Missing Streams

Quite the Flight - 3

Before I knew it, Scarlet was walking in the same direction I had caught her heading in when I ran her over. She waved a goodbye to Simon and I as she left, and I found myself wishing she had stayed longer. I watched her pale blue eyes blink at me, accompanied with a slight smile as she went.

"Hey, wanna get something to eat?" Simon looked around us, presumably for somewhere to buy food, "I doubt you've eaten yet."

"I have, don't worry." I shrugged off the thought, ultimately not hungry despite the way my stomach growled. Probably just nervous about my flight and didn't have an appetite.

Simon ended up buying some sort of cheap breakfast wrap, but he claimed he was hungry enough he didn't care. I could feel my skin itching as I wondered what disgusting processed cheese the wrap held, but tried my best to ignore it.

Pretty soon we were boarding our flight, and we argued about who would get the window seat.

"C'mon, you're just gonna fall asleep." I rolled my eyes, "I'm gonna be bored as shit."

"Then you should give me the window seat so I can lean against the wall!"

We bickered for a few minutes and I eventually caved, figuring Simon could have the window if it would stop him from bitching me out. I sat down, hoping to get a little better at Tetris by the time the flight was over.

***

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Were the delicate words that awoke me from my slumber. Immediately forgetting where I was, I thought of how to defend myself before I even opened my eyes. When I did open my eyes, I was lost for words.

Scarlet was standing in front of me, looking annoyed as she stared at me. I looked over to see Simon just as confused as I was, and I scratched at my brain for something to say. I must have sounded incredibly stupid as I managed to say, "Uh, I don't know."

Narrowing her eyes, Scarlet must have thought I was high, "So you're just on a plane for no reason?"

Taking a moment to think, I remembered where we were. In the midst of trying to think of something to say, Simon butted in before I could make even more of a fool out of myself, "We're going to some correctional facility or whatever because we smoked weed."

"Good job." She laughed, looking less annoyed, "That explains why we're on the same plane. We'll catch up later, right now I need to find someone that'll give me booze."

Scarlet walked away, and I realized she probably wouldn't explain herself too soon. Ignoring the fact that she'd probably have trouble getting booze, I turned to Simon in search of answers. He looked just as confused as I felt, and I decided not to bother opening my mouth. As a result, we both sat in an awkward silence as we waited for Scarlet to come and explain herself.

A few minutes passed before she returned, now holding a plastic cup. She didn't say anything as she drank it, looking at us like we were up for interrogation and she was the officer.

"So, you guys got busted for smoking weed." It was a statement, but it felt like a question I had to answer.

"Growing it too." I shrugged, suddenly feeling like a little kid trying to show he was cool, "Why do you care?"

A smirk flashed across her face before she dropped it, apparently focused on being intimidating. She didn't have to try. She didn't sit down as she spoke, swirling the liquid in her cup as she mused over what I had said. Once she had digested the words, her own seemed rather constructed, "So you guys got shipped off to this correctional facility for, let me guess, a year?"

"Yeah." Simon stated simply, never one to ask questions.

"Why would you know?" I studied her, looking rather relaxed considering her indifferent tone.

"Because it's where I'm going." She took a deep breath as she sipped her drink, reminding me of a James Bond villain confessing their plan, "What is it... Oh yeah, The Correctional Facility for Youth and Young Adults. Am I right?"

"Yeah." I mumbled, just to see Scarlet immediately drop the demeanor. She fell into the seat beside me, laughing as she tried not to drop her drink.

"Christ, you two looked like you'd piss your pants." She covered her mouth in an attempt to stop laughing, but she waited long enough to speak that I could get a few words in.

"So you're going to that thing too?" I was suddenly relieved, but didn't get my hopes up, "Like the same facility or something different?"

"Nah, same place." Scarlet shrugged as she took a long sip, coming close to emptying her cup, "They deal with guys and gals together. Guess they don't care if anyone gets knocked up."

Simon blushed at the mention of the subject, and while I was happy Simon was right about telling me that before, I left it be as I continued speaking, "So we're going to the same place then?"

"Yeah, I've done my research on the place too. There isn't much online, but I did what I could. We'll probably get grouped together to sleep in the same place, going to classes and shit. Like I said, there isn't much info to get." She downed her drink, carelessly dropping the empty cup on the floor, "I guess we'll be there before long, huh? This'll be a lot more fun with a buzz." Scarlet laughed again before standing up and stretching her arms, "Well, I need to get back to my seat. Meet you guys later."

She walked away seemingly without a care in the world, leaving Simon and I to wait out the rest of the flight. It was then I noticed the plane looked and sounded rather empty, but I figured we were simply the last ones who would be getting off the plane. I wanted to check how much longer the flight would be, but couldn't bring myself to bother doing it.

***

Scarlet didn't make a reappearance until she showed up to wake me up again. Simon was indifferent, looking out the window as Scarlet looked at me from over the seat in front of me.

"I'm bored." She complained, her chin resting on her folded arms. I wondered how desperate she was to be entertained that she came to me. I also wondered how much the stewardess didn't give a shit.

"Do something." I shrugged, watching Scarlet roll her eyes. I found myself grinning at the fact that her eyebrow piercing moved every time she rolled her eyes, and my grin annoyed her.

"There's nothing to do. My Gameboy is dead, and unlike this bookworm I don't have anything to read." She nodded to Simon, looking at me expectantly.

"Okay, uh, you can use mine." I reached to grab mine and by the time I looked up again, Scarlet was sitting next to me.

"What'cha got?" She leaned over, looking at the small bag I had with it.

"Tetris, uh, Dr Mario, and some Pokémon. Go crazy." I handed it to her, wondering if she'd leave me alone.

"Sweet! You've got Silver? I have Gold, Totodile is my favourite starter! You know I heard..." Her voice faded into the background as I allowed myself to fall asleep again.

***

Waking up again, I was ready to ask Scarlet why she was bothering me. Instead Simon was the one shaking me awake, and Scarlet was nowhere to be seen. I opened my mouth to ask what time it was, but Simon answered me before I had to ask.

"Time to get off the plane, buddy. We're here." He forced a smile, obviously distressed, "Scarlet beat us to the punch and she's already gone."

Briefly worried she was dead or something, my sleepy thoughts were interrupted by her voice, "Hey losers, get out here! We're waiting on you!" I looked at Simon, and he simply shrugged as he stood up. We got off the plane, any staff we saw clearly not giving a shit about us. One stewardess honoured us with a single glance before we left, probably just to make sure we weren't stealing anything.

Once outside, I raised my hand to block the sun from assaulting my eyes. Scarlet stood on the small runway, impatiently waiting as she rolled her eyes.

"You two took long enough."