Peter, Romeo and I climb into the plane with Romeo at the prop. I'm a bit hesitant at first to let him fly the thing, but then I recall that it is his dad's plane and I don't really have a place flying it.
I strap in, more excited than I would expect as I look over at Peter kicking his legs that barely touch the ground. He's only my height, I realize as I give him a smug smile and turn back to the front that's kinda cute. I stop thinking about it when Romeo yells;
"TAKING OFF!"
The plane lifts into the air, and the amount of drag makes me re-question my idea of letting him fly, but once we get into the air those thoughts drift away as I look out my window. It's been so long since I've flown, I think I forgot how freeing it feels. I smile and sigh in peaceful serenity until I hear—
"Estimated arrival time is 4 in the morning folks so I hope you brought your pillows!"
What. "FOUR IN THE MORNING?" I yell "FLY FASTER, I DID NOT BRING MY PILLOW THANK YOU VERY MUCH!"
Peter is startled by my outburst, and I'm sorry but I get bitchy when I'm annoyed! I see him regain composure and even starts to grin, looks at me and says "Wanna play poker?"
Oh yes, I think with a mischievous smirk. I've been taught to gamble by the best: Monaco and America. I can beat this kid anytime, anywhere!
"Absolutely" I finally reply as he pulls his worn-out deck of cards out of his bag*. He hands me the cards, trusting me to deal them, and I start to shuffle them on my table. I deal 5 out to each of us, and I pick up my cards.
2 3 4 5 6
Straight flush!
Peter looks at his cards, smiles (the young fool!), and throws in one pound sterling. I roll my eyes and put in my ante, used to betting considerably more even at the start. He looks at his cards again, presumably wondering if betting is worth it, and slides ten pounds to our pot. There's no way this kid's going to beat me, so I raise him straight up to one hundred. He immediately raises me one-fifty, I go to two hundred. Before I know it, we are going back and forth raising each other fifty each time until I get sick of it and raise his seven hundred to one thousand pounds. Now this is more of my kind of betting! He immediately raises me straight to two thousand, three, four! Damn this boy knows how to play! Before I know it, we're at £25,000 and I look at him, raise an eyebrow and say "Are you ready to see who gets it?"
"Yes!" He replies confidently. I chuckle, knowing I have him beat and I mumble "Easy win" as I lay down my cards, proudly proclaiming "Straight flush!"
I hear Peter giggle and see him grin as he lays his cards down, saying nothing. I look down at his cards:
10 J Q K A
Well I'll be damned. This kid got dealt a royal flush.
He giggles like a school boy as he rakes in the twenty-five thousand pounds.
My face twists into a scowl. "I'm going to bed." I grumble, turning over in the uncomfortable seat. Turns out that even though it went by so fast, it's already midnight, and I only have 4 hours to sleep.
I'm awoken around 2:30 AM by the plane rattling ferociously. At first I panic, thinking Romeo might have fallen asleep, but when I see he isn't I simply get up and walk up to the pilot seat. I stumble a lot along the way, partly because I'm still groggy and partly because the plane is violently thrashing back, forth, up and down.
"Romeo," I shout over the roaring engine of the plane "what's going on?"
"We're going down!" He yells "This is a one-engine plane and we're about to lose it! I'm trying to find an open place to land before it completely overheats, but you might want to wake Peter and get ready to parachute out!"
"WHAT?!"
"You heard me, now go!"
I run back to Peter's seat, shake him awake and tell him what's going to happen. He's surprisingly calm as he looks me in the eye and smiles.
"I'm a child of war, Alyson" he says "Jumping out of planes is fun!"
I smirk and shake my head. This boy has no surprises!
"Get suited up!" I hear Romeo yell "We just lost it!"
My eyes widen and I start to breathe shallowly. Shit, don't have a panic attack now! Shit, shit, shit! Tears start to silently stream down my face as I sit there frozen, unable to get up to get a parachute without vomiting. Remember the steps, remember the steps! One, relax your arms. Okay, got it. Two, relax your face. Three, get up slowly.
"ALYSON WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Romeo yells "HURRY UP!"
+I walk slowly, feeling as if the world around me is going a thousand kilometers an hour straight back behind me. I reach out for a parachute and…oh no. I start to feel woozy and my eyelids turn to stone; my ankles start to give out, and I go black.
I wake up on the ground in a field, and when I open my eyes I am greeted by a glaring light. I sit up as I wonder, Am I dead? I look over as soon as my eyes come into focus and my ears stop ringing and I see Peter wrapped up in a parachute next to me when I realize my legs are still covered by it.
He saved me.
I passed out trying to get my parachute but he saved me. I could never understand how someone could care so much about someone that they barely know to stay on that crashing plane any longer, risking their life to save them.
I halt these thoughts when I realize―where's Romeo?
I stand up and survey the area and he is nowhere to be found. I start to call for him when I finally reach over and wake Peter, tell him what is going on and ask him to come help find him. We top the hill that feels more like a mountain when we finally realize where we are. I grin and look at Peter as he smiles back.
"Vegas!"
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
* You have no idea how close I was to calling it Sealand's man-purse.
Just gonna take a sec to thank my reviewers so far: YOOHOO'79, RaegyStorm, stsenna, and PridexWretchedluver4ever! Y'all are great, thanks for reviewing and I hope you liked this chapter!