Folded Paper.

“Hurry,” Katie urged. “I don’t want to miss it.” Katie strengthened her grip on Hudson’s hand. Hudson walked a bit faster, trying to make certain that her best friend didn’t rip her arm off. They were trying to get to the front of the old apartment building at the crossing of Oldash Boulevard and Silverbank Street. It was a regular thing that they tried to do every Wednesday; it was a best friend thing. “Walk faster, Sonny! It’s almost noon!”

Hudson took ahold of the edge of her dress with her free hand and with that, the two began to run. Hudson wondered why she’d curled her hair that morning; she knew that she was going to have to run two miles to get to the apartment building. “We still have time! I haven’t heard the church bell ring yet!” As if on cue, the church bell rang. “Well, we still have thirty more minutes,” she muttered.

“Thanks for jinxing it, dip-wad,” Katie mumbled. It was a quarter after twelve when they finally got to Silverbank Street. Other people had already started gathering around the front of the building, waiting just like Hudson and Katie were.

Hudson sighed and leaned against the brick that concealed the surface of the building, removing her heels. That is the last time that I’ll be running in heels, she thought. Closing her eyes, she let her heartbeat slow down to a regular tempo. When she opened her eyes again, the people standing around the building were all grinning, all fidgeting because they knew that it was only a matter of time before the window opened and the paper airplane was sent into the air. They knew.

Hudson always wondered who folded all of those planes every Wednesday and sent them into the sky at half past noon. She wasn’t the only one who wondered that; practically everyone wondered. But she had never missed a Wednesday after she found out. She didn’t have the heart to miss out on it. And there it was—the perfectly folded paper plane was souring through the air. Along with everyone else, she raised her arms in the air, hands ready to catch it if it flew anywhere near her.

Her heart was beating fast with anticipation, with impetus. She was eighteen years old and the only things she enjoyed in life was trying to catch 12:30 airplanes, drinking ice tea, and going to indie rock concerts. Her aunt didn’t understand this hobby of hers, catching airplanes. But she didn’t have to. Catching one of the paper planes was a one-in-a-lifetime thing. It only happened every Wednesday and, if they were lucky, someone would seize it.

“For God’s sake, Hudson, pay attention! It’s literally in front of your face.” Hudson snapped out of her thoughts at the sound of Katie’s voice and looked ahead. She stood on her tiptoes and grabbed the paper by its winding, figuring out that it was flimsier than she expected. Hudson smiled and held it in her hands, holding it close to her chest.

As she studied it, she noticed that there was writing on the left wing, written in cursive. “People aren’t much different from leeches. They feed on whatever seems to benefit them and only them, whether that’s make-up for their pallid skin or soap for their filthy hearts,” Hudson she whispered to herself, reading it. Her smile faltered and her eyebrows pulled together in confusion. Weren’t the paper airplanes supposed to be inspiring?

“What’s wrong, Hudson? What happened? Did you rip it or something?” Katie inquired. “I mean, you got to—”

Hudson shook her head. “Nothing’s wrong. I’m fine. This is just the prettiest paper plane that I’ve ever seen.” The brunette placed her hands on her hips, clearly not convinced by Hudson’s statement. “Nothing is wrong, Katie. Honestly.”

“Whatever. What does it even say?”

“Nothing, Katie. It doesn’t say anything,” she lied. To lighten the mood, Hudson added, “I’ve decided what you owe me, K. Take me out to lunch.”