The Red Suitcase

Chapter One

I get up quickly, but not quickly enough. People around me are gawking, snickering, and even straight up pointing and laughing. Tears stinging my eyes, I hurry up and grab my stuff that has (of course) fallen out of my bag. It's getting kicked around by the traffic, so I scramble around the people too stupid to pick up their feet.

"Buttmuffins," I mutter.

After my crap is all in my bag
And my face is no longer redder than a tomato, I finally head to my gate.

I give the lady at the booth my ticket and walk through the hallway to the plane. I find my seat among the strangers. Some flange up to smile, others glare. Some just ignore you. It's a window seat, my favorite. I take it an omen to relax and forget about what happened by the luggage station. Tomorrow, no one will remember. And no one at home will know either. I doze off just as the flight attendant tells us to put our devices away.

• • •

......Thank you for flying with us today."

Has it been two hours already? I open my eyes groggily to hear the last words of the flight attendant nicely telling everyone to gtfo. I unbuckle my seatbelt and stand up, grabbing my bag and taking out my earbuds in the process.

The crowd is not going to recede anytime soon, so I get comfortable standing in front of my seat. Five minutes later, the crowd is dying down. I leave quickly and exit the gate. I look around the large room for my mom.

"Yo bish, over here!" I yell. (Just kidding, I'm not like that.)

It didn't take long to find her. She was standing by the first row of chairs that you could see from where I was standing. Her smile was infectious, and it showed in her eyes. But if you looked close enough and knew her well enough, you would know that she looked tired. She probable took some extra shifts at work while I was gone. I walked quickly through the mob that had accumulated near me, mumbling "excuse me" as I went. When I finally get to her, I drop my bag on one of the chairs and give her a big hug.

"Max, she says, how was the trip? We missed you!"

By we, she means her and my stepdad. Not much to say there.

Anyways, I tell her about my plane rides and about what I did with Dad. We walk through security, all the while telling her how I DID get enough sleep and NO I didn't watch Netflix the whole time, though that would have been enjoyable as well.

We make our way to the luggage area, while Mom goes in and on about the neighbors and how it just rained while gone.

When we get to the luggage area, we scan the line of suitcases for the red one. We wait. And wait. We see people grab their bags and leave one after another. I soon get impatient, tapping my foot and shifting my weight.

After 30 minutes, I am ready to shout. At 45 minutes, I am ready to scream.
At 57 minutes and 42 seconds, I need to punch something. Mom is even frowning. Everyone from my flight has left.

We go up to the front desk.

"Um, excuse me, but my daughter's luggage doesn't seem to have gone through yet? It has been an hour, and we still haven't found it." Mom asks.

Wow, Mom is so chill, my "asking" would have been more Rated R.

"Well, it should be here shortly, ma'am, is there a name tag on it?" the clerk says, obviously annoyed we ever spoke to her.

"No, it fell off on the last flight I was on." I said through clenched teeth. What a bit-

"Oh, there it is!" Mom exclaims, clearly relieved. I was too. I might have flipped shit.