Faith

I just made it to the Chicago Company hangar to grab a plane to get to LA. I send Garrett and the family group chat a text saying, "I made it! Flying out now."

I get in the first single passenger jet I see and turn the debugging machine on. When the entire plane comes up clean, I start the engine and take off down the runway.

I just realize that I'm still wearing Garrett's sweatshirt.

I'm at full altitude, and I turn the autopilot switch on while I go grab a water from the mini fridge. I grab an apple while I'm at it.

I stretch out my arms and legs before I sit back in the cockpit. I open Snapchat and decide to send Mike a snap. He sent me the picture today of dad's face with the dog filter, which I already saved into my photos. I take a picture out the window of the clouds below me, which is actually really cool. It's been a while since I've flown.

He puts the dog filter on mom and dad together, with dad's arm wrapped around mom's shoulder. I'm pretty sure that it's a candid, because neither of them are looking straight into the camera. It's kind of a funny picture because I've never seen dad wear sweatpants.

Mike snaps me back again and asks how I'm doing, and I send him a picture of the flight timer. There's half an hour left until I get to LA, and at this hour there won't be anyone that will stop me. The General basically lets me go through with whatever I want and doesn't really care anymore.

A short half hour later, I land in LA and send a text to the family group chat and Garrett. It's only 6 in the morning there, but it's 4 am here. I land the plane and put it in an empty spot and take the passenger jet to take off again. I'm flying back into the sky when the texts from my probably still awake family come back in.

Dad: Great! I knew you could do it, kiddo!

Linc: Cool, kid. Great job

Mike: When are you coming back?

Me: I'll be there about nine or ten, because there were no holdups in the hangars

LJ: Cool! Could I learn to fly a plane???

Unknown: Why am I getting these?

Mom: I almost forgot you were here :0

Me: Who's here???

Unknown: Who the heck is that???

Dad: I love how this is unfolding. I almost just want to sit back and watch...

Unknown: Papi, don't you dare. Who the heck is this???

Realization hits me like a brick wall. Only one person in the world calls dad "papi". This could scare poor Fernando a little bit.

Me: Fernando!!!

Fernando: MICHAEL!!! It's scaring me...

Me: ;D Fernando, this is Faith.

Fernando: Who???

Faith: Michael's daughter... your pilot

Fernando: Dear God, you had me for a second

Me: ._.

Me: I love how Aunt Veronica is probably watching this conversation and laughing so hard at us

Veronica: How did you know???

Me: I just know... and Uncle Linc is sitting right beside you doing the same thing and laughing even harder than you

Linc: UNFAIR!!! But true...

I leave the plane's autopilot on and walk back to the mini fridge for another bottle of water and a banana. I'm really hungry.

I spend all kinds of bored hours looking at Instagram and the memes that Mike constantly sends me; I find most of them hilarious. He has good taste in comedy.

I can't really believe that I'm flying a plane again because it's been so long since I've done it. It's almost surreal because this flight has gone so much faster than my last one. I only have an hour left when I get a text from Garrett.

Garrett: I have something to tell you...

Me: What???

Garrett: So, here's the thing.

Garrett: I'm kind of adopted

Me: Why does that make anything different???

Garrett: I don't know, I just thought you deserved to know. My dad died twelve years ago and I never really knew my mom, and my dad did all kinds of odd jobs around the world for people. I don't really know what stuff though

My heart stops. Oh my gosh, Garrett really is him.

Me: Do you, by chance, know your dad's name?

Garrett: Yeah, David, why?

Me: Does he have the same last name as you???

Garrett: No, it was something with an M, kind of like a first name

Me: Martin???

Garrett: Uhh... I think so...

I screenshot the conversation and send it to dad.

Me: Dad... Take a look at this...

Sent an image

Dad: Oh dear God... how'd that come up???

Me: He just told me that he was adopted and what happened to his parents and it kinda just went from there

Dad: So that means...

Me: He's T-Bag's grandson

As the words sink in, it forms a pit in my stomach. I'm dating his grandson. T-Bag of all people, like, come on, fate. Why that guy out of everyone?

I'm finally home, at Chicago-O'Hare airport and I walk down the terminal to see Fernando, Maricruz, Maria, Mike, LJ, Linc, Veronica, Dad, Mike, Mom, Garrett, and Trevor waiting with their bags for me to come home. I open the door to the terminal, and it squeaks slightly, snapping everyone's heads up from their phones and books. Fernando sees me first, his eyes widening as he looks at me in the flesh. "Papi, she looks just like you. It's a little creepy, to be honest," Fernando says, swallowing hard and then smiling. They grab their bags and follow me down the terminal to the passenger jet that waits at the end.

"Holy crap! A minifridge?!" That's the first thing on Mike's exploring checklist, so naturally Trevor follows. "How did you get this? It's basically first class!" Everyone's looking around in awe at the 20-seat cabin, and apparently they're shocked at the white leather seats. "Can I see the cockpit?" I take the family into the small cockpit and give them the quick tour. "This is the pilot's seat, co-pilot's seat, and the air traffic control panel. There's no base connected to this plane, so this plane has an auto feature. This shows every flying thing above 500 feet within 50 miles of us. As you can see, there's nothing," I explain as the group looks around.

"Let's see how fast this thing goes," Linc says, and no one objects as they walk back into the cabin to sit down.

"Someone can sit up here," I tell them, and I look back at the to see dad giving Linc a nudge and a grin. Of course.

"I will!" Mike races up to the front, sitting in the co-pilot's seat and buckling the seatbelt. "I will warn you," I tell Mike, shutting the cockpit door, "takeoff is a bit rougher up here." He grins and gives me a thumbs-up. "Cool!" I turn the plane on and get ready to start down the runway. "Mike, say something into here. It goes into the cabin," I whisper, and he gladly takes the mic and starts talking. "Uh, this is your co-pilot. All I have to say is, hold on. This thing's about to hit 200 miles per hour in a second." I laugh out loud at him, and bring the plane up on a gradual ascent off the ground. Mike sees my phone in the cupholder beside me and looks at my wallpaper. "Eww." It's a picture of Garrett and I in his yard while we were stargazing with the Snapchat dog filter. Why does Mike hate anything to do with a couple? He hates it when mom and dad show any affection whatsoever to each other, and I'm sure he had a nervous breakdown when he saw the pictures of Garrett and I at the dance.

I finally plane out and we're at maximum altitude, so it's safe to turn autopilot on. "Hey, Faith?" I turn around because I'm standing up and stretching behind his seat. "If Garrett ever says anything stupid to you, I'll punch him in the face for you. Or the gut. It's your choice," Mike jokes, but his facial expression makes me wonder if he really is joking or not. "I'm sure that won't be a problem, Mike. But I'll keep you in mind."

I open the cockpit door and walk back into the cabin, past the seats and to the cabinet above the minifridge where I put a box of cereal. Thank God Mike and Trevor haven't found it yet. I grab the box and Trevor gives me the "That's Not Fair" look, but doesn't complain. "Are you going to share those Lucky Charms?" I look back at Linc, mid-bite. By the way, Lucky Charms aren't as good straight from the box as they are with milk. "Hey. I haven't eaten breakfast yet and it's ten fifteen," I defend myself, then he gives me a look of indifference so I relent and hand him the box. He grabs a generous handful and shoves it into his mouth, so I just shake my head and laugh at him. "Thanks," he mumbles through a mouthful of cereal. "You're welcome." Dad slaps him on the cheek and Linc looks like he's about to spew all of the cereal all over poor Fernando in front of him. "Watch your head, Fernando," I warn him. "Don't get Lucky Charms all over you." He laughs, and then his face turns serious all of a sudden. "Who's flying the plane?" I stop with the cockpit door halfway open. "No one," I say, and Fernando pales a few shades. "Just kidding. It's on autopilot." He releases the breath that he was holding and I laugh.

I shut the door and I take a deep breath. "Mike, I hate to tell you this, but I'm kicking you out. It's someone else's turn." Mike looks a little disappointed, but doesn't say anything as he walks out. "Faith, just remember what I said about hurting someone," he tells me with a wink. I look at him and laugh at the confused faces behind him.

"Someone else's turn," I say, and check my watch. We still have roughly two and a half hours before we land in Baja. Trevor nudges Garrett's arm, and then Garret blushes slightly and punches Trevor hard on the top of his thigh. "Deadleg!" Trevor shoves him into the aisle and Garrett falls on the ground. "Okay, fine. I'll come," Garrett relents, walking to the front of the plane. Mike raises an eyebrow at me. "Don't even think about it," he says, slightly disgusted. I laugh at him and close the cabin door. "Leave it open," dad says behind me. "I can't. If I do, it'll mess with the pressure gauges and they could read that the cabin's at exploding pressure," I explain, and dad gives me a look that says, "I'm Trusting You" and I smile at him and walk into the cockpit. The first thing I remember is that I have his sweatshirt on, and I take it off to give it back. "Keep it. It looks cute," he says, and when I smile at him, he blushes. I put it back on, and it's more comfortable since the plane is a little bit cold. I stand up from the seat and push the armrests down, then pull the pieces of the sides of the chair from under the seat, forming a sort of bench with cushions. "Magic!" Garrett laughs at me and sits beside me. I'm looking out the windshield at the clouds passing by when Garrett puts his arm around me. "Remember when I did this in the lunchroom on the first day of school and you hated my guts?" I look at my Nikes and smile, remembering that part of the day. "I fully remember that. I wasn't sure that I was going to even talk to you anymore after that." He laughs and I lean on his shoulder, and he leans his head on the crown of mine. I look up at him and he looks at me, and he wraps his arms around my back and kisses me, moving his hand up to the back of my head. It's at that moment that, of course, dad has to walk through the door and see us on the bench. "Umm… okay. Wasn't expecting that." He looks at me and gives me a look, like, "I'm Kind Of Mad At You But Kind Of Proud Of You" and I just look back at him. "Oh, whatever. It's going to happen eventually," dad says, walking out and closing the door. Garrett and I shrug, and then he kisses me again.

I've seen the place where we go on vacation; the little bungalows each have one bedroom in them and two smaller ones right outside them. Mom and dad told me that the little bungalows around the bigger ones are bedrooms, so you have to come into the bigger one for the bathroom and kitchen. There's a master bedroom in the bigger bungalow, too. There's apparently a beach that you can play volleyball on, and you can swim in the ocean too. That's probably going to be my favorite part, even though I've never been swimming before.

"We have an hour left," I say, letting everyone know. No one else has wanted to come back up here, so Garrett and I are still sitting on the bench in the cockpit. "Ugh, I kinda want to get off of this plane already. But it's bearable when I get to sit in here with you," I say, and Garrett laughs. I am getting bored, though, and cold. "I'm going to go grab a pair of sweatpants." I walk out of the cockpit and past the cabin to where I put my bag inside a small closet. "Ooooooh, Faith got in trouble!" I peer around the corner to see Mike saying this, and he looks at me. "Shut up, Single Pringle." Mike looks a little disappointed, but do I care? No. No I don't. But then he smiles at me. "At least I didn't get caught by my dad!" I blush a little bit and Maria raises an eyebrow at me. She apparently didn't see or hear about the incident in the cockpit, which is absolutely fine by me. I grab the sweatpants out of my suitcase and walk into the small airplane bathroom. I change into the sweatpants quickly, but then I remember that I'm not really supposed to leave the cockpit because I should be watching the autopilot while it's on. So I leave and see Garrett sitting in the cabin next to Mike, and Mike seems like he's telling him something that he doesn't like. "Hey. Mike told me I had to get out of the cockpit for a while, so Maria's in there waiting for you," Garrett says, sounding a little disappointed. "Okay."

I walk into the cockpit and close the door behind me and Maria grins. "Okay. What happened?" I blush and roll my eyes. "Okay, fine. You're my best friend, so you deserve to know. There's this bench that we're sitting on, and it folds back down into a chair if you want to. So I folded it out, and Garrett sat beside me. He wrapped his arm around me and said, 'Do you remember when I did this on the first day of school during lunch and you hated my guts?' I laughed at him and told him that yes, I did in fact remember that, and then I laid on his shoulder for a few minutes. Then he kissed me again, and of course dad walks in and catches us. That's what Mike was talking about." Maria laughs at this and I can't blame her. I sort of laugh too. "We have around ten minutes left, so we're going down. Being controlled, of course."

I turn the seatbelt light back on and give Maria the mic. "Stay in your seats until we land, we only have about ten minutes left!"

"You know, Faith, you burned a lot of bridges with possible friend prospects on Wednesday. On Monday, you were the new girl and no one thought that you would end up with the cutest guy in sixth grade by the end of the week. Most of the girls are mad at you," Maria says, and I roll my eyes playfully. "I don't care. Let them be mad, I don't know them anyway. None of them can run or play basketball, which was really the only thing I halfway cared about. The only one that I even ever said anything to was annoying Annabelle when she gave me some input on which parent that I look like." Maria laughs and I shut the autopilot off because the plane can't descend itself.

That's a disastrous nightmare; trust me, I accidentally did it on my first flight. I wasn't allowed into a plane again until I passed three written tests first.

We finally land on the airstrip, and I take my sweatpants off in the bathroom and change into my shorts again. This time of year, it's going to be incredibly hot. Sweatpants are irrational.

We all get out of the plane with our suitcases and stretch a little bit, walking to the four bungalows that form a sort of ring around a small grassy patch. LJ and his wife Michelle share one, Linc and Veronica have one, Sucre, Maricruz, and Maria have one, then our parents and us have one.

I'm changing into my swimsuit first, because I'm hot and there's not much else to do right now. It's one o'clock in the afternoon; the hottest point of the day. It's a turquoise bikini with white polka dots, and, personally, I really like it. Mom loved it too when she saw it.

"Mike, mom, dad, I'm going swimming, for anyone who cares!" I can see the beach from my bungalow window, and the ocean is literally fifty feet from my window. It's going to be so pretty at sunset.

"I'm coming!" Mike pulls his shirt off as he says this, Trevor trailing him like a new puppy. He's wearing a pair of red swim shorts with white stripes on the side, and Trevor is wearing a pair of orange and white striped ones. I think we lost dad somewhere, because mom's coming with us, but he's nowhere to be found.

"Okay, I'm here too!" Dad yells at us from the bedroom, coming out in a gray Loyola t-shirt that's probably from college. "Wow, you still have that shirt?! I haven't seen that one in probably three years!" Dad looks at mom and smiles, and he puts his arm around her. "I haven't worn it in forever because Paul threw up on it a while ago, so then I washed it three times and put it in the basement after I sprayed air freshener on it and then I kind of forgot about it. I found it when I was looking for a movie the other day." Mom laughs at dad and smiles, then they take each other's hands and walk to the beach with us.

I look and see a few younger kids playing in the sand, building sand castles, but as soon as a larger wave comes in, their castles are reduced to almost nothing.

It relates to how I'm feeling a little bit.

I feel like I've built a part of my life, then nightmares or some other memory come back and tear it apart.

I see a kid sitting on a group of decent sized rocks, skipping smaller ones across the water. It's Garrett, and he looks so relaxed, sitting there by the ocean. "Hey," he says, without turning around. He stands up and, for the first time, I realize that he looks really good with the sun above him. His blonde, curly hair on top and the short cropped sides look really good with the sun. His small gold chain necklace shimmers in the light, and his blue Nike swim shorts are a good contrast to his brown eyes. "Whoa… Um, okay. Hi." Garrett stutters awkwardly. By the look on his face and the fact that he's looking over the top of my head tells me that dad's giving him the suspicious eyebrow raise. He looks just like Whip, minus his hair (he must have gotten that from whoever his mom is).

He grins nervously at me, and I turn around to see Linc, Veronica, LJ, and Michelle coming up behind mom and dad. Linc puts a finger to his lips; chances are, he's trying to scare dad or something like that. It won't work, because dad's already looking at me with a fully knowing look in his eyes.

This will not end well for Linc.

At all.