Breaking out of Area 51

Chapter 13

"Hey Carter", I said as I set my lunch tray down.

"Oh hey Andy! Have you seen Jamie recently?" He responded immediately, shocking me slightly. He's usually scared to talk about him in front of the girls.

"Um, yea I saw him yesterday, why?"

The gleam in his eyes was evident as he spoke. "I was just wondering if you've read any more books?"

I couldn't tell him no after the look he gave me so I tried to scrape through my brain for any details Jamie might have mentioned of other books. And then fill in the details myself.

"He talked about a book called Peter Pan! A boy who stays young forever flies with these kids and takes them to Neverland! It's a magical place where the children don't age and they play through meadows and in trees all day. And they have a small fairy called tinker bell that flutters around. Until pirates come looking for them. One is called Captain Hook because his arm was bitten off by a crocodile!!"

I have no idea how much of that information was actually right and how much I made up but I think the main points were all there.

He looked at me with amazement. "The boys who live forever, can they all fly or only Peter Pan?"

Ok I think this is where I really start making stuff up.

"Of course they can all fly! They're in Neverland with fairies and magic!"

"Wow really?" He sounded so excited so i spent the entirety of lunch answering questions making up more and more of it as I went.

After an exhausting time spent talking non stop about flying boys who eventually find a beach and search for lost treasure with their pet donkey (yea I may have got a bit carried away with the details), it was time to wait for Jamie.

Only when he arrived he looked panicked and couldn't get his words out. It was the worst I'd seen him stutter in a long time.

"T-t-t-t-t-t t-t-t-t", he made a whining noise and kept trying with no luck. "T-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-th-t-t-".

"Hey its ok, just breathe", I tried to reassure whilst reaching out a hand to check for more bruises. "Did they hurt you again?"

He shook his head and closed his eyes taking quick, sharp breaths. Showing no signs of calming down so I reached to pull his hand through the gap and placed it on my chest.

It was awkward due to the small space but eventually we found a comfortable position with the palm of his hand over my beating heart, sending warmth through my T-shirt.

His fingers faced sideways so there was enough room to see his face as he calmed down.

His eyes stayed shut whilst I held his hand to me firmly and I started to see his breathing even out.

I just wanted to ask what was wrong but I'd never get an answer if I didn't wait. The fear in his eyes and him basically having a panic attack meant it had to be bad.

When I thought the time was right, I asked. "What's wrong, Jamie?"

He stuttered again so I gently placed my free hand on his cheek. "Shh, shh its ok, take a breath and then try".

He pulled the air in through his nose and gently let it out through his mouth before slowly speaking. "T-they. A-are. T-talking about. Y-y-you again".

It took a moment for me to realise.

"Oh.." I whispered.

It was almost the exact same thing he'd said the first time he came to my cell but I've had more time than I thought since then.