Freddie On Delay

Just a short story I could add more to.

The day is drab and gloomy, with nothing exceptional happening whatsoever. If this day was stripped from the brains of every being alive, no one would even blink. Clouds haze over the skyline while Freddie stares blankly out the window of the terminal, waiting impatiently for her plane to be ready for take-off. Her tablet is giving her prime seating to watch Bate’s Motel on Netflix, but a flock of birds taking flight outside grabbed her attention from Norman going ballistic on the show.

“Ah, another Bate’s Motel fan?” asks a honey-dewed voice from behind her, startling her so much that she knocks her ear buds out as she turns around. She places the voice to a nerdy looking guy with a shock of tousled hair the color of chocolate and black square glasses that capture sea-glass green eyes. “Sorry,” he continues, “my ex was super into that show. I’m Griffin, by the way.”

No hand was placed for a handshake and Freddie notices the lack of it; feeling the pressure of first impressions was always hard for her to handle. It was bad enough that she had to leave her beloved California for the summer to stay with her dad in Nebraska; she hadn’t prepared to have to talk to anyone while she was going through with it. Especially not a cute-ish boy.

She musters, “I’m Freddie,” as her cheeks warm and color themselves red. He smiles, at her shyness? At her name? At her watching Bate’s Motel? She couldn’t even begin to guess and it just left her more flustered.

“Mind if I sit here? It looks like the rest of the benches are mostly taken up,” he joked, tilting his head to where a large family was dealing with bawling twins and a few other places were completely filled with people napping. One man, in a frumpy, ill-fitting business suit was snoring loudly using his jacket as a pillow.

“Yes! I mean… I guess. No one else was sitting there,” she gushes, feeling even more like an idiot. She tries to tame her fire-red curly mess of hair that is escaping the hood of her fraying Incubus hoodie. She feels her throat tightening, wishing she could just be normal for once and that the day would go back to being unexceptional, because this boy was changing that. Ugh, I hope he doesn’t sit by me during the flight. Or maybe I do, she thinks to herself. Who knows how much she would embarrass herself on the way to Nebraska if he did…