After the pilot makes their announcement, the plane starts to hum under my feet. For me, the worst part is the takeoff. Once we’re in the air, I’m fine. I can feel my hands grip the edge of the armrest, and I take a deep breath in through my nose and out my mouth.
The plane picks up speed in what feels like five seconds, the loud noise rushing through my body as I squeeze my eyesshut.
“Are you still scared of this part?” Riley whispers.
All I give her is a nod.
“Do you need a Xanax?” Her tone is playful, in a teasing sort of way. I can imagine the smirk on her lips.
Once I feel my heart drop to my ass, my body finally evens out, and I force myself to let go of the armrest. I slump in the chair and open my eyes. When I look out the window, we drift into the wispy clouds until we hover above them.
“Need to change your diaper?” Riley says.
“I think a kiss will do just fine.” I give her a grin that I know she’d want to smack off my face.
She adjusts herself in her seat, looking around to make sure no one hears our conversation. Especially my sister, who is right in front of us. Riley leans in close to me. Her hair smells like fresh roses.
“Donotsay the word kiss,” she whispers glaring at me with her sunshine eyes.
“Why not? It’s just a word. Kiss. Kissing. Making out.”
“Why are you doing this? Why? Nothing happened.”
I raise my eyebrows. “Nothing happened? So, what, we just had the same dream where we made out, and you slipped your tongue into my mouth?”
She covers her face, agitation crawling over her, and I cross my arms.
“August, please don’t do this right now. Your sister is sitting right in front of us. This is not the time to speak about… the kiss.” She mouths the last part.
“Okay, when can we talk about it then?”
“Oh, let me just check my calendar to see when I can fit you in my schedule. I don’t know!”
“Are you guys’ okay back there?” Ellie asks.
“We’re fine.” Riley’s voice is pleasant when sheanswers my sister, but her dagger eyes say another thing. “Remind me to send you a fruit basket for making me sit next to your irritating brother.”
“Make sure it has chocolate-covered strawberries,” Ellie says, putting her headphones on.
“Look, last night—it shouldn’t have happened. I had a lot of emotions and was embarrassed at what happened to me. I’m sorry.”
I try to read her mind, read her features to figure out if it was a mistake to her. There’s something behind those words that isn’t convincing me. I also can’t deny that what she said stings a little.
“So, you were just using me?” I hide the hurt in my voice with sarcasm.
“August.” There’s no playfulness behind her words. “That can’t happen again. Okay?”
“Fine.” I turn forward in my seat and rest my head on the window, staring out toward the soft blue sky. “It didn’t happen.”
Who knew that the first time I’d kiss my dream girl, she would tell me to act like it never happened? How am I supposed to do that after getting to feel what her lips tasted like on mine? How do I move on from this?
The only thing I can think of is throwing myself into my work and taking care of Dad when they need me.
When we step off the plane and into the airport, I stretch my body for the first time in five hours. After the small conversation I had with Riley, we didn’t speak for the rest of the flight. It was awkward, to say the least.
But what was I supposed to do? Bug her until she admitted that she wanted to kiss me, and it wasn’t because of the pent-up adrenaline from when she knocked into thatguy, spilled her drink all over herself, and had that short, intimate moment in the elevator.
Nope. She didn’t want to talk about it, and I gave her what she wanted.
