Proud

Chapter 3

I look to my family and then back to straight in front of me. I look to Finn and Jack and then back in front of me. Everyone seems to be in a state of absolute fear.

The voices around me start to chirp in and out as the lights switch on and off. Everyone clutches on to their oxygen masks with dear life as the plane starts to nose dive into the middle of nowhere.

I look around for help or direction from the flight attendants, but they're all strapped into their own seats looking just as scared as we do.

A sudden drop in the plane only freaks everyone out.

I barely hear the captain make an announcement.

"We... facing... technical difficulties... Please... panic" His voice breaks in and out.

I close my eyes as we continue to drop further and further. Now people can see why I'm fucking scared of heights.

I can feel us going down further but I refuse to open my eyes again. The sight is too frightening. The panic in the room is too contagious and seems to only be making this situation even worse. I can barely hear the surroundings around me. I seem to have finally blocked out the screaming of panicked children. Heck, I've seemed to block out the screaming of panicked adults.

A large bump in the plane makes me move my hands to my ears. I clutch on to them with dear life and just wait. What I wait for I'm not quite sure. Perhaps I await for the moment that I wake up from what I hope is just a nightmare. Perhaps I await the news that it's just been turbulence and now everything is okay.

What I do not expect, however, is to be shaken awake from a gorgeous guy. Large hands shake my shoulders furiously. Suddenly time speeds up to me and I can hear numerous voices shouting 'ANASATACIA' in a panicked voice.

When I slowly open my eyes I'm greeted by the beautiful eyes of an angel. His face seems to be glowing compared to his surroundings. Hell, I barely notice what's around him. It's all just him. Just Finn.

"Anastacia, can you hear me?" He repeats over and over.

When I don't answer, he finally realises that trying to make me talk is useless. I can't talk. No words can form in my mouth.

"Ana, just nod if you can hear me?" He tries. I slowly nod my head as I admire his beauty. The way his face is shaped, the colour of his eyes, his beautiful lips... it's all so perfect.

His face is full of concern and worry as he says, "we need to go Ana. Now. We've hit the ocean and we need to get into the safety boats".

I look at him in confusion. We've landed? I finally take the time to break away from him. My gaze shifts away from his pretty eyes and I look around. The flight is half empty and water is filling up the plane. I move my feet and finally realise that my shoes are absolutely soaked. I quickly turn to look for my family. They are gathering my sister in their arms but they take no notice of me. A sting of rejection hits me.

Tears finally stream down my face as I try and zone out of this situation.

Finn shakes me once again, obviously seeing that he is losing my attention.

"Ana! Now, we have to go!" He demands as he unbuckles my seat belt for me. I shake my head and stand up. I almost fall over but he's one step ahead of me. He catches me before I fall. Finn holds my waist and prompts me to walk. I struggle through the water but Finn never lets me go. I feel lucky to have someone looking after me. It's as if I'm not the only one who is alone.

As I go to exit the plane, I'm helped out by numerous people. I'm that nervous and scared that they practically have to carry me into the safety boat. They throw me in the corner and Finn comes and sits next to me. Last in is Jack. He jumps in eagerly needing no assistance from anyone. And trust, in one of his hands, is a massive ass camera, filming the whole thing.

I seem to be not the only one to notice. A random stranger comments, "Dude, get rid of that camera, it's a waste of space"

Jack is quick to chirp back at him, "If I die, I want people to know my story".

The stranger gives him a dirty look but says no more. Everyone stays quiet for the next few moments. I sigh and go to look at my family, glad that they've finally shut my sister up. It takes me a moment to realise that they aren't on the boat with me.

My heart rate increases rapidly and I totally freak out. If Finn didn't rush to stop me, I would've stood up in the little yellow boat and practically fallen out.

"Where's my family? My mother? My father? My little sister?" I spurt out way too fast. Everyone looks at me in confusion.

Finn starts to use one of his hands to rub up and down my side. His other hand is holding me in place. It is only then that I realise that he has pulled me on top of him to stop me from falling out of the boat.

"It's alright, they're in that little boat there" He says as he points to another boat.

"But - " I start to complain.

He interrupts me calmly, "It's alright, I'll protect you".

I look at him desperately. I'm relieved to find sincerity in his eyes. I can tell that he genuinely means what he says and this calms me down. I nod and just lay back into him.

As the boat goes off, everyone sits in silence. I look around in the ocean for a bit and just pray that someone finds us. As time goes on, everyone gets more agitated. People threatened to commit suicide, claiming that they'd rather be dead than have to live through this. And I understand how they feel. It's complete solidarity. We've lost all the other boats. It's just me, Jack and Finn, and a few other strangers.

This is how my life is going to end. Me, sitting in the lap of a boy who I don't even know. Great. I mean, this is the closest I've ever been to a guy in general. It's sad to think that to get a guys attention I've had to endure through this.

I shake my head at the thought and just whisper, "I don't want to die"

I think that no one hears me but I'm wrong. I hear Finn whisper back in to my ear.

"You're not going to die, you can't think like that" He tries to cheer me up. This only upsets me more.

Tears stream down my face and I turn to face him.

"No, you don't understand! I have so much in life that I'm meant to achieve. So many things that I haven't even done before. I've never travelled the world, I've never had a night out in the town, I've never been married or had kids! There's so many things that I've just never done... Heck, I've never even kissed a boy!" I exclaim extravagantly to prove my point.

He seems surprised by my little outburst.

"You've never been kissed?" He asks me surprised. Shamefully, I look away and nod. My eyes flutter to the ground and I wait for him and the entire boat to laugh at my demise. But it never comes.

I feel a soft finger reach up to my face. It turns mine to face his own. I look into his eyes once again. They're just so beautiful.

He shakes his head and whispers to me, "I hope you can cross this one thing off your list of things to do before you die".

I stare at him confused but then finally understand what he means as his face inches towards mine. The next moment, his soft lips reach mine and we are sharing our first kiss.