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N O N - S T O P   T O   D I S N E Y  

banner by lostwinter

❝Open your eyes now.❞

-- Tiana ( The Princess and the Frog )

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- not edited -

The outline of the city could be seen from the elevated second story windows. It was raining again, and the water drenched the glass in sprinting beads. Marlee was far enough from the window that she wasn't interrupting the group of girls taking selfies in front of the barely-there view of Downtown Houston, but standing close enough to the windows that a pang of anxiety rolled in her stomach. She has never flown in a metal tube. She has never stepped foot in an airport. And most of all, Marlee Fields has never traveled outside of Texas. 

Marlee tightened her grip on the boarding pass to flight 729 - non-stop to Orlando. She looked down at her phone, seeing that she still had an hour of waiting before passengers could begin boarding the flight. She scanned the waiting area, her eyes glancing over businessmen in tailored suits, children bouncing up-and-down in their seats, and an elderly couple sharing a magazine. Most of the seats were taken by luggage or damp coats and umbrellas. Marlee spotted an empty seat and jogged towards it, her suitcase rolling behind her and knocking against her heels.

With a sigh, she dropped into the chair and tightened her coat around her chest. She wondered if the airport was always this cold, or if the chilled air from outside had somehow made its way through the windows.

The girls across the way were giggling at their phone screens. They looked to be around Marlee's age, maybe even a few years younger. The difference couldn't be any more obvious, Marlee thought. In her hands was an out of season Android Smartphone complete with a cracked screen, bubbling screen protector, and a chipped case. The girls in the group gawked at their latest and shiny iPhones. Their teeth were straight, hair curled, and acrylics painted. Marlee looked down at her own plain fingernails.

These girls reminded her of the sorority girls on campus. Always beautiful, always trendy, and low-key perfect. Marlee wasn't jealous. If anything, she wondered how these girls did it. Between a full-load of courses, a part-time job, and studying, Marlee counted herself lucky if she had time for a weekly face mask.

Now, looking across the rows of chairs, Marlee could see the group of girls staring at her. Most of them were giggling, but the girl Marlee assumed to be the lead of the bunch was staring dead-ahead into Marlee's eyes. For a second, Marlee wondered if she had done anything to the girl, but then remembered that she didn't come within a speaking distance of her. The girl's gaze was holding strong on Marlee, so she dropped her eyes to the band on her wrist, rubbing at the Mickey Mouse head stamped into the rubber. 

"Hey," a voice said, and Marlee felt the warmth of someone leaning into her shoulder. "Don't mind those girls over there," he said. "I had talked to that girl at Starbucks earlier and she somehow got the wrong idea." 

Marlee looked over to the guy that was sitting beside her. He smiled, and held out a hand. "My name's Holden." 

"Marlee," she said, and weakly shook his hand.

She looked him over in an instant, taking in the satchel on his lap, the single headphone bud tucked behind an ear, and the rubber band around his wrist. "Are you headed to Disney, too?" Marlee asked, while taking another quick glance at the group of girls that were now seated in the front row. 

"I am actually." he said, nodding his head and smiling at Marlee's own band. He caught Marlee's gaze and followed it toward the girls. "She's probably thinking we're a couple, ya know?" His voice was confident, and his smile almost too charming. He laughed a little to himself, and opened a pocket on his bag. Marlee smelled the cinnamon before Holden revealed a paper Starbucks bag.

"Is that supposed to be some kind of joke?" Marlee turned on him, suddenly unsure of the stranger. 

"Ouch." The boy put a hand to his heart, and the look on Holden's face was hurt, maybe even a little confused. "You don't think I'm boyfriend material? Jeez. We just met. Normally, it takes girls a couple months to say something like that." He gave Marlee a smile, and pulled apart his cinnamon bun.

Marlee shot another look to the girls, all five of them now staring back at her. Her cheeks flushed, and she leaned back into her seat, letting her hair fall in a curtain over her face. Could this day get any worse? Not only was a herd of mean girls staring her down, but now she had bruised the ego of the cute guy that was only trying to comfort her. 

Between bites, Holden began talking to her again. "I meant to say that she's jealous of you. She just witnessed a pretty girl come and sit next to the handsome guy that she was flirting with in a Starbucks half-an-hour ago." The beaming smile returned to his boyish face. "Don't girls usually take jealousy as a compliment?"

Marlee wasn't sure if he was flirting with her now, or whether the story was true, but his grin told her that he meant it. A sigh of relief passed her lips, and she even felt a little embarrassed. "As a matter of fact, you came and sat next to me."

"So," he started, shaking the sugar off his fingers and nuzzling into the crook of his seat. "meeting your family for Christmas or something?"

"Uh," Marlee was going to blurt out that this trip was for nobody but herself. She had bought tickets for the remaining two weeks of December, and planned on exploring the parks alone. She didn't mind being alone. Marlee had spent the year immersed in textbooks and color-coded flashcards. When she wasn't studying, Marlee worked at the university's Student Center, and saved every penny for this trip to Florida. 

Looking at Holden now, Marlee noticed the drop in his happy-go-lucky expression. "Sorry," she laughed, and played off her dizziness with a wave of a hand. "Um, no. My family -" Marlee stopped before she could tell the stranger that her family was here in Texas, and hint that she was traveling alone to a place she wasn't familiar. "We aren't doing much for Christmas." was the answer.

Holden nodded. The next twenty minutes were filled with silence between them. Marlee took the time to breathe in the surroundings. She wanted to remember the sights and smells of the airport.

She also found herself staring at Holden. He sat with a neck pillow tucked behind his head, his eyes closed and both earbuds plugged into his ears. Marlee could hear the faint sound of music, but couldn't recognize the beats. His legs were long, stretched out into the aisle. Marlee stared for what seemed like hours. It was usually easy for Marlee to figure someone out - the crowd they hanged with, where they liked to shop, and a base idea of their personality. 

Holden wasn't so easy to figure out. He looked like a regular guy. He was built a little too strong for the gamer-type that sat at home in front of their computer screen all day, but not big enough to be a jock. He wore faded jeans and a plain t-shirt; no designer logos anywhere. His face was scruffy, but hardly on purpose. It looked like he might have skipped a day or two of shaving at most. 

"Boarding flight 729 to Orlando." The intercom repeated in a robotic voice. At this, Holden jumped out of his seat and started gathering his luggage. Marlee did the same, and followed the boy through the gates. 

The walk through the tunnel was surreal. She could hear the outside winds and the reality of the moment hit her like a brick in the gut. She felt like stopping and taking a breath, but bodies were pushing past her left-and-right. She was thrust along by the crowd, and quickly found herself at the mouth of the plane. 

Marlee unfolded her pass, and looked down at the numbers. Seat 24F. The excitement returned, and she made her way through the throng of passengers. She noticed Holden heaving his luggage into the overhead compartment, the hem of his shirt inching up to reveal a sliver of skin. He shoved the luggage with a grunt, and slammed the hatch closed. As Marlee passed more rows, she was getting closer to Holden. She stopped in front of him and read aloud her card. "24F." 

"Yeah? Looks like we're row buddies." Holden gestured to the row, and Marlee glided into the seat beside the window. Holden grabbed her bag and thrust it onto his shoulders. 

"Hold-Holden!" Marlee jumped out of her seat. "You don't have to do that."

Holden let a noise past his lips, either because of the outrageous weight of Marlee's bag, or because he was trying to act composed in a small space with people pushing against him. "No, I got it." He unlocked the hatch above the row and shoved her luggage atop of his own in one motion. "See? Easy." Holden slid into the seat beside Marlee, eyeing the outside through the narrow window. The sky was darkened by clouds, the horizon an indigo blue in the distance. The rain had stopped, but would surely pick up again. 

"Thankfully our flight didn't get delayed." Holden said, grabbing a book from his backpack. Marlee didn't catch the title, but the dark image and red details on the cover gave her the assumption that it was a mystery novel.

"I thought maybe we wouldn't take off today. I've never been on a plane.. and I didn't think the pilot would take off in the rain." Marlee admitted, clutching her elbows and leaning toward the window.

"Really?" Holden opened his book to a random page. "You're not scared of heights, are you?" 

"I don't think so. The highest I've ever been was on a roller coaster, and it wasn't even a big one."

The pilot's voice came over the speakers, and stewardesses prepared passengers for an emergency. The usual spiel about oxygen masks and emergency exits ensued. Marlee had heard this speech through films and television shows. It was always the same boring ol' lecture. 

"Don't worry about that." Holden said, not taking his eyes off the pages of his book. "You don't have anything to worry about. I've been on tons of flights, eight this year, and in worse rain than this. We'll be fine."

His voice wasn't exactly comforting. He was distracting himself, and it was obvious. Marlee got the feeling that he was saying it more for himself than for her. Holden was clutching his book between white, shaky fingers. His face was pink, which he tried hiding by nuzzling his neck further into the collar of his jacket. 

The plane started to take-off, and Marlee held her breath as her body pushed back into the seat. A jolt of something shot through her blood. Fear, excitement, maybe even adrenaline. It lasted for only a moment, and the plane felt like it was slowing. Marlee found the courage to look out the window. The sky was infinitely surrounding her, and the view below was murky and small. The landscape didn't look anything like what it did on the ground. Houston had once seemed so colossal; it's buildings and vast population seeming so large to a girl that hasn't ventured anywhere else. Now, Houston seemed so humble amongst the clouds. 

This is a moment Marlee wants to remember forever. The feeling bubbling in her chest was a mixture of amazement and modesty. Marlee Fields was flying over her hometown. She was seated next to a cute boy, and she was on her way to the happiest place on Earth.