-ing at me , but after a moment he turned towards the front too , watching the stewardess demonstrate how to adjust the straps on an oxygen mask .
I peered out the window as the plane took off , watching the ground drop away below us . Soon the plane was passing over the outskirts of the city , and then we were punching through the clouds to the bright , hot sunlight above them . I pulled out my iPod and my headphones , and leaned back in my seat , wondering about all the people below me . Was I possibly passing over anyone I knew below , one of my friendly-but-not-quite-friends from school , perhaps ? It was strange to think that each of those tiny cars , each of those houses the size of a rice grain held a family or a couple or a person , each with their own life full of secrets and decisions and worries .
The music in my headphones sounded like a pulsing heartbeat , marking time for my thoughts . What would home be like , now that I ’ d been away for months ? Would my family still be the same ? Would my dog remember me ? What would I do over the summer ? Would that job interview at the yoga place pan out ? What about my friends from high school ? What about that boy I sometimes saw biking past the bench where I did my homework in nice weather ?
The plane suddenly lurched downward and my eyes snapped open , my hands flashing down to clutch my armrests with a death grip . I yanked out my earbuds and looked around frantically , expecting to see yellow oxygen masks dropping from the ceiling . But the plane had steadied and all of the other passengers were reading or sleeping or tapping away at laptops and cell phones . Nobody looked perturbed .
“ Just a little bit of turbulence ,” said a voice to my right . I turned to find Mr . Smith beaming at me . “ Perfectly normal , nothing to worry about .” He patted my hand reassuringly .
I gave him a close-lipped smile and tried to pull my hand away as discreetly as possible .
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