We live in an age of celebrity CEOs flaunting their wealth and very moral business practices, yet it is annoying how they never give credit to those who created the path they walk on! Like, they don't do that in sports, where are the CEO stadium banners?

The week passed with our group exercises getting more excruciating by the day. First, it was just running laps, then it was partner drills; so many partner drills. That didn’t even count practice. I think Coach would have tried to kill us if we had left each other's side.

The whole time was honestly a blur. I kept thinking back to our near kiss at WcDonalds every single play, at least that was how it felt.

When did my feelings start to change? It was hard to place the exact moment. Sure, I’d thought Maria was hot from the moment I met her eyes. I found a lot of girls cute.

The bake sale, maybe? Whatever the case, it didn’t change the fact that I was a massive idiot for taking this long to notice.

If only she liked me back.

“Aiko? Hello? We’re boarding!”

“Wha–” I snapped back to reality as Hana nearly shouted in my ear. “Coming!”

We shuffled through the tight airport lines and onto the flight. It was a four hour trip to Okinawa, with our projected landing at like three in the afternoon.

“It’s been forever since I’ve been in a plane for this long!” Hana said as she ducked through the plane door. “You ever been on one for this long?”

“I’ve never even been on a plane. My parents just take the train everywhere.”

“Four hours isn’t bad, trust me.” This time, it was Felix from right ahead of us. “My plane from the States was eighteen.”

“Eighteen? You spent an entire day in one of these?”

“It’s not so bad once you’ve had a few drinks,” Felix said. “I just found a cute girl and entered the bathroom and–”

I rolled my eyes. “You’re in high school, what drinks? Also, I do not need to hear any more than that.”

“Your loss,” he shrugged, clearly completely unoffended. “Maria, how long did your flight here take?”

“Mine? Twelve hours from here.”

“Only twelve? Where's the foreplay, the extended tension?”

“If this were an anime, I’d punch you through the roof.”

“If?” Felix muttered something under his breath and rolled his eyes. “Well, I haven’t been blown through a wall in this place yet. I assure you, not the most fun thing.”

“Why do you sound like you’re being serious? Did you get smashed through a brothel wall or something in Las Vegas?”

“Hardly. Nothing in this place could push me if it tried.”

Felix took his seat while speaking. Somehow, due to sheer luck, he was the only one of us to have an entire row to himself.

I just walked along to my seat: row thirty-seven C, all the way in the back.

It was a rather tight fit, and I was the textbook definition of skinny–not to flex or anything. The faux leather felt like wood, and my tray table wobbled as I pressed down.

“Have you really never been on a flight?” Butterflies jittered in my stomach as Maria took the seat next to me. “Also, we’re together! I was worried Coach hadn’t organized our seats.”

“Did you really think Coach was going to let us spend a whole four hours apart?” We were even sharing a room in Okinawa, something that I’d chosen not to think about and have a panic attack about later. “But yeah, my parents think it's a dumb waste of money. I’m kind of excited, though. Okinawa is peak hot girl summer vibes.”

“If only we were going there for a vacation. Whenever I have a game, I can’t focus on anything else.”

“Same girl,” Is it? The first game is tomorrow, yet Maria is the only thing I can think about. God, this girl is driving me insane.

“Hello, this is your captain speaking. We’re expecting a good amount of turbulence on this flight today. Nothing to worry about, folks, but remember to keep your seat belts on and ensure that your luggage is secured in the overhead bins or under your seat. Thank you for flying with us, and we hope you enjoy your flight.”

“Turbulence? That’s when that plane shakes, right?” I asked.

“Yeah, but it’s not that bad. Imagine a roller coaster, and it's a milder version of that.”

“Are you sure?” I buckled my seat and leaned back. If Maria was that confident, I wasn’t too worried.

                                                                                 ⬢ ⬢ ⬢

“ACK!” BOOM

I shrieked as a particularly big bolt of lightning flashed by. What did you mean not too bad, Maria!

“This is what turbulence is like? What part of this is like a roller coaster!”

My fingers were pale from hanging on to my seat for dear life. It was like riding a tsunami! Every second, the plane seemed to free-fall a hundred feet in the air, and the lighting flashing outside certainly didn’t help things!

Maria was doubled over in laughter, completely fine somehow. “Come on! Isn’t this fun?”

“Your definition of fun scares me–GAAHH!” I screamed as we jolted fifty feet upward in a hundredth of a second. “What kind of brain damage does someone have to have to like this?”

“Girl, it's just a few bumps.”

“Yeah, and a bottle of whiskey is just a few shots!” The plane rattled like a subway car. “I only like my pain after I turn the lights off, not at eleven in the morning!”

My stomach felt like it wanted to play a game of Happy Hungry Hippos, but entirely in reverse. How much longer do we have in this storm…

Somehow, Maira was completely relaxed next to me with a book in hand. She fiddled with the screen on our seats and pulled up a 3d map of our flight path. “Looks like we’ll only be in this for around fifteen minutes.”

“It better just be fifteen minutes, or I’m giving my seat a free coat of green and yellow paint. Is this level of turbulence normal?”

“Not really, my flight here–”

BOOM

“EEK!” I grabbed onto Maria’s arm like a vice as a bolt of lightning struck the plane wing just outside my window. “You never said lightning would strike the plane!”

“It’s designed to take that Aiko, trust me, you’re fine.” She shifted closer to me, letting me rest my head on her shoulder. Just that alone seemed to calm my racing heart down a bit. If anyone saw us like this, I would die of embarrassment.

I’m not bothering Maria, am I? She seems to like it, and she’s just gotten closer, so clearly she doesn’t mind.

Luckily, our half of the plane was mostly empty. Not a lot of demand to fly to Okinawa on a Monday morning.

“God, I need the bathroom…” I froze. Hana’s voice came from a few rows over, getting closer with every word.

I need to get up– “ACK!” Another bit of turbulence set us rocketing straight down. Never mind, never mind, never mind… Hana, please turn around. If I’ve ever asked you for anything, please!

“Sorry, bathroom’s closed,” As if hearing my thoughts, Felix stood in the middle of the row. “Some poor girl has been in there for the last hour.”

“Ok, but there's two bathrooms,” Hana said.

“Well, there's this girl I met earlier, beautiful blonde, and we’ve been in the bathroom together and–”

“Nope! Front bathroom, it is!” Hana’s voice immediately grew softer as she turned straight the other way.

I never thought I would think this, but thank you, Felix. I sighed and leaned back in my chair. Though, when did he get up? I hadn’t been paying a ton of attention, but I hadn’t seen a single person use either of the back bathrooms in an hour

He turned back toward his seat, stretching, and sent a quick wink my way before sitting down.

What the hell… I didn’t know Felix had the ability to be that nice.

“Looks like the turbulence is mostly over,” Maria said.

“Hopefully. I’m never getting on another plane in my life if I can avoid it.”

“We have our return flight in a week.”

“Don’t remind me…” I sighed and pushed my seat back. “Whatever. We have an hour before Okinawa, I’m taking a nap.”

Maria said something in return, but I was so mentally exhausted I fell asleep on her shoulder before I had a chance to comprehend it.