"Flybilletten fra Oslo til Los Angeles er nå ombordstigning."
The intercom announcement jolted Lukas Bondevik from his sleep. He looked around at his unfamiliar surroundings, seemingly out of place for a few seconds.
Oh, right. He was at the airport. And his flight was just called.
The Norwegian slowly stood up and stretched a little before he reached for his carry-on bag, which had fallen off of his lap while he was asleep. Oddly, he didn't remember drifting off, but he did remember the tired feeling he harbored resulting from the hours he spent waiting for his flight to be called.
Lukas rolled his eyes. Of course his flight had to be the one that was delayed.
He walked over to the gate and handed his boarding pass to one of the gate attendants. The woman scanned it quickly and handed it back to him, wishing him a safe travel. He thanked her, took one last look at the airport, and boarded the plane without any hesitation.
Row 24… Seat C. He took a book out, stowed his bag away, and proceeded to sit down in his seat. Luckily, it was right next to the window, so he wouldn't have to deal with strangers sitting on either side of him.
As he opened his book and started reading it, a girl who looked to be about his age climbed into the seat next to him. He looked up from the book's pages at his new seat mate, who smiled at him.
"Do you speak English?" She asked.
Lukas nodded a little and shifted his gaze back towards the book. Not that he wanted to be rude, but he was still exhausted from all the waiting in the airport. He wasn't really in the mood to talk to anyone right now.
She tried again. "Oh, cool! Do you live in LA, too?"
"No." He said politely, deciding to humor the girl for now. Maybe if he gave enough one-word responses she'd give up on attempting to have a conversation with him.
"Oh, really? You're Norwegian? Cool! What brings you to LA, then?"
"University."
Her eyes widened. "University? Are you going to USC?"
"University of California. Los Angeles."
"Oh."
The Norwegian turned his attention toward his book again, secretly hoping that the girl would pick up on his disinterest in making conversation.
Luckily, she took the hint. After smiling at him once more, she plugged a pair of earbuds into her iPod and began playing some sort of game on it. Lukas was secretly relieved that he wouldn't have to converse with her for the duration of the roughly ten-hour flight.
He felt his seat shake a little as the plane began speeding towards the end of the runway. This was it… He was actually leaving Oslo. After a year of studying, university applications, and preparation in general, he was headed to a University in America.
It certainly was a lot to take in.