In The Orbit (Part I)

14. Karma

Karma takes a deep breath as she steps on the plane. She just hugged her parents and boyfriend goodbye and she is nervous. She hasn't really ever traveled by herself. The plane ride to Washington D.C. is only an hour long, she reminds herself. Nothing is going to happen. Still, she isn't a huge fan of being alone.

The ride is completely uneventful and there is an official there to greet Karma in D.C. She shakes Karma's hand too hard and scowls at her. Karma scowls right back and stands taller. She is taller than the official and the official does not like that. She turns on her heel and walks away. Karma doesn't know what to do except follow her.

Karma follows the officer, rolling both of her suitcases at the same time, to a private area. There are two other people there, an officer and a short girl with a square jaw and pretty eyes. The girl sticks out her hand.

"Hey, I'm Fifi," she says, looking Karma directly in the eye. Karma notices a little twitch in Fifi's temple as she says this.

"Karma Kashner," Karma replies.

"Your hair is really cool, but I would never have it for myself," she says. Karma doesn't know if this is a compliment or an insult. She runs a hand through her hair and looks at the newly purple tips.

Karma decides to change the subject instead. "So you're not my roommate, right?"

"Nope. I have a guy roommate."

"That's weird," Karma responds. "Usually they put people of the same sex together."

"Why's it weird? Is there a reason you can't-" she cuts herself off as two boys enter the room.

The boys would look similar if the fat one got skinnier and more muscular and the buff one got glasses. And if they styled their hair the same. And the fatter one had a less scared look on his face. But in Karma's eyes, they were almost the same height with the same color hair, so that made them similar.

Karma could almost taste the awkwardness between the two of them. They didn't look at or talk to each other. The fatter one looks scared silly and the other one looks like he wants to be with anyone but him.

Their officer looks at them and watched the silence with annoyed eyes. Then he rolls his eyes and announces, "Hi, I'm Kunley and these are Harold and George."

George looks up and blurts, "I go by Khan."

Harold, the fatter one, looks like he wants to cry and run away when Khan says that.

They all sit in silence for a few minutes and Karma thinks about her boyfriend. She misses him and wishes he were here by her side. She sends him a text.

Her angry officer pursed her lips and says, "Your electronics will all be confiscated as soon as we board the ship, you know."

Karma starts furiously texting her boyfriend about how her phone will get taken away and he will need to send her his number through Habler.

Then the next person shows up. She has messy blonde curls and is wearing plaid pajama pants and a too short long-sleeved shirt with holes in the elbows on top of a black tank top. She stands and looks at everyone, slightly confused.

"Hey, I'm Fifi," says Fifi and gives the new girl a handshake. "You know your shirt has a bunch of holes, right? That's not a great first impression."

"Azalea," says the girl, and lets go of Fifi's hand. She looks at Fifi like she can't quite figure her out. Then she turns to the officer that brought her and asks if she can go find her luggage. Karma notices that the butt of Azalea's pants has been worn down to the point where you can't see the stripes of the plaid anymore.

We wait a while. Nobody says much. One of the officers looks at their SmartScreen and says, "Flight from New Orleans is delayed. Strom Koi will be late."