Leaving L.A.

When you grow up in a certain area, no matter where it is, leaving is almost never fun. It’s scary, nerve-wracking, and intimidating. In my mind, nothing could go right in a different place and I would always be miserable. There would be no happiness for me outside of L.A. At the time, I didn’t have the best perspective, but sue me, I was 15. As I got older, I could see how things worked out for the best, but at the time, I was miserable.

There are a few things that I remember about leaving. The packing, for one. It was like I was leaving for vacation, but a really long one. Since my dad was staying, I didn’t pack everything. I left most of my stuff. I sat in my room thinking about what to bring and what to leave. It felt like I would never be back even though I would be in just a few months. So I crammed my favorite clothes, comics, and cd’s into a duffel bag and a small back pack. . .good ol’ Jansport.

The trip to the airport was pretty quiet. My dad drove and I stared out the window. I knew there was no point in arguing about it any more, so I just sat there. I had already said goodbye to my friends but it still stung as we drove by our hangout spots. I would miss my friends, the familiar places, and all the trouble we got into. My mom had been out on the East coast for months now and was all situated, so the way it worked out, I would be spending some time with her.

We pulled up to LAX. I got out of the car and grabbed my stuff, said a quick goodbye to dad, and went inside. There was no emotional goodbye. I was pissed, and would be back in a few months anyway, so whatever. When I walked through those doors, I don’t even know if I can describe how busy it was in there. To me it seemed to be similar to the street market scene from Indiana Jones. . . .

I like to think that I was Indiana Jones, and the evil swordsman was the lady at the counter, but in reality, she was nice and I didn’t shoot anyone. It was still a nightmare though. I got lost trying to find the gate my flight was coming into and almost missed it. We didn’t really plan ahead too much and almost cut it too close. The airport food sucked and was over priced and I had something like a 5ish hour flight ahead of me. I was not looking forward to that.

I boarded the plane and got ready to take off. I hadn’t flown much before, so I was a bit nervous, but popped on my headphones and relaxed. At least I had my music to keep me company and I got an aisle seat so I could stretch out a little. Thank god I didn’t get stuck between two fat people. I don’t think I could’ve handled that. Even though I was upset, I was excited too. I hadn’t seen my mom in a while and I was a little curious about Philadelphia and New York. From what she told me, it would be a good time.

So I tried to recline, if you can call it that and nodded off. I was hoping to sleep through the flight. I would be there soon.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *