The Trouble with Flying Read Online Free PDF

yourself.”
    “That’s not exactly a question.”
    “I know. But right now my brain is stuck at ‘What don’t you like to eat’ and ‘How many siblings do you have,’ both of which are super boring. So I’m trusting you’ll come up with something more interesting than that.”
    Aiden puts both hands behind his head and stares at the seat in front of him. “Uh, okay. One, the best Christmas present I ever got was a pair of rollerblades. I spent every day after school going up and down the road outside our house until my mom confiscated them so I’d do my homework. Two, I wanted to be a magician when I was growing up. And three, I think happily ever afters are a myth.” He twists his head to look at me. “And in answer to your boring questions, I don’t eat fish and I have one older sister. Your turn.”
    “Wait.” I hold my hand up. “Why are happily ever afters a myth?”
    He shrugs. “They just are. Now you tell me your random three things.”
    I want to prod further, find out why exactly he doesn’t believe this ‘myth.’ But I’m too scared to push in case this is an off-limits topic for him. If that were the case, though, he wouldn’t have brought it up, would he?
    “Sarah?”
    “Um, right.” I chicken out. “My three things are … One, I’m addicted to zoo biscuits. Two, I used to act out stories to my friends using Barbie dolls as the main characters. And three, my older sister is a talented photographer, my younger sister is an amazing artist, and I don’t have a creative bone in my body.”
    “You don’t?” Aiden looks pointedly at the empty seat between us. “I think the businesswoman who missed her flight because she discovered her supernatural abilities and was invited to join a secret organisation of superheroes would disagree.”
    I shake my head. “That’s not the same thing. Silly stories don’t count. You should see what my sisters can do. Julia’s won awards with her photographs, and Sophie’s art is so incredible she has thousands of fans on Facebook, some of whom buy her work from her. She’s only fifteen! And here I am, the unremarkable middle daughter whom no one ever remembers.”
    On the other side of the empty seat, Aiden’s eyes widen.
    Oh wow. Crap. I did NOT just say all of that out loud!
    I did.
    “So … turns out this might be a therapy session after all,” Aiden says.
    “No, no, no, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said any of that. My sisters are awesome and I love them and … I’m just sad about my holiday ending and because I don’t know when I’ll see Julia again.” And because in less than twenty-four hours I may have to face Matt.
    “You know, we’ve still got a couple of hours left of this flight,” Aiden says, “so if you need to talk about—”
    “No. Seriously. There’s nothing to talk about. Forget what I said. The depressing parts, I mean. You can remember the rest of it. If you want. The happy stuff. The zoo biscuits and the Barbie dolls.”
    Ugh, I need to shut up.
    Aiden twists in his seat so he’s facing me, then leans his head against the seat. A half-smile lingers on his lips. “You intrigue me.”
    Blank.
    Blank.
    After what seems like an eternity, I manage a strangled giggle. “I—what? No I don’t.”
    “You do.”
    “No. A girl with blue and purple streaks in her hair and weirdly shaped scars on her hands who hints that she may have been brought up on a pirate ship is intriguing. A girl who swears you to secrecy before telling you that her brilliant scientist parents are trying to prove time travel exists and she’s on her way to witness them testing their very own time machine on a human for the first time is intriguing.”
    Aiden smiles, revealing that cute dimple of his again. “You have insane stories like that going on in your head all the time. That’s pretty intriguing.”
    “Or just weird.”
    “I like weird.
    “Well … I … like …” Guys with messy hair, cute dimples, and charming British