YOU & ME | JENLISA

Chapter 91

Jennie

"I hate flying." I held Rosé's hand during take-off, she squeezed into my flesh and I bit into my lip to stop myself from saying ouch. "It's why I made us get the fire-exit seats. I swear to god Jen, if this plane is going down I'm gonna be the first one out that door and I'll leave the rest of you behind."

"Charming." I muttered.

Principal Yang sat across the row beside us, she complained the whole time the fasten seat belt sign was switched on that she needed to use the bathroom. The way her knee bobbed up and down drove me crazy but I shoved in my ear phone and scrolled through the in-flight entertainment screen.

Finally, after about an hour she was allowed to get up and use the restroom. Rosé leaned over and grabbed her clipboard, looking at it with great detail. I clicked on the 'Lion King' and the opening sequence started rolling in when Rosé nudged me with her elbow.

"What?" I asked, pulling one earphone out.

"It's the room chart. Guess who you're sharing with."

I rolled my eyes, knowing straight away it wasn't going to be someone I wanted to share the room with.

"Krystal." She smiled.

"That's going to be hell." She laughed. "Who are you with?"

"Sarah Lee." She shrugged. "Could be worse, I guess. I mean, I could've gotten Krystal."

I groaned in dismay. "Fuck, she is going to keep me up all night performing dance acrobatics."

Rosé laughed some more.

"It's not funny! I'm gonna use the toilet before I properly start this movie."

"Okay but don't flush while you're sitting on the seat because you'll get sucked in and it's impossible to remove you. Air pressure or some shit." I laughed at her epic trust in myths and made my way down the cramped cabin. As I walked past the back row my eyes locked onto Lisa's and it took me a flicker of a moment to process that she was actually here. She smiled awkwardly at me and then lowered her head, blushing. My attention fell down to her hands, they were cuffed to the chair, mid-flight.

"What the hell is this?" I demanded, causing both Lisa and her seat companion to look up at me. She was seated with an air marshal, who had clearly let the power go to his head. "Un-cuff her, Marshal." I remarked sternly.

"Excuse me miss, mind your own business and return to your seat."

Principal Yang was returning from the toilets and stopped by me. "Jen, is there a problem?" She asked in that teacher-like voice which told me she wasn't going to side with me on this at all.

"Hell yeah, there's a problem. This marshal has her cuffed mid-flight."

Principal Yang sighed. "Jen, he is doing his job. Return to your seat and stop causing a commotion." I didn't move, I stood in the aisle, blocking the path for Principal Yang to return to her own seat.

"Respectfully, I'm asking you to remove her cuffs." I spoke directly to the air marshal.

"Jen, return to your seat." The principal repeated, speaking now with a more threatening tone.

"Are you even letting her use the toilet?"

Lisa lowered her head again, blushing pink. Okay, I know I was causing a scene. Drawing attention to her and her crimes, the whole school was watching but this air marshal was out of order. If the plane needed to perform an emergency landing, Lisa needed her hands free to equip her mask and life jacket. She's not allowed to be cuffed mid-flight, criminal or not. Take off, yes. Landing, also yes. But during the flight, no at all.

"She cannot exit the aircraft, she is not a threat to anyone, she has not shown violent or untoward behaviour since boarding the aircraft. You are breaching her human rights and you are risking her safety on board. I'll only ask you one more time marshal, remove the handcuffs."

He had a pointy face, his chin naturally stuck out further than all of his other features. His nose was very triangular, his hair was a sharp buzz cut and he wasn't pulling it off well at all. I hated him, he had a snarky attitude like he fully believed he was better than everybody else. The way he spoke was smug and condescending.

"Excuse me ma'am." He spoke to my principal. "I am under strict order to provide constant observation and caution around Ms Manoban, lawfully. This child is a wanted criminal, my job here is to keep everybody onboard safe. Please keep your students in line or I might be forced into making an arrest onboard."

"Jen, return to your seat." Principal Yang ordered again, a little embarrassed that she just got reprimanded by the all-mighty air marshal.

"Jennie, it's okay. Go sit down." Lisa spoke calmly.

I ignored them both.

"What did you just say?" I asked the air marshal.

"I will place you under arrest and have you flown back home the second we land."

I laughed sardonically. "Under what grounds?"

"For disrupting the work of a law enforcement officer. For the last time, return to your seat Miss."

I chewed into my lip. Everyone was standing up over their seats, crowding around to see what was going. I could hear whispers around the cabin.

"Listen to me, Mr law enforcement officer. Clearly you need to brush up on your law knowledge. You cannot keep her handcuffed mid-flight and if you continue to keep those things on her, the second I get off this plane, I will call my father who is the sheriff of our county and make sure your ass is reprimanded for the mistreatment of your client, who by the way is a minor travelling without a parent. Her guardianship falls to our teachers, and that's you Principal Yang. Subsequently, you're aware that the air marshal is mistreating her and you're allowing it to continue anyway. That makes you liable as well, and I'm pretty sure that Lisa can take the claims of neglect and mistreatment from you both, along with the three hundred witness statements of every person on this aircraft and sue both of your asses. So, what's it gonna be guys?" I looked at them both. "Handcuffs or compensation?"

He paled and his smile dropped.

"You better take the handcuffs off." Principal Yang spoke quietly.

"You're the sheriff's daughter?" The air marshal asked.

"The one and only." I smirked at him.