"I already have a passport, right Evey?" I asked her from the passenger seat beside her. We were travelling down the road to the airport, our bags stuffed tight in the backseats of the cross-roads Jeep. I clung to my shoulder bag tightly as we hit a pothole in the road. This road was so bad; there's cracks and crevasses and potholes everywhere. Nobody bothered to fix them, and they probably never will. My laptop was in my bag, and I didn't want it to be damaged. We finally hit the overpass and the road was smooth. I glanced out my window at the cars speeding underneath us. I gulped. Maybe I am also afraid of heights. Being this high scared me, and I was safe and sound in our Jeep.
"I had to go digging for them last night. I found mine, but I couldn't find yours. So we'll have to buy you a new one," she responded while turning onto the road leading directly to the airport. Great, the store for passports is always packed. Everybody wanted to leave the country, but most of the time they couldn't because of their backgrounds. I have a clean background, except for the time I beat up a kid in school because he kept taunting me. He deserved it though.
"Alaina, are you even listening to me?" I blinked and looked at her. She kept glancing at me but trying not to take her eyes off the road. She pulled into a parking garage and parked at the furthest spot possible. Jeez, Mexicans. She then slapped the back of my head.
"Hey! What was that for?" I shouted, rubbing where she hit me.
She rolled her eyes and unlocked her seat belt, "Teenagers these days, they are never listening." I pouted a bit and followed her lead, getting out of the vehicle and grabbing my bags. We made our way to the main building to check in our bags. But it occurred to both of us, in order to check bags to get into another country, we needed passports. Evey and I shared a groan then giggled as we strolled towards a store. All I had to do was renew my passport, so I didn't have to go through a lot of security things. Mexico was a little more lenient that way than the states apparently.
The store was crowded outside because of all the Mexicans wanting to get a passport. Squeezing our way into the store with IDs in hand, I was able to finally get some breathing room. I looked around. Walls were covered with shirts representing Mexico and the city, shelves held knickknacks and books, shot glasses and bottles sat in the middle of the store on a spinner, and there was a candy section where a few young kids swarmed around. Evey tapped my shoulder again to grab my attention, "I'm going to see what I can do to get you a new passport, okay? Go ahead and look around. If you want to buy something, here's twenty bucks, don't waste it." I nodded and she walked away. I started to browse.
We left with two bottles of water, my passport which was green (my favorite color), and a small snow globe I wanted. I pulled it out of its bag as we headed for the security line. A soldier from the Confederate Army stood on a hill with a gun in one hand and the other giving a salute. Evey told me that family on my dad's side was in the in the Confederate Army, so I gravitated towards a lot of army-related things. My favorite class is history, and it was probably the only class I was passing while I was at that dreaded school. Wars were my favorite topics; I can name almost all wars that have happened in the world.
Evey proceeded back towards the check-in for the airline, me tagging along. I couldn't help but gaze at the globe more. Sadness grew in me; I wish I could've met my dad… I let out a startled gasp when I ran into Evey's suitcase, nearly falling and dropping the globe. Letting out a shuddering breath, I clung to it and looked up. The line was extremely long for a Tuesday afternoon. Great, this was going to be fun. It wasn't until ten minutes later that I sighed drastically and decided to sit on my suitcase. Evey shrugged, "At least we got here two hours early, then we won't miss our flight." She didn't even bother to ask if I was alright earlier.
"I'd rather miss the flight," I grunted.
"Look, I know you hate flying, but trust me on this. You'll be right beside me the entire time."
"And I'll sit in the row seat?"
"Always," she smiled at me.
We chatted some more about the flight, and she explained to me where we were going. We were headed north, obviously, but much further north than Mexico. Seattle, that's where we were landing, but our flight has to stop at the Sunport in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I couldn't help but laugh at that. New Mexico. What was so different about it? That is has more white and kind people than these rude, obnoxious, dangerous Mexicans? Probably, but I didn't think about it much; we weren't heading there anyways. Our plane would touch down there, and we are able to stay in our seats while the plane boards again. Then we fly to Seattle, but we weren't staying in Seattle, which disappointed me. I've always wanted to go there. It rains most of the time, and there's plenty of snow in the winter. Snow. Snow. When was the last time I experienced snow? Evey told me that there may be snow there now even though it's only fall.
I was about to ask her where we were going next after we landed in Seattle, but we were interrupted by a lady calling out, "Next!" in Spanish. We were finally at the front of the line, and we rolled our bags over and scanned our passcodes and whatnot. The fairly tanned woman there looked like she woke up on the wrong side of bed this morning. It was clear she didn't want to be there. Her black hair was frizzed and tied loosely into a bun. She wore multiple yellow wrist bands that contrasted against her blue shirt.
"Give me your bags and I will weigh them for how much you'll pay," she said in a thick Spanish accent. I easily picked up the bags and placed them on the scale one by one. As Evey pulled out her wallet and went through the steps to pay, handing the lady both of our passports and IDs, I sensed somebody watching me. I glanced around, not seeing anybody, but I knew somebody was watching me. I swear to god I have some sort of sixth sense or something. I once confronted Evey about it, and she told it was just my imagination. But I still believe I have this sixth sense.
I made contact with a blonde male standing in the crowd that was in front of the escalators. He must've noticed I was looking at him, because he turned around in the crowd to look at me. I froze. Those eyes looked familiar. I couldn't tell what he was wearing, but when I blinked, he was gone. Did I just imagine that? It seemed like it.
"Alaina, you're holding up the line," Evey tapped my shoulder. I turned back towards her and saw a lot of angry Mexicans glaring at me. Gulping, I quickly got out the way and followed Evey toward the airport store. I heard the woman who helped us shout at an older, shorter man about something about not wanting to be there. She kept going and I had to hurry to catch up.
We reached the checkpoint where the officers were and I had to show him what was in my bag. I showed him everything, and he was hesitant on me taking a snow globe with me. He was convinced enough when I explained how much I loved it and how much it means to me. He stamped our passports and wished us both a good trip. We reached the scanners easily, but I dreaded taking everything off and out of things. My belt, iPhone, diamond earrings, laptop, and shoes were placed in boxes to be scanned. Stepping through the scanner, I noticed that man again, but I guess he didn't notice me because he was walking away. I tugged on Evey's shirt in an attempt to tell her about the man, but he was already gone. Strange...
"What is it?" she asked, tying her jacket around her waist.
"Never mind," she looked at me suspiciously and grabbed her bag. I did as well and followed her through the sliding double doors. As soon as we did, we heard a flight number called over the speakers and that it was boarding, so we glanced at our tickets. In seconds, we were at the gate, breathing heavily as the woman checked our passport and tickets. I happened to glance out the windows and fear started boiling up inside me. It felt like my heart stopped despite the fact we were sprinting. No, not now. "Have a great flight," the woman said with a smile. Yeah, right. Shivering, I cautiously followed Evey down the extended walk way to the plane. People in front of me were talking, but I didn't hear them. My attention was on the sounds of bags being thrown into the cabin underneath, the sounds of other planes arriving and departing, trucks driving around, men yelling about checking engines...
"Alaina? Alaina, sweetie, you alright?" I heard Evey say. We were sitting in our seats, and thankfully I was in the one closest to the isle. I looked at her worried, brown eyes and slowly nodded. She took my hand and rubbed it with her thumb in slow circles, like the way she did when I was younger. I gradually felt better, and I convinced myself to look around the plane. It was a large plane, three seated on the sides, and there were a mixture of Mexicans and whites on the plane. I glanced over to see a fairly burly man already asleep on the opposite side of Evey. He was blocking the window so I couldn't see. Thank god, I thought as the flight attendants started going through evacuation procedures. I gripped the handle of my seat as they did so, Evey continuing to rub my hand. I continued doing so all through liftoff, staring straight at the seat in front of me until we got to cruising altitude. I breathed a sigh of relief as people pulled out iPods, laptops, gaming systems, and other electronic devices. I pulled out my phone and went to my music as I placed an earbud in my ear. Scrolling for a good song, I noticed Evey pulling out a fairly hefty book wrapped in leather. I pressed play on a Taylor Swift song and silently mouthed the words. Music, it always soothed my thoughts. I closed my eyes ever so slightly so I could focus on the guitar strums over and over again. I missed my guitar. Evey told me I couldn't bring it because it was old and it would've gotten banged up some way or another. Now I don't have a guitar, and that really disappointed me. It took me forever to save up enough money to buy it.
Sighing, I glanced over at Evey and silently giggled. Her nose was barely touching the pages, she was so into the book. I glanced at the cover which read Children of the Moon. Probably a fantasy novel. I poked her side and she jumped, glaring at me. "Don't do that," she snapped, turning her attention back to the book.
"You seem so into it Evey, what is it about?" I pestered her with another poke.
She didn't answer and I poked her again. Again she flinched, but she turned her back to me. Fine then, I thought, turning my attention to choosing another song. And she said I was stubborn... I glanced down the walkway, then checked the time on my phone. It was ten till nine and we were going to land around nine fifteen. The plane shook a bit and I instantly gripped the seat in fear. The seatbelt sign flashed on and I heard the pilot say in a thick Texan accent, "We have hit some turbulence passengers. The seatbelt sign is on. Please take your seats and we'll be arriving in Albuquerque shortly.
Another bump in the turbulence caused Evey to drop her book, and cursed under the breath as she grappled for it. "Damn turbulence," she muttered as she flipped through the pages to see where she left off. Yeah, damn turbulence...