Organized Chaos

Chapter 7 The Plane

        I woke up the next morning with faint rays of sunlight streaming in through a window. The bed I was laying on was so soft; I swear I was surrounded by down feathers. As I continued to come to consciousness, the events of the previous day came back to me. I shot up in bed, overwhelmed.

            “Are you serious? Why did I listen to him? Why on earth would I?” Oh great, now I was talking to myself.

            “Olivia, are you okay?” a concerned voice asked me. I turned to see Caleb staring up at me. He was lying on an old sleeping bag and worry filled his eyes. Not wanting to get caught in them, I looked around the room.

            Cobalt blue paint coated the walls. Baseball trophies littered the shelves across the room. Posters of various country artists covered the walls and even ceiling. A bay window looked out over the barn. Clothes and knickknacks were woven throughout the room. It was an organized chaos, something I’d never seen before, but seemed to reflect my life perfectly.

            After I had seen every corner and took in every detail, I forced myself to look back into his ice-like eyes. “What do you think?” he asked me.

            “It definitely depicts your personality as best as anything ever could. But isn’t it a little, I don’t know, cluttered?” My OCD was begging to be let loose on this mess. My hands started twitching and I crossed my arms to hide it.

            “It may be cluttered, but I can find everything easily and every item has a place.” It was an answer only a man would be satisfied with. “Hey, Olivia? Can I ask you something?” Oh God. His tone of voice hinted at something I wasn’t sure I liked.

            “Yeah, Caleb?”

            “What did you think about last night?” And there it is. The one thing I didn’t want to talk about. He’d only flirted with me but, about halfway through the night, I remembered how Zach felt about me and how I felt about him. I didn’t indulge Caleb any further.

            “It was nice.” He’d see right through me. You only say that if you’re trying not to hurt someone’s feelings. “Okay, truth is, there’s someone back home who loves me and I think I love him, too.”

            “Oh. It seems I’ve overstepped my boundaries.” The light in his eyes dulled. “You better pack and get ready. We leave in an hour.” There was no emotion in his voice and he didn’t look at me. I started to speak only to be silenced as he got up and walked out of the room.

            Sighing, I rounded up all my belongings (trust me, it didn’t take long) and trudged out of the room into the kitchen. Homemade breakfast was already on the table. My mouth started watering.

            Just as I reached for the tea, a voice interrupted me. “Honey, you might want to skip breakfast and only drink water. It’s a bumpy flight to Tennessee,” Caleb’s mom cautioned me.

            “Oh. Okay.” The sun was almost entirely up when Caleb came in from outside.

            “Come on. Plane’s gassed and ready. It’s a long flight and I want to get going.” He still wouldn’t look at me.

            “Okay. I’m coming,” I replied.

            “We’re walking to the hangar since it’s just about a mile up the road.”

            “A…mile? Um…okay. If I faint, you have to catch me and then probably perform CPR.” He turned abruptly to me.

            “Olivia, if you can’t walk a mile, are you sure you should be in a plane? Hold on, I’ll call my brother. You see, we have emergency equipment on the plane, but he’s the only one certified on how to use it.”