by Liza Palmer
“Go ahead. I know it’s killing you,” I say.
“So cheesy,” she says, laughing.
“So cheesy,” I repeat.
The skies are silent for a few moments, and then I hear it. The plane’s low growl in the pit of my stomach, coming closer overhead, and then closer still.
“It’s—” Maria says, but then cuts herself off as we lift our faces to the sky, eyes wide open.
The engine’s singsongy hum snakes up my spine, its purr both magnetic and menacing. And the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard.
As Mr. Goodnight soars overhead, Maria and I wave and yell, hoping Jack and Bonnie can hear us.
And I swear I can hear an air horn in the distance.
Endnotes
1. * It’s a bad thing.
2. * more than a couple
3. * not me
4 * Ugh, fine. Except building character, becoming an overall better person, and realizing I don’t have to constantly prove myself.
5. * tonight’s exchange notwithstanding.
6. * days
7. * for him
8. * except for Pierre, of course
LIZA PALMER is an internationally best-selling author of nine novels, including Conversations with the Fat Girl and Nowhere but Home. An Emmy-nominated writer, she lives in Los Angeles and works for BuzzFeed.
