Once An Eve Novel

ask.”

twenty-six
     
    CALEB’S HANDS WERE COVERING MY EYES, HIS PALMS SWEATY against my skin. I held onto his wrists, loving the way his arms felt around me, his feet on either side of mine, his steps guiding me forward. We were inside, that much I could tell, but I didn’t know where. “Now?” I asked, trying to keep my voice low. “Not yet,” he whispered in my ear. I shuffled along in darkness.
    Soon, he stopped, turning me to the right. Then he dropped his hands. “All right,” he whispered, resting his chin on my shoulder. “Now you can look.”
    I opened my eyes. We were in another airplane hangar, much bigger than the one where the tunnel entrance was hidden. Airplanes sat in rows, some large, some smaller, all lit up by the moonlight streaming in through the hangar’s windows. “This is where you’ve been living?” I asked, looking at the plane above us.
    He grabbed a metal staircase and dragged it over, its rusted wheels squeaking and groaning with each turn. “Harper found it for me—he thinks I’ll be safer here. It’s on the other side of the airport from where we were yesterday.” He gestured at the steps. “After you.”
    I started up the metal stairs, dwarfed by the plane. It was so much bigger when you stood right beside it, with wings ten people could lie across. I remembered the day we’d read about a plane crash in Lord of the Flies . Teacher Agnes had told us about the planes that flew over oceans and continents, how crashes were rare but deadly. We’d made her tell us everything—about the “flight attendants” who rolled carts down the aisles, serving drinks and miniature meals, about the televisions nestled in the back of each seat. That afternoon Pip and I had lain on the grass, staring up at the sky, wondering what it was like to touch the clouds.
    Caleb opened an oval door marked EMERGENCY EXIT , pulling it out and up with both hands. Seats were lined up, row after row after row, stretching all the way back to the plane’s tail. The plastic shades were drawn. Lanterns were perched on trays in the seat backs, giving the whole place a warm glow.
    “I’ve never seen the inside of one of these,” I said, following Caleb down the front rows. The seats were wider. Two were folded down like beds, musty blankets piled on top of them. A knapsack full of clothes and some old newspapers sat on the chair beside it. The top one had the picture of me from the parade, PRINCESS GENEVIEVE GREETS CITIZENS written below it.
    “Look at all this room!” I spun around with my arms out and still didn’t touch anything.
    Caleb pushed past me, to the front of the airplane, landing a kiss on my forehead as he did. “Where would you like to fly to? France? Spain?” He grabbed my hand, leading me into the front cabin, which was covered in metal panels and a thousand tiny dials.
    “Italy,” I said, putting my fingers over his, as he moved a control in the front seat. “Venice.”
    “Ahhh … you want a real gondola ride.” He laughed. He slid a tab over our heads, then another, pretending he was preparing the plane for takeoff.
    I picked up one of the headsets and covered my ears. I turned a switch on our right, then another, as I settled into one of the chairs. “Fasten your seatbelt,” Caleb said. He pulled the buckle around my waist, one hand resting on my hip.
    He leaned forward and gripped the controls, pretending to fly. We gazed out the front window, scanning the dark hangar as though it held the most spectacular view. “We’ll have to stop over in London first,” he said, his voice booming in the small metal room. “See Big Ben. Then maybe Spain—then Venice.”
    I pointed at the ground below. “Everything is so tiny from up here.” I leaned over him to get a better look at the imaginary world below. “The Stratosphere tower is an inch tall …”
    “Look,” Caleb said, pointing out the side window. “You can see over the mountains.” He rested his hand on my leg and smiled.
    “We’re finally on our way.” The plane was lifting off, my body sinking into the soft cushiony seat, and the City was growing smaller, the buildings shrinking until they vanished in the distance. We were drifting up, over the clouds, the sun beaming down on us.
    After a long while, Caleb leaned in and brushed the hair away from my temple, kissing my forehead. He unbuckled my seat belt and stood, pulling me out of my seat, his hands on my hips. He was smiling to himself, his eyes