Torn Apart

by Kayla Myles

  All the blood flowing in my bod rushed straight to my cheeks, making them flush beet red at his question.

  “Oh my God!” I exclaimed, scrunching my eyebrows together and my jaw falling as I looked at him with a mixture of disgust, scandal, and affront. “Darcy, what the hell?!”

  “Hey, it’s a legitimate question!” he cried. “I know for a fact you’ve never once had a boyfriend, or ever even been on a date. But for someone who has zero experience in that aspect, you seem to write sex scenes like you’ve had some first-hand experience with it. Which makes me wonder if you are still a true and pure maiden,” Darcy said. “So, are you?”

  “YES!” I yelled.

  “Yes what?” he prodded. “Is your V-card still intact or not?”

  “Yes, it is! Okay?!” I answered, glaring at him. “Now will you just drop it?” I asked, practically begging him. Talking about this is so humiliating, and I never thought I would ever have the birds and the bees talk with my brother. It was a thousand times awkward as hell, and nobody should ever experience that!

  “Good,” Darcy said. “Because I swear, Georgie, if I use you as a sacrificial maiden and it fails—,” I cut him off, placing both of my hands over my ears.

  “Oh my God, Darcy! Just shut up! I am not listening!” I said loudly, drowning out his voice with my own. I kept a string of La-La-Las going until I was sure he was done humiliating me with his questions.

  We arrived at the airport, and Darcy helped me put all of my stuff in the trolley. He walked me over to the entrance with his arm around my shoulder, squeezing me tightly against him, as we each had a hand on the trolley handle. We were a foot away from the gate, and I turned around to give him a hug, one that he reciprocated by embracing me with all of his strength.

  I smiled as I buried my face in his neck, inhaling the scent of his aftershave. My brother could be such an ass at times, but he always had my back when I needed him most. Even though I acted like I couldn’t stand him a lot, I have to admit I was going to miss this big lug when I get there. It was going to be hard without my favorite person to turn to.

  “Call me if you need anything,” Darcy ordered, and I nodded, blinking my eyes rapidly so the tears gathering in my eyes wouldn’t fall. I didn’t want to cry in front of him, because I knew that once the waterworks started, he’d try to comfort me, and then I wouldn’t want to leave anymore.

  I had to strengthen my resolve. I had to push through it.

  So I didn’t cry.

  I pulled away from him, and quickly turned away, grasping the handle of my trolley tightly with both hands, as I started to walk through the gate. I turned around to wave goodbye to my brother before heading off to security to check my bags.

  I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, letting it go slowly.

  You can do this, George, I thought to myself.

  Today is the beginning of my independent life, and nothing is going to go wrong.

  ***

  I’m lost.

  It was the most pathetic thing a twenty-one year old could do in an airport. The place wasn’t even that big, and a regular person would’ve been able to find their way almost immediately, but I’m not a regular person. I’ve never had any sense of direction, and would never be able to get to where I was supposed to go unless someone else showed me the way.

  “Flight 757 going to North Carolina is boarding now at Gate No 15,” I groaned as the PA system repeated the announcement. That was my flight, and if I didn’t get to Gate 15 soon, it was going to leave without me. I didn’t have any spare money to reschedule the flight, and I certainly don’t want to wait for hours here in the airport.

  “Oh my God, what am I going to do?” I whined, spinning around and looking frantically at the signs hanging overhead. I was literally quaking in my boots when I felt someone tap me on the shoulder from behind. I turned around and froze as I stared up at him.

  He was really tall, about 6’2 or 6’3 if my estimation was accurate, and the way he styled his dirty blonde hair into a neat fauxhawk, only added to his height. His nose was long and slightly crooked, but it didn’t mar his appearance, instead it enhanced it. His silvery-blue eyes were framed by long eyelashes that I couldn’t help but envy, and his mouth was kind of uneven too, with his bottom lip slightly thicker than his upper lip.

  He looked like he came straight out of a novel, like the dreamy male lead that swept the female off of her feet, and made wild, passionate love to her. He was dashing, debonair, and handsome as hell. Yes, I am well aware those three are synonymous with each other, but his level of attractiveness merited all three adjectives in the same sentence.

  His tongue peeked out, licking his lips a little bit, and I couldn’t help but focus on it until he chuckled, the sound of his laughter breaking my trance.

  I blinked rapidly, and swallowed the saliva gathering in my mouth. Oh crap, he just caught me checking him out, didn’t he?

  “Um, hey,” he said, and I blinked at him. He scratched the back of his head while he winced, like he really didn’t want to be here right now.

  “Hi?” I said, still unsure why this dreamboat was talking to me.

  “Listen, I really don’t want to bother you, but I really don’t have a choice. I’m kind of lost,” he said, his eyes betraying his embarrassment. “Can you help me out?”

  Oh, great. Now there were two people who didn’t know where the hell they were. Perfect.

  I grimaced and smiled sadly. Of all the questions he had to ask me, it had to be something I couldn’t answer. “I’m really sorry. I totally want to help you, but I’m kind of lost myself,” I admitted.

  He looked at me in surprise. “Oh! Well, why don’t we help each other out then?” he suggested, and I tilted my head to the side in intrigue. “Where you headed?” he asked.

  “Uh, Gate 15. I’m North Carolina bound,” I said, and his eyes widened.

  “No way! That’s where I’m headed!” he cried, and I smiled widely.

  Finally, a ray of light! I mean, sure the both of us didn’t know where we were supposed to go, but at least I wasn’t alone! That’s better than nothing.

  “Come on, let’s go,” he said, nodding his head. I picked up my carry-on bag and followed him. He looked around casually, turning right, and I quickly spotted the sign saying “Gates 1-20” with an arrowhead pointing to the left. I pointed toward it excitedly, and he chuckled, following me this time. We turned left, and then we saw a long corridor with rows of Gate numbers on either side. He nodded towards the left side of the corridor, and we walked until we reached our gate. He waited for me to hand my boarding pass to the ground attendant first, before doing the same, and then we were on the walkway towards the plane.

  I stopped walking before we reached the cockpit, and turned to look at him with a smile.

  “Thank you so much for helping me,” I said, and he shook his head.

  “It’s nothing. I’m just glad we didn’t miss our flight,” he joked.

  “Yeah, that would’ve been terrible,” I said, agreeing with him. “Well, I better go and find my seat,” I said, pointing down the aisle. He raised his eyebrows at me.

  “You sure you don’t need my help for that?” he asked, and I laughed.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll yell for help if I don’t find it,” I replied, and he chuckled.

  “Alright, then. Bye,” he said, giving me a wink before strutting off in another direction.

  “Bye,” I whispered, my eyes staring at the nape of his neck, down to his wide shoulders, his long back, to his pert butt…

  I bit my lip hard and shook my head profusely. Your seat, George. Go find your seat. I took one last look at him before turning around, and walking the other way. Thankfully, I managed to find my seat without any problems, and loaded my bag in the overhead compartment, before sitting down and fastening my seat belt. It was then I realized something.

  I didn’t even catch his name.

  Chapter 5

  Spencer

  F
inally got her to board the damn plane. She can’t navigate worth crap. Turning phone off. Text you when we land. C U bro.

  I hit SEND, and waited for it to indicate it was delivered before shutting my phone off to get ready for a taxi. I wrapped my hands on both armrests tightly, squeezing my eyes shut as I felt the plane begin to ascend.

  I could never get used to this part of the flight. Actually, I could never get used to flying, period. Just the thought of being up in the air at probably a hundred thousand feet made me sick to my stomach, but all my years as a Marine helped me to bring that feeling down to a slight queasiness.

  Call me primitive, but I’d take riding a ship over a plane any damn day. My reasoning was at least if a ship broke down and sank, I could swim for land, unlike when a plane experiences engine failure, I wouldn’t be able to sprout wings and fly to safety. Instead, my soul would probably drift from my body and watch as the latter go splat.

  So yeah, planes freaked me the fuck out.

  “Would you like something to drink, sir?” I heard the flight attendant ask me with an overly sweet and kind voice that irked me so much. One more thing I find really iffy about planes was that the flight attendants sounded too nice, bordering on the unnatural, like they were planning your murder behind those honeyed words and wide smiles.

  No, I will not take your cyanide, ma’am…just kidding. I wasn’t that paranoid.

  “Uh, I’ll have that drink together with my meal,” I told her, sparing a quick glance before closing my eyes once more. “In the meantime, can you just give me another sick bag, just in case?”

  ***

  Turbulence was terrible, and despite my resolve to watch over the girl and see what she’s up to, my pansy ass couldn’t stop barfing the contents of my stomach. I mean, I grossed out the middle-aged man sitting next to me so much, he asked the flight attendant to seat him somewhere else. What a fucking douche. If I wasn’t feeling so messed up, I would’ve intentionally missed, and barfed all over his pants, the bastard.

  I felt a hand rubbing my back, trying to comfort me, and I pulled my head off of the bag to tell the person to fuck off, when I was face to face with the girl I’m supposed to be surveying. She looked at me with sympathy as she continued to rub my back, and I just stared at her, not saying a word. She stopped rubbing my back and opened her mouth.

  “Hey, I heard some of the passengers talking about a guy retching his guts out, so I came over to check. I wasn’t expecting it to be you, though,” she explained.

  She looked around the corridor before taking the seat next to me, putting a little tote bag on her lap.

  “Are you feeling any better?” she asked, and I refrained from rolling my eyes at her.

  “Do I look like I’m okay?” I asked back, and she bit her lip.

  “I’m sorry, that was stupid of me to ask,” she said, as I winced.

  “Nah, it’s okay. I’m the one who should be sorry. I was rude,” I apologize. She smiled and opened her bag, pulling a small metal strip, and then handing it to me. She flipped the light to ask for assistance before she spoke.

  “It’s supposed to help you with your airsickness,” she said simply. The flight attendant came over, and George asked for a cup of water. She turned back and saw me holding the medicine stupidly, and gestured for me to take it. I popped the pill into my mouth, and the flight attendant came back and handed me a lidded cup of water. I peeled off the lid and downed the medicine in one gulp.

  George took the cup and replaced it with a strip of Double Mint gum.

  “That’s so you could get the taste of vomit out of your mouth,” she said, answering my unasked question. I chuckled and tore off the wrapper before putting it in my mouth.

  “You came prepared,” I remarked, and she shrugged, her eyes looking to the side like she was embarrassed.

  “I just…I’ve never really ridden on a plane before,” she admitted, making me look at her in disbelief. She seemed to have expected it. “I know, I know. It’s the twenty-first century, what human being has never been on an airplane, right? But yeah, it’s true. I’ve never really been much of a traveler, and this is the first time I’m going someplace without my family, so I ended up researching about what to do, what not to do, what to bring, what not to bring, and I wanted to be prepared for any and all eventualities, and I guess I overdid it a little,” she said.

  I blinked multiple times, trying to process what she just said. Her mouth moved so rapidly, my brain was scrambling to pick it up.

  My confusion was probably all over my face, because she grimaced and dropped her head.

  “I’m sorry. My brother told me I have a tendency to ramble,” she said, biting her lip. I shook my head at her.

  “It’s fine. You shouldn’t say sorry about those kinds of things,” I assured her. “Just if you see me doing that face again, just give me five seconds to catch up,” I kidded, making her giggle.

  I couldn’t help but smile at the way she laughed. It was so carefree and contagious, like she really did find it humorous, and she didn’t care if she looked a little crazy laughing so widely. It was weird, in a totally endearing type of way.

  “I’ll try and remember that,” she replied, and I nodded sagely.

  “My brain’s not running on a core i7 like yours does. I’m still on Pentium 4, but I promise I’ll update it as soon as I can,” I said, keeping a serious façade.

  She cracked and started laughing uncontrollably, her arms cradling her stomach like it was starting to physically hurt to laugh. I smiled, my heart feeling a swell of accomplishment from that feat.

  We continued to make jokes with each other until we spotted the flight attendant with a trolley cart full of food approaching. She looked back at me, her eyes full of hesitation.

  “I guess I have to go back to my seat,” she said, lowering her voice to a somber tone while pointing her thumb towards the back of the plane. She was still looking at me with hesitant eyes, and I sort of figured she didn’t want to leave.

  I also realized that from the moment she sat there and helped me out, I have not felt like barfing once, nor have I had any thoughts of the plane crashing and sending me to my death…well, until now.

  Or maybe that was just the medicine talking.

  “Hey, you don’t have to go unless you want to,” I told her, subtly giving her a reason to stay. “I mean, the guy that originally sat there is long gone, and eating plane food alone is kind of a downer,” I said.

  The flight attendant arrived and bent down.

  “Chicken or Fish?” she asked, staring at George and me expectantly. I looked back at George and tilted my head.

  “What do you say? Want to have dinner with me?” I asked her, one corner of my mouth tilting up to form a smirk.

  George looked down at her lap, her cheeks glowing softly rose pink. She turned her head towards me and grinned.

  “I’ll have the chicken, please,” she answered, still keeping her eyes on me.

  And I smiled.

  ***

  “Thank you so much for keeping me company,” George said while she kept her eyes on the revolving conveyor belts that ejected our stuff.

  We had safely arrived in North Carolina, and I was grateful I didn’t have another episode of upchucking the contents of my stomach, because believe it or not, that was some pretty good fucking chicken. There was still hope for plane food, after all.

  “It was nothing,” I said, spotting another one of my bags, and hauling them out of there and onto my trolley. “I should be thanking you. I barely felt that last turbulence while the plane was descending because of you,” I told her, and she looked down on the ground in embarrassment. I frowned, but I said nothing.

  I really didn’t like that mannerism of hers. Whenever I paid her a compliment or an expression of gratitude, she turned her head down, looking at the ground like she couldn’t believe the words she was hearing. Like, who the fuck messed her up that badly?

  Her eyes widened as her duffel bag
got closer to us, and I reached for it before she could, pulling it out and placing them neatly at her trolley.

  “You didn’t have to do that,” she said, and I scoffed.

  “No offense, babe, but you’re tiny as fuck. I could probably bench press you with one hand,” I replied, making her glare at me. I shrugged it off, continuing. “Just let me get the bags for you. Consider it as my way of thanking you for helping me keep the food in my stomach throughout the rest of the flight,” I said, and she rolled her eyes, waving her hands and letting me do what I wanted.

  And when we finally got our stuff, and we were free to leave the airport, we walked out of there into the good old North Carolina sun shining down on our faces. We stood there at the side of the road just staring at each other, both unwilling to make the first move. Of course, I knew I was going to meet her later at the university, but I had to keep up the act. She had to know the both of us were thinking this was going to be the last time we saw each other.

  She didn’t know my name, and she sure as hell never asked for it. She didn’t know I knew hers, and I never asked, either. Her eyes were distant, flashing a million different ways that clued me in she was probably overwhelmed thinking about so many things at that moment. She was struggling, and I held my tongue and clenched my fists around the handles of my bags to keep from asking her what’s running through her brain.