1
HOPE
“Did you make it to Michigan?” Hale, my brother, asked as I sat in front of the large open airport window, watching a plane taxi past my spot.
I was supposed to be at Michigan State University to ring in the new year on campus and watch a football game. Instead, our entire group ended up nowhere near Michigan.
The phone cut in and out on Hale’s end. “No. We’re stranded in DC at our layover because the airport in Detroit is closed for weather.”
My best friend Chance gave me continuous weather updates every twenty minutes. If he told me one more time how the storm was battering the East Coast, I planned to take away his phone. He was too young to be that obsessed with the Weather Channel.
“That bad, huh?” Hale asked. “What are you going to do, kid?”
“We’ll hang out here for a while and hope they open the airport.” We didn’t have another option. The other three people in our group wanted to walk around and see the national monuments, but I visited DC in tenth grade and didn’t need to do it again.
“Do you need cash for a hotel room?”
I groaned and rolled my eyes. “No, father. I have this fancy thing called a credit card.” Chance said if they canceled us totally, they’d probably give us a room by the airport. Looking at monuments for a second time sounded more fun than hanging out in an airport hotel room, but neither were high on my list.
My options weren’t looking great.
“Real funny, Hope. Are you going to be okay?”
I freaking loved Hale, but sometimes he drove me insane with his overprotectiveness.
“Yeah, I just wanted to call and let you know. Mom and Dad are already on the cruise and I didn’t want to bother anyone on a vacation.” Hale was home watching the dogs and probably a buttload of television. If I had to bet money, I’d say he planned to spend this week in the same pair of pajama pants, eating microwave meals.
I placed a hand on the window, leaving behind fingerprints. Oops.
“Okay, well, if that changes, call me immediately.”
“Can do. I’ll keep you posted.”
“Stay safe,” he said and disconnected the call.
A thick fry odor came from the restaurant across the walkway and my stomach growled.
“Okay, then. Good bye, love you too,” I said to the dead phone. Brothers.
He acted like he had some place to be. Like talking to me wasn’t the highlight of his entire day. Weirdo.
I stared as a plane taxied out of sight and the sun shone against the dark pavement without an inch of snow. Not a drop of white stuff in DC while apparently everywhere north of us were in Chance’s words, “Being pounded by a snowstorm of the year.”
This was what we got for buying the cheap tickets. I told Chance having a layover in the wrong direction of our final destination was stupid.
He told me that’s how airlines did it.
A hand tapped me on the right shoulder and I turned to my left, ending up only inches from Chance’s face. “Seriously, dude. You have to get new moves.”
Chance laughed. “You still fall for it half the time. How did your brother take the news?”
I shrugged. “You know how Hale is.”
Chance had been my best friend since fifth grade. He’d experienced my brothers and their moods. He nodded and ran his hand through his dark brown hair as he bit his lips and smiled.
I raised an eyebrow at his suspicious behavior. His smile was too wide. That was never good.
“Did he demand you come home?” he asked and immediately bit his bottom lip again.
