Felicia looked slightly uneasy.
“Please, just call me Susan.”
Felicia nodded. “Okay. Susan.”
“Even though I’m here to make sure you two darlings don’t get into any trouble, let’s just pretend that we’re three girls out to have a good time.”
Emma refrained from rolling her eyes.
“Hey, it could be worse,” her mom reminded her.
Emma smiled. That was actually true. What if Emma’s mom was like Devon’s mom—a wild and crazy partier who took up with strange men? Now that would be scary. Or her mom could be like Felicia’s mom, fretting over everything and insisting that her little girl dress like an eight year old. “I’m glad you came too,” Emma quietly told her mom as they moved forward in the line.
Mom smiled at her, gently patting her on the back. “I’ll try not to embarrass you . . . too much.”
“Hey, I just got a text from Marcus.” Felicia turned to Emma, holding up her phone. “He and Isaac are parked on the other side of the river, straight across from the airport. They want to watch as our plane takes off. Isn’t that sweet?”
“Seriously?” Emma blinked in surprise. Although they’d gone out a few times and she did really like him, Isaac really wasn’t her “boyfriend” per se. For him and Marcus to go to this much trouble . . . well, it really was sweet.
“Yeah. Marcus wants to know which side of the plane we’re seated on. He wants us to look down while they wave at us from below.”
“I think I printed out the seating chart of the plane.” Mom fished in her oversized travel bag, pulling out the packet she’d carefully prepared for them a few weeks ago, and sure enough, she had plane-shaped map. She pointed to a spot. “We’re pretty far back. It looks like you girls are on the left, and I’m on the right.”
“Great.” Felicia nodded as she texted back to Marcus.
“We’ll take a selfie to send them once we’re seated,” Emma told Felicia as they moved forward in the security line. “Tell them to send us one of them down by the river too.”
“Good idea.” Felicia turned back to her phone. “This is so fun.”
“I know.” Emma grinned. “Remember how they sent photos and texts to us from their Rose Bowl trip? Acting like they were such superstars. Now we can do the same thing back to them. Cool.”
They had reached the first TSA agent, and although Mom and Felicia were ahead of her, Emma realized she needed to get out her ID and boarding pass. She found a rumpled boarding pass, but as she fumbled through her purse for her driver’s license, the man in a dark uniform waited with a grim expression.
“I know I have it,” Emma nervously assured him as she tore through her previously organized purse, spilling a couple of items onto the floor. She knelt down, gathering up a hairbrush and lip gloss and continuing to dig through her now messy bag. “I’m sorry it’s taking so long.”
The security guard said nothing, just bounced his pen up and down with what seemed aggravated impatience.
“Oh, here it is.” Emma held up her license with a nervous smile. “You don’t have to send me back home after all.” Ignoring her attempt at humor, he simply studied her ID and boarding pass, frowning intently as if he thought she was carrying weapons of mass destruction in the soles of her sandals.
Suddenly Emma felt extremely uneasy. What if she blew this? What if they did a complete body search and made her miss the plane? Because it was her first flight—and her first time through airport security—her friends had warned her to be careful. Okay, some of it was just good-natured teasing, but some of it was actual advice. Emma was well aware that things could turn ugly if you did something wrong. Like you weren’t supposed to joke with the security dudes, particularly about having weapons or explosives. Not funny. You also didn’t argue with them even if you thought they were being unreasonable or stupid. But as she waited for the grumpy-looking man to return her ID and boarding pass, she could feel herself literally starting to sweat.
Fortunately, she was allowed to move on, but now it was time to dig her Ziploc baggie of toiletries from her purse, load her stuff into a plastic tub, and hoist her carry-on onto the conveyor for the X-ray machine. As Emma fumbled with these tasks, not sure which one to do first, she felt a panic attack coming on. Mom was about to walk through the X-ray machine, but Felicia paused from preparing her own baggage, insisting that Emma go first. Felicia grabbed Emma’s bag and stuff and set it ahead of her own things, coaching Emma as they went.
“It’s her first time flying,” Felicia explained to a TSA agent. “She’s kinda nervous.”
“Oh, well, it’s not too painful.” The woman smiled at Emma. “Now just step up to that line there and wait until I wave you on through the X-ray. Don’t worry, we don’t bite.”
Emma’s mouth felt dry as she followed the directions. She stood with her toes on the line, trying not to freak over the idea of being X-rayed—was it really like Devon had said? Did they actually see you naked? Eventually the woman waved her through.
“Stop and put your feet right on those footprints,” she told Emma. “Hold very still and place your hands over your head like this.” She demonstrated. Emma followed her example, holding her breath as she waited for the machine to do its thing, and then the woman waved her on out. Feeling somewhat relieved but still flustered, Emma went over to the other side, watching as Felicia calmly went through the same process.
Finally, they were both gathering their bags and things, hurrying to get out of the way of others now coming through. Felicia made sure that Emma got everything, including the Ziploc bag that she nearly left behind.
“See, that wasn’t so bad,” Felicia said cheerfully.
“Thanks to you for helping me.” Emma felt relieved to exit the security area, scanning the terminal for her mom and spying her over by a nearby set of benches. “That was much more stressful than I expected.”
“Yeah.” Felicia slowly wheeled both their carry-on bags as Emma attempted to stuff her toiletries back into her purse, adjusting the purse strap which seemed to have come undone in the X-ray. “You reminded me of my little sister,” Felicia said quietly. “Sofia always gets flustered going through security. I try to help her too.” Felicia’s dark eyes turned unexpectedly sad.
“Are you missing your family?” Emma took her carry-on bag from Felicia, studying her friend’s expression and hoping that she wasn’t the homesick type. Emma realized how close Felicia was with her family, but what if she regretted taking this trip?
“No . . . no, that’s not it. Not exactly anyway.” Felicia’s brow creased and her lower lip quivered slightly, almost as if she was on the verge of tears.
“What’s wrong then?” Emma pulled Felicia aside, looking into her eyes. “I can tell you’re upset about something.”
“I didn’t want to say anything about it, Emma. Didn’t want to spoil our trip.”
“What is it?” Emma demanded. “You have to tell me.”
“It’s just that I’m worried about Sofia.” Felicia sighed deeply. “It’s silly, really.”
“You mean because Sofia’s been sick?” Emma knew that Felicia’s little sister had gone through some bad bouts of flu this past winter.
“Yeah . . . She had some tests earlier this week.” Felicia lowered her voice. “For leukemia.”
“Leukemia?” Emma tried to take this in. “Really?”
Felicia attempted a half smile. “I’m sure the results will be just fine. They were supposed to come back this afternoon, but Mom didn’t hear back yet. I really shouldn’t have mentioned it, Emma. Not right before our big trip. The only reason they tested her was just to rule it out.”
“You were right to tell me.” Emma placed a hand on Felicia’s shoulder. “Of course Sofia will be fine. She’s just had some stubborn bugs, that’s all. I heard this was a bad year for the flu.”
“Yeah.” Felicia nodded. “That’s what my parents keep saying too.”
“But I’ll be praying for Sofia
just the same,” Emma promised. “For her to get completely well.” As they rejoined Emma’s mom, Emma knew that she would keep this promise. She would pray for her friend’s eight-year-old sister. Even though she felt certain that sweet little Sofia couldn’t possibly have a sickness as serious as leukemia, she also knew that Sofia had missed a fair amount of school this winter. It was high time for Felicia’s little sister to get well.
Melody Carlson is the award-winning author of over two hundred books, including The Jerk Magnet, The Best Friend, The Prom Queen, Double Take, and the Diary of a Teenage Girl series. Melody recently received a Romantic Times Career Achievement Award in the inspirational market for her books. She and her husband live in central Oregon. For more information about Melody, visit her website at www.melodycarlson.com.
Books by Melody Carlson
* * *
Devotions for Real Life
Just Another Girl
Anything but Normal
Never Been Kissed
Allison O’Brian on Her Own—Volume 1
Allison O’Brian on Her Own—Volume 2
Double Take
A Simple Song
My Amish Boyfriend
Trading Secrets
LIFE AT KINGSTON HIGH
The Jerk Magnet
The Best Friend
The Prom Queen
THE DATING GAMES
The Dating Games #1: First Date
The Dating Games #2: Blind Date
The Dating Games #3: Double Date
MelodyCarlson.com
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