Flying High

I watched Lexi approach the table next to the lounge and take a seat in one of the vacant chairs. She slammed the UNO box down while pouting. I moved toward the table and sat opposite her. I took my phone out of my pocket and looked at the time.

12:45 p.m.

It had been around two hours since we took off. Only four left to go. While Lexi split the deck, I checked my notifications. No new messages from my mom…not that I’d be able to receive any texts from up here anyway.

“Okay.” Lexi’s voice caused me to look up as she began explaining the rules of UNO.

“Lexi, I know how to play UNO.”

“Oh,” she whispered as though she were embarrassed. “Then let”s play.”

“It’s on.” I narrowed my eyes at her while cracking my knuckles and stretching my neck to the side.

Lexi smirked and began her turn without saying a word. Three rounds of UNO later, I was eating my own words. Lexi had won every single round and was about to win another. Maybe if I changed the color to red, then she wouldn’t be able to use her—

“UNO!” Lexi shouted.

“Shit,” I mumbled while placing down a red four.

Whipping out a blue four, Lexi had once again kicked my ass at UNO.

“HA! You sure you don”t want me to explain how to play the game again?”

I flared my nostrils while pursing my lips and said, “Why don”t we play something else that doesn”t involve you completely destroying me?”

“That might be hard. I’m good at everything,” she teased.

“I bet I can win at karaoke,” I said without even thinking about who I was talking to.

Lexi snorted at my statement. “Okay, first of all, you don”t win at karaoke, and second, are you joking?”

Well, I can’t back down now.

“I”ve been known to carry a tune,” I shrugged nonchalantly.

“You know I”m an award-winning singer, right?” She reminded me. “Actually, you know what? You think you can ‘beat’ me at karaoke? Let”s find out.”

My eyes widened at the thought of what I had just done. Lexi stood from the table and walked over to the lounge area while calling for a flight attendant. A short girl with blonde hair and dusty freckles appeared from behind the blue curtain up ahead. She wore black slacks and a black vest with a white collared shirt underneath. Loosely tied around her neck was a red scarf to accent the uniform. She flashed Lexi a polite smile while awaiting further instruction.

“Wait—”

“Ashley, can you please hook up the karaoke machine to the TV?”

“Sure, no problem,” Ashley complied as she began to connect wires and flip through broadcasting channels.

“Lexi,” I warned. She paid no mind to my hesitation and grabbed two microphones lying on the ground next to the karaoke machine. “I was just joking! Lexi, please,” I begged as I slowly stood up from the table with my arms held out in front of me. She responded by chucking a microphone in my direction as I scrambled to catch it, fumbling over my own two feet. I just narrowly avoided falling. “There”s no way I—”

“You think you”re a better singer? Prove it. Pick a song,” she demanded, cutting me off.

Ashley gave Lexi the remote, then turned toward me and smiled. “Good luck. You”ll need it,” she snickered before turning around and making her way back over to the blue curtain.

I wish I could disappear behind that curtain right now.

“Oh, you”re in for it now,” Andrew mumbled before putting his glasses on and burying his nose in a book.

Well, fuck.

Thrusting the remote into my stomach, Lexi smirked and said, “Here.”

I held the remote out and pointed it toward the TV as I scrolled through, looking for a safe option before deciding on Therefore I am by Billie Eilish.

Lexi tsked at me while shaking her head and snatching the remote back.

“Oh, no, that just won”t do,” she concluded while scrolling through the list of songs herself. “Ah, here we go.”

Up Next – Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen

“Oh, you’re enjoying this, aren”t you?”

“Yes.”

Rolling my eyes at her, I put my hands on my hips. “Fine, I”ll sing the song.”

“Damn right, you will.”

“Butttt you have to sing it with me.”

Lexi raised her eyebrows and cocked her head to the side. “Okay, fine. You’ve got a deal.” Lexi stuck out her hand for me to shake.

I grasped her palm with my own as we stared into each other”s eyes with underlying determination.

Yeah, I was definitely in deep shit. How had I ended up in this situation again?Hopefully, her vocals would drown out my pitchiness, for both of our sakes.

Bohemian Rhapsody, starting in 3,2,1…

The lyrics appeared on the screen, and I squeezed the microphone between my fingers. I quietly began to sing as I tried to immerse myself within the music. I felt Lexi’s gaze fixed on me as she stood with her arms crossed.

What’s that saying? Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

My voice cracked slightly. Lexi hunched forward, covering her mouth with her hands, stifling laughter. Seeing her amusement gave me confidence. I knew I wasn’t a good singer, but that wouldn’t stop me from enjoying whatever the hell was happening right now. I mean, how many other people could say they flew in a private jet with Lexi Harlow and sang karaoke? I strutted toward her and lifted her chin with my fingers while rotating my hips as I crouched downward. Stumbling over my words, I mumbled the parts of the song that I didn’t know. I hadn’t heard Bohemian Rhapsody in ages. If you had asked me to sing this when I was sixteen, I wouldn’t have struggled so much. Still, I kept on singing, even though every other word I belted was wrong. Not even the lyrics on the screen could help me. Lexi shook her head and brought the microphone to her lips as she started to sing along. I was still crouching when Lexi moved to circle me in a sultry manner while playing with my hair, causing me to stand and face her as we sang together. Lexi held out her hand, prompting me to take it. Our fingers found each other as she twirled her arm, clumsily spinning me in a circle. Not very fitting for the song choice, but hilarious, nonetheless. I ran over to the couch and kicked off my shoes before climbing onto the cushions. Her eyes were wide with amusement. She ripped off her shoes and joined me as we jumped around like maniacs. We continued singing the rest of the song together, and even though I was dreading singing karaoke in the first place, I was sad when the song finally ended. I collapsed onto the couch and watched Lexi as she continued to hum. There were no string of words or amalgamation of sentences that could describe how mesmerized I was by her voice. She always sounded amazing and right now was no exception. The screen on the TV faded to black as the words disappeared. Suddenly, I heard a roaring round of applause coming from the front of the plane. Andrew, Ashley, and two other women were cheering as they applauded our—or, more likely, Lexi’s—performance.

“What a show!” A woman with a short brown bob commented. She grinned widely as she clapped her hands together while holding her phone between her thumb and her forefinger.

“Thanks, Macy,” Lexi smiled brightly while still standing on the couch. “Autumn, this is Macy, my assistant; Lilly, one of the flight attendants; and Ashley, the other flight attendant, who I think you had the pleasure of meeting earlier.”

“Hi,” I waved shyly, despite just singing like a maniac in front of them.

“Hello.” Lilly gave a slight bow at the waist.

Lilly looked maybe mid-twenties, but she carried herself with the knowledge of someone older. Her posture was ridged as she stood with her shoulders back and feet together. Her arms were tucked behind her, and she wore a strained smile on her face. She had shoulder-length brown hair with subtle caramel highlights and hazel-colored eyes. Both she and Ashley wore the exact same uniform, but still, somehow, hers seemed more put together.

“Nice to meet you, officially,” Ashley greeted.

Andrew interrupted us with a loud wolf whistle as he continued cheering us on. Just when I thought there wouldn”t be any more surprises, Brian peaked his head out of the door toward the rear of the plane.

“So, I guess I missed the show then, huh?” He questioned.

“One hell of a performance, I”ll say,” Andrew answered.

“Well, maybe they”d be willing to do an encore just for you,” Ashley proposed while raising her eyebrows and looking in our direction.

At this, I became suddenly aware of the fact that there were people from every end of the plane staring at us.

“Oh, hell no,” I mumbled.

Lexi shook her head and then said, “You want to go to one of my concerts? Buy a ticket.”

“Fine,” Brian mumbled before closing the door and leaving once again.

Everyone else followed suit as they all retreated to their respective areas to resume whatever they had originally been doing before they stopped to watch our impromptu concert.

“And on that note,” Andrew said as he stood from his seat. “Goodnight, ladies.”

He made his way to the back of the plane and exited toward the bedrooms. Lexi and I were officially alone. She plopped down on the couch next to me.

“I can”t believe you made me do that!”

“Me?” Lexi slapped her hand against her chest. “You”re the one who claimed to be a better singer. I just wanted you to prove yourself.”

“So…” I sat up straight while batting my eyelashes. “What’d you think?”

Lexi smiled and said, “You were perfect.”

She was joking, right? I sounded like a dying hyena. “You’re fucking with me, right?”

“Nope. You were the main event, and I’m just glad I got to be a part of it.”

“Okay, now I know you”re just fucking with me!”

Lexi sat upright as well and nudged my shoulder with her own. “Autumn, just shut up and take the compliment.”

“Thank you…I think?”

“So, since you clearly won—”

I glared at her. “Yeah, ‘clearly.’”

“What do you want to do now?”

“Well,” I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know about you, but I’m fucking exhausted, so how about a movie?”