The Up & Coming Magazine

Image Source: Pexels- gya den

One morning in early February, Lydia sat in a bright blue chair waiting for her flight to New York at the Amelia Earhart International Airport. Her flight was delayed for at least the next two hours because of a snowstorm that was grounding all flights for now. She was sending a text to her father to let him know her flight would be late when, suddenly, a cute boy with light brown hair and brown eyes sat down in the seat next to her. She glanced over and smiled, saying, “So your flight is delayed too, huh?” He responded, “Yeah, unfortunately, this airport always seems to have delayed flights, especially during snowstorms. I’m Henry Theodore Jackson, by the way. What’s your name?” “I’m Lydia Hazel Albright,” she said with a smile. “Your name is just as beautiful as you are, Lydia. It’s nice to meet you,” he replied. “It’s nice to meet you, too,” Lydia answered.

After introducing themselves, Lydia asked Henry if he wanted to join her at Dunkin’ Donuts for coffee and breakfast. Of course, he agreed instantly because who doesn’t love donuts? When they arrived, Lydia ordered a strawberry frosted donut and a medium iced French vanilla coffee, and Henry chose a Boston cream donut and a large hot chocolate. Henry looked at Lydia questioningly as she took a bite of her donut because he wasn’t used to seeing people eat strawberry frosted ones. He thought they were a bit too weird in his opinion. Henry and Lydia then took a sip of their drinks and both smiled because they were both so grateful to have a drink in their hands after sitting for so long without one.

As Lydia wiped some icing off her face, Henry chuckled softly. Lydia asked, “What’s so funny, Henry?” “I never would have guessed you were a bit of a messy eater by looking at you because you’re so pretty,” said Henry. She replied, “Well, even pretty girls like me are messy sometimes.” “And that’s okay because you’re smart and pretty, so you already have two great qualities that would impress any guy. Well, you’re impressing me, at least.”

Lydia didn’t expect that a flight delay would lead her to impress a charming boy. Henry was intelligent, witty, funny, and he was exactly the kind of guy she’d always dreamed of meeting, thanks to all the endless young adult romance novels she had read over the years. As she talked more with Henry, she realized he wasn’t just attractive but also a semi-famous romance author.

Henry was also smitten with Lydia because he had never met a girl who could charm him so instantly. Lydia had dark brown hair, brown eyes, and a smile that could light up any room whenever she laughed. She shared a similar sense of humor with him, and he could tell because she found everything he said to be absolutely hilarious, which was a new experience for him.

As the snow kept falling outside the airport, the two sat talking for what felt like two full hours until they heard a crackling voice on the loudspeaker saying their flight would arrive on time. They were both looking forward to boarding soon. However, just because they were boarding didn’t mean they had to say goodbye yet. Since they were both flying to New York City, they decided to sit next to each other on the plane. Flights can be lonely unless you have someone to talk to on the way to your next destination, and Lydia was glad that Henry was the person she would sit beside.

Lydia opened her laptop, and she and Henry started watching “You’ve Got Mail” together. It was the perfect movie for falling in love at first sight during a trip to New York City. Henry was heading there to support his best friend Nick, who was getting engaged, and Lydia was going there because she was going to live with her dad. Henry grew up in San Francisco but moved to New York at the start of high school. Lydia seemed to go there only to visit her dad, but this time would be different because she would be staying there while attending college at New York University. She planned to study creative writing because she had always wanted to be a famous writer when she grew up. Ever since elementary school, Lydia had always been writing or reading something, which is why her parents had been so supportive of her dream to become a writer. Both Lydia and Henry knew that once their flight landed, they didn’t want things to end because it was only the beginning of their story.

Since both Lydia and Henry were single, they decided to exchange phone numbers so they could stay in touch. Lydia had always wanted to meet a cute guy on an airplane, but never expected to find love at first sight when she saw Henry sitting in the airport. Once their flight landed and they had both found their bags, the two of them shared a kiss in the snow outside the airport, and after they said goodbye, they were both off on their next great adventures.

This was written by our founder and editor-in-chief, Hanna Peters.