Page 2 of Starrily

“I’d beg to differ.”

“Oh, would you now?” His dark blue eyes twinkled. “And what’s so bad about this moment?”

“Not this one in particular, but the moment about half an hour from now. Ascending at a steep angle and then letting the plane go into a free fall—commercial planes weren’t meant to fly in a single parabola, much less fifteen of them, one after the other.Peopleweren’t meant to fly at all.”

“And yet we’re all here. Including you.”

“Only because—” she stopped herself when she caught sight of Ava, leaning past the lady in Callie’s former seat. Her friend scrunched her nose in a clear “what are you doing” gesture—one Callie had seen many times.

Mostly when she was talking to other people in public.

Callie grunted and folded her arms.

“I think I’ll go with Falcon,” the man continued. “Cheesy, but a classic code name. And you can be … Phoenix.”

“Like the galaxy cluster?”

“I thought more about the comic book superhero, but sure,” he said after a moment of hesitation. “That way, if something bad happens, you’ll be reborn.”

“That is not even remotely close to how things—”

“Ladies and gentlemen, ready to get going?” the instructor said, loud enough to shush the chatting passengers. “Fasten your seat belts, please. We’ll go over the standard flight procedures, and then we’ll be ready to take off …”

“I don’t suppose you want to try a dance once we’re in zero gravity,” Falcon whispered to her.

She wanted to reply with something witty. “I’ll be busy dying” came to mind, but it probably wasn’t particularly witty, and besides—why did she suddenlywantto be witty?

He was confusing her.

And she didn’t like it one bit.

So she only stared at the seat in front, unsuccessfully trying to block him from her periphery.

“Yeah, thought so.” He clicked his seat belt and looked to the front, a slight smile playing on his lips, as if he enjoyed provoking her.

Callie sunk lower, blowing a lock of hair off her face.

It was going to be a long two hours.

First Parabola

Simonwouldbe having the time of his life if it weren’t for her. Phoenix. He wondered why she even signed up for this experience if she’d only complain about it. Maybe she was a masochist. Simon preferred doing only what he loved, but hey,to each their own. Unfortunately, while she might enjoy her own torment, he was stuck next to her.

Maybe he’d already used up all of his luck in the accident. All of his universe-given goodwill. And now, wherever he went, he’d forever be stuck with a co-passenger like her. He smiled; not at the prospect itself, but at the ridiculous image of those bouncy, deep mahogany curls peeking from behind the headrest in front as Phoenix chased him into every ride, drive, and flight he’d make in the future, cursed to forever spoil his fun.

The plane took off and climbed steadily as the instructor ran over the trip’s details and advised them on how to prepare and act once they went into free fall.Free fall—Simon liked the sound of that. Freedom and falling. Beautiful combination. How had he never thought of trying a zero-gravity flight before? This should top even skydiving.

Finally, after flying at a steady height for a while, the plane began its first parabola. The passengers were invited to join the instructor in the area up front, cleared of seats; as Simon unbuckled his seatbelt, he briefly considered some encouragement for Phoenix, but she was avoiding his gaze, her hair almost covering the slight blush spreading across her russet brown cheeks.

She hesitated with her seatbelt, and Simon instead moved on, letting a pretty brunette from the other row pass in front of him.

“Hey,” he said as he walked after the brunette. “Would you like to try dancing in zero gravity?”

She looked back, eyed him for a second, and smiled. “Sure.”

Nowthatwas better already.

To prevent motion sickness, the passengers were advised to lie on their backs while the plane climbed steeply and the force of gravity grew stronger. Simon stared at the white inner shell of the plane as his limbs became heavier and heavier—and then,suddenly, they released. With a slight push, Simon came off the ground and nearly shot straight into the ceiling.