. It started from a game that she played to make friends when she was eight; write down as many weird facts as possible and people would think your cool. Because what third grade girl doesn't want to know that an average woman uses her height in lipstick every five years? Well after three days of third grade with little Theo belting out facts about octopuses and Austria she realized that that was probably not the best way to make friends. But she still keeps her journal around to fill with facts.

Anthony jokes that eighty five percent of Theo's brain is all fun facts.

After writing the fact down she turned back to the crowd. Even at 11pm on a Tuesday the airport was infested. And while Theo enjoyed this havoc, her foster Moms were probably snoring. But it didn't really matter where they were because this is her trip. Not worrying about parents or even Anthony; this was her time.

Her time, in the middle of an airport surrounded by people from everywhere. Every country, every time zone, every background and, everyone's going somewhere. They one on a mission get to point A to point B. And this is just the Hub in the middle of it all. And even in all this havoc Theo felt like she was on a mission as well, but she on the other hand. Didn't know where.