Neighbors

Chapter 1

The plane ride would have been torture even if I wasn't afraid of heights...and turbulence ...and plane rides in general. Two babies. Do I even need to say anything? All they ever do is cry, and of course my earbuds were left at the boarding zone waiting area. Like nails on a freaking chalkboard.

And then there's the annoying flight attendant who always comes by us asking me if I wan't juice, when really, she's here to hit on my dad. Twirling her bleached hair and sticking her uniformed chest out to make it look bigger. Disgusting. Poor Dad. Don't even get me started on the farting, fat guy in seat B24.

My fingers grasped the arm rests in fear, my knuckles turning a doughy white color. My throat clenched in a gulp as the turbulence exceeded its usual amount of about 27.6 seconds. In any other time or place, I would have enjoyed watching the lightning storm, but when you're thousands of feet in the air in a giant metal tube, you get kinda nervous. Okay, maybe a bit more than kinda nervous. I tried to take a deep breath but it sounded more like a series of gasps, like I just ran a marathon in 100 degree weather.

"Andy, you need to calm down honey. Everything is going to be okay. There have been countless amounts of planes who've flown through storms and made it out just fine. Just think, In a little bit less than an hour, we'll be arriving in Sydney, Australia. We got a nice house on the beach, you'll have a huge bedroom with a balcony over looking the ocean. Doesn't that sound fun?" My Mom stroked my chocolate brown hair as she whispered into my ear. I nodded briskly to let her know that I was listening. Honestly, I wasn't looking forward to the move. But I didn't resent it either. It was just...different. A change in scenery. Maybe I'll really like it here, maybe I'll absolutely hate it. Either way, we won't be here long, we never are. Dad's job requires us to move a lot. Not that I'm complaining, a job is a job. Money is money. And money is what makes this world we live in go round.

My Mom smiled, then went back to reading her magazine on celebrity news. As I watched her nimble fingers turn the page, I caught sight of a smiling boy with blonde hair, and blue eyes. But as soon as I saw him, the page was turned. I wonder who he was, I've never heard of him.