❝It would be too easy to say that I feel invisible. Instead, I feel painfully visible. And entirely ignored.❞
—David Levithan, "Everyday"
Ｃｈａｐｔｅｒ Ｏｎｅ
/travelling thoughts/
—
Greenwich Mean Time 10:31 AM
Flight 9281, London — Fiore
710 km left for travel / 441.174 miles left for travel
—
Lucy stares out the window, her chin resting on her palm. The wing whizzing past through fluffy clouds, the ocean bluer than she thought. It was fascinating, really; flying and travelling. It felt really good. It's like soaring through the sky with a hundred other people, except it's in a cramped space where you are staying in for many hours with a hundred other people which can lead her to her constant attack of claustrophobia.
Lucy only discovered she had a not-so-mild-but-not-that-bad-either case of claustrophobia when she was a young, naïve little girl she knows she is. One time, she was utterly bored in the mansion, with nothing to do and her ballet lessons not starting before two more hours, she wandered around. And she doesn't know how, but she ends up in a small storage room. Smelling like old books and light coming from the small window high on the wall.
And she began to panic, and little Lucy started banging on the door, calling for help. She started breathing heavily and almost fell unconscious. Not until someone opens the door.
And family butler Capricorn was there to save the day as always. He had taken her up in his arms as she sobs quietly, burying her face on his sleek suit. He would pat her back and says it's all going to be okay. And when she stops crying, his fancy distinctive goatee would make Lucy giggle slightly and he carries her back to her room. He doesn't scold her like her father would have, but he had told her to keep away from small spaces.
With him explaining everything about claustrophobia that young, naïve little Lucy would never understand, only tilting her head to the side as if she could understand every word.
Lucy sighs at the memory, and checks her watch. 10:32, it reads. After a few hours, the sun would be high up and would most probably make anyone blind in this height if they try to stare at it. Lucy still has five more hours before she arrives in Fiore. Well, it's not like she will be in a hurry, anyway. Once she arrives in Fiore, it's only around three pm or so.
Fiore is found somewhere in UK, small country, sure; but it's not too shabby. Several say it's fun there and many successful people come from the very wealthy and royal schools there. Lucy has no idea how a scholarship got into the mail at the apartment she shares with another girl in London, saying she got accepted in the Fairy Tail Academy.
Her eyes almost bugged out of their sockets.
And after learning just that, she immediately booked a flight online, packed her bags, contacted her middle school friends she's leaving, and went out with her closest friends—"close" meaning having gathered enough information about them that could get them get along with each other.
Even though all of it was all so sudden, especially her departure and the scholarship and everything else, Lucy was happy that time. She called the family mansion, Capricorn answered the phone, hearing her father is busy again.
It's not like Lucy was expecting her father to answer, anyway.
Lucy bid farewell and teared up a little. Capricorn was impassive, as always, but he talked with so much concern and a tone of sadness into it, Lucy had to bawl her eyes out.
But it was okay. She had nowhere to go. She didn't want to go back to the mansion—it was hell—and middle school in London was fine with her, but she never tried getting close with anyone ever—it gets lonely most of the time—and her dream school was in Fiore and to her surprise, she got accepted.
It was another milestone in her life.
And to top it all off, this is her first time to travel alone. And first time on a plane. At least, Lucy didn't get to feel any claustrophobia crawling in her nerves again. She wouldn't and would never ask for it. Travelling alone is already bad, getting an attack of claustrophobia is something she dreads. Always.
Most likely the "YOLO" moments of her life but not likely. If that makes sense.
Lucy is seated by the window, Seat 11A, beside a snoring—rather attractive—guy with a knitted beanie on, and mouth wide open. And at the other side was a woman in her early 60's knitting a pink scarf, probably for her granddaughter. She closes her eyes for a moment and she could hear the incoherent chatter, the flipping and turning sound of book pages and magazines, the chill of the air conditioner above them, the constant opening-and-closing of the lavatory and then the sliding of shoes against the carpet floor. It was rather relaxing and Lucy doesn't mind the small space at all.
Travelling in a tube-shaped transportation vehicle with additional wings at the sides and a tail, almost like a bird, she could get used to it. As long as her mind is away from the thought of the small space closing in on her, squeezing her and leaving her no space to breath.
Lucy opens her eyes and this time, she starts to look around.
She stares a the guy beside her, and examines his appearance. Strong jaw, defined nose, long eyelashes, perfect eyebrows. He has an earring on his left ear, with a pendant attached to it. He has a diagonal scar above his left eye. Lucy stares at it for a while, assuming it was a simple cut that wasn't treated properly, perhaps. Blonde hair was sticking out from the beanie, and saliva was trailing down from his open mouth and down his chin. He has a grey hoodie on, denim skinny jeans and sneakers. Simple and non-elegant.
But attractive, nonetheless.
His seat belt was loose, and if this plane would crash land, he'd fly away, leaving the seat belt useless. Lucy closes her eyes again and shuts off the thought. She's not exactly superstitious, but it still scares her. Sometimes.
Lucy shakes it off.
She then looks at the woman beside the guy. Her eyes were white and curly, wrinkles were forming on her face, and the black earphones that the stewardesses passed out earlier were plugged in her ears. She was so caught up into her knitting, she barely sees Lucy staring at her. The woman was wearing a shawl, and a wide purple blouse under it, and a dark floral skirt that reaches exactly on her ankle bones, and her wrinkled feet adorned brown old-woman loafers.
Aging people are adorable, to be honest. They're so innocent. Like they don't have any problems in life anymore and all they want is to find happiness in their family's new family. Or just simply... knitting.
She giggles at the thought. Lucy can't wait to age. No problems, just happiness. But not at the brink of death, no. Please. She scoffs at the thought.
Lucy checks her watch again and it was already 10:45. Her eyebrows rose up to her forehead. She didn't even realize she took that long to wander off into her thoughts.
Hmm, she still has five hours. And within those five hours, she'll try to sleep. She barely had any sleep because she had to chase for the departure time. She almost missed it, but she had a minute left before boarding time ends. Thank God for that.
She closes her window closed, grabs her earpods and plugs it in her iPod, putting it on shuffle and wears the earpods. She leans her head back on her seat and momentarily looks at the No Smoking sign above her and closes her eyes. She'll miss London, but she wants to experience new things and have an adventure. She wants to have fun, have new friends and learn new things.
You can't stay in one place forever. In life, you have to move on. You can't be stuck in your own comfort zone. Sometimes, you have to take risks.
And Lucy is taking one right now. But she has no regrets at all.
She dozes off to sleep as the music reaches her ears. A smile was on her face. No regrets at all, indeed.
—
Greenwich Mean Time 2:01 PM
Flight 9281, London — Fiore
93 km left for travel / 57.7875 miles left for travel
—
Lucy wakes up from the shifting of a person beside her. Her eyes crack open and groans slightly. She gives the time a look and she rubs away the sleep from her eyes. Still not enough sleep, she thinks. She takes off her earpods and stops the playing music. She quickly sits up straight and her stomach grumbled. At that sound, the guy beside her—who happens to have woken up—shoots her an amused look and he grins at her. Lucy blinks at that. He has really stormy grey eyes. And they don't look as scary but entertained.
"Hungry?" He speaks. His voice was hoarse from sleep but she could tell it was cheerful but low. He points at her stomach and Lucy's face flushes from embarrassment. She looks away and doesn't respond. He laughs. "Yeah, you were dozing off when they were giving away lunch. Too bad." He shrugs his shoulders.
Lucy's eyebrow rose. They give away lunch? For free? She never knew that. If she did, she would have stayed awake the whole flight! She looks at him incredulously and the guy notices her stare. He smirks, this time.
"First time travelling?"
"Um, yeah." She hears her own voice and she cringes. It's almost sounds like her voice box is going to give in any moment.
"Ah, I know the feeling," He says. She gazes at him, confused. "Travelling alone for the first time." He quickly adds. She nods her head in understanding.
And they started talking and telling stories to each other after awhile. She has no idea if it's normal for two strangers to talk this much. He mentioned about studying psychology when he's in college, and he even mentioned his proposal plans for his girlfriend and his future family plans. He told her about what Fiore is like and what kind of stuff she'll see there and their culture. She doesn't even know where he's from, but he mentioned about studying primary in Manchester and moving to Birmingham for middle school, and he started high school in London. And now he's going to Fiore with a whole hundred other people including her, so that he could finish high school there. And he told her stories about travelling to Alaska for Christmas with his family, and going to Paris with his girlfriend and his friend and his friend's girlfriend. At least he went to a lot of places already. He's having an adventure. She felt a little envious. Maybe because he's older than her, but that's not basically the point.
The farthest she got was Bradford because of an educational trip her school required.
What can she do, though? She doesn't have enough money to travel. Hell, sometimes, she has to walk to school because bus fares are outrageous. And taxis are unbelievable. She left the mansion penniless, lost and clueless. Primary school, home-schooled. First two years of middle school, home-schooled. Not until she left the mansion and her father, packing her own things and renting an apartment with an oddball like her.
Impressive.
She told him about leaving the rich life and suddenly turning poor in a second, how she's got this butler that looks like a goat, and ballet lessons and etiquette lessons every single day with teachers nagging at her how she doesn't have enough poise and elegance. She told him about her busy father who stays in his office forever. And even her deceased mother. He was listening intently and he was obviously interested.
He wanted to say something. To give her a comment about her sad, sad life. But the intercom went off, the captain's voice resounding from it.
"Hey guys. This is your captain speaking, and it seems it's a lovely sunny afternoon in Fiore today. Open up your windows and close the tables. Time check 2:41 PM. We will begin landing on 2:50. We're pretty early today. For your safety, please go back to your seats and buckle up your seat belts. The seat belt sign is on and get ready for take off in nine minutes or so. Thank you for flying with us today and we hope you enjoyed your flight. Once again, good afternoon and this is your captain, Clap Catbogen." And there was static and the intercom was done.
Bodies were shifting around the airplane and the sound of books and plastic was heard again. And the incoherent chatter was back, except this time it was louder. Everyone was already awake. Lucy buckles up and puts her feet flat on the ground. Just by the contact, her heart started to beat loudly against her ribcage. The thought of her on air and not on solid ground made her feel ecstatic. It was amazing.
The blonde guy beside her whistled, fixing his beanie. "2:41, huh. We didn't even know we talked that long." He chuckled to himself. Lucy managed a smile on her own and nodded her head in agreement. She wanted to ask his name, but thought against it. She'd never see him again after this, anyway. And it looked like he wasn't interested in knowing her name, either. She stayed quiet, pursing her lips.
He adjusts his watch and chain bracelet, takes off his beanie and runs his hand through his tousled hair as if trying to fix it back to its normal look, and wears his beanie again. He zips up his hoodie and buckles up as well. He nods in satisfaction and leans his head back. Lucy smiles slightly.
She sits back and relaxes, waiting for the time. After a few minutes, a stewardess started to speak. "Good afternoon, everyone. This is flight 9281 and we have arrived in Fiore safely. Approximately 10 kilometers left before takeoff. I request everyone to buckle up and get ready for takeoff. Thank you for flying Royalty Airlines and we hope you enjoyed your flight..." and she started to babble about merchandise and the weather.
"I'm going to warn you about the really rough turbulence later." He says.
"Turbulence?"
"Mm-hmm." He hums in reply, and after that, they both become quiet and didn't utter a word afterwards.
Whatever that was, she knew she wouldn't like it.
And after a few more minutes, she was right. She didn't like it. At all. It made her panic, not a little, but a lot. She didn't even realize she was gripping the armrest so hard she wasn't sure if it was going to break into two. And a moment later, everything became still and peaceful. Lucy's breath hitched and she exhaled.
The guy beside her laughed at her reaction. "Enjoyed it?" Lucy gulps and shakes her head rapidly.
"No!" The perks of a weak heart, she guesses.
"The perks of a weak heart, I guess." He shrugs and grins in amusement. Lucy looks at him in surprise as he said the words in her head out of his mouth. Wow. Is he a mind reader? She laughs at her own joke.
She nods her head, unsure. "Probably."
And the intercom went off for the last time, saying they have landed safely and the usual 'Welcome to—' greetings. And after that, everyone started standing up, getting their bags from the compartment above them, and waiting until the gates open, and then the plane goes empty slowly. Stewards and stewardesses check the seats for lost objects and bags, and before she even knew it, she was in an unfamiliar place again.
—
Greenwich Mean Time 3:04 PM
Arrival Gate, Fiore Airport, Fiore
...
—
"Welcome to Fiore." The guy she was sitting beside was now walking with her, luggage rolling behind him. Lucy gripped her travelling bag tightly, and adjusts her backpack. He had a wide grin on his face, and she just smiles back. She knew she must have smelled bad, but he didn't seem to mind. He was taller than her, she could tell. She only reached above his chin, but barely his eyes.
She smiles at that. "Yeah." That's all she could manage to say and she felt a bit disappointed with herself. Lame. Both of them started walking together, and the arrival procedures—with him helping her out, thankfully—and they reach the vicinity of the exit of the airport.
"I guess this will be the last time I'll see you?" He sheepishly tells her, scratching the back of his head. Lucy pursed her lips.
"I guess so." She shrugs. He grins once more and he offers his hand to her.
"Sting." He introduces himself. Lucy was taken aback. She wasn't expecting him to do something so sudden and trivial. She wasn't expecting anything from him at all. To be completely honest with herself and to the gods above, she doesn't know where she'll go after they part ways. She's back to being clueless and dumb again. She never actually thought about it, nor did she have any plans at all.
But she accepted his hand and shook it back, nonetheless. "Hey. I'm Lucy." She looks down on her feet, shy and timid. Sting laughs and throws his head back.
"See you around." He gives her a wide smile and a comforting pat on her head, and it seemed from that gesture, for Lucy, it made everything better. She almost felt like crying for no particular reason. It's like there won't be anyone there for her anymore, even though he was with her for only a brief moment of her life. It's like the loneliness was kicking in once more. "Bye, Lucy. Stay safe!" He says cheerfully and he turns away, heading his way to the exit.
And before she knew it, she hugs him. She buries her head on his back. There was a lump in her throat, but it never released. She thanked the gods for not letting her show how weak she could really be. "Um... thanks. For everything. The company. The conversation. Even if it was only for an hour, thanks."
He abruptly stops. He turns around and rests his head on hers. "Hmm. You mean fifty-nine minutes. You woke up a minute late." He wounds his arms around her small waist and she felt security, even if it's a fleeting moment.
She laughs at him and the loneliness started to fade away.
That's the thing about flying: You could talk to someone for hours and never even know his name, share your deepest secrets and never see him again.❞
—Jennifer E. Smith, "The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight"
Author's Note:
Five days, as promised. Aha, I reached my deadline. For the first time in my life. That's awesome on my part, and I hope it is also as awesome with you readers because it's an early update! I wish you enjoyed the first chapter. This one's almost a filler chapter, but not exactly! And I sure hope when I first described Sting, you guessed it was him all along! Haha!
And no, guys, it will not be a StiCy story. Don't forget I mentioned in this chapter that Sting has a girlfriend, so don't go expecting more StiCy moments. But you're free to fangirl all you want. Take this chapter as a fan service. :p Also, I have no idea where to locate Fiore so I randomly put it somewhere in UK! No exact location so don't ask me anything about that, please! Hahaha! I hate geography and I'm really bad at it. And I'm not sure if I did the airplane stuff right. It was only inspired by Jennifer E.S.'s story TSPOLAFS. Adorable book, I promise you! If you like fluff, that is.
Anyway, that's all I could say for now! I hope you lads and lasses enjoyed this chapter as much as I did! Thanks for reading! Much love.
See you!