24 hours

THREE ante meridiem

"So..."

"What?"

"I just figured we might as well get to know each other a little better. We have practically an hour to kill."

He was right. If we were going to spend the rest of the "dies" together, it would be a good idea to learn more about each other. Trust is an important thing. "What should we talk about?"

"Let's start with the basics: full name, age, and... Hobby? My name is Grayson Arbitrium, age eighteen. In my free time, I enjoy spending time in the 'great outdoors'. Your turn."

"You already know my name, Gray."

"Humor me."

"Alright. My name is Colette Michaels, and I'm seventeen." I lifted the window shade for a second to peer out the window, but it was too dark to see anything. "Whenever I have time, I usually read. Or run, if time allows."

"Run where?"

"On the school track, my backyard, the treadmill. Doesn't matter. All I know is that it makes me feel... Free." I closed my eyes, wishing I could be running right now, with not a care in the world. Then I realized what I had said. And that it had been to a virtual stranger. "Sorry," my cheeks flushed slightly pink, "That sounded dumb."

"No, no, it's fine," he laughed, elbowing my arm. "I was the one who asked anyway." Yes... And no. It wasn't like he wanted to hear me explain why I liked what hobbies. "Where do you go to school?"

"Monterey High. What about you?"

"Same." Gray looked away as if trying to hide something (probably a smile), then asked: "Are you single?" His face was completely serious, but there was a twinkle in his eye.

"Really?" I raised an eyebrow at him.

"It's a yes or no, Colette," He urged.

"What is this, twenty questions?" My voice raised in exasperation, arms outstretched to make a point.

"No, I just wanted to see what you would say," he chuckled. "And I'm glad I asked, because your expression was priceless." The flight attendant walked by offering water and a variety of sodas. I didn't want anything, but Gray took a Sprite and started sipping it slowly as if he had only gotten the drink to have something to do.

I blushed and took this moment to examine the boy next to me, the one I had been with all morning, yet never stopped to look at. I noticed his dark brown hair and the way it fell into his russet eyes. His chiseled face, that had been carved by one of the finest sculptors. It wasn't until now that I realized just how good-looking he was.

"I'm going to use the bathroom," I blurted and got up from my seat (I probably looked like a disaster sitting next to him). Right before walking away, however, I peered down at him, smiled, and declared it the most serious voice I could muster, "And yes. I am single." Gray choked on his drink, and I left him with a very dumbfounded expression on his face. Not a good look for him, but hilarious nonetheless.

After regaining my composure in the bathroom mirror, I stepped out to find the flight attendant looking a mixture of irritated and slightly concerned. She kept typing something on her phone, then looking at the cockpit door, which was locked. I slowly walked back to my seat and relayed the information to Gray.

"I am going to go talk to her," he told me.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea," I replied back. The woman was still on her phone, and still looking very unapproachable. "She seems pretty annoyed."

"How could anyone be annoyed by this face?" He teased, flashing me a smile. Gray was right. No one I knew would turn down the chance to talk to someone as attractive as him.

I tried very hard to make it look like I wasn't watching him while he talked to the flight attendant when I clearly was. At first, the flight attendant barely looked up from her phone. After several minutes (probably once she saw his face), she started to open up more and actually talk to him. She even smiled a few times. Was it just me, or was he flirting with her? It's not like I was jealous or anything. Only curious, of course.

She handed Gray something which he thanked her for, then he opened the door to the cockpit and went inside. Had I imagined it, or had Grayson actually persuaded the woman to hand over the keys to the cockpit? Their security wasn't very impressive. After about five minutes of waiting anxiously, my fingers tapping the armrest, I decided it had been long enough.

When I reached the door, I only had to knock once before the door opened. Gray cautiously checked behind me to make sure I hadn't been followed, then opened the door wider and roughly pulled me inside.

"What was that fo—" My eyes widened in shock at the sight in front of me.

Both the Captain and the First Officer lay unconscious on the floor.

"Are—are they—"

"Dead? No. Just asleep. How exactly I'm not sure." After locking the door, Gray went over and sat in one of the chairs, while I awkwardly stood by the door, scared out of my mind.

"What I do know is that if we don't fly this plane ourselves, everyone on this flight is going to die."

"Are you crazy!" I shouted, then lowered my voice. It would be a bad idea to let the passengers know that their lives were in the hands of two teenagers. "Neither of us knows how to fly a plane," I finished in the loudest voice these thin cockpit walls allowed.

"I do."

I peered at Gray with a little faith and a whole lot of skepticism.

"Is this one of your 'hidden talents' just like 'persuading the flight attendant to hand over the keys to the fricking jet'?!"

Gray had already begun flipping switches and pressing buttons. "Actually, yes. My uncle was a pilot, and he taught me how to fly his Cessna a few years back." Deciding I didn't want to stand any longer, I made my way to the seat next to Gray's, careful not to step on anyone. My hands involuntarily gripped the sheepskin, and I tried very hard not to look at the corpse-like bodies of the pilots.

Grayson put on a very professional looking headset and placed his hands on the control yoke. After several minutes I heard speaking come through his headset, too quiet for me to understand.

"Maintain 5,000, cleared ILS two-eight right, United fifty-three-sixteen," Grayson spoke into the microphone, most likely replying to the voice. I don't think he learned just how to fly the plane. He seemed to know the entire dialogue that went on between aircraft and control tower, and exactly what needed to be said.

"Contact tower one-two-eight decimal four, United fifty-three-sixteen."

After listening intently to something through his headset. "San Francisco tower, United fifty-three-sixteen, landing two-eight right." I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about.

"Clear to land two-eight right, United fifty-three-sixteen." He pulled the microphone away from his face. "Colette, look through this, and see if you can find the airport terminal chart for San Francisco." He handed me a plain, black binder with gold lettering that spelled out: "Jeppesen Airway Manual" embossed in the leather. With shaking hands, I flipped through the pages, until I found a page with the heading "SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF". There were several sections for the KSFO airport, and I read them aloud to Gray.
"'Reference Charts', 'Arrivals', 'Approach Charts', 'Taxi Charts.'"

"That's it," he interrupted. "Go to 'Taxi Charts'." I turned to the page and handed it to Grayson.

Several times throughout the rest of the landing process, Gray said a few words to the tower. Eventually, we taxied to Gate 87A.

Only once we were completely stopped and the passengers had all begun to exit the plane did I finally relax. I slouched in my seat, and let out a relieved sigh.

"See," Gray stood up, stretched, and flashed me a smile, "Told you I could do it."

After several minutes — most of which I used to calm my anxious mind — we quietly opened the cockpit door and tried our best to blend in with the crowd. Just as we were about to leave the cabin, the flight attendant gripped the back of Gray's shirt roughly, stopping him in his tracks.

"Where do you think you're going?"