It was never effortless to love Aaron Warner. He was a difficult teenage boy who seemed to forget a lot of the time that that was what he was-a teenage boy. He'd always felt that loving or even caring for him would be impossible for all the world to...
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"IT TURNED OUT he was literally gay."
Ella and I's mouths drop open into a comical O as Nazeera finishes her story. The boys have been in the cockpit forever now and we've been telling each other pretty much everything we've missed since we were separated.
I lean back in the couch, hugging my knees to my chest. "Psycho. Who keeps that from someone for six months?"
Nazeera cringes. "I don't know, but I kinda don't care anymore either. We were just friends with benefits and, according to him, he knew long before he met me."
"That doesn't make it better," Ella says, "If anything that makes it worse."
I gag. "Ugh. I could never."
"What, don't tell me there wasn't anyone at Point that you liked?" Nazeera asks me, frowning with a tilt of her head.
I shrug. "I mean, there were a few guys I thought were pretty cute, but. . ." I shake my head. "No, I was still caught up in Aaron."
Ella smiles in awe while Nazeera stares at me bitterly. "You two have the sweetest love story of all time and yet it makes me sick."
I nudge her with a laugh. "Come on, we all know Kenji's head over heels for you."
She blushes. "Yeah, I know, but. . .I don't know, it's kinda complicated."
Ella sips her drink. "I don't think so. I don't think anyone thinks so."
Naz throws a pillow her way. "Shut up. You and Isaac have it easy too."
I chuckle when Ella goes silent. "That's because they've been in love since the moment they locked eyes. God, Isaac was so pathetic when they weren't together. Even now he still acts like a teenage boy whenever I ask about you guys."
Ella smiles and her cheeks turn red. "I really do love him."
Nazeera grimaces. "So happy for you."
Just as I go to speak, the plane jolts. The girls and I immediately exchange looks, startled and upright. I'm looking around when the plane jolts again and lights begin to flash around us, the announcer saying things I can't really understand other than for the word emergency.
"What's going on?" I ask Nazeera but she's already on her feet. Ella and I rush after her into the cockpit.
The boys are up too, panicking and staring at the control panel. Nazeera pushes past them and scans the dashboard, her voice thick when she says, "We've lost one of our engines. Someone is shooting us out of the sky."
Oxygen masks drop from the ceilings and Ella darts to Isaac, who holds her protectively. Alarms are blaring while lights nearly blind me with their rapidness. The system is crashing, the announcer repeats over and over again. The system is crashing.
