I'm Only Me When I'm With You [part1]

A Story by christina

Sofiee is from Missouri. She is going on vacation with her family to California. She meets Tanner at the airport and after briefly talking to him, she starts to like him.

Let’s go kids!” mom yelled from the living room. Today was the day. Wednesday, April 6^th, aka the day we leave for our family vacation. This year, we were headed for California. “Mom, Alex lost my iPod last night! We can’t leave until I find it!” I yelled down the hall. “Alex, find Sofiee’s iPod right now.” “Here,” Alex said, handing me my iPod. “It was in the kitchen where you left it, not me.” “Whatever.” I said. I snatched the iPod and stuck in my purse. “Suitcases are in the trunk; let’s get going.” Dad hollered from the front door. One by one, we trailed out of the house and piled into the car.

The car ride to the airport felt like an eternity of boring. My iPod and phone were my only forms of entertainment. “Time check.” Dad said. “It’s 11:53. We are right on track.” Mom responded. I closed my eyes and tried to take a nap but before I knew it, dad was pulling into the parking lot. We got out of the car and dad pulled our suitcases out of the trunk. We rode the tram to the airport where we checked our bags in and went to our gate to sit and wait.

I sat at a charging station in our gate and got on my laptop. I got on Facebook to check for any notifications and then I got on MSN to chat with my best friend Karlie. A guy with light brown hair and a somewhat athletic build walked up to the charging station and sat across from me. He sat his backpack on the table. He pulled his laptop out of one of the pockets of his backpack. Two drumsticks sticking out from the same pocket caught my eye. I looked up at him, trying not to stare. I studied his face. He was quite gorgeous. He caught my eye and smiled, then continued to dig through his backpack. “I’m sorry to bother you, but do you have a charging cord for your iPod that I can borrow?” he asked me. “Yea, I’ll go get it.” I stood up and walked over to my parents. I pulled my iPod cord out of my carryon bag and took it back to the table. “Here you go.” I said, handing it to him. “Thank you so much. I forgot to put mine in my backpack, so it’s packed away in my suitcase and my iPhone is about to die.” I giggled and said, “I’ve done that before.” He smirked and said, “So I’m assuming you travel often then.” “Well, my family goes on vacation around this time every year.” “Nice. Can I ask where you guys are headed?” With a hint of excitement, I said, “Los Angeles!” He smiled wide and said, “That’s actually where I live. My mom, stepdad and sister live here in Missouri. I was visiting them for a few days over Spring Break.” “That’s cool,” I said. “I’ve lived here my whole life. It’s exciting to get away every once in a while.”

“Flight 214 Section A, 1-20 to Los Angeles will now begin boarding.” A woman said over the intercom. I stood up and said, “That’s me.” I turned my laptop off and stuck it in its bag. “Aww, I don’t board until B, 1-20.” The guy said. He unplugged his iPhone from the charging cord and handed it to me. “It was nice talking to you. I’m Sofiee by the way.” I stuck my hand and shook his as he said, “I’m Tanner. Nice meeting and talking to you.” I picked up my laptop bag and purse and walked to my parents who were waiting in line to get on the plane.

Alex and I sat together on one side of the plane while mom and dad sat together on the other side. Alex took the window seat and I took the aisle seat, hoping no stranger would sit with us. I watched as the plane began to fill up quickly. I saw Tanner step on the plane. He walked behind a group of people. An older man walked to our row and asked, “Is that seat taken? Not wanting to sit with a complete stranger but preferably Tanner, I said, “I’m sorry, it’s actually saved for someone. I waved at Tanner and pointed at the empty seat. When he finally approached our row, I said, “Would you like to sit with me and my brother?” “Sure, if you guys don’t mind.” He said. I stood up and moved over to the middle seat. “Alex, this is Tanner. He’s the guy I was talking to in the airport.” I said introducing them to each other. “Nice to meet you, dude.”Tanner said to Alex.

At first, the ride was a little awkward because Tanner and Alex were talking across me. Instead of continuing to sit there unacknowledged, I interrupted their conversation. “So, how old are you, Tanner?” “I just turned 17 on March 12^th. How old are you?” “I’m about to turn 16. Next week on the 14^th.” I responded. “Nice. How old are you?” Tanner asked Alex. “I’m 14. I’ll be 15 on May 26^th.” “That’s cool. I’d like to have a sibling close to my age. My biological sister is only 8 and my stepsister is 16. But she and I don’t really get along.” “Most of the time neither do we.” I said.

The flight attendants started coming down the aisles taking drink orders. When she reached our row, she asked, “Can I get you all something to drink?” “I’ll take water.” Tanner said. “Okay, how about you two?” she asked me and Alex. “I just want water.” Alex replied. “Okay, and for you hun?” she asked me. “I’ll take water as well. And can I get a small pillow or something like that?” she smiled and said, “Yes, so that’s three waters and a pillow. I’ll be back with that soon.” She continued down the aisles. “We had to wake up at 6:30. It sucked.” I told Tanner. He smiled and said, “I woke up at 11 and somehow I managed to get her on time.” I laughed and said, “Lucky.” We sat in silence for a few minutes and then I said, “This lady should hurry up with my pillow.” Upon saying that, the flight attendant returned to our row with the pillow. “Sorry about the wait. I’ll be back with your waters shortly.” She said. “Thank you.” I said as I grabbed the pillow from her. I adjusted the pillow and wedged it between Alex’s shoulder and the seat. “Please get off. I don’t want you laying on me.” I yanked the pillow out and sat it on my lap. “If you want, you can use my shoulder and seat to lie on.” Tanner said politely. “Thank you. If I get in your way or on your nerves, just nudge me off.” He smirked and said, “Okay.”