ATLAS 776

15

"Hey! Get back in line!" A woman's shout pierced Victoria's ears. Victoria's state of trance ended, leaving her in an awkward situation. "Sorry! We did not meant to-" Victoria quickly came up with a response. She had accidentally walked into the queue. Victoria quickly stepped back out, embarrassed.

Aiden stepped in, and stared down the woman. "Make us." He said, in a firm tone. Aiden lifted his hands to get Victoria to join back. Victoria looked at Aiden with a guilty face. Kate and Darryl were being quiet, trying their best to avoid getting involved in the conflict. Victoria looked down on the ground, avoiding eye contact with the woman and her husband was being particularly quiet, just observing the event. They proceeded on.

Kate looked at Victoria and smiled. "Hey, cheer up! The queue hadn't formed!" She said, trying to console Victoria. She patted Victoria on her back. "Aiden didn't have to be such a prude..." Darryl added. "Oh come on! I helped you save your crush! A thanks would be good..." Aiden retorted, looking back at Darryl as he walked down towards the airplane. Aiden leaned over to Victoria. "Hey sulky face. What do you get when you cross an atheist and an agnostic?" He posed, smiling cheekily. Kate intruded. "Oh, no. Not that again!" She said, while she rolled her eyes. Victoria looked back at Aiden. "I don't know..." She said.

Aiden took a deep breath. "Gosh, you're not being fun here." Victoria closed here eyes. "Okay, what is it?" She asked, giving Aiden a chance to complete his joke. "Nothing. They both don't believe in crosses!" Aiden laughed. He stopped laughing quickly. "Vic..." He said. Kate walked in between the two. "Oh no no no. I take over from here!" She said, pushing Aiden away with her palm. Darryl thought about the cold joke for awhile, and started to laugh late.

"Good evening, sir. May I take a look at your seat number?" A pretty stewardess in white and blue uniform asked. Aiden perked up. "My seat number? I don't have that! I could give you my phone number though...." He said. Kate slapped his head from the top with a blow from the newspaper. The stewardess smiled.

"I'll sit with Vic. You guys can take the other two seats!" Kate exclaimed, pointing them to the other row of seats. Victoria reached up to the top compartment, and shoved a small bag in. Victoria stopped. "What's the matter?" Kate asked, concerned. "Oh, umm... Nothing." Victoria said as she clsoed her eyes for a brief moment. She opened them and finished up arranging the bag. Victoria lifted the cover and closed the compartment with a click.

A man ran past the aisle, knocking onto Victoria as he ran past her. Victoria caught the cushion in front of her. "Jeez... Don't people have patience and manners anymore?" She let out. Victoria quickly went into the seating row and sat down, allowing the other passengers to move through the aisle easier. Kate slumped her butt down onto the seat beside Victoria with a thud. "Heyo!" She said.

Victoria held her seat belt up in the air. "Isn't that our plane?" She exclaimed as she propelled her body forward in shock while she looked out of the window. Kate was stunned. "Vic... This is our plane..." She said, looking at the window to try to find out what Victoria had seen. Victoria tapped on the glass. "There... Atlas seven seven six! Oh my god!" Victoria shouted. Kate placed her hands on Victoria's mouth to avoid working up a commotion. "Shhh! What's wrong with you? How do you know the plane number anyway! That's just another Atlas plane." Kate spoke softly to Victoria. The two boys were staring at the girls, confused. Victoria pulled Kate's hand away, and gave her the stop hand sign. "I recognize the plane architecture... The seven seven six model of aircraft is new... Our flight is supposed to be its maiden flight. Notice the fuselage. It has a unique architecture. There aren't supposed to be any other Atlas flights operating the seven seven six line of crafts...." Victoria said.

Kate looked Victoria in her eyes for a while. "Are you sure you are okay? Are you sick?" She asked Victoria. Victoria shook her head. "Look, it's probably just a similar airplane. If this was not our flight, the airport would not have let us get on. Okay?" Kate held Victoria's hand. Victoria sat back and closed her eyes. "I'm just over reacting... Okay." She said. Kate smiled. "It's fine. You aren't an aircraft architect's daughter for no reason. Okay miss smartypants, wanna check out what movies we could binge on our twenty four hour air escapade later?" Kate asked, as she pulled the in-flight catalog out of the seat pouch.

"Sure." Victoria replied.