Luciana - Grade 4
Chapter 1
“Kayla!” Mom called, “Hurry up. We’re going to be late.”
“Sorry. Coming,” I replied.
“We don’t want to be late,” she said, “Otherwise we’ll miss the flight!”
“Yeah,” I mumbled.
Hi. I’m Kayla Collins. I’m twelve years old and from Dallas Texas. I sure have a lot going for me for being so young. I’m a gymnast and kind of famous for it. I got invited to go to Los Angeles, California for a big competition on TV.
“The plan is simple,” Mom starts, “We’ll drive down to the airport and go through security and things. We’ll meet your dad at the gate and then we’ll board the plane, and in a few hours, we’ll be in California.”
My Dad had been on a work trip all week. He would deplane the flight home and then stay at the airport until it was time for the three of us to board the plane to Los Angeles, California.
“Great,” I said half-heartedly. Don’t get me wrong. I love California. Great state. But I was just nervous about the performance.
My mom must have been able to tell because then she pursed her lips and said, “I get it you know. You're nervous about the big performance. That’s totally normal. Just make sure to practice hard, and it will be perfect.”
I just nodded. I know she meant well but there was that word again. Perfect.
I grabbed my bags and suitcase. Then we headed out the door. I put our bags and suitcases in the trunk while my mom started the car. After a minute we were ready to hit the road.
“Alright,” Mom said, “Let’s go!”
I climbed in and put on my seatbelt. We drove out of the driveway and onto the road toward the airport. I don’t know how long it took us to get to the airport. I was on my phone the whole car ride, not paying attention.
When we got there, we parked the car in a parking garage. Then we took an elevator up to baggage check. The elevator was huge, almost the size of my bathroom! I guess if you have a big family and a lot of luggage, it makes sense to have a big elevator.
We had our suitcases checked but kept our smaller bags that contained things like devices and toiletries.
After that we headed for security. I double checked to make sure all the liquids were out of my bag before I put it through the baggage scanner. Then I walked through the metal detector.
When me and my mom were done going through security we started to walk toward the gate.
Mom looked shocked. But I decided not to press.
“Um... we should get going,” Mom said awkwardly.
“Yes,” Dad said.
I was pretty worried if I’m being honest. What had that phone call been about? Was it bad? It must have been. The way Dad’s face just lost color. It wasn’t good.