Disclaimer- Okay, I'm too lazy to do one of these in every chapter, but I needed to say in this one that believe it or not, I did not make up "Chelsea Plasticware." I saw it at the airport last time I flew…so I need to disclaim it. Heh.
Charlie's POV-
Connie slept the whole ride to the airport. Granted, I wasn't complaining or anything; it was comfortable enough.
We drag all of our luggage through the last of the seemingly-endless check points in which we were constantly checked for drugs and dangerous things like pocket knives and toenail clippers. Connie's older brother Taylor and I have both been checked, and they confiscated his drink from the food court when we walked into the plane area. He wasn't too pleased. Alex, Connie's step-brother, found it pretty amusing. He had insisted it would happen, but Tay wouldn't believe it. Four dollars and fifty-five cents down the drain.
I paced back and forth a little as we waited in the designated area, surrounded by our fellow Hawaii-bound passengers…or they would be once we got on the plane, I guess. Whatever. Close enough.
"Could you cut that out? You're making me dizzy," Connie said with a chuckle, snapping me out of my distracting pacing.
"Heh, sorry."
"Now boarding for O'ahu…" The mechanical voice barely filters through the animated crowd.
"That's us. Come on," Mr. Moreau says, standing up to lead the way for us. I wait for Connie as she grabs her carry-on and finds her place next to me.
Within minutes, we're seated on the plane and waiting for further instruction as if strapping on the seatbelt when the light came on and refraining from smoking on the plane isn't obvious at all. But with some people, I guess you just never know.
I somehow ended up with the window seat, though the eighteen-wheeler with "Chelsea Plasticware" and a giant picture of a plastic fork slapped on the side is hardly captivating scenery.
My runway-gazing is interrupted as the inevitable "please buckle your seatbelts, put your tray table up, and put your seat up in the full upright position" pre-flight speech begins. I glance at Connie sitting next to me and notice she's chewing her lip a little. I chuckle at the obsessive tap of her foot, knowing the reality has pretty much jolted her awake.
"Excited?" I ask her.
She snoots me a smile and nods a little. When I tip my head at her foot, she glances at it and instantly turns red, ceasing the steady tap, tap, tap. "Sorry," she says, biting her lip with a grin. "Just ready to be there."
I chuckle a little, and the plane jolts to a start, making the idea of Hawaii finally become the reality of Hawaii.
Once the turbulence calms, the ride smooths and those orange seatbelt lights switch off.
I stare out the window and watch the city shrink until it's difficult to distinguish the details. It's really pretty fascinating, considering we have a thirteen hour trip, and soon enough there will be nothing but ocean water to stare at.
I feel Connie's knee press against mine, snapping my attention to my left where she's sitting. She points to the stewardess, who then asks if I'd like a drink or some peanuts.
"I'll have a Dr. Pepper," I say.
"Weirdo," Connie says into her can of grape soda.
"Weirdo? You're the weirdo, with your grape soda," I tease, sticking out my tongue and taking my drink from the stewardess.
She smiles sweetly and holds out her small package of peanuts. "Want one?"
"Shut up," I say with a laugh, swatting her shoulder and making her curl up a little with a giggle.
She looks up at me with big doe eyes, containing herself and feigning innocence. "Whatever do you mean, Charlie? Do you not like peanuts?" she says as another small giggle escapes.
"You've nearly killed me once already in my life; need you do it again?" I say as I flick the side of her head.
She squeaks and pulls her legs up against her chest. "I was six! It was an honest mistake! I didn't mean for them to be nut-infested death brownies." She sticks out her tongue and scrunches her face at me.
"We all know you were just trying to kill me. Don't try to act all innocent."
"Fine, fine, it's true! You stole my blue marker in class that Tuesday, and I was just consumed with rage. I knew I had to take you out," she says melodramatically, throwing herself back against the seat and flinging her arm to her forehead.
"Finally, after nine long years, the culprit admits to her crime," I say as seriously as I possibly can, causing us both to burst into laughter.
"Both of you, quiet down a bit and quit disturbing the other passengers," Mr. Moreau says in between his engaging conversation with Connie's step mom Sheryl.
"Yes, children, grow up," Taylor says with a joking taunt in his voice from the seat in front of us.
"Shut up, Tay," Connie says, making a face before turning back to me. "I suppose I'll refrain from killing you today. I'd hate to get bored in Hawaii, after all."
"I'm a bundle of excitement. You would definitely miss me," I say, winking at her and nudging her with my elbow.
She laughs and nudges me back. "You wish. I'm only using you so I won't have to walk around with Tay or Shawn or something," she says, winking back playfully.
"That hurts. I don't like you anymore," I say, turning away to look out the window and sticking my nose up in the air poshly.
"My, aren't we snobby?" she says with a small smirk.
"Don't talk to me."
"Please, don't rob me of such a joy."
"Sorry, but I have to. You deserve to suffer. You don't get to come to my birthday party now."
It's taking a lot of effort to keep my face straight; luckily it's a skill that we can summon at will at this point.
She grabs my upper arm, sticking her pouting face up near mine. "Nooo! Anything but that. Please don't exile me."
"Nope, you've been voted off the island," I say with a nod, ignoring her pout.
"We're on a plane, genius. We won't be on any islands for at least thirteen more hours," she says with a teasing grin.
"Oh, hush you," I say, trying not to laugh. "Once we land, you are so voted off."
"You can't do that!" She sticks out her tongue and crosses her eyes.
"That's attractive," I say with a chuckle.
"I know," she says, batting her eyelashes and keeping her eyes crossed. A few seconds pass before she jolts a little and uncrosses her eyes. "Wait, that's my line, you butt!" she exclaims, feigning horror and whacking me on the arm.
"Oh, my bad. Didn't mean to steal your line." I grin.
She scrunches her face. "You thief!"
"What're you gonna do about it?" I ask, sticking out my tongue.
"Hrmph. Just give me time," she says, resting her head on my shoulder with a small yawn. "I'll get you back when you least expect it."
I could practically see the energy start to drain from her as she yawned again. The more I watched her yawning, the sleepier I became myself. It's always said that yawns are contagious, and I believe it to be true.
"I'll be ready. You're on, Moreau," I say, a small yawn escaping despite my efforts to repress it.
"I say it's naptime. We've got thirteen hours to kill, afterall. I don't think we'll miss anything."
I nod, feeling the exhaustion prior to getting on the plane return. I just wasn't cut out for mornings.
She snuggles against my arm, gently shutting her eyes. I can smell her shampoo. I'm not sure of what the exact scent is, but I know it's one of those tropical fruit type smells. Probably Herbal Essences, if I'm remembering her shampoo choice correctly. Why exactly I know that, I'm not sure.
I'm not sure how long I sat there before drifting off to sleep, but our little naps knocked out several hours of the longwinded trip. The rest of the hours filled with card games, CD player-snatching, and the playful arguing we had adopted over the years. For awhile we even got to watch Taylor hit on the young, blonde stewardess. He, Connie, and I adopted her as our stewardess after that. Whenever she would walk down our aisle, we would all greet her. It made the thirteen hour flight at least a little less monotonous.
So here we are, thirteen hours and twenty-eight minutes later, moving in closer and closer to our destination. I glance out the window and see the island approaching…or rather, I see what looks like the island approaching, though it's actually us that's approaching the island…but does that matter at a moment like this? No.
"Connie," I say, nudging her without taking my eyes from the view outside the window.
"Yeah?"
"Look," I say, motioning to the window.
She moves over me to glance outside, barely leaning her back against my chest. As we fly over the beaches, she stares out the window. "It's gorgeous…"
Frankly, I'd have been content to let that moment last just a little bit longer, but as sure as the sun shines and Averman tells bad jokes, we eventually landed, taking me from one unreality to another unreality.
A voice floats through the plane, finalizing the trip. "Welcome to O'ahu. I hope everyone enjoyed their flight…"