Page 7

Elena

I hated flying. I hated everything about it: the unnatural way the plane lifted into the sky, the tight cabin, the constant sound of the engines, and the way the world outside the window looked so far away.

I wished I could have taken a bus or a train or, better yet, warped home instantly like a sci-fi character.

Flying had never been something I handled well.

As a kid, I could at least curl into my mom’s arms and let her soft voice soothe me, let her hands rub slow circles against my back until the fear faded enough for me to breathe properly.

But that was years ago.

Now, I was an adult. My mom was gone. Things had changed drastically, and I only had myself.

I squeezed my eyelids shut, trying to focus on my breathing, trying to convince myself we weren’t just a flimsy metal shell cutting through the sky at hundreds of miles per hour, one malfunction away from falling to our deaths.

The turbulence worsened, jostling the plane like we were caught in an invisible salt shaker. The seatbelt dug into my lap, and my nails pressed so hard into the armrest that I knew my fingers would ache later .

A shudder ripped through the plane, and my pulse skyrocketed.

I couldn’t breathe.

My lungs felt small. I was suffocating on my fear.

Each breath came too fast and too shallow, blurring my vision at the edges. My heart pounded against my ribs loudly, drowning out Troy and Adrian's low hum of conversation.

The book in my lap slid to the floor, but I couldn’t reach for it. My mind was too full of images—of flames swallowing the wings, of metal bending and breaking apart in the sky, of the ground rushing up to meet us.

My fingers trembled. My chest ached. I barely registered the warmth of tears sliding down my cheeks. The only thing I could focus on was the thought that this was it. That in the next few moments, there’d be screaming, a sudden drop, and then?—

“Elena.”

The voice was soft and gentle in a way I wasn’t used to.

Not from him, at least.

Troy.

I barely heard him over the pounding in my ears, but then he sat beside me. I forced my eyes to move, to find his face, to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating.

Why was he here?

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out except a short, shaky breath. His gaze roamed over my face, his brows knit together.

“Breathe,” he murmured, his voice calm and steady. “You have to breathe. You’re going to make it worse.”

I tried, but my lungs wouldn’t cooperate. My chest rose too fast, my breathing stalled, I trembled, and then my chest shuddered again. All on repeat.

Troy reached forward, his hand hovering near mine like he wasn’t sure if he should touch me. Finally, he did, his warmth, the action altogether, startling me. Troy never touched me. Neither of them did. Not even so much as a high-five.

“You’re panicking,” he said gently, an uncharacteristic way to speak to me, his hand resting over mine. “You need to slow it down.”

I clenched my fists, shaking my head. I couldn’t .

I felt weightless and heavy at the same time like my body was caught in some horrible in-between space where nothing was real except the fear. The walls closing in. The heat. I was hot. God, I was so hot…

“Elena.” His voice dipped lower, softer. “Look at me.”

I forced my gaze up again.

His green eyes held mine, steady and unwavering.

“You’re fine,” he said. “We’re not crashing.”

I let out a shaky breath, my vision still swimming. His mouth pressed into a thin line like he was thinking through his words carefully.

“Do you trust me?” he asked.

I didn’t know how to answer that. Troy and I weren’t close. We weren’t friends. He’d never done anything for me to make me trust him.

But right now, he was the only thing grounding me.

I managed a nod.

“Then do what I say,” he continued. “Breathe in for three seconds. We’re going to hold it, OK?”

I nodded and inhaled, my breath shaky and uneven. It even felt too small to sustain life, but it gave me what I needed.

“Hold it,” he instructed. “Count to three.”

My chest ached, but I did as he said, my body trembling.

“Now let it out slow,” he murmured. “Real slow. Feel it leave your body. It’s gentle. It’s calm. It’s OK.”

I exhaled as he instructed.

He repeated the process, guiding me through the motions, his voice a quiet anchor in the storm.

Slowly—so slowly—the panic began to ease.

My grip on the armrest loosened. My breathing steadied, even if my heart still felt like it was slamming against my ribs.

I slumped slightly, exhaustion settling over me as the shaking in the plane slowed.

Troy studied me for a moment longer, his brows still drawn, his jaw tight. Then, his hand lifted. Before I could react, he reached forward and brushed away my tears.

The simple gesture sent something strange through me—something foreign and confusing.

“You’re stronger than this,” he said quietly .

I didn’t know why, but the words stung. It was like he was disappointed in me, like he had expected more.

His face shifted after that, his warmth vanishing in an instant. His jaw tightened, his eyes went cold, and the Troy I knew was back. His kindness had been short-lived.

Of course, it had.

I swallowed, my throat tight. “Why did you even come over here?”

Troy stared at me for a long moment, his expression blank. Then he leaned back, his voice emotionless when he finally spoke.

“Take a nap. We’re through the turbulence.” And just like that, he stood and walked away.

He went back to his seat. Back to Adrian, who shot me an eye roll.

I didn’t have to hear them to know they weren’t saying anything nice. I turned away, staring at the seat in front of me.

I was fine now. I wasn’t shaking anymore. I wasn’t crying.

But something in my chest ached.

I tried to push it aside and ignore the lingering warmth on my cheek where Troy had touched me. On my hand where he’d held me briefly.

I leaned my head back, exhaling slowly.

The plane was steady now. The storm was behind us.

I closed my eyes, willing myself to sleep through the rest of this flight. I knew I couldn’t, but the desire was certainly there.

I hoped that by the time I woke up, we’d be in California, far away from the suffocating sky and from whatever the hell just happened.