Alliyah

Rayne was still grasping her hand, even though the plane had been stable for a few minutes. Alliyah could have told her ‘you can let go now’ but she didn’t want to. Instead, she was gently caressing her thumb over the soft skin on her… Friend’s hand.

“Are you okay?” With her other hand, she stroked Rayne’s arm.

“No.”

“I’ll call someone.”

“Because I keep embarrassing myself.”

“Oh.” Alliyah laughed.

“Yes, laugh at me.” Rayne rolled her eyes as she slipped her hand away and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

“I’m laughing because I’ve done a lot of embarrassing things in front of a lot of people. This wasn’t embarrassing, angel. It takes courage to be honest and open and ask for help.”

“You sound like my therapist.”

“Is he hot like me?”

“Th- They’re kinda sexy, yeah.” Alliyah caught a glimpse of her face reddening before she looked away.

She giggled, and Rayne looked back at her:

“They wear those sexy doctor glasses, you know?”

“Oh, yeah.“ Alliyah tried to imagine what the therapist looked like, still grinning.

After moments of silence, Rayne looked at her and cocked her head:

“How did you get that scar?” She nodded towards her head.

“I reckon that I said there’s strength in being honest or some cliche shit like that, but do I have to live according to my advice?”

“I’m afraid so, sunshine.” Even if sarcastic, the nickname made her heart skip a beat.

Alliyah sighed, thinning her lips. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She closed her eyes and twisted the ring on her finger while drawing out the words:

“I… Got shot. It was a lost bullet.” She paused while rubbing the scar, images of the incident flashing through her mind. “There was a shooting outside the house I lived in, in Detroit, and I was hiding inside. Not well enough, obviously.”

She chuckled, but Rayne had a frown on her face.

“The bullet broke a window and went through the couch I was hiding behind. I was just lucky it didn’t enter me, it just scraped me, burned me. Imagine if I had hidden just a little to the left…”

“Wow, I do not know what I expected, but that was not it. I'm sorry.”

“Oh, it’s all gone. It's all right, now. I don’t sit around thinking about the bad things from the past, you know? I can’t change it. What I can do is hope and work for a more pleasant present and future.”

They looked into each other’s eyes for a few seconds, as tender smiles danced on both girls’ lips.

For almost an hour, they just listened to music. Then, it hit Alliyah that Rayne was stuck on an airplane with her. She could use that time to get to know her better.

Where is she running to? The bathroom? Hah. She smiled to herself.

Alliyah tapped the slightly younger girl’s arm and waited for her to remove one side of the headphones.

“Tell me something about yourself.” She smiled.

“No. No more embarrassing myself.” She pointed a finger at her.

“Oh, please, aren’t goths supposed to be, like, careless of what others think and stuff?”

“Okay, here is a fact: I’m not really goth.”

Alliyah furrowed her brows for a few seconds, trying to choose a followup question.

“Is it because… You like pink?”

“I don’t like pink...”

“Your headphones are literally pink.”

“Okay, fine, maybe I do like to add some color to my darkness…”

“So, what was the reason why you’re not goth?”

“I don’t listen to ‘Goth music’” Rayne used her fingers as air quotes. “And that is the foundation of goth culture.”

“Why don’t you listen to it?”

“I just prefer other genres and bands.” She shrugged.

“So, what are you?”

“Question of my life.” She chuckled, looking out the window of the aircraft.

“You’re a cute girl who wears black.” Alliyah was like a Labrador trying to make her smile.