One in a Million

Aalia knew that no matter how troubling her problems were, nothing was more important at that moment than being there for Caroline at such a scary time. She sat up in her bed and held her head in her free hand. Caroline had been crying on the phone and Aalia had hurt for her as she could offer nothing but comforting words.

“My life is over,” Caroline had sobbed, “All my auditions, all my hard work.”

“Nothing is over,” Aalia had reassured her as she kicked off her covers, “Nothing is certain, Caroline. You could just be irregular. It happens.”

“I’ve never been this late. Oh, God, Aalia. I can’t do this. What about him? Oh, God! I’ve ruined him, too!”

“Caroline, listen to me,” Aalia spoke up through her best friend’s cries after she got out of bed, “Are you listening?”

“Mmhm.”

“Just breathe. Okay? Breathe. I’m coming up there right now. I can book a flight right now. Okay?”

“Okay.” Aalia had never heard Caroline sound so vulnerable. She knew that she needed her now more than ever.

“Until then, just sit tight. Relax. Don’t worry. Okay?”

Aalia spent another few minutes calming her down and telling her everything was going to be okay, but she knew Caroline was still distraught. She would be too if such a thing ever happened to her.

The moment she hung up the phone, Aalia reached for her laptop at her desk and booked a flight to Los Angeles for the next morning. She would need to take a taxi early in the morning up to the airport in Phoenix, but she would gladly do it for Caroline. In a heartbeat, she thought. In a heartbeat.

-----------------------------------

Aalia tucked the plastic bag holding the pregnancy test she’d purchased from the inner airport drugstore into her purse and took a seat with her boarding pass in her lap, waiting for the attendants to signal her to board. It was seven in the morning and she’d barely gotten any sleep last night worrying about Caroline. She sipped on her Snapple iced tea and crossed her legs, hanging her purse over her knee.

She prepared herself mentally for what was in store for her in Los Angeles. She wasn’t reluctant to leave Arizona. That was for sure. She had nothing there anymore, and maybe some time away from the familiarity of her life would do her some good, she thought. She felt too nervous for Caroline to even feel excited about seeing her for the first time in quite a while.

As she watched plane after plane take off through the window in front of her, she saw her trip to Los Angeles as symbolic. She would leave behind Aiden and his drama in Arizona. She would leave behind her eventless lifestyle. And most of all, she would leave behind her Mystery Boy.

As if he’d read her mind, she felt her phone vibrate from within her and her heart froze.

Maybe if she waited long enough, she’d realize he wasn’t really calling, she thought. She was just too used to him ignoring her.

The vibrations ended and part of her felt guilty. She was the one doing the ignoring now.

But he didn’t take no for an answer.

Her phone erupted once more and she knew he’d call until she answered. She knew how persistent he was. How determined he was, even for the smallest of things. She could almost smile if it weren’t for the hard pounding of her heart.

She gave in.

“Hello?”

“I have three more questions,” she heard him say in a resolute voice.

“What?”

“The game. We haven’t finished yet.”

She sighed. “Look, now is really not the time for games for me. I’m—"

“How much would you be willing to fight through for the one you love?”

She was taken aback, unable to conjure up an answer.

“If you were with someone you loved,” he continued, “more than anything in the world, how much would you sacrifice for them?”

She remained silent.

“It’s the same question. Just rephrased. So don’t say it counts as two,” he said quickly. “I know how you—"

“Everything,” she interrupted him promptly. She gripped the edge of her chair in anxiety. “I would fight through everything. I would sacrifice everything for someone I love.”

“Even if it meant long periods of time away from them? Keeping everything a secret? Sharing them with other people?”

“Everything,” she repeated with certainty.

When he didn’t respond, she became concerned.

“What’s this about?” she asked.

“Everything.” He repeated her words. “It’s about everything, Aalia.”

Her head began to throb. “Why do you do this to me? Why do I always feel like you’re not telling me something but you’re telling me everything at the same time? Why is that? You’re so confusing to me,” she paused, closing my eyes, “And yet you’re the only thing that makes sense.” She ended in a barely audible whisper.

He didn’t make a sound.

A loudspeaker announced that Aalia’s flight was ready to board, bringing her back down to Earth. It wasn’t until her eyes flew open that she realized she was shaking.

“I have to go,” she told him.

“I hate it when you say that,” he said sadly.

“You have one more question left,” she said as she stood with her bag over her shoulder, “Don’t think I forgot.”

He was too silent for her taste.

“Bye,” she said, hanging up the phone and slipping it into her pocket.

She had walked into the airport with certainty, thinking she would leave her old life and her old worries behind. Then he came and sent her into a spiral once again. She boarded her plane with her mind spinning, a feeling she was becoming far too accustomed to.