Chapter 9 - Plane

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by please_stop_me_now

by please_stop_me_now

Song: Silver by Nirvana

   It was August twenty-second. Layne acted semi-peculiarly when I told him the specific day that I was flying in on. Anyways, it was a whopping four in the morning as I groggily threw my legs out of my comfortable, warm bed. Cursing at the cold air conditioning, I made my way to the bathroom after a few goddamns. Not putting on makeup, I put on a mesh long sleeve and a white slip dress, bringing a leather jacket since Seattle is known for its thermal-underwear freezing temperatures. I shoved a few things in my already over-packed suitcase. Dashing out the door, I called a cab and piled in. When I arrived at the airport, anxiety immediately started building inside me. I could feel my chest tighten as my nerves grew closer and closer to breakdown. You see, I have a terrible fear of flying, and even a short three hour flight was enough to make me piss my pants.
Soon enough, I was called to board and I got onto the plane and found my seat after awkwardly making eye-contact with some passengers. I was about to put on headphones when a voice interrupted my routine action.
"SeaTac, huh?"
   "Uh...yeah..." I looked over at the guy next to me. He was of an average build, with brown hair cut short and brown eyes to match. Good looking, I guess.
"Why're you goin' there?" He questioned. He had a bit of an accent, implying that he was probably from Washington.
"To see a friend. You?"
   "Ah, well, I'm from Tacoma. I just came out here to visit my aunt." He said. Small talk like this bored the hell out of me, but I didn't mind entertaining this guy.
"Cool, cool...since this is my first time there, ya got any advice? Like, what do you recommend doing there?" I asked, trying not to sound stupid.
"I mean, it's just like visiting anywhere else," he chuckled, "Just explore! Maybe...I dunno, fall into unrequited love or somethin'." He joked. I laughed along with him, and soon enough, the flight attendant was demonstrating the safety routines. A wavering sigh came from my mouth as I prepared for take off. With these nerves, you'd think I was a pilot on my first flight. Desperately trying to calm myself, I began to play Lady In Black by Uriah Heep on my Walkman. Somehow, I had managed to score Uriah Heep on cassette. Still not feeling calm, my panicked mind instantly went to Layne, for some reason. I thought of his smile and all the stupid jokes we made together. I thought of his sweet voice over the phone. I also thought about how I'd be seeing him in just a few hours. Oh, I didn't even realize we were in the air.
Thud. Rrrrrumble...The loud landing was kind of rough and honestly, it scared the shit out of me. Biting my tongue to hold back a scream, I sighed in relief as the plane slowed down.
   "We're here." The man next to me said. I guess I'd never gotten his name.
"Yep." I said, and people slowly started to stand up and shuffle out of their seats.
   "Nice talking to you." I said, smiling at the man. He smiled back, and I walked off the plane. The airport looked normal, with vending machines and shops and things. But then, I walked outside.

My god, was it freezing.