Fall in love
Open my own dance studio
Save someone's life
Get a tattoo
Go skinny-dipping
Be in a movie
Be in a play
Dance somewhere outside of my studio
Read every one of Shakespeare's plays
Take a class in philosophy
Live abroad
Meet someone famous
Learn to snowboard
Go apple-picking
Write a book
Sing in front of a crowd
Go scuba-diving
Learn to play guitar
Change someone's life
Live without fear
So that's what my "List of things to do before I die" used to look like. Now when I look at it, I don't think,
'Wow, there are so many cool things in this world that I could do.'
Nope. And I don't think,
'I wonder if I could achieve any of those things today?'
Instead, when I look at that version of the list, I think,
'Holy crap, I was so naive!'
So right now, I have taken it upon myself to revise my list in a more…realistic way. So here I am, sitting in a first-class window seat (I really don't know why my parents bothered to send me first-class) on a 747 (which, by the way, should have left approximately…17 minutes ago…what is taking so long?) bound for San Diego, with my tray down and pen in hand.
So do you want to know what my list looks like now? Here it is:
Fall in love
Open my own dance studio
Save someone's life ←Do I really think that I could do that?
Get a tattoo ←I would be too scared!
Go skinny-dipping ←Ditto.
Be in a movie
Be in a play
Dance somewhere outside of my studio
Read every one of Shakespeare's plays
Take a class in philosophy
Live abroad
Meet someone famous
Learn to snowboard ←Why bother? I don't know anything about it
Go apple-picking
Write a book
Sing in front of a crowd
Go scuba-diving
Learn to play guitar
Change someone's life
Live without fear ←I know that is impossible
Basically, none of it is really feasible. You might call me a pessimist, but I think I'm just being realistic. Why the sudden change in heart, you ask? Why should an 18 year-old girl be so unhappy? Well, let's just say that life proved itself to be different than I thought it was. I'm a bit touchy about it, and um…well…maybe I'll explain later.
"Excuse me, miss" an extremely primly dressed stewardess, (oh, 'scuse me, flight attendant) who, judging by her golden nameplate pinned directly under her "wings," is named Wendi, says. I can't help but think that that is an extremely strategic I.
"Mmhmm…?" I respond. I know, profound, huh?
"Miss, you need to put your tray into its upright position. We will be taking off soon." Well! That made me mad. "Soon" should have been 18 minutes ago!
"Is that so?" She nodded. "Well, may I ask why we haven't left yet? After all, I do believe that my ticket says that we should have left at…" here I pull my ticket out of my purse (which, of course, was stored underneath the seat in front of me) and point at it "…at 6:50. It is now 7:09. I'm sorry, but I did not wake up at 4:30 this morning so that I could sit on a runway. Would you like to explain? After all, I can see that the plane is quite full." I looked back into the main cabin and saw that, as I expected, there were only 2 or 3 empty seats scattered around. In addition, the aisle seat next to me was empty. Other than that, first class was full. I turned back to her and raised my eyebrows expectantly.
She briefly looked surprised at my verbal assault before she regained her composure and motioned at the aforementioned empty seat next to me and said,
"We are waiting for the patron who will be sitting in the very seat next to you, miss."
Then she strode away.
'Who the hell is important enough to hold up a 747? Who am I going to be sitting next to? The Queen of England!?' I wondered. Fuming, I turned back to my list. I hear a fuss at the front of the plane but choose to ignore it. I hear utterances of 'such a pleasure to meet you' and 'we are honored that you chose American Airlines.' Then I hear Wendi-with-an-I say 'If you will follow me Mr. White, I will show you to your seat.'
'Wonderful,' I think 'now I'll have the pleasure of meeting the "patron" who will be sitting next to me. Well I think that I'll just ignore him. Show him just how important he is to me.'
"Here you are, sir! We will be leaving momentarily!" Wendi said, all too perkily.
"Thanks" a male voice says.
There is something about that voice, and even though I had wanted to ignore him, I just can't. I look up and see a boy, maybe a little older than me, reaching up to put a duffel bag in the storage space. Why did they hold up the plane for this guy? He doesn't seem that important. He seems to be having a little trouble getting the bag put away, which gives me a minute to study him. He has auburn, no wait, that is definitely red hair, and he is dressed all in black. He's a bit lanky, and…
"Hey." Oh crud…he must have noticed me inspecting him. He's talking to me. And smiling. 'I like his smile…kinda toothy, but in a good way…and wow! Those eyes…' Oh, and he's holding his hand out to me…oh! I should probably shake his hand… "I'm Shaun."
"Umm…I'm Bobby." I took his hand. I couldn't help but notice that it was really warm, and also a lot bigger than mine…I'm a small girl. He shook my hand and held on to it.
"Bobby…huh that's rad. I like guy's names for girls. Your parents must think that's cool too." He sat down and finally dropped my hand. I have to admit, I wasn't exactly angry at him for holding on to it…his hand just fit around mine so well…
'No, Bobby!' I thought, 'Don't think like that! Don't trust him. Think about Adam!' I made myself ignore the things that were running through my head about him and pretend I wasn't affected by him.
"Hah! Nope, my parents aren't that creative, and they are horrible at choosing names. My real name is Robin. I hated it so I chose to go by Bobby in kindergarten. I have a brother named Donald, as in Duck, and a sister named Edna. Neither of them gets out very much."
"Oh…wow you're right, those names suck…oh wait! No, I don't mean that…I mean um…well I wouldn't want those names because…I mean…oh shit. How do I always manage to say the wrong thing?"
"Yeah…don't worry about it…"
"Thanks…"
"……" I didn't have anything else to say, and besides, I hadn't wanted to talk to this guy in the first place, so I just turned back to my list and went back to work on it. After putting up my tray, of course. Wendi-with-an-I would be proud. We finally started to taxi to the runway and Wendi-with-an-I began the safety speech. I ignored her and simply pulled out my CD player ('cause I'm old school and don't have an iPod) and put in my favorite CD- Plain White T's. Of course I had to wait until the captain said that electronics could be used, but I wanted to have it out and ready to that I could avoid talking to this Shaun guy. I felt the jolt as the plane sped up, and then I felt my body move to a 45 degree angle and felt that funny weightlessness that happens right after the plane leaves the ground. We finally leveled off and I put on my headphones, pressed Play, and settled in for a 5 hour flight.
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Shaun's POV
"Bbbrrrrrrrrrrrrinnng!!!"
"Bbbrrrrrrrrrrrrinnng!!!"
Gaahhh…phone…I picked it up and muttered something that was supposed to be 'Hello,' but which ended up sounding more like 'Hrmmmooo?"
"Your 5:30 alarm call, Mr. White." The hotel desk clerk said.
"Oh…thanks…"
"Have a nice day!" I hung up the phone. How the hell does she manage to be so upbeat at this time in the morning? I wondered. I was very tempted to just fall back asleep, but then I would miss my plane and then I wouldn't get home, and besides, then Jesse would win 20 bucks from my mom, from a bet that I wouldn't be able to survive on my own, even at a hotel, for 6 days.
I threw back the covers, immediately shocked by the cold. How was it this cold in DC? It was only September! I hurried out of my pajamas and into my black jeans, a tee shirt, and a black zip-up Volcom sweatshirt. I walked into the bathroom, brushed my teeth, and got all of my junk and dumped it into the small suitcase I had brought with me for while I was here doing publicity. I grabbed by duffel bag with my other stuff and left the hotel, jumping into a taxi out on the street.
"Dulles International Airport, American Airlines" I told the driver. He nodded and pulled away. I tried to relax and rest a bit during the drive, but I couldn't help but realize that I was running late. My plane left at 6:50, and it was 6:00 when I got to the airport. I knew that security was going to be hell, and I just hoped that my plane wouldn't leave without me. Not to be arrogant, but being a famous skateboarder/snowboarder has its advantages, one of them being that people will bend the rules for you. I passed through the metal detectors, and then I got the chance to look like a lunatic and run through the terminal, hoping I would get there in time. Just picture it…a kid dressed in all black with red hair, sprinting through the airport like there's no tomorrow. Trust me, you'd laugh. Some people did. And some people recognized me and took pictures, shouting "SHAUN! SHAUN!" Great. I just hope Jesse doesn't get hold of those pictures or I'll never hear the end of it. I finally got to my gate and handed the man at the counter my ticket. As he ran it through the system, I looked at the clock. 7:18. Crap. The people on that plane were going to hate me. I was really surprised that they hadn't left yet. Usually they won't wait more than 10 minutes. Yeah…I know this sort of thing…umm…yeah past experiences. The airport official handed back my ticket and pointed toward an open door.
"Just go through those doors and down the tunnel. Enjoy your flight." I nodded and followed his instructions. When I got to the plane, the pilot and 4 flight attendants were waiting for me. The all greeted me and said how happy they were to meet me. They all kept calling me "Mr. White." Hah! That's a joke. I'm only 19, and I don't look much like a "mister." I know it and they do too, but I'm sure they think I want to be called that. One brunette attendant comes up to me and says,
"My name is Wendi, if you will follow me Mr. White, I will show you to your seat." I followed her and saw what must have been my seat next to a girl with brownish-reddish hair. I thanked Wendi and put my duffel in the stow space. I looked down and saw the girl looking at me with a funny look on her face. I smiled, stuck out my hand and said "Hey, I'm Shaun." Interestingly, there was no glimmer of recognition on her face, and her eyes moved to my hand. She stared for a moment as if unsure what to do. She finally shook my hand and said,
"Umm…I'm Bobby." I liked her name and I told her so, and she told me that she has a sister named Edna, and a brother named Donald, "as in Duck," she said. I couldn't help it…that made me think…this girl's cute. I was distracted and thinking about that, and I started blabbering on about how much those names suck, and then I realized how much of an asshole I had just made myself sound like. I apologized and she brushed me off, and then she turned and didn't say anything else. She seemed very involved in what she was doing, and I was curious, so I decided to try to see what it was. I looked like a list, and around her hand, I was able to see a few items.
Fall in love Why was that crossed out?
Open my own dance studio
Save someone's life ←Do I really think that I could do that?
Get a tattoo ←I would be too scared!
Go skinny-dipping ←Ditto. Wow, she didn't seem like the type!
I couldn't see this one.
I couldn't see this one.
I couldn't see this one.
I couldn't see this one.
I couldn't see this one.
I couldn't see this one.
Meet someone famous Hey! That's me!!!
Learn to snowboard ←Why bother? I don't know anything about it
Go apple-picking ↑ I could teach her to snowboard!
Write a book
Sing in front of a crowd
Go scuba-diving
Learn to play guitar I know a little bit about guitar!
Change someone's life
Live without fear ←I know that is impossible
I couldn't understand why this girl was so hard on herself! She looked like she had so much going for her. She seemed nice, and she was pretty. She had that pretty hair, and her eyes were big and blue, more impressive than I've ever seen. She was petite, delicate, and I noticed that her hands were beautiful. I know that sounds weird, but when I was looking at her list, I saw that her hands were thin and looked like they would be very smooth if I touched them. I looked at her face in profile. There was something about her…I just wanted to know her. I decided to try to start a conversation.
"Umm, so why are you going to San Diego?" She turned those blue eyes on me and slowly removed her headphones.
"Why do you want to know?" She asked, somewhat wearily.
"Well, we are going to spend the next 5 and a half hours together, so we might as well get to know each other a little bit."
She sighed "Well…"
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His life is about to change, he's never gonna be the same. He'll be living in a different world…When boy meets girl…