Chapter One

Head In the Clouds

Bolin leaned his head back against the seat and attempted to focus on the white noise. People jamming too big bags into overhead compartments and annoyed flight attendants forcing cheer into their voice was enough to keep him calm for now. He'd only been flying once before, but that's all he needed to know he didn't like it. He dreaded it. How could a huge junk of metal defy gravity for hours at a time? It didn't make sense to him, even more so whenever they experience turbulence.

Taking a deep breath, Bolin opened his eyes to observe the other passengers on the plane. People watching was one of his favorite past times. He even made up stories for some of the strangers. There was a young mom struggling to hold her toddler while managing her carry on. Bolin pictured the young boy running into his grandma's arms when they landed at the next airport. The middle aged man who was typing, brow furrowed, on a Mac was probably a writer suffering through a mid life crisis. He had published two award-winning novels, but success was lost due to a severe case of writer's block.

Bolin smirked, glad that his game was keeping his mind off of the upcoming flight. He then felt someone tap him on the shoulder.

. . .

"Excuse me, I'm seat 14A," Opal said, gesturing towards the seat next to the young man.

"Oh!" he exclaimed, looking a little caught off guard. He unbuckled his seat belt (why buckle your seat belt when the plane is nowhere near ready to depart? Opal wondered) and hastily stood up.

"Do you need help with your bag?" he asked, wide eyed.

"No, I can handle it. Thanks for the offer though," Opal replied, shoving her bag into the overhead compartment.

She slid past him to her window seat. Opal greatly preferred the window seat whenever she flew, which was often. It was wondrous to see the world from thousands of miles above the ground!

The young man sat back down and quickly re-buckled his seat belt. Opal got a sideways glance of her trip buddy. He had jet-black hair, similar to her own, and it was messed up in the back. She couldn't tell if this was intentional or not, but it suited him well. He was dressed simply in jeans, a green sweatshirt and a black leather jacket thrown over it. What really caught her interest were his eyes. They were the deepest green, brought out amazingly by the green of his sweatshirt. She had never seen such brilliant eyes before.

During her note taking, it also finally clicked why he was such a stickler about his seat belt. Opal had flown enough to notice the signs of a passenger who was afraid of flying. By the looks of it, afraid was an understatement for this guy.

…

Bolin discreetly wiped his sweaty palms on his pants, not sure if it was because of the flight anymore or the girl sitting next to him. She had emerald eyes and smelled intoxicatingly of flowers. Spirits was she pretty. She also seemed unconcerned about that fact that she was about to fly at an alarming rate far above ground where they would surely die if the plane crashed. In fact, she looked pleased about it.

Maybe this is the type of distraction I need Bolin thought.

"What's your name?" Bolin asked.

"Opal," she said smiling.

"Wow that's a beautiful name!" Bolin blurted out. Dang it Bolin, he secretly scolded himself. He was normally a smooth operator.

"Th-thank you," Opal replied. Bolin caught the blush that spread over her cheeks. A bronze finger tucked some midnight dark hair behind her ear. "What's your name?"

"Bolin"

"Well it's nice to meet you, is this your first time flying?"

"Unfortunately, no," Bolin frowned.

"Why unfortunately?" Opal asked.

"Well, my first time I was excited. We encountered some rough air and, I don't know. After that, I've always been nervous to fly," Bolin explained. The first rule of flirting was to impress the girl, and Bolin was pretty sure that spilling his phobia wasn't impressive. However, her sincerity melted any front he could have constructed.

"Ah, turbulence isn't my idea of a fun time either," Opal agreed. "I got used to it, but I always bring books for comfort."

Bolin had seen the book in her lap, but know he noticed the three other novels that were in the seat pocket in front of her.

"Maybe I'll try that next time, my brother loves reading so I'm sure he'd be ecstatic if I asked to borrow some books," Bolin said.

He'd been so invested in her that Bolin didn't realize that the pilot had notified everyone it was time for departure. The movement of the plane startled Bolin, but he buried that down real quick. No way was he going to be a shaking mess in front of her. He reminded himself to take steady breaths and held onto the armrest.

…

Brother? Opal bit her lip to hide her grin. Family was an easy topic for her to converse about.

"You have a brother? Older or younger?" she inquired.

"Yeah, Mako, my only sibling. He's older by a couple years. He's the reason I'm flying out. He's a cop so I have to go to his place for the holidays in case they need him," Bolin said.

Opal was a little surprised that he was the younger one, maybe because she was using his psychical size to make that judgment. It was hard for her to imagine him the little one when he was built like a brick house. Although, Bolin did seem easy going and it was usually the older siblings that were a little more rigid. At least that's how it was in her family. That's when it clicked for Opal.

"Wait, he's a cop? My aunt Lin is the chief of police," Opal said.

"Lin's you aunt?!," Bolin's eyebrows shot up so high that his forehead crinkled. "Wow, I guess I didn't peg her having much of a family. She doesn't talk about it- I mean, oh gosh I didn't mean that in a bad way. She's just a private person," Bolin stumbled through. It was his turn to blush furiously now.

Just then, Opal felt the force of take off push her further into her seat. Bolin's face went pale, his knuckles also going white as his hand latched tighter onto the armrest. This was all so very endearing and strange to Opal. Here was this guy, big enough to probably push this plane, and he had the demeanor of a little kid. He was like a character from one of her books, but real. Opal was starting to like real.

Whoa girl, slow down Opal mentally lectured herself. Once the plane had reached the intended altitude, she saw Bolin's muscles relaxing, but only barely. She wanted to take his mind off of the prospect of crashing.

…

Why don't you put your other foot in your mouth while you're at it Bolin scolded himself. She was the only thing that could hold his attention long enough for him not to picture the plane spiraling down to the solid ground. He needed to be careful not to turn her off. She didn't look offended though; she looked down at her lap solemnly.

"No you're right. Aunt Lin isn't a family person, which is ironic considering how large our family is," Opal said.

Bolin watched a wistful expression play out on her face. How terrible would that be? Having a family member you wanted around who chose not to be. Bolin might only have Mako, but they were close. Considering he was the one who brought up the sore subject, he thought it would be best to be the one to redirect it.

"She seems to be married to her job. I guess that's good considering her job does involve protecting people and keeping crime on the low but that would be hard to not see her often. So exactly how many siblings do you have?"

"Four. I'm the only girl," Opal said.

"Four? Wow, holidays must be something," Bolin's voice upbeat.

"Mmhmm, they're something," Opal replied. He could tell that her meaning of "something" was different than his "something". Even though Bolin was more than content to have Mako, he'd dream of having a big family. Holidays would be the type he'd seen on the commercials. There would be hugs galore. They'd catch up, tell jokes, play pai show, and the meal would serve more than two.

Bolin pondered whether he should press the issue Opal was hiding, but the plane shook fiercely, rattling his thoughts. The food he'd eaten for lunch churned in his stomach. This plane couldn't land fast enough.

…

Opal was rescued from the dreadful thinking about another holiday with her no show aunt by the rough air. The jostling was no doubt the reason behind Bolin's current state. His face had turned a nasty shade, and Opal feared that he wasn't going to make it until touch down. She wished she had put some pills in her bag, anything to curb his sensitively.

She was caught between wanting the plane to hurry up and land so that Bolin would be relieved of his fear, but she also desperately desired to keep talking to him. The guys she'd had the displeasure of having a "conversation" with either tried too hard or were fake enough to leave a stale taste in her mouth. Opal enjoyed nothing more than when someone would cut the crap and be themselves. Bolin came off true, and the way he handled the topic of her aunt brought out a down-to-earth nature.

Sympathy flooded Opal when she saw that Bolin had now leaned his head back, eyes closed, and the slight tremor of his hands. Opal was confident, but boldness didn't move her hand to cover his, despite her care to. Whether he was easy to talk to or not, she was acutely aware that she had unnecessarily discussed subjects that were private. For spirit's sake, she'd just met him! Yet, she couldn't reduce the yearning to keep talking to him. That's when Opal developed a plan. She dug into the seat pocket, found one of her favorite adventure novels, and carefully placed it on his lap.

…

Bolin dared not open his eyes. The colors that danced on the back of his closed lids were intense enough. The bright lights that illuminated the cabin would put him over the edge. The sounds of people chattering sounded muffled. Like he was submerged in water. He despised the fact that his pointless fear of flying was interrupting the conversation with Opal. Bolin figured it would be better if he altogether stopped talking than attempt to. With his luck, his digested lunch would come out instead of words. Not the best way to make a good impression on a girl.

Feeling a soft pressure on his left leg, he cracked an eye open to see a red bound book had appeared on his lap. Opal. Her kind-heartedness had known that reading was an appropriate past time for him, rather than continue their discussion.

Bolin slowly straightened himself up and took up the book in his hands. The golden letters that were supposed to be the title were worn to the point that it was unreadable. He flipped it open to see what the title page said, but someone had scribbled over it.

"My dad gives me a book every now and then without a cover or title. That way I can't judge what it's going to be about," Opal explained, noticing Bolin's puzzlement.

Bolin nodded in response, and opened to chapter one.

…

Opal was able to devote attention to her book now, but she'd sneak a peek at Bolin once in a while. She was giddy to find that he was engrossed in her book. It was peaceful. Even though they weren't speaking, just his presence as they read warmed her insides. And when he realizes he won't have it finished by the time we land, he'll ask to borrow it. Which will lead to him having to return it, resulting in a meet up.

Just as she'd suspected, the pilot announced that they would be arriving soon. Bolin's bottom lip stuck out in a pout. Opal bit her lip again to halt from grinning at her minor genius plan.

The touch down went seamless, and the passengers were soon hustling about to secure their carry-ons. It was like an unspoken race to see who could get off the plane first. The reward being either loved ones waiting at the gates or the freedom of being in a new city.

"Hey, thanks for the book! I had no clue a story this epic even existed, but I'm sure glad I know now," awe in Bolin's voice.

"No problem, it's one of my favorites," Opal replied.

"Well, here you go then," Bolin said holding out the novel for Opal to take.

I should have known. A plan like that would only happen in a story Opal thought disappointedly. Then again, she'd read plenty of tales of how the heroine took fate into her own hands.

"You know, if you like it that much, and since we'll be in the same city, you can borrow it," Opal offered, praying he'd take the bait.

"Oh you would let me do that? I'll take good care of it! Mako will be through the roof that we'll be able to talk about a book. Thanks Opal, that's really nice of you!"

"No problem, I'll just get it from you when you're finished."

"Awesome, here let me get your number!"

Opal did a private victory dance in her head as he pulled out his cell phone. She remained collected as she gave him her seven digits, and he flashed a big smile.

"Well I ought to get going, my family's waiting to pick me up," Opal said. "Enjoy the rest of the book!"

"Will do! Happy holidays!" Bolin replied, nestling the book carefully into his duffel bag.

With a thank you to the stewardess, Opal parted ways from Bolin. She'd never been more thankful for a book in her life.

…

Bolin nodded to the pilot as he exited the plane. Normally he'd make a snide remark about the turbulence but not this time. It had been the best flight he'd ever had. I need to finish this book, and fast he thought as he saw Mako waving from the baggage claim.