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“Gwen! You’re palms are all clammy!” Justin exclaimed as he slipped his hand into mine as we neared the gate.
“I know!” I replied. “I’m absolutely terrified of flying.”
“Calm down! People do this everyday,” Justin reassured me. “More people crash on cars than on planes.”
“Look how many people crash in cars,” I pointed out. “Not too reassuring there.”
“Will you stop being a cynic for five minutes?” Justin demanded in an exasperated tone.
I shut my mouth as we took our seats near the front of the plane. I tried to conceal my fear from Justin who had obviously had enough of my excuses. I thought I was doing a good job until Justin squeezed my hand, saying, “Gwen, it’s alright. Nothing is going to happen. Nothing!”
I took a deep breath and tried to slow my pounding heart. I closed my eyes and nodded.
Justin tried his best to keep my mind off the flight by telling me stories about the group. I had to admit that he was good. He even got me to laugh at Chris’s crazy antics.
Once we were in the air, the flight was much better. We ate some bad food, played a couple games of cards, and laughed over the flight movie, Forces of Nature.
Then they announced that we would be landing soon. Fifteen more minutes of terror and we were back on land.
“See, was that so terrible?” Justin asked.
“It was terrible, I’m going to develop a complex because of this,” I replied as we gathered up our carryon bags.
Justin rolled his eyes and turned back to the isle.
I followed him off the plane. The moment we stepped out of the gate Justin was embraced by a slim blonde woman who hugged Justin quickly before ushering us toward the baggage claim.
“Hi, I’m Lynn Harless,” she told me as we walked. “I’m assuming that you are the infamous Gwen I’ve been hearing about.”
“That would be me,” I answered. “Thank you for having me-“
Lynn stopped me with a wave of her hand saying, “Don’t worry about it. I’m used to Justin bringing at least one friend home for the holidays.”
“So, Mom,” Justin broke in. “Did you make dinner yet?”
“Justin! It’s twelve-thirty AM!” Lynn exclaimed. “You can have some Apple Jacks and then go to bed.”
Justin chuckled. He bent to kiss Lynn on the cheek. “Okay Mom.”
We were mostly quiet on the way to the split-level house on Landover Street, except for a brief squabble over the radio stations between Justin and his mother.
I had been nervous about meeting Justin’s mother, but now that the worst was over, I felt suddenly drained. So, as soon as I was shown to the room that I would be staying in for the next week I crawled beneath the sheets and fell into a deep sleep.
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