Jammed (Camren)

Tuscon & New York

"We. Are. Going. To. Die!", Camila declared as her entire body vibrated, along with her voice. Her hands were threaded through the webbing that made up the sides of the jump seat and she was holding on so tightly that the blood had drained out of her fingers, turning her knuckles white.

"Calm down, Camila. There's no need to panic", Lauren said through her own clenched teeth.

"Our bones are being shaken apart, you idiot. THIS IS THE PERFECT TIME TO PANIC!"

"B-but, Camila... this is just take off, so panicking this early is really pointless." Lauren spoke clearly and calmly, as clearly and calmly as a person could speak when it felt like the fillings in her mouth were about to shake loose.

Camila glared over at her. "I can't believe you got me into this mess."

Lauren raised her eyebrows in surprise, but chose to make no comment and decided her best course of action was to just ignore her, for the rest of this trip, if necessary.

The vibrations grew in direct proportion to the growl of the engines as the plane accelerated down the runway. Just when Lauren thought she would start panicking, the plane lifted off the ground with a deafening roar. After they reached the aircraft's cruising altitude, the shaking lessened, but the cargo area where they were sitting was still much louder than a commercial flight. Lauren found that the rattle and ambient noise of the plane had a lulling affect on him and she quickly closed her eyes and drifted off into a fitful sleep.

Unfortunately, at about the time the vibrations stopped, the cabin started to cool off ... very quickly. Within minutes of leveling off, Camila's teeth started chattering. Now she realized why both of the FedEx guys had commented that she would be cold. As stylish and eye-catching as her designer outfit was, Camila had to admit that a mid-riff Lycra t-shirt and a mini-skirt didn't have nearly enough material to keep her warm. Glancing over at Lauren, she saw that she was asleep, so with an annoyed eye roll, she reached into her shoulderbag and pulled out her iPhone. No service, figures, Camila lamented to herself while flipping through her songlist, trying to find something that sounded warm.

Lauren woke up about an hour later when a chill ran through her. She rolled down her long sleeves and buttoned her cuffs. Then, she heard a strange noise on her right and looked over to find Camila chattering like a wind-up Happy Meal toy.

"You okay?", she asked as she tentatively reached over and touched her arm. Immediately, her face registered surprise. "You're freezing, Camila!"

"T-tell m-me s-s-something I don't know, J-Jauregui."

Ignoring her sarcastic comment, Lauren opened up her duffle bag and pulled out her white and blue Palmetto High School hoodie. Then, she unbuckled her seatbelt and knelt in front of her.

"Here, we need to get you warmed up. Put your arms in here", she offered while helping her stiff arms into the way-too-big fleece jacket. She quickly zipped it up and Camila immediately tucked her knees up and pulled it over her legs and locked her arms around her knees.

"Thanks", she mumbled, quietly.

"No prob; you should start to feel better in a minute. Your skin is like ice. You should have woke me up."

Another eye roll.

"What?", Lauren asked incredulously.

"I didn't think you would care", Camila bit out through her still-shivering teeth.

"Why would you say that?", she asked, honestly, as she reached over and touched her hand.

"Jeez, Camz. You're not getting any warmer. Come 'ere."