60 Minutes

I pulled my carry on behind me, tugging it free when it got caught on the rows of blue seats. I cursed under my breath when I tripped and nearly fell. Catching myself last second, I breathed a sigh of relief I wasn't currently sprawled in the narrow aisle of the airplane. I quickly made my way to my seat and, after storing my carry-on in the compartment above, plopped down in my seat. There was already a person in the seat next to mine. It was a teenager. Blonde hair that lightly brushed over his eyes. I didn't know to be relieved or disappointed that I was sitting next to someone my age. I guessed he was around seventeen.

"What're you here for?"

I swiveled my head to now look at my neighbor. "What?"

He sighed like he was annoyed at having to repeat himself. "Why are you flying to Sacramento?"

"Oh, band camp at UOP," I replied. After much convincing, I had finally got my Mom to let me go an my own. I would only have to fly from Oregen, about a sixty minute flight, but there was no way she was letting me drive. The boy seemed to accept my answer and leaned back in his blue chair.

"You?" I questioned trying to be friendly. He didn't respond. I shrugged it off and pulled out my i-pod, powering it on and inserting the buds into my ears. About ten minutes went by before the plane started to move. Slowly accelerating, the plane slowly took off into the air. The angle of the take-off pushed me into my seat.

People around the plane started to relax into their seats and settled down for the one hour plane flight. I did the same and leaned my head back into my chair closing my eyes.

A few minutes went by and I felt a light weight fall onto my lap. I opened my eyes to see a crumpled up piece of paper sitting there. I took it gingerly and opened it slowly.

I'm Adrian.

I glanced at my seemingly unresponsive neighbor who was looking at me out of the corner of his eye and a small smile graced his lips. Smiling, I took out a pen and wrote underneath his scrawl.

Michelle.

I tossed the paper lightly back at him after crumbling back it back up. He unfolded it and this time full out smiled. He looked at me and for a moment, we just looked at each other. He had dark blond hair that lightened to a lighter blonde near the tips. He had brown eyes. I guess he was attractive.

He stuck out his hand at me, his arm bent because of the close proximity. I took it and we shook. Over he next twenty minutes we conversed at great length over many topics. It turned out we had a lot in common. In fact we went to the same school, same grade, even several classes together. And we were backyard neighbors. It's strange how two people could have such close lives yet never interact with them. It turned out that Adrian was a bit of a jerk, but he was still funny. I guess he was just guy jerk. In that way that all teen age guys sort of are. We honestly didn't have a ton in common. (This wasn't some fairy tale.) But we had enough that we made easy conversation. We talked for a good twenty minutes.

Over the loudspeaker the pilot made an announcement. "Well folks, we're going to be experiencing a bit of turbulence in a few minutes now so buckle your seatbelts and do not get out of your seat for any reason." there was an undertone of panic in his voice that made me slightly nervous. Suddenly the plane shook and bounced violently. A short scream erupted from myself before I clamped my lip closed. I looked over Adrian to see that outside was pitch black.

A flash of lightning struck the edge of the wing tht was visible and the metal caught fire. The fire slowly creeped it's way up the wing. I was too terified to look away. Adrian looked at me strangely before turning his hed to see what I was looking at. He jumped in his seat. The pilot spoke again. "I'm sorry people. Our right wing has caught fire and that engine is failing. This plane is going down."

Chaos erupted throughout the plane. Shouts of terror ond fear echoed from the people. I started to hyperventilate.

Adrian gripped my shoulders. "Michelle, you need to calm down. You're having a panic attack but you need to slow your breathing down or you're going to pass out. Do you understand me?"

I jerkily nodded my head and tried to control my breathing. After a few moments, I succeeded and I leaned my head back an the headrest. Adrian released me and sat fully in his seat again. I looked down at my hands to see that I was ripping the arm rests so tightly that my entire hand was white. I relaxed my hand  and relesed the rests. The plane starteed to tilt toward the ground and tears leaked out of the corners of my eyes. The plane started to shake from it's descent.

A hand held onto mine and I looked over to see Adrian looking at me with a grave expression on his face. I held tighter on his hand and he responded with a tight squeeze.

"A funeral."

I looked over at Adrian again. "What?"

"Earliar you asked why I was coming to Sacramento. A funeral. Ironic huh? Now people will be coming to ours."

The plane hit the ground.