Falling In Like

Chapter Two

“Taren! How are you, Sweetie?” I could hear my aunt’s smile through the phone. Please don’t freak out, my mind begged.

I forced a smile onto my face; it was my secret trick for sounding happy over the phone. Smiling really did change your voice, even if the smile wasn’t real. “Hi, Aunt Katherine. Um…” I trailed off. Then I took a deep breath, tucked a lock of hair behind my ear, and dove in. “Aunt Katherine, I’m not going to be at your house until tomorrow or the day after because there’s a big rainstorm and no planes are leaving or coming in.” Crap. Why did I tell her the truth? Stupid rambling.

The voice at the other end of the phone let out a light nervous laugh. “What, Honey?”

Well, I had to go with it now. “There’s a really big rainstorm here and no planes are taking off or flying in until at least tomorrow morning.”

Pause. Then Aunt Katherine yelled “What? Do you have a place to stay? Did your dad give you enough money? No, that son of a bitch, of course he didn’t. What if someone tries to kidnap you? What if the sandwich shop puts poison in your sandwich? You know what? I’m just going to come down there.”

“No, no, no!” I exclaimed in a rush. “I’m fine. Really. I have enough money,” I lied, “And there’s plenty of good food in the airport.”

The skepticism in her voice was quite plain as she questioned, “Really?”

“Really,” I soothed as I picked at a nail. “I’m fine. I’ll call you tomorrow morning.”

“No,” she insisted. “Call me in two hours. I need to know how you’re doing.”

I fought the urge to argue with her. I could argue like a lawyer, but I knew that this was one argument I would not win. My aunt would never let you win if it really mattered to her, and anyway, I knew it was the only way she’d feel a shred if peace until I was on a plane. “Okay,” I relented.

“Taren, are you sure you don’t want me to drive down there?”

I decided that I couldn’t console her and decided to instead take the logical approach. “Aunt Katherine, how long does it take to drive from Charlotte to Atlanta?”

“Almost five hours.”

“And is it raining at your house right now?”

“It’s sprinkling.”

“Well, it is pouring here,” I said. “So you’re going to be traveling in rain the whole way, sometimes heavy rain. And the roads are probably going to be super clogged up.” Please stay home. Please stay home.

“Taren, I don’t know.”

“I’ll call you in an hour,” I promised.

I could tell my aunt was highly reluctant to give in, but she did. “Alright, do not forget. And, Taren, please be careful. Don’t go wandering around the city. Get a nice hotel room. Don’t forget to eat. Get enough sleep, okay? And don’t talk to anyone who makes you nervous. Call me, okay? One hour.”

“Okay, Aunt Katherine,” I replied, so ready to be done with this conversation. “I won’t forget. I love you. Bye.”

“I love you too.”

“Okay. Bye.”

“Bye,” she said.

I hung up, a bit frustrated. I had put my aunt’s mind at ease, but I was still essentially at Square One. I still had no place to stay the night.

I started to walk, just for something to do. Only a couple gates over, it was deserted. The bright lights seemed especially harsh without anybody around. They filled every bit of the space. I usually associated creepiness with the dark and dim, but this bright light was definitely eerie. I’d been in a lot of airports and never seen one so empty. It wasn’t silent, of course, as I could still hear all the people in the more crowded parts of the airport, but it was still pretty quiet, especially compared to the way it should have been. I could hear every click and squeak of my shoes on the polished concrete floors.