All Diana wanted wast to sit by the window on the plane. She begged her dad to to please get her a window seat. All she wanted was to day dream about the clouds, dancing in them, jumping in them, do the things you are supposed to do when day dreaming in the clouds. But he wouldn't do it. It only cost 10 more dollars to be in group A so she could board first, but no, she was in group C. When she boarded the plane every single window seat was taken, in fact the only seats that were left were middle seats.
Wretched middle seats why were you even invented?
There were three choices. One between a fancy looking proper boy and a scary looking man woman (couldn't be too sure about which gender it was (not that there was anything wrong The last was between a very old man with a surprisingly full head of hair and a middle aged business man. Third choice was the best choice. At least she would feel the cleanest afterwards.
She stood smiling at the business man glued to his blackberry, waiting for him to notice her presence, waiting for him to move. She cleared her throat. The really old man gently shook his arm. He looked up at her and smiled.
"Sorry little miss, I always just payin' too much attention to this thing," he stood and let her sit.
Diana didn't want to talk. She wasn't the type of person who sat on planes and shared fun little facts about herself with strangers on planes. Never.
"Going home?" the middle aged business man asked her. Diana was disgusted she was pretty sure that his tie cost more than her entire outfit, including her most expensive shoes she ever purchased in her life (60$).
"No, going to school."
"You look like a California girl."
Diana wasn't sure if it was a compliment or a creepy compliment.
"Oh yeah? I am a native Wisconsiner, but thanks," she tried to make the sentence into a conversation ender but it didn't quite work.
"What are you going to school for? Don't tell me let me guess," he smiled, "Home economics."
She frowned.
Who does this guy think he is?
"No. Never."
The flight attendant began to speak but this didn't quiet the man he kept on yacking on.
"You going to one of those cosmotology schools? Doing hair all pretty and things?"
Diana was offended. This guy was a sexist.
"Uh nope."
The man laughed.
Diana rolled her eyes.
She could just imagine what mister sexist was like when he was younger. He was probably one of those guys who loved the football and the cheerleaders and would take them under the bleachers and take advantage of then and whisper sweet nothings in there ears until they gave it up to him. The next day he would tell all his football loving friends that she was a skank who would do anything. Then when he finished high school it was off to run his father's business. That out of pure luck it blasts off into success. Oh dear, then comes the shot gun wedding after accidentally impregnating the prettiest girl in town. Her life was instantly ruined but he didn't care, he trapped her. Someone he didn't deserve. The first baby they'd name something like Lori or Donna. He'd never see her grow up but knock up his wife probably three or four more times. But she'd keep fit and cook him dinner because that's what she was told to do by this husband of hers. This fake story burrying itself in her head and made her hate the guy.
It's fake. You made up the story.
Then (she though) she'd grow up and realize she was the prettiest girl and she needed no man and divorce his fat ass. That's why he was on this plane, because he was taking a moment to think about his terrible aweful life.
"You aren't much of a talker are you? I bet you got a line up of young men begging for your attention."
"Sorry I guess I'm not used to sharing tid bits about myself to strangers is all," she tried to sound polite as possible, but it didn't work and she sounded as bitchy as she felt.
The man laughed again and plugged his ears with head phones and he went back to attending his blackberry even thought the flight attendent made the announcement to shut off electronic devices just moments before. Diana would blame this man if she died in a plane crash.
"What an asshole," the older of the old men said to himself. Diana was taken back but the swears coming out of the pompadoured haired man who had to be at least seventy (she wasn't too good at telling age after the age of fifty) her grandparents scoweled at dirty words. She actually thought it was very refreshing that an oldy pie agreed with her.
It was weird, she thought about it sometimes, that old people were young once. It was so long ago. They don't even look the same. They become an uglier depressing version of themselves.
This really old guy used to be the coolest guy around once, most likely. He has a pompadour and tattoos.
He was the rebel without a cause type, she could tell. He had a motorcycle when it was REAL cool to have one. He would ride up on his bike with a ciggerette in mouth and a pair of aviators on his face and make all the poodle skirted girls melt. His name was most likely Jonny, it fit him well. At one point he had dark hair in the same style. He would wear leather jackets and the rolled up jeans with a pair of converse. He used to play the harmonica in the bleechers during PE because he hated running, and also during the drive in movies to bug the squares. Then one day... a girl arrived in his life. She was as beautiful as all the pin up girls combined, even more so. She wouldn't give him a glance though, because she knew his type. But little did SHE know that he was a romantic. He would say hi to her every day even though she wouldn't say it back and even though it made him look like an idiot, he would do it every day. He even wrote a song about her (because he also played the guitar). Then one day he rescued her from a boy, a square, that was also an asshole. She rode on the back of his motorcycle, holding onto him real tight. Then from there they lived and loved. They traveled the world together, spreading his loves songs for her all over the place. Jonny was actually going home to her. He was playing his last show ever in California and his wife would meet him there the next day because she was babysitting the grandbabies.
If only Diana's story was true, then she'd be sitting by someone famous.
The plane landed and she looked at the old man.
"Very nice meeting you!" she smiled and he looked at her very oddly. No words we exchanged between them.
"You need to be grateful for your wife mister and stop talking to young girls about chasing boys okay?" she said to the business man who took out his head phones and stared at her blankly.
"I'm not married."
Diana ignored it and grabbed her bag from the overhead bin. She didn't get to dance with the clouds but maybe in someone elses head she was someone radically cool or possibly a bitch, but then again she had a strange sort of mind that invented stories about other people and she wasn't too sure that someone shared the same hobby. Not likely, but maybe.
