Bound Together (7 page)

“Pete’s got a diorama due and Charlie’s got a book report, and Mom… I shouldn’t even be going.”

Her dad shook his head and handed her
her
backpack.
“
We’ll manage,
Zoe
—
you need to go.”

Zoey
looked unsure, but
shrugged into her backpack.  “Dad, don’t forget Pete’s inhaler’s almost out of juice.”

“We’ll get it refilled. Stop worrying and go enjoy yourself.”

The little girl was still crying and wrapped herself ti
ghter around
Zoey
’s
legs.
And at that exact moment, the wheels of my suitcase jammed against the uneven sidewalk,
pulling
Zoey
’s
attention over to me.
She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, and quickly looked away. She
gave the little girl one last kiss and strode through the doors ahead of me
without a single glance back
.

Unfortunately m
y parents were still following me. They were so
freakin
embarrassing sometimes. I saw the group up ahead
by the counter
,
and walked ahead of my parents.
It was time for my mom to cut the cord.
Zoey
got there a second before I did. I wondered if Mr. Rhinehart would give her a hard time
for yesterday
, but he seemed particularly jolly
for
a Sunday morning. It was exceptionally impressive given that the day ahead of us would involve two planes and sixteen hours total travel time until we landed in
Paris
. My mom talked to Mr. Rhinehart for a second, then gave me a hug. My dad shook my hand and told me to be careful, and they turned to leave, thank God.

After getting through security, our group spent the hour and a half wait
ing to
board
by
lounging around
in
the seating area we’d taken over.
A group of kids went off to get their last fix of American fast food for a week, but I pulled my cap low on my head and listened to music until it was
finally
time to board.

I slid in to the window seat, scooting my way around Cho, the
mathlete
, and
Zoey
who was in the middle. I pulled out my iPod and shuffled through until I found the
Zen
-
like playlist I’d created for the flight. I didn’t particularly like flying and thought this
might
help. Plus, I didn’t want to find out if the altitude would play
havoc
on my headaches.

I pulled open the window shade and leaned my head against the coo
l glass, watching the crew load
suitcases into the belly of the plane. I was about to pop in my ear buds when I heard
Zoey
drawing deep breaths
next to me
. I looked over and saw her eyes were closed and her chest rising and falling systemically. She was sucking air in through her mouth and blowing it out through her nose.

“Stare, much?” she asked, catching me.

I stuck one ear bud in, leaving the other dangling. “Sorry, I just…
Y
ou
don’t like flying, huh?”

“What gave you that idea?”

“It’s okay, I’m not particularly fond of it either,” I admitted.

Then she swallowed and when she spoke again, her voice was softer. “No, it’s just I’ve actually never been on a plane before.”

I watched her for a second to be sure she wasn’t messing with me
, but she seemed to be telling the truth
. “I
n that case
—
you should switch seats with me.” Her eyebrow shot up, looking confused. “It’s definitely better to be able to see what’s going on, trust me. It helps you feel more in control.” I unb
uckled my seat belt. “Come on, take the window seat
.” I half stood in
front of my seat
.
If she didn’t get up soon I was going to look like an idiot crouched here for no reason.

She unbuckled her seat belt and we awkwardly scooted around each other, trading places in the cramped space between the seats. I felt my crotch rub up against her back, but pretended
not to
notice.

I watched
Zoey
look out the window and take stock of our surroundings. We were just over the wing, so it somewhat blocked our view, but we could
still
see that the crew was just about finished loading
the belly of the plane with suitcases
.
Zoey
looked back at me and lifted one corner of her mouth. I think it was supposed to be a smile, but it wasn’t something I was used to seeing on her, so it was hard to say.

“It’s okay to be afraid of flying,” I said. “Lots of people are.”
I dug through my bag and took out a pack of cinnamon gum. “Gum?” I held the pack out to her. She shook her head.

“I’m not afraid of flying,” she said.

I
made a point of looking
down at her hands gripping the ends of the arm rests. She relaxed her fingers and moved her hands to her lap. When was she going to drop this tough girl act?
“
Here.” I held the gum out to her. “
Your ears will probably pop when we take off. Chewing gum helps.”

She
looked at me suspiciously, but
took a stick. She un
wrapped it
but
inspected the gum
carefully
before folding it into her mouth. Did she think I was trying to poison her?

“Why are you being so nice to me?” she asked.

“Hmm
?” I asked, chomping
down
on my own stick.
“How am I supposed to act? We’re partners, right?”

She stopped chewing and looked
directly
at me. Her eyes were the softest shade of blue, with
hints of gray around the edges. “Yeah, I guess,” she said. She resumed chewing her gum. Why was I watching her mouth? I looked back up at her eyes. I could tell she was getting
creeped
out by me. I turned to fa
ce forward. “I just figured you’re probably
used to people cateri
ng to you
—
you’re Matt
Parker
,” she finished.

“And you’re
Zoey
Marshall
,” I said
slowly
, unsure of where this was going
, but she didn’t elaborate
. “I was just trying to help. I don’t really like flying either
.”

Instead of answering, s
he turned her head to look out the window an
d tuned me out
. I put in my headphones and leaned back, closing my eyes to relax to the sounds of gongs and chimes.
Man, this was going to be a long week.

Chapter Nine

Zoey

When
we reached our cruising
altitude
, I leaned back from the window and relaxed into my seat. It was both terrifying and
kinda
cool watching the takeoff.
My stomach
felt jittery and my ears had popped, just like Matt
had
said
.

I’d settled into my calculus homework
for the next
hour or so until I was pretty sleepy. But bonus, I had finished all the
problems in chapter seven. 
I stretched and tried to get more comfortable, but settled for leaning my
cheek
against the window, even though it was straining my neck. What I wouldn’t give for one of those little neck pillows I’d seen Amanda Hughes with.

And while I was on the topic of Amanda Hughes, I guess now was as good a time as any to finally face
the fact
that I was rooming with her in the hotel. I’d ignored her all semester, even after we found out we’d be sharing a room. I could tell she wanted to talk about everything and coordinate outfits and toiletries before we left, but I kept blowing her off and disappearing from class
as soon as the bell rang. And thankfully now I was sitting three rows
behind
her. She wasn’t that bad, just abnormally perky for someone with such a
smushed
in face. I didn’t know what she had to be so
freakin
happy about.
I closed my eyes and hoped to get some sleep
to
pass a few hours of this flight.

*****

When I woke up, my mouth was all dried out from hanging open.
I
swallowed
and
opened
my eyes, wondering how much time had passed.
My head was resting on
Matt’s shoulder.
Crap
!

I sat up in my own seat.
Maybe he was sleeping too and didn’t notice. Nope, he was definitely awake. And now he was looking at me.

“Sorry. I fell asleep I guess.”

“It’s fine.”

“How long was I out?”

“Um, about an hour, I guess,” he said, glancing down at his watch.

“You could’ve just shoved me off you,” I said.

“It wasn’t bothering me,” he said, glancing over at me.

Our eyes met momentarily, and it felt too intimate in the close confines.
We both looked away. O
ut
side the window, t
he sun was bright in the sky
, so I was probably sleeping longer than an hour
.

He’d been writing in his notebook, holding it close to his lap rather than pulling down the little fold down tray, like he didn’t want anyone to see what he was writing. He closed the notebook and tucked it in the seat pocket.
My eyes lingered on his hands. His nails were clean and trimmed, his fingers long and
slender
. I blinked away the sleep in my eyes and straightened up.

“So now that you’re up, should we talk about our paper?” he asked.

“Uh, sure.”

He
reached for the
notebook
again
and
flipped to the page of notes we’
d started
together in class
. He
ti
l
t
ed it
towards me. “Any of these sound good to you?” he asked.

I read over the list again
, running my finger across the page
.
Nothing was standing out to me.
“Yeah, I still have no ideas.”

He slid the notebook book from me and we sat in silence for a few second
s
.
“What did you mean before when you said I was ‘Matt
Parker
’
?
” he asked, using air quotes.

He’
d
picked up on that, huh? Maybe he wasn’t quite the dense meathead I always made him out to be.
“Don’t tell me you don’t notice the prostitute
-
pack that follows you around. Not to mention the teachers cutting you a break and a good portion of the school idolizing you.”

He wrinkled his brows.
“That stuff doesn’t really matter to me,” he said, shifting in his seat.

“I doubt that.”

“You
really
don’t know me
,
Zoey
.”

“I know you’re captain of the football team.”

“And the wrestling team,” he added.

“And your friend Justin
is a horny little toad.”

“No argument there.” He smirked. “But how’s that any better than you dating that stoner
,
Jordan?”

“I’m not dating him,” I
nearly snorted
. “High school relationships are stupid. Sorry, no offen
s
e for whatever it is that you and Chelsey have going on.” I glanced over at him.

“No
—
we’re not together anymore.”

Hm. So I guess that rumors about her cheating on him were true. That must have been a blow to his ego. She was the most lusted after girl in school. Perky, blonde and thin.
I’d never actually talked to her.
Last week, I’d seen his friend Justin humping his locker after she passed by in the hall, which was not an uncommon reaction on the days she wore her cheerleading
uniform
to school.