AFTER HIGH SCHOOL

Chapter twenty one

AARON HERNANDEZ

I felt tensed up the whole flight after hearing what Beck had to say to me. I can't quite name what I am feeling but it's not good.

He also told me to not have you call him, he told me to instruct you to wait for him and do nothing to threaten your hideous.

My hideous, what does he mean by that? What is going on? The thing I hate about this is that I can't even pick up my phone and call him.
I can't do that, it's a stressful feeling of knowing your life could be falling apart but all you have to do is sit and be impotent all about it.
How does he want me to do just that?

I can't quite settle, I can't even eat what I would ordered to eat because what I heard has my nerve picked.

I don't even know how we go through the remaining hours but eventually, the pilot announces that we are going to land. We've been making stops every now and then making the long flight hours almost a day.
The hostess goes to wake Cassandra up and after so long she comes and sits in front of me, buckling herself to the seat.

"For a moment there I was confused about where I was when they woke me. How are you feeling?" I look at her and events from our last meeting flow in my mind like they are looped.

"I am fine, lightheaded but fine, and lost feeling is mutual." I pack my lips in a firm line and turn to gaze away at the force of the plane landing. I am not a huge fan of flying and Cassandra knows that because I told her during our flight when she came with me in the Bahamas and now we are going back, purely under different reasons and so different circumstances that I still can't fully grasp.

It's another long minute of landing but we eventually do.
I first walk out only to be met by Raphael.

"Aaron." I nod my head at him and continue descending the stairs going to him.

I smile as I get closer, Raphael is a good friend of my brother. We hang a lot with him on our get-together vacation.

"Oh hello, after missing you this vacation I didn't think I would be seeing you so soon?" I say to him as we do a quick bro hug and slap each other hardly on the back.

"Guess the universe has different plans for us. How have you been my good old friend?"

"Good, Raph, I have been doing good." He grins.

"Oh, you don't know how happy that makes me my good old friend. I was very happy to receive a call from your brother asking for my assistance in hosting you before he joined us. I can not wait to meet him too, how long has it been now?"

I shrug my shoulders not saying anything, the mention of my brother raises thoughts I don't want to be thinking of, at least not now that I still don't know a thing about.

"Come, Aaron, come we will talk more once you are refreshed."

"Wait." I stop him when he starts urging me to move forward not forgetting that I am alone.
I turn to find Cassandra still at the stairs of the plane. I wave her over and she nods her head at me before she takes steady small steps down the stairs and closer to me and Raphael.

Her choice of clothes makes me wonder what happened that made her want to fly with me in only plain sweatpants an oversized hoodie that she ended with sandals.
Her Afro hair is in a messy bun.

What happened at the time I was passed out in my car?
Who found me? And how did they get me from there to the plane without me knowing a thing?
What is going on?

Cassandra gets closer to me and out of instinct I raise my hand to her and she put hers in mine.
I tighten my hold on her.

Turning back to Raphael, he is looking at me now with interest and curiosity dancing in his eyes.