Come Fly With Me

Only one more lesson and Sparkle's first week of training would be over. She would admit to anyone who asked that it was hard. They'd had a quiz every single day and there was a constant input of new information; it was almost like learning a whole new language. Fuselage was Sparkle's new favorite word to say. With the study group her and her classmates had formed, Sparkle managed to really retain everything she was learning and other classmates often turned to her for help. As her class milled around one of the break rooms- affectionately known as the galleys- down the hall from their classroom, they discussed the latest test.

"You-know-who got an A, of course," Kelly said as she took her turn at one of the Keurigs to make herself a cup of coffee.

Brandon, Winnie, and Ramon all looked at Sparkle. She looked back at them. "Oh, come on. I'm not the only one."

Brandon rolled his dark brown eyes. "Chile, Freddie didn't earn that A. He blew the A. Out of Chase if I heard correctly."

Winnie gasped. "Our instructor Chase? Who gave Lena an infraction yesterday cause he saw a glimpse of her tattoo?"

"Yep."

Sparkle shook her head in disbelief. It was only the first week and there was already drama stirring. She'd had smarts enough to pack business clothes that covered her own tattoos, although a couple of them would only ever be seen on the day they practiced ditching and she'd have to wear a swim suit. Once upon a time, Sparkle also wore a septum ring but that phase was short lived. The hole remained but she only put a ring in for certain occasions and flight attendant training wasn't one of them.

She stepped up to the Keurig and was waiting for her coffee to brew while a group of people from another class poured into the galley.

"Mmm..." she heard Kelly say quietly. "Pilots..."

"Avert our gaze ladies," Brandon said wisely. "The number one unspoken rule in your new life is to never, ever date a pilot."

"Why's that?" Ramon spoke up. He was eyeing an older pilot in khakis and a green polo shirt.

"It just saves you from a headache, heartache, and sometimes a trip to the clinic."

Sparkle turned her nose up. In the short time since she met Brandon, she'd always found his advice to be noteworthy but she took this one with a grain of salt. Surely, not all pilots were that bad. Especially one, in particular, who stood out from the rest. He had jet black hair that was tied into a neat bun and an equally dark and well-groomed beard. To Sparkle, he looked like the black sheep of the group and that piqued her interest. He took the long way around the room to get to the coffee machine that Sparkle and her friends were congregated around. The others saw him coming and decided it was time to head back to class anyway.

"You coming?" Kelly asked.

"Yeah, in just a minute," she said quietly. Her friends gave her a few knowing looks but left her in the galley all the same.

"Excuse me," the bearded man said in a gruff voice.

Sparkle stepped to the side. "Rough day, huh?"

He inserted a k-cup and pressed a few buttons until the machine began to brew. He glanced back over to her and his eyebrows rose slightly. "I'm sorry, we're you talking to me?"

Sparkle let out a chuckle and stirred her coffee distractedly. "A failed attempt, obviously."

The man scratched the bottom of his chin and smiled. "Only on my end... I do apologize...?"

"Sparkle." She extended her hand for a handshake.

He shook her hand firmly. "Nice to meet you Sparkle. I'm Trent and I promise after this cup of coffee, I'll be a decent conversationalist."

Sparkle laughed lightly. "It's fine, really. I've gotta get back to class anyway. Maybe I'll see you around though."

"You bet."

She concentrated on putting one foot in front of the either until she was out of the galley and couldn't feel the heat of Trent's gaze on her back anymore. She let out a breath, not believing she had just embarrassed herself like that. Even while she'd been dating Hassan, Sparkle always thought of herself as a flirt but now she was doubting her abilities. Had she really lost her game? What would single life be without her game? She settled into her seat beside Kelly and tried to push her failure to the back of her head.

"How'd it go with Mr. Pilot?" Kelly whispered.

"We'll have to talk about it over several stiff drinks tonight," Sparkle whispered back.

Andrea, one of the instructors, resumed their lesson for the day: the locations of emergency equipment on the Embraer 190 which was the smallest aircraft type in their fleet. The lesson lasted a little over an hour and a half. There were a few pieces of equipment displayed on a table in the front of the room. Andrea informed them that they would be fighting fire next class. "So be sure to get plenty of rest on your day off tomorrow," she said. "If no one has any questions on what we've just discussed, you're free to go."

A hand in the back of the class went up and everyone suppressed a groan. Just as Sparkle was the smart one of the class, there was a girl named Patrice who had the most questions. A lot of them could've been answered on her own if she had taken good notes during the lesson but since, according the Blue Skies instructors, no question was a dumb question, the class stayed an extra twenty minutes while Andrea explained the differences between the first aid kit and the emergency medical kit.

The sun was just setting when Sparkle and her classmates made it back to their hotel. The large group dispersed once inside.

"I've something in my room for us," Ramon said.

Sparkle loved the Spanish accent Ramon spoke with and really wished that he would speak up more but he was obviously quiet by nature. "You have a surprise for lil ol' us?"

He smiled shyly and nodded. Winnie smiled brightly and linked her arm through Ramon's. "I don't even know what it is but I'm happy already."

The small group took the elevator up to the seventh floor and Ramon led them to his room. It didn't look like someone had been living in it for a week. Sparkle's room looked loved in and she had seen Kelly's room which was even worse. Even the food and snacks they'd bought from the market two blocks down had it's own drawer in the dresser.

Brandon took a seat at the desk, placing his satchel on top. "What's the surprise Ramon?"

Ramon eagerly put his bag in front of the nightstand and went to the nook that had a cupboard and a mini fridge. First, he took out a salt shaker and tossed it to Winnie. He opened the fridge and took out two limes, tossing one to Sparkle and the other to Brandon. Then he took out a bottle of tequila. He didn't throw it but walked it over to Kelly.

"In celebration of our first week together," he said. "I don't make friends easy so I'm really happy I met you all."

"Aw!" Kelly wrapped her arms around Ramon's neck and hugged him tightly. Kelly opened the bottle while Ramon set everyone up with plastic shot glasses.

Sparkle held her shot ready with a pinch of salt on the lime wedge Brandon had cut for her. Happy wasn't a sufficient word to describe what she felt. Lucky? Blessed? Whatever it was, Sparkle knew she was making forever friends with these people and didn't want to imagine what training would've been like without any of them. "To friends," she said, raising her glass.

"To making new memories," Brandon said.

"To adventures!" Kelly said with her amazing smile.

"To the sky!" Winnie said.

"Pura vida!" Ramon said. They clinked their glasses and tossed back their shots and chased it with their lime wedges.

Eventually, they'd ordered up some dinner and it wasn't long after that they all decided it was a great idea to out dancing. After a certain amount of tequila, there wasn't much one could to stop Sparkle from dancing and she was elated to learn it worked the same for her friends. They all ran to their respective rooms to change but Sparkle had Ramon fix her a tequila and soda before she went. The shots and merriment had Sparkle feeling particularly bold and after washing up, she put on a gold mini dress that she didn't remember packing. She matched a pair of red velour scrappy heels to her red lace choker. There wasn't much she could do with her hair in a timely manner so she just let her curls down from the hair tie she'd been wearing since 7am. It felt good to let her hair down.

As she reapplied some deodorant, a knock came at her door. Winnie's room was just across the hall and Sparkle let her in. She wore a little black dress with red ankle booties and her auburn hair was in a high bun. Sparkle let out a wolf whistle. An echo of the wolf whistle came from down the hall and Sparkle and Winnie turned to see Kelly strutting towards them, whipping her short red hair from side to side in a crop top and high waisted skirt that matched her fire engine red pumps perfectly.

"Can the building handle all this sexy going right now?" Sparkle asked as Winnie and Kelly posed for each other.

Winnie pulled her phone from her bedazzled clutch. "We're sole mates right now and I have to take a picture." The girls put their feet together and Winnie snapped a photo. Sparkle felt her phone buzz in her own purse and knew that Winnie had either sent them each the picture or tagged them in it on social media. They took a few more pictures and selfies and headed back to Ramon's room. He was looking as fabulous as ever in a pair of tapered black pants and a crisp white v-neck under a fitted gray vest.

"Brandon is downstairs getting a Lyft," he said after the girls had taken their share of selfies with him.

Brandon must've heard their drunken chatter before he saw them because he was already poised with one hand on his hip and the other sliding his glasses down his nose to get a better look. He wore black pants as well and a black shirt with pink polka dots. "Come on, red shoes!" he said, full of pride and approval. He hugged Sparkle to his side and patted her hip. "Come on, thickness!" He nodded over to Kelly. "You better come on with the hair flip, girl!"

Winnie was hugged to Brandon's other side. "Come on, titty city!"

The group continued to fawn over each other until their Lyft ride pulled up. Ramon passed around his flask as they headed into the city. Sparkle's dressed revealed several of the tattoos her new friends had yet to see and it ignited a game of ink show-and-tell. A few more minutes in the car and they would've convinced Sparkle to pull the top of her dress down so they could see the tattoo under her boobs but they pulled up to their destination just in time. Sparkle didn't care to ask the name of the place, she was just too happy to be there with a group of amazing people. The line to get in moved quickly and soon enough, they were dancing the night away.