Super Jaded (14/23)

Chapter 14: Plane

Okay, so that was definitely not just turbulence.

The pilot had been assuring the passengers for over fifteen minutes now. He was clearly trying to prevent a panic from erupting in the cabin, but even my 16-year-old brain could tell that he was talking out of his ass on this one.

Oh god. I was going to die. My mother was going to die. All of the 100 other passengers on this plane were going to die.

The mortality of my own existence was finally setting in, but I didn’t panic. The last thing I wanted to do was be trampled to death by some big guy. I wasn’t exactly tall or strong. “All your genetic points went to your brain, Fern” my mother would often say in her native language.

But now, she wasn’t saying anything. My own mother, guardian who I always looked up to for guidance, now a panicked mess. She never did well on flights, but now, she was hyperventilating like I had never seen before.

Then, a muffled explosion rang out from outside the cabin. I had a sneaking suspicion as to what it was, but I dreaded panning my gaze over 90 degrees to confirm what my ears had suggested to me.

Needless to say, curiosity got the better of me. Having the window seat directly next to the wing of the plane meant that I got a stellar view of the left engine ablaze with smoke and fire.

Great.

It didn’t take long for everyone to start panicking after that. People were running up and down the isles, making their way to the exits with the parachutes that weren’t there.

I gripped my mother’s hand tight. I had so many things I wanted to say at that moment, but no words came to me. I could feel the plane dipping to the side as it began its slow descent downwards, exponentially decreasing in altitude.

This was it. I was going to die. I would never finish high school, never kiss a boy, never live long enough to see the world become a better place for someone like me.

But then, the door at the front of the plane opened and someone stepped in. Y’know, from the outside of the plane. At 25,000 feet in the air, give or take.

It was the supergirl I had only ever seen on TV. There she was, right at the front of the cabin. With an enhanced voice, she shouted louder than the sound of the deafening air pressure leaving the plane. Immediately, everyone stopped where they were and turned to her.

“Alright everyone, listen up! I’m not confident in my ability to carry this entire plane, so here’s the deal! This here life raft can fit fifteen people on it! That means I’ll only have to make six trips down to the surface! You guys will be dropped off in the middle of Florida! After that, I’ll help all of you get to where you need to go, understand!?”

Some folks protested, but her relentless optimism and cheery attitude quickly changed their tune.

People scrambled to be the first fifteen, but the supergirl didn’t play favorites. She just flew underneath the escape door with the large inflatable raft firmly in her grasp. At least, that’s what I assumed she did. I couldn’t really see from where I sat.

Once she departed, the most tense minute of everyone on the plane’s lives took place. “Is she going to come back for us?” “There’s no way she’ll have enough time to get us all to the surface and back before the plane crashes.” “When we get close to the ground, I’ll just take my chances with jumping.”

Typical cynicism from desperate people. But I wasn’t about to stoop to that line of thinking. I got up out of my seat and joined the unspoken effort to help the elderly and disabled get to the front of the plane.

Sure enough, the supergirl returned with an empty life raft, ready to take another group of people to safety.

Three more trips and the supergirl was beginning to get a bit of a rhythm going. At least, each trip seemed to get shorter and shorter with how the plane itself was careening closer and closer to the earth. People kept insisting that I get on one of the trips, but I insisted that I stay until the last one.That’s just the kind of person I was.

It wasn’t long before there were only fifteen people left, me included. By looking out of the open door ever so slightly, I could see the supergirl returning for the last pickup. There was just one problem, my mother wasn’t in the group.

I looked back to the middle of the plane. There she was, frozen in shock, still strapped in her seat. The other members of my group shouted at me to return, but I didn’t listen. I ran back to the middle of the cabin, now a steep uphill climb, and began unfastening her seat-belt.

She was too heavy for me to budge her, however. I was too weak. I was no supergirl. I looked out the window to see the green grass of a field rapidly approaching. I was out of time. This was the end.

Accepting my fate, I clenched my eyes shut and hugged my mother tight. At least I would go out embracing her.

But then I didn’t die.

My ears were ringing, I couldn’t hear anything. All I could do was open my eyes to be sure I hadn’t passed into the afterlife. The cabin was still intact as my eyelids unclenched, but it didn’t feel like a collision had occurred.

Confused, I looked out the window and my gaze greeted the supergirl’s.

She was doing it.

She was holding the entire plane up.

It didn’t even look like a struggle for her.

Me and my mother were startled a bit as she gently placed the airliner down someplace safe, only to fly into the cabin herself and check up on us.

“A-are you okay?” the supergirl asked, looking me in the eyes. I wasn’t sure if it was shock or the fact that she was the prettiest girl I had ever laid my eyes upon, but I couldn’t take my gaze off of her.

A staring contest began, one neither of us seemed to be losing. I expected her at some point to ask why I was looking at her so intently, but such an inquiry never came up. Was she… was she also gazing at me like a weirdo? I guess it wasn’t so weird if two people were doing it.

It would be my mother who would be the breaker of silence between us.

“S-seyots’aa’e, a-are we dead?” she asked, quite shaken.

“N-no mother, we’re still alive! S-she saved us! Uhhh… what’s your name?”

Talk about an awkward encounter.

“M-my name’s Nina. Nina Etana. I’m still working on my superhero name. What’s, uh, what’s your name?”

“Y-you really want to know my name?” Admittedly, I was more than a little frazzled. I felt so bad responding like that, so I didn’t give her a chance to answer that question.

“Fern. U-uh, Fern Chang. T-that’s my name.”

“That’s a beautiful name.”

She didn’t even sound like she said it just for the sake of a compliment. It was as if she was some dorky kid asking me on the first day of school and genuinely liked what she heard.

“R-really? You think so?”

“Yes I do! It sounds like such a unique name!”

“Thanks! I mean, that’s only because my heritage is pretty unique, y’know, having a Chinese father and a Native American mother.”

“Wow, no kidding! That is really unique! I’m just German and Danish, I think? I dunno, my parents kinda— well, it’s not really important. The point is, you’re safe!”

“Yes I am. I’m eternally grateful, Nina, my super-savior.”

I gave her a corny smile, she giggled at my devotion to her.

“Well, I-I’ll have to remember that, Fern. ‘Eternally grateful’ is a pretty high honor to receive! In fact…”

She began to drift off in thought for a second, before coming to an exciting realization.

“Nina Eternal.”

“Hm?”

“You said you were eternally grateful. My name is Nina Etana. I think I just found my new superhero name thanks to you!”

“R-really!? You think I helped!?”

“You bet! I can’t thank you enough, Fern!”

Once again, her tone of voice sounded completely genuine. It was as if she never had a true friendly conversation with someone else her age. If that was true, I felt really bad for her. She was so friendly and… gorgeous.

I felt my cheeks burn upon thinking that. Was I… was I really attracted to my superhero savior?

Thankfully, she didn’t stick around long enough to notice the dorky love plastered all over my face. An earpiece from her right ear that I hadn’t noticed before started to buzz. She held two fingers up to her ear to answer it, turning away from us..

“Don’t worry, mayor. The civilians are secure, not a single casualty!”

There was a small bout of silence as she listened to the man in the earpiece respond.

“W-well, sorry I didn’t respond immediately! There was… uh, I got a little distracted by a girl and her mother that didn’t leave with the lifeboat!”

Another silence.

“I had to hold up the entire plane, actually.” She applied an appropriate amount of snark to the description of her superhuman feat, bringing another smile to my face. “And you said it would be too dangerous!”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought! You’re welcome. W-well yes. I can assist in bringing these people back to the states they belong to. I mean, shouldn’t that be the airplane manufacturer’s job? They built the fuckin’ faulty thing!”

She sighed and dropped her head low in defeat, but then turned her head slightly to offer me a cute, reassuring wave.

“Yes, Mayor. I’ll get right on it.”

With that, she flew off of the plane, leaving the rescue crews to finish the job.

Pretty soon, we were on an all-expenses-paid trip to our original destination, but via train instead. After what had just happened, the last thing my mother wanted was to be on an aircraft of any kind. I agreed with her wholeheartedly.

“So, how about that superhero, huh?” My mother said, finally breaking the silence between her.

“Yeah, she was breathtaking.”

“A strange word, to be sure, but I suppose it works. She took a liking to you.”

Little did my mother know, but I had taken more than just a liking to Nina. I was in love. I was already imagining our amazing future as girlfriends, no matter how far out the concept seemed. I didn’t know if she liked girls, but I knew for a fact I sure as hell did now.