Age:
Post High School
Reading Level: 3.4
Chapter 1—Annie Cortez
Annie lugged her big, heavy suitcase across the airport to terminal three, gate 86. She was supposed to get on the last flight home before the holidays.
She was sweating when she reached the waiting area, and her arms hurt.
Usually, she would have packed a reasonable amount when coming home from university. But this time, she wasn't sure she would return to campus after the break.
She sat down with a big sigh and slumped in her chair. She was feeling more than bummed at her performance this semester at university.
It was so unlike her! She was a straight-A student in high school. Now she could barely get by.
The problem was that she didn't care for the classes she was taking. She had switched her majors about five times in her half a year at college.
She felt directionless. She hated this feeling.
The problem was nothing really clicked with her.
She had gone into university feeling positive that her calling was Pre-Med. After a couple of weeks, she learned that was complete mistake.
So she switched to Art. Then History. Then English. She even tried Folklore Studies for a while.
But nothing clicked. She despised them all.
Her situation was terrible.
It rivaled her quinceañera, and that was a complete disaster! Who would have guessed that celebrating her 15th birthday could turn out so badly?
She shuddered, thinking about it. She hoped her cousin Maria wasn't still traumatized by having her hair set on fire. It really had been a complete accident!
So here she was, waiting to fly home to tell her parents they'd all be living together once again.
She'd have to start looking for a job as well. A sense of dread kicked in as she thought about the possible scenarios with her parents.
They are going to be so mad.
No, not mad. "Disappointed," as they liked to say.
Chapter 2
Annie was so lost in thought she didn't notice the two seats next to her get filled up.
On her right was a man, dressed like a banker or a stock broker. He looked as if he came straight from Wall Street.
He was glued to his phone. It was the newest model, she noticed.
He was sitting on the edge of the seat as if ready to get up and start pacing. Just then, his knee started bouncing up and down.
It was distracting.
And on her left was an older lady.
As soon as Annie took her in, her mouth fell open. The woman looked flawless.
She was dressed in designer brands and luxury goods. Is that a real fur coat? Annie wondered.
Her nails were perfectly manicured. Her hair styled impeccably—every strand in place. Her makeup looked professionally done.
And she had on the darkest sunglasses. They covered half of her face.
Just by looking at her, Annie could tell this woman had an extraordinary life. She looked well traveled.
Annie wondered what the woman was doing traveling on a commercial flight like this. She looked like she should be on a private plane.
Annie wished she knew more about the woman. She wished to be the woman.
Once again, Annie was reminded again of her less-than-great situation.
She groaned quietly and went back to thinking about her decision to drop out of university.
The waiting area became more crowded.
Chapter 3—James Chun
The gate was packed with expectant travelers. They were all trying to catch the last flight home before the holidays.
All last-minute people, like him, who were too busy with life to book a flight. Even on Christmas Eve.
Not smart, James, he scolded himself. But his assistant was supposed to cover it.
Sometimes she could be so inefficient. He needed an assistant to make his life easier, not harder.
He made a note in his phone to fire her when the holidays were over. He would have done it then, but he was sure she wouldn't be checking her emails anytime soon.
Unlike him.
To be honest, James didn't want to go home.
Sure, family, duck, and dumplings galore were great, but they were distractions.
He needed to focus on his job, on working.
He truly believed there was really no other point to life than working. Just to have another boring day off would cost him weeks of productive time.
Like organizing the biggest end-of-year business deal in company history. And if done smoothly, he'd get promoted to Vice President.
He needed it to go perfectly. Right now, it was not going perfectly.
The loud wails from babies and announcements and frustrated passengers were not helping.
James could barely hear himself think!
Wait—! What did that announcement say? Why did the room suddenly get louder?
