Getting more nervous and confused by the second, I glanced over my shoulder. The plane was small. I could see all the way to the rear. “There’s just the two of us? Only two? Don’t you need a co-pilot?”
He gave me an amused look. “I guess you’ll have to be my co-pilot.”
“Oh no, I couldn’t. I’ve never even been on a plane. I certainly can’t fly one.”
“It’s easier than you think.” He started flipping switches. “We’ll be taking off in just a few minutes. I need to communicate with the tower, let them know we’re ready.” He started jabbering in pilot-ese into his headset. I sat mute, arms hugging my body, trying not to let my teeth chatter too hard. It wasn’t easy. Especially when the engines started up and we began rolling toward the runway.#p#分页标题#e#
We stopped at the edge of a long strip of concrete. He turned to me. “Just waiting for clearance to take off. You look a little pale. Are you okay?”
“I’ve never flown.”
“I’ll take it easy on you, then.” He gave my knee a pat. “Just look out the front and enjoy.”
I nodded, swallowed hard, and tried to look brave.
“Okay,” he said, hand on the strange looking steering thing. “We’re ready to go.” The engines cranked up and we started rolling, rolling, rolling. Faster and faster. I squeezed my eyes shut and hugged myself, praying I would make it back to the ground in one piece. Soon.
I felt when we lifted off the earth. My stomach had that funny swooping sensation, like when my father used to hit the hill in the road too fast and our car went airborne for a moment. But this sensation was a lot more intense. And it didn’t end immediately. As the little plane climbed into the sky, my head spun a little, making me nauseous. My mouth dried.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Fine,” I said.
“It’s better if you open your eyes.”
“I’m not sure I believe that.”
“Take a look. What could you possibly lose if you try?”
“My breakfast?”
He chuckled. I liked that chuckle. It had a nice deep resonance to it. “Be brave. You don’t know what wonders you might miss if you don’t.”
“If I weren’t brave, I would have gotten right back in the limo and demanded to be taken home.”
“All right, then. I’ll leave you be.” He stopped nagging me. So, of course, I took a little, tiny peek out of one eye. All I saw was blue. And white clouds. My heart jumped, and I fought for air.
“Are you okay?”
“Mini panic attack,” I whispered as I wheezed.
“Breathe slowly. Innnnn. Outtttt. That’s it.”
I slowed my breathing. It took forever before I wasn’t seeing stars twinkling behind my closed eyelids anymore. “I don’t think I’ll try that again.”
“I suppose that’s a good idea.”
“What made you decide flying would be fun?” I asked once I felt I could talk without throwing up.
“I’ve been flying since I was a small child. My parents did a lot of traveling. So, it was natural that I wanted to learn to fly myself.”
“Natural. Right.”
“I took my first lesson when I was eight.”
“Eight? You mean a kid can fly a plane before he can drive?” I asked as I tugged my seatbelt tighter.
“He can if his parents sign a release.”
“Terrifying thought.”
He laughed again. Why, oh why did I enjoy his laughter so much?
“How much longer are you going to torture me like this?”
“Total flight time is just under an hour.”
“An hour?” I groaned. My stomach did a flip-flop.
“We’re not flying particularly fast. I could speed it up a bit.”
I felt my insides twisting. “No, that’s okay.”
I heard something, plastic crinkling. I slitted open one eye to find my pilot, my only pilot had just one hand on the steering thing. He was using the other one to open a package.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Opening this for you.”
“Two hands on the steering wheel, mister.”
Laughing, he handed me the not-quite-open package. “If you can see enough to catch me flying one-handed, you can open this yourself.”
I checked the package’s label. Motion sickness tablets. “Bless you.”
“Now, maybe you’ll be able to enjoy the flight a little.”
I popped one of the tablets into my mouth and swallowed it. “That, I doubt. Nothing against your piloting skills.”
Less than an hour later, my feet were firmly planted on terra firma. And I had no intention of them leaving it again. After landing the plane, Tevin talked to a guy who appeared to be a technician then led me to a zoomy black car parked next to the metal building that housed the plane.