Chapter Eight

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Waiting alone in an airport is not fun. Especially when it's 5 in the morning. I think a few others were also flying out today but I can't remember who. Even if they are, they have yet to show up.

I have my bags sitting beside me and my eyes closed as if I could actually get sleep. The thunderous roar of planes taking off outside make that impossible. Surprisingly, this airport had a direct flight to Raleigh, North Carolina. It's from there that I catch the flight to Asheville. Not many people are taking the flight so I'm basically alone at the gate.

My phone starts to buzz in my pocket. I take it out and answer it without even looking at who it is. I'm not surprised when I hear Mom's voice on the other end.

"Isabelle, has the flight boarded yet?" she asks nervously.

"No, Mom. It doesn't leave for another hour. You know this." I say.

"I'm sorry, I'm just worried! You've never gone this far to film and for this long. I'm allowed to be worried!" she protests.

"I know." I say while rolling my eyes. She says a few more things before we both hang up.

I close my eyes but find the action useless. Then, I pull out a book to read. I have an hour in this dumb airport; might as well do something useful. The familiar red-headed girl plops into a seat next to me. She has earbuds blasting music into her ears so I decide not to bother her.

When they start calling people to board the plane, I shove my book back into my bag. Jackie takes out her earbuds and tucks them into her pocket. "This is too early." She grumbles.

I nod my head before walking up to the counter. I have the worker check our seats to be sure that we're on the plane before walking back to the waiting area. Soon enough, she calls for the business cabin passengers, which in includes the people from the film.

I get my bags and walk up. It looks like Jackie and I are the only ones flying out today. I hand my ticket to the woman and am about to step into the jetway when I hear frantic shouts to my left.

Jackie sees them before I do and groans before continuing to walk. I roll my eyes when I see Alexander and Jack are sprinting towards us. "Wait!" Jack yells before letting out a loud laugh. They reach us and give their tickets to the lady. She lets them through and they both follow behind me.

"That was close, huh Xander?" Jack directs to Alexander.

I glance back and see Alexander running his hand through his rain-soaked hair. He nods before we step onto the plane. The flight attendants lead us to the business cabin and Alexander helps me put my bags away.

When the doors of the plane close, the only ones here are me, Jackie, Jack, and Alexander. There are plenty of open seats here so I take one on a completely empty row by the window.

I'm looking out the window as we begin to taxi away from the gate. I hear someone sit in the seat right next to me and I don't even look to know who it is.

"20 seats in this cabin and you sit next to me?" I mumble when I turn my head from the window.

Alexander gives me a childlike grin before pulling the seatbelt across his lap. "You should feel grateful."

"I don't." I say while rolling my eyes. I pull out the book I was reading and open to the page I left off on.

Alexander leans his head to where he is looking over my shoulder at the book. I'm surprised that he doesn't say anything and that he's actually reading the page. "Ah, nothing better than a cliché love story." He says in my ear.

I shut the book and stare at him, narrowing my eyes. "It's not cliché. I like it." I tell him. I glance out the plane window, seeing the ground shrinking below us.

"I could write a book ten times better than that." He says with a smirk.

"Could you?" I ask with a raised eyebrow. "Then do it."

He's about to say something else when he is interrupted by loud laughter coming from seats in front of us. I poke my head over the top of the seat, smiling at Jackie and Jack. He's telling her some kind of joke.

I sit back down and Alexander looks at me for an explanation. "They'd be cute together." I tell him.

"Jack totally has a thing for her." He tells me. "It's a little weird."

I shrug my shoulders and open my book. Alexander gets back to his spot over my shoulder, now resting his chin on it. I read several pages and I'm guessing Alexander keeps up with the pace.

"Aw, cuties!" a voice shrieks from above us. I look up and see that Jackie is leaning over the seat in front of us.

Alexander immediately takes his head off of my shoulder. I smile to myself when I see his face start to turn red. Aw.

"Dude," Jack says whenever he gets into the same position as Jackie in front of Alexander. "Were you reading?"

Alexander shakes his head. "Nah, I wasn't reading that terribly cheesy love story." He says, directing it to me.

Jackie reaches down and snatches the book out of my hand. "I love this book!" she says in defense of Alexander's criticism. "It's so sweet and cute. And it's not cheesy at all, Alexander. What do you honestly know about books?"

"A lot, actually. I could write a book so much better than that." He says.

"Here we go again." I mumble.

"Really? Best book you ever read?" Jackie asks him.

I glance at Alexander, seeing him staring off in deep thought. He's biting his lip as he thinks which is actually kind of cute. How can he go from an insane angry madman to cute in like 5 days?

"It's Kind of a Funny Story." He finally says. I'm in awe; I can't believe he's actually read that. I can't believe he even reads.

Jackie doesn't say anything and is just staring at him as if she is trying to figure out this strange boy. Everything about him contradicts itself and he's just different. I'm not even sure if it's a good different.

"Dude, you're so lame." Jack says before sinking down into his seat. Jackie glares down at him before turning to smile at the two of us. Then, she disappears back into her seat.

I start to read my book again. Not really because I wanted to but because I think Alexander wanted to. He smiles before setting his chin on my shoulder and reading the page I am open to.

After a while, Alexander pulls off from my shoulder. I close my book since I was very tired of reading and just stare out the window.

I start to hear soft snores and turn to look at Alexander. His eyes are closed and he has one of the blankets that were given out snuggled up to his face. He looks like a little kid when he's asleep. No matter how cliché and cheesy it sounds, it's almost peaceful to look at the sleeping boy.

I find myself smiling and look away from him, redness starting to fill my cheeks.

Maybe I didn't want to admit it or maybe I just didn't know it at the time, but I was slowly falling for Alexander Ludwig.

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