The Airport, Part 1

Hello everyone!

   When the girls (and Paige and I) blog, we'll have our picture up ^^^^ so you all can see who's writing!

   Let's see, where to start off.... so, on January 10th, Paige, Lexi and I all climb in to our 'new' van (Used, but new to us) and off to the airport we went!

   We had a gap between girls coming in: Erika (Germany) at 7:30am, Liliana (Italy) at 8:45am, Natasha (Russia) at 9:15am, Kaitlyn (Canada) at 9:50am, Riley (England) at 10:15am, Alicia (Argentina) at 10:45, Charlotte (France) 11:55am, Aspen (Australia) at 1:35pm.
   One day.
   Nuts, right?

   Lexi, Paige and I had a 'sleepover' on the 9th (Really just getting their stuff in my house). Paige picked Lexi up from school (A private school that Lyric is going to go to and the rest of the girls as well) and came over.
   We had to be up and out of the door that next morning at 5:30am!
   Do you know how hard it is to wake Paige up?! Lexi's usually up this early for school, so she was already up.
   Putting on our clothes took longer than it normally does, as with eating breakfast, etc.
   By 5:38, we were out the door. (Pretty good, if I say so myself.) I did the driving mainly because Paige was asleep on the passenger side, while Lexi was bouncing up and down in the back.
   Driving, driving and more driving.
   At 6:25, I had Lexi wake up Paige. (Let's face it, you need two hands to drive.) Paige finally woke up when we were pulling over, so she could start driving while I took pictures from the passenger seat.
   At 6:45, we were at the airport!

 

   At 7:32, a petite curly-haired blonde came out looking quite pale, then perked up when she saw us. Miss Erika Koehler. We made our way over to baggage claim, where Erika picked up four huge leather Ghurka (a popular German designer) bags. We still had an hour to kill, so we went to see what we could eat as a breakfast/snack. We talked, and I told her she'd be rooming with Alicia, a girl from Argentina.

   At 8:20, Paige, Lexi, Erika and I all moved over to Liliana's gate.
    Then twenty-three minutes later, a tall, slender, brunette came out of the plane. This was Miss Liliana Giordano. We introduced ourselves and made our way back to baggage claim, then waited a bit, and Liliana took five pretty big vintage Gucci suitcases. We now had quite a few bags, so I sent Paige and Lexi to get us two of those carts.

   When Paige and Lexi came back with the carts, we loaded Erika and Liliana's suitcases on one of them.

   At 9:11, we were told by a flight attendant that Natasha's plane was being moved to the other side of the airport. Terminal E. We were in C. We would have to get on the subway thing inside the airport, with thousand dollar bags? Uh, no. I don't think so.
   "Should I put 'Kara's and 'Ana's bags in a van?" Paige asked, snapping me out of my thoughts. Wait- what did she just call them. Oh no. The nick-naming starts.
   "No, y'all go to Kaitlyn's gate," I told them the number, "and Lexi and I will go to Natasha's gate. Then we'll meet up at Kaitlyn's," I instructed.
   "Alright."
   "We'll meet y'all in 30 minutes- at Kaitlyn's gate," I added.

   At 9:24, Lexi and I ran over to Natasha's gate, hoping we were right this time.
   We were. Me and Lexi looked around for our new friend. A long, curly blonde-haired girl caught my eye. She looked so scared, it almost made me cry. Miss Natasha Sokolov. I pointed her out to Lexi, and she nodded. We started to make our way over to her. I tapped her arm. She looked like a sad little puppy. She probably thought we were never going to show up.
   "Melody Chambers?" her voice whispered.
   "Yes, I am she. Natasha Sokolov?" She got up and gave me and Lexi a bear hug. Man, that girl is strong!
   "Good. Good, good, Good! I was hoping you would not forget me!" She let us go and smiled. We walked over to get her bags--and another cart--as I explained what happened. A few minutes later we- Lexi, Natasha and I- made our way back to the others with Natasha's six medium-sized suitcases.

   At 10:20, we got to Kaitlyn's gate. Late. Oops.
   "Melody! Melody!" Paige yelled, catching a few weird looks. Worried was written all over her face. Oh no. Lexi, Natasha and I ran over to her.
   Suddenly, Paige, Liliana and Erika all start talking- non-stop and fast.
   "Whoa! Whoa! Slow down! One at a time!" I had to yell over the three of them, making more strangers look our way. I pointed to Paige, "What happened?"
   "She- Kaitlyn- wasn't- on- the- plane!" Paige said in between gasps.
   "WHAT!?" Now I was white as a ghost who just saw a human. I'm already pale, so you really can't tell.
   "She- talk-"
   "Paige! Your asthma!" Now I was really white. Paige has had asthma since- like forever. She rammed through her purse, pulled out her inhaler, and took a deep breath. 
   "Okay, now what happened?" I asked, trying not to yell.
   "Kaitlyn never got on the plane."
   "WHAT!?!" I stormed over to the desk where a lady was on the phone, she saw me coming and put up the 'One minute sign'. I looked at her name tag- Betty. Okay, then, Betty, what happened to Kaitlyn?
   "Hello Miss, I heard about your friend." I went to say something, but she keep talking. "Your older friend," (Paige) "here, told me that a Kaitlyn Moore was supposed to be on this plane."
   "Yes. But she's not here."
   "She's not even in our system. I called a flight attendant at the airport Ms. Moore was supposed to be at, and she never checked in." I popped like a balloon that got touched by a needle. I was quiet for a while. Thinking.
   "Hmm. Can she be put on the next flight out?" I asked hopefully.
   "It'll cost her."
   "How much?" Betty scribbled on a piece on paper and showed it to me.
   "Okay, well, that's not so bad."
   "You call her and give her this info," she gave me another piece of paper, "and let me know."

   I walked over to where Paige, Lexi, Erika, Natasha and Liliana sat and told them what Betty said.
   "Will she be able to come?"
   "Why did she miss her flight?"
   "She is coming right?"
   "Who's she rooming with?"
   "How much is this going to cost?"
   The last one was Paige. I showed her the paper and she nodded.
~
   "Hello? Mrs. Moore? This is Melody Chambers." I waited.
   "Melody? Oh, yes, the Texas traveling girl. How are you, dear?"
   "Not so great, Mrs. Moore. Where's Kaitlyn?"
   "Oh! Katie's here. We overslept and missed her flight. Her dad and her are at the airport now seeing about getting her over there. She feels so bad. Oh, she doesn't show it, but you can tell."
   "That's good to hear, Mrs. Moore. Do you know if they've found a flight for her?"
   "No, not- oh, hang on I think I'm getting a text. "I heard her pull the phone away from her face, "Ah! Yes! She did. Oh, wait. I think she's trying to call me... Hello?"
   "Still here, Mrs. Moore."
   "Oh, right sorry, dear. Did you hear-"
   "Yes, I heard. When will she be here?"
   "Looks like she'll be there at 4:35.. is that AM or PM? Oh, wait it says PM. Today? Is today the 10th? Yes, it is, I do believe."
   "Does Kaitlyn have a cell phone that I can call her on?"
   "What? You don't like talking to me?"
   "No, no, Mrs. Moore, I didn't-"
   "I'm pulling your leg, sweetie, yes she does."
  She gave me Kaitlyn's cell number and said she had to go, "something's burning in the kitchen".
   I walked back over to everyone, replaying my conversation with Kaitlyn's mom.
   Then it hit me. Riley. 10:15. I glanced at my watch. 10:29. Paige must have seen my look since she told everyone to get up and push the carts.
   "We're late!"
   Now to some people, picking someone up late usually isn't a big deal. But first impressions are everything.
   "Are you all always late?" Natasha asked.
   Oops.