Road-Trippers

Eleven: I Ran (So Far Away)

"Honey-roasted peanuts or salted?"

Levi opens both packs, pouring them into a complimentary water cup, the beverage resonating in his stomach.

I tap the tips of my fingers against my lips and sigh, exhausted. "I can't decide. Both?" He nods with a grin of approval and hands me a handful of a combination of the two. As he's reaching over, however, he grabs my hand.

"Dude, are you doing math homework or something?" He lets go of my hand, allowing me to drop a quarter of the peanuts down my throat.

Using a pen I found in Emmett's bag, I had calculated the hours on the back of my hand, bumpy from the bones and the turbulence. Now gliding smoothly in the moonlight, I have no choice but to worry.

"No." I pull my hand back into my jacket sleeve, peering out the window adjacent to me. "I'm trying to figure out if we're busted, yet." Levi playfully punches me in the arm, yet it hurts. A sharp inhale reminds me that airplanes kind of smell like a mixture of latex and peanuts. It's kind of gross.

"We aren't busted, Joey." Our two-person row is pretty tight, so it's hard to look back at Emmett and Antione.

Withal, I can look over at Lucy, sitting in her row with a total stranger- some guy who looks like a boat captain with long, snowy hair. I can tell she's uncomfortable, so I tap Levi on the shoulder and whisper, "do you wanna go sit next to Lucy?"

He bites his thumb lightly and replies, "ah... I don't know."

"Oh, come on! You talking to me about peanuts is boring for the both of us!" He shrugs, but agrees, standing up with his carry-on and walking across the aisle, catching Lucy's attention. She accidentally unplugs her headphones, sending a wave of guitar across the airplane's back. Plugging them back in, she looks up at Levi with a grin.

"Sir, would you like to switch seats?" asks Levi, hands on his knees. The man tiredly glances up at him from his Kindle and stands up, plopping down next to me. He kind of smells like fire, so I turn away, wrapping my entire body into a ball like a little kid.

Halting my childlike behavior, I take a glance back at Levi and Lucy, who are now deep in conversation. I smile and look over at the old man, trying to appear lively, although I'm very much sleep-deprived and stressed.

"Hi, I'm Joey." We shake hands only after he lets out a fortuitous hack. Smoke rises from his oral cavity, leading me to cough as well. Waving my now-released hand in front of my face, I sniff the air and just barely avoid a migraine.

"Chester."

"Chester," I repeat, leaning back in the tiny Air-Force blue set cushions. "Cool name."

"No it isn't." I let out an airy giggle and peek out the window, not expecting him to say anything else. "Where are you headed?" I look back and yawn.

"California. That's where the plane is headed, y'know?"

"What do I know?" he laughs, sneaking a cigarette out of his pocket. I sigh as a flight attendant comes by him and snatches the stick from his fingers. She's tall with a long nose and strawberry-blonde hair tied up in a clean bun.

"No smoking on the plane, sir."

"Sorry, m'am," replies Chester, a smug expression plastered upon his wrinkled face. The next thing that happens shocks me. That old man throws the cigarette onto the plane's carpet, starting a little spark. He begins the chuckle and the flight attendant begins to scream.

I press myself as close to the window as possible, trying not to be engulfed in the little flame Chester has created. I look up at Lucy and Levi, the flames reflecting in both their eyes. Levi gets up courageously and pushes aside the flight attendant, stomping on the fire as quickly as he can. Chester sighs. His moment of fun is over.

A beeping sensation that only rang out for a second stops, creating a cloud of utter silence amongst a bit of confused yelling from the back. Levi lifts his Vans one by one, checking if the rubber soles are still in contact. When he finds out that no damage has been done, he awkwardly bows, sitting back next to Lucy. Emmett and Antione stand up simultaneously, clapping loudly and slowly. The whole cabin follows with claps and cheers for Levi, leaving my (the secondary-hero of the story, I guess) nearly drowsing off.

The smell of the smoke makes me fall into a light sleep.

Alice walks into the house, holding a new model of a smooth prototype of a plate under her arm, along with a complimentary rubber house plant. She stops at the kitchen and looks around. "Phil?"

"Yeah?" He drops his cardboard box overflowing with napkins and supple packing peanuts, letting its contents overflow. "Are you happy to be home?"

"No... it's just, was Joey's car in the garage?"

Phil walks back over into where my car normally lies and gapes. Turning back to Alice, he shouts, "where did that little idiot go?"

"Joey!" calls out Alice, stomping into my bedroom. My room is empty, and my sunglasses are gone from my nightstand. She looks directly at me, who must be a ghost or something and starts yelling:

"Wake up! Wake up!"

"Oh my god!"

Levi is rocking my awake, hands gripped on my shoulders, trying to support my weight. When he hears my call, he stops and points to the nearly personless cabin of the plane. Lucy rocks back and forth, desperately biting her fingernails into nubs. Emmett plays nervously with the Rubix cube he snuck on the plane, and Antione sits there silently behind me.

"C'mon, Joe. Your parents are coming home, I repeat: your parents are coming home."

I run to the door, heart beating faster than it took for Levi to put out the fire.