Unbroken

Chapter Five

Peter's POV

I look out of the window unable to contain the smile on my face. Ned shakes my shoulder, and we laugh.

"Yeah." He says, equally as excited as I am.

"Yo, Parker." Flash says. "This is called an airplane. It's like the buses you're used to, except it flies over the poor neighborhoods instead of driving through them."

"Ma'am?" Gracee says to the flight attendant. "He Blipped, so technically, he's 16, not 21."

"I'll take that." The flight attendant takes the drink from him.

Gracee smiles at me and then looks at the floor, before walking past my seat.

"She's lying. I don't even know this girl!" Flash yells.

"Dude, everyone knows her. She's Gracee Stark." Abraham says.

Gracee fist bumps him and continues on down the plane, following behind MJ.

"Classic Gracee, right?" Brad says as he walks past Ned and I.

"Did you know Brad was coming?" I ask, not trying to hide the disgust on my face.

"It's so weird. One day, he's that kid who cried and got nosebleeds all the time, and suddenly, we Blip back, and he's totally ripped and super nice and all these girls are after him." Ned says, as we both watch him help Gracee with her bags.

"Not all the girls are after him."

"No, man, they're all after him."

Gracee laughs as her and Brad talk, and I start to feel uneasy.

"Anyway, on to more important things. It's a nine-hour flight. We can play Beast Slayers the whole time." Ned pulls out his laptop.

I see Gracee sit down next to MJ, and can't ignore the fact that Brad is in the row in front of her.

"I need your help to sit next to Gracee." I say, turning back to Ned.

If what happened earlier hadn't happened, I would be sitting next to Gracee, and we could be cuddling and watching movies the whole way to Venice. But instead I had to be a jerk and screw it up. I should have told her I understood how she felt, and that I was sorry, but instead, I walked out on her and didn't talk to her the whole ride to the airport.

"Seriously?" Ned sighs.

"Yes, seriously."

"What about our plan? American bachelors in Europe."

"That's your plan. That's a solo plan. Come on, this is my plan. Please."

Ned looks at Gracee and then back at me, before laying his head back on the seat and sighing again. "Fine."

Gracee's POV

"What's on your neck?" MJ asks, eyeing me suspiciously.

I cover up the spot that I was unaware Peter left on my neck last night with my hand and shrug. "Spider bite."

"I can take a pretty good guess on who the spider is." She looks at Peter.

I longingly look towards the front of the plane where Peter is seated next to Ned. I stare at the back of his head long enough for it to get creepy, so I look away.

"What's wrong?" MJ asks.

"Peter."

"Did the talk not go well?"

"I messed it up."

"What did you do?"

"I told him how I felt and I was a complete jerk about it."

"Gracee, you had to be honest with him. If he can't take it, that's his problem."

"I just feel really bad."

"He'll get over it. Now, are you ready to watch some true crime?"

I smile at my best friends excitement. "When am I not?"

"That's my girl."

MJ takes out her laptop as Betty walks to us. "Can I sit here?" She asks, pointing at the empty seat next to me.

"Of course." I smile.

I look up and see Ned looking down at us. "Hey, guys."

"Hey Ned." I say suspiciously, already knowing Peter put him up to something just by the look on his face.

"There's an old lady in front of us wearing a crazy amount of perfume, and it's kind of setting off Peter's allergies. Betty, if you could switch seats with him, that would be-"

"He's allergic to perfume?" Betty asks.

"That's a good question Betty." I say, already knowing that Peter isn't allergic to perfume. "Is Peter allergic to perfume, Ned?"

Ned's eyes widen as he tries to come up with an answer, knowing that I already know what's going on. "Yeah, yeah, because it- it makes his eyes water, and he can't really-"

"Peter has a perfume allergy?" Mr. Harrington stands up from his seat and looks back at us. "From experience, perfume allergies are no joke. I can feel hives breaking out already. Gracee, stand up. Ned, take Gracee's spot. Gracee, you take my spot. Peter, let's get you out of there. Zach and Sebastian, you take Ned and Peter's seats."

I stand up and sit next to Brad, smiling at him before looking back at MJ and giving her a disappointed look. She returns the look and sighs.

"Oh, I got a dual-headphone adapter if you want to watch a movie." Brad asks.

"Sure." I nod, trying to hide my disappointment.

Brad gets the dual-headphone adapter out of his backpack and I look around for Peter. I see him sitting next to Mr. Harrington a few rows behind me. He is staring ahead, looking like he would rather die than have to listen to Mr. Harrington's story about his wife's fake funeral.

I only know that that is what he is telling him because Mr. Harrington told me the same story one time after school before academic decathlon practice, and I made the same face throughout the entirety of the story.

"What kind of movie do you want to watch?" Brad asks.

"A funny one, maybe?"

"Funny one it is."

Brad winks and I force a smile before looking back at Peter. His eyes meet mine so I divert my gaze, but I still feel his eyes on me.

"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. Our flight time today will be eight hours and 49 minutes to Venice, Italy."

This is going to be the longest plane ride of my life.