"Wow, taking out the tablet right away…" Mikael tsked.

Joey made a face, "They just said small devices are okay."

"Joey, you're gonna miss all the views if you're just watching the tablet the whole time."

Joey looked out the window, then back at Mikael. "What views?" He asked, his hand going up to demonstrate their current view from the window- asphalt and people roughhousing their luggage. "We've been sitting on the tarmac for five minutes Mikael."

"Pass me your hoodie."

"Are you cold?" Mikael asked, putting his book down and glancing up at the air vents above them.

"No." Joey replied, "I wanna use it as a pillow." He stretched his hand out expectantly.

"Joey," Mikael argued.

"Mikael," Joey countered.

“Are you sure you don’t want to switch seats?” The lady in the middle asked again, for the 5th time, eyes on Joey's hand reaching over her.

“No.” They both repeated their earlier answers.

Joey retracted his hand, hoodieless.

“Thank you,” Mikael said, “But I’m stuck with him all the time, this is nice, the space.” His hands boxing out his aisle seat.

“And I’m claustrophobic.” Said Joey, “So, me in the middle, it would be no good for any of us.”

It slapped Mikael in the face. How could he have forgotten about Joey’s claustrophobia, again.

“You’re claustrophobic,” Mikael repeated.

“Yes, Mikael.”

“Joey,” He said, urgently leaning forward. “Switch seats with me.”

“What?”

“I have an aisle seat.”

“Yes. I see that.”

“So, switch seats with me. You’re claustrophobia-”

“No. It’s- I’m already sitting here, we’d make the nice lady get up, she’d have to move all her things, I’d have to move all my things, and besides-” He looked out the uncovered window- the view of Hawaii from a bird's eye view slowly coming into existence. “The window, it helps make me feel not so… I’d get worse sitting in the aisle seat.” He waved Mikael off.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

The lady in the middle looked between the two once more, as she had been for the last twenty minutes as they talked over her, bickering like she wasn’t even there.

“Are you sure you don’t want to switch seats with me?” She said looking at Mikael. It came out more like a plea than a question.

Mikael felt a tinge of guilt and agreed to switch, despite how much he hated middle seats, being 6'1" made the already compact leg room seem nonexistent.

As he settled in his new seat, he angled his knees in towards Joey to give the lady her due space.

Author's Note:

I was once the lady in the middle... I was in the middle seat on a plane when an older couple came and told me they were each sitting next to me.

"Oh!" I said, excitedly, "Would you two like to sit together? I could take aisle or window." Finally, no more middle seat!

"No." The man said as his wife slid past me to the window. "We did this on purpose."

"Oh." I replied, forcing my grin to stay on my face. "Okay."

Let's just say it was an awkward five-hour flight!