Falling and Failing Is All I Know

A week passed, and Kara was happier than she had been in a very long time. Matt was more amazing than she could have ever imagined. She didn’t know it was even possible for guys nowadays to be as nice and sweet as he was. He was everything that she could want in a guy.

Kara snuggled closer to Matt under the warm blankets in his bunk. In return, she felt his arms tighten around her.

“I never expected this to happen,” Matt said quietly. The others were asleep and he didn’t want to disturb them.

“Me either, but I’m so glad it did,” Kara replied, letting her head rest on his chest.

“I never thought someone like me would have a chance with a girl like you.”

“There’s nothing that special about me.”

“Oh whatever. You’re only the single most amazing girl I’ve ever met in my life. You’re beautiful. You’re nice and sweet. And you give the greatest hugs ever.”

“Aww Matt. I don’t deserve you.”

“Of course you do.”

“I don’t think so. You’re far too great for someone like me.”

“Well, I don’t care what you say, you’re stuck with me now and I’m not going anywhere if I can help it.”

Kara didn’t say anything else. She tilted her face up and kissed Matt’s cheek. He turned his head before she could pull away and their lips brushed together. Kara giggled and she felt Matt smile into the kiss. Kara pulled away and settled down into the blankets again. She then slowly drifted off to sleep with Matt’s heartbeat as her lullaby.

~x~

“Kara. Wake up,” Matt said, shaking Kara ever so slightly.

“What is it?” she asked, slowly opening her eyes.

“There’s a family emergency of sorts going on back home and I have to be on a plane in thirty minutes to get there.”

His words woke Kara the rest of the way up and she sat up in the bed.

“Do you want me to come with you?”

“No babe, it’s something I should take care of by myself. I have to go now, but I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“Okay.”

Matt kissed her quickly and said a quick goodbye before he rushed off the bus and into the waiting cab. It wasn’t long afterwards that Kara drifted back off to sleep.

Kara was slowly walking down the street in search of the nearest place that sold coffee. She kept peeking glances at her phone to make sure she wouldn’t miss a call or text from Matt. She was hoping that his plane ride had gone smoothly and he had gotten the family emergency sorted out. She looked up and down the street, finally spotting a Starbucks. She was making her way towards it when her ringtone went off. Her heart jumped in her chest at the thought that it was probably Matt. She quickly pulled it out of her pocket and flipped it open without checking the number.

“Hello.”

“Hello. Is this Kara Foster speaking?”

“Yes it is. Who is this?”

“My name is Officer Edwards. I don’t know how to say this gently, but the plane that your boyfriend, Matt, was flying on crashed. There have been no survivors found.”

“How do you know he’s not alive?”

“We’ve already sent his body to the hospital.”

Kara sat bolt upright in bed, tears spilling over the edges of her blue eyes. She tried to calm her breathing down and get her heart rate back to normal. She repeated over and over again to herself that it was just a dream. It had seemed so real though and it was hard to shake the fear it had caused.

Finally, when she could breathe normally again she stood up from the bed. She gathered some clothes and made her way into the bathroom. She turned on the shower, letting the water get nice and warm before stepping inside. She closed her eyes and let the warm water hit her skin in and wash away all the memories of the nightmare she’d just had.

~x~

After she was dressed with her hair and makeup done for the day, Kara stepped out of the bathroom. She was on her way to the living area to chill out and maybe watch some television, but she noticed that it was eerily quiet on the bus. It was odd to not hear Roxanne complaining about something, since that was usually an everyday occurrence. She pushed open the door to the bunks slowly, flinching as it squeaked. She saw Brian, sitting on his bunk and staring down at the floor. Kara watched him for a few seconds before she realized that he looked really torn up about something. She quickly walked over to his bunk and sat down beside him.

“Brian, what’s wrong?” she asked carefully.

“Roxanne broke up with me. She just left while you were in the shower.”