Chapter Text
Brooke bopped her head along with the music coming from her headphones while she got comfortable in her airplane seat. This wasn’t her first time on a plane, she was prepared for everything she’d need and intended to get as comfortable as possible. She shuffled through her backpack on the floor in front of her, out of which she pulled a soft blue throw blanket.
Brooke was hoping that no one would sit by her so she could have an optimally rejuvenating flight. She flew by herself often as a majority of her family lived cross country and though being away for college was great and all she needed to see them whenever she could.
We should be leaving soon, Brooke thought as she gazed out the window at the tarmac.
Suddenly a movement to her left caught her eye. Slowly she looked over in disappointment to see who she would be sat next to for the next five hours.
Next to her now sat a physically fit boy, who seemed like he could be Brooke's age, in a t-shirt and cargo shorts, his brown hair falling over his gray eyes, where she also saw his black glasses. This was all very different to Brooke’s pajama pants and college sweatshirt with her auburn hair in two neat French braids.
Brooke looked away and continued to vibe to the song playing in her ears, Vertigo, was the name. As she dissociated from the real world she could feel herself swaying along to the words.
Through her music Brooke could faintly hear the flight attendant was beginning the safety spiel that she had heard a hundred times.
Pulling her backpack up her lap again, she began rustling through it. Her eyebrows scrunched together as she continued to vigorously sift through it. “Where is it,” she mumbled, pushing her headphones off of her ears, automatically pausing the music and leaving her to stew in aggravation.
“Whatcha lookin’ for?” She heard a male voice say from beside her.
Without bothering to look up Brooke answered gruffly, “my pack of gum,” her head still in her bag. She prided herself on always being prepared for everything. How did such a known travel item displace itself from her mind?
The boy hummed. In a split second he caught her attention again, this time by holding out something in his hand.
Brooke sighed and finally looked up to see what he was holding out to her, immediately she noticed it was a stick of gum. “Oh, thank you.” She said while taking it cautiously.
“Of course,” he said, a genuine smile on his face. He turned back to gazing off into the distance, a glazed over look in his eyes.
Brooke looked over the wrapped gum in her hand, it looks normal , she thought. “How do I know you didn’t drug it though?” She asked skeptically. The boy quickly turned back to her with a shrug and a small laugh, unfortunately calming Brookes' nerves momentarily.
“I guess you don’t, I can't really prove it other than just tell you that I haven’t touched it other than to pull it out for you,” he explained, talking very fast.
After giving the stick another once over Brooke deduced that it would be alright to eat. As she began to unwrap and chew the gum the flight attendant finally finished her safety speech, Brooke felt the plane begin to pull forward.