Smile for Me

God, I hated flying. I hated airplanes. They were so small, so…tight. The air was thick and stifling, it was noisy…why couldn’t we have driven?
Thinking that music would drown out the outside noise and calm my nerves, I dug in my bag for my iPod and earphones, wanting nothing more than to zone out to some A7X until we landed.
Shit. I left my iPod in my suitcase, but remembered to pack my earphones in my carryon. Good thing my head was on straight.
Sighing, I rested my head back against the seat and closed my eyes, playing music in my head. That probably made me crazy, but if it would get me through the next couple hours, I didn’t mind at all.
I didn’t open my eyes when someone sat next to me. It was probably the same person that sat beside me on the way to LA, and I forced back a groan. They guy had to have been fifty, with an oversized paunch that bulged over his pants and sweat stains under his arms, and kept talking to me the whole damn time we were in the air. I had the feeling he was hitting on me, but couldn’t really be sure. I remembered the smell of his sweat, nasty cologne, and bad breath and almost shuddered. Only I could be the unlucky one out of all five of us to book the flight late and not get to sit with my friends. I wasn’t even remotely near them. They were all together at the front on the right side of the plane, while I was at the very back on the left side. How does that work?
I really wish we had driven.
Sighing, I let my head slide over to rest on the wall by the window and tried to calm down as I heard the captain tell everyone through the intercom to buckle their seat belts. I buckled mine as soon as we sat down, but it wasn’t like I could go anywhere, if I tried. My knees were shaking too much. And as if the flimsy little strap would save us if anything were to go wrong during the flight. Please, tell me another one.
There was a bit of a jerking motion as the plane started up and began to move, and I twisted my hands in my lap. Then the jerking increased and I put my hands on the arms of the chairs to grip them, and ended up grabbing the arm of the person sitting next to me. Jerking my hand away, I put it back in my lap with a quiet, “Sorry.”
“No worries.” He said, and I realized vaguely that I wasn’t sitting next to the same person as before. His voice had been raspy and oddly annoying, whereas this new person had a very…well, nice sounding voice.
I considered opening my eyes to look at him, but couldn’t do it.
I don’t know how long the shaking and motions went on for; it probably seemed longer to me because I hated flying so much. But through the whole thing I held my breath and squeezed my eyes shut as my stomach rolled, and I prayed to God in my head.
But when it finally stopped and we were told we could take off the seat belts, I let out a deep breath and shifted a little in my seat.
“You okay?” My seat partner asked and I nodded my head, though it was a little jerky.
“Yeah.” My voice shook a little and I cleared it before continuing. “Yeah, I just…really hate flying.”
“Oh, okay.”
Feeling that I was being rude by keeping my eyes closed, I turned my head to look at who I was sitting beside. He was young, maybe early twenties, with shaggy black hair covered by a bandana and sideways hat, which was pulled down across his forehead. He had on sunglasses, too, and I thought that was pretty silly at first, since it wasn’t really bright in the airplane. Then he took the sunglasses off and as soon as I saw the tiny stud in the left side of his nose, I knew who he was.
Oh my…
Heart pounding, face turning bright red, I looked out the window and tried to tell myself that I was seeing things. It couldn’t be…he couldn’t possibly be…
I turned to look at him again and yep, it was him. I was sitting next to Synyster Gates on the airplane.
Holy shit.
The stewardess passed by and asked if we needed anything, but I stared blankly at her, unable to think of anything past the fact that I had just grabbed the arm of Synyster fucking Gates.
He looked back at me and then smiled at her. “Can she get some water? Flying makes her nervous.”
She nodded and went off to get it immediately. I wondered vaguely if she knew who he was.
“Thanks.” I practically stammered and he smiled at me.
Synyster Gates just smiled at me. Oh, if only Emma could be here now…
“No problem.”
I found myself smiling back and then the stewardess was there, handing the bottle of water to him before he gave it to me.
I knew that I would keep that water bottle forever.
I took it and tried in vain to unscrew the cap, but the plastic ridges just scraped over my skin and I swore under my breath.
He was laughing as he took the bottle from me, saying, “You really do get nervous, huh?”
“Yeah, I’m a big wimp.” I laughed at myself and watched as he unscrewed the cap as if it was nothing before handing it back. I took a deep breath before saying quietly, “Thanks, Syn.”
He was about to answer me, but then turned to look at me with his mouth wide open. “You just called me Syn.”
“That I did.” I took a quick drink and twisted the cap back on as I said, “I love you guys, by the way.”
He continued to stare at me, but pushed the bill of his hat up a little bit so I could see his whole face. And it was a beautiful face, too.
“Since you know who I already am, what’s your name?”
“Katie.”
“Well, Katie, it’s nice to meet you.” He held out his hand and I took it, blushing a little.
Thank God we hadn’t driven.