AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter One: Daddy’s Girl
Chapter One: Kidnapped by the Mountain Man
Coming Soon: Snowed In With My Stepdaddy
“Happy birthday, dear Eeevieeee, happy birthday to you,” my classmates sing to me, along with a lot of the other people on our plane. It’s a very long flight from San Francisco to Sydney. You can’t help but sort of get to know some of the people in the seats around you. We’ve already been travelling for nine and a half hours. By now I’m on a first name basis with the guy across the aisle from me. His name is Chad and he keeps flirting with me.
We’re seniors at a strict all-girls boarding school, on a trip to Australia for two weeks before we graduate next month, when we’ll all finally be venturing out into the great unknown of college, jobs and adulthood. There are twenty of us and we’re dressed in our school uniforms, so we’ve attracted a certain amount of attention.
“Evie, you can blow out your candles when we get you a real cake in Sydney,” says Clara, who’s sitting next to me.
The number 18 has been drawn with frosting on top of the cupcake the flight attendant places on my tray table.
“I guess that makes you legal,” says Chad, winking.
Very funny.
“Give me your number,” he says. “We can get together once we get to Sydney.”
As if. We’re chaperoned by nuns 24/7. They’ll never let me out of their sight. Besides, Chad isn’t really my type. Not that I know what my type is, exactly. I’ve never dated because we’re not allowed to. But I think I’ll go for someone a little more … manly, once I do start dating. Chad’s extreme boyishness isn’t really doing him any favors.
Why am I even thinking like this? Maybe turning eighteen means you start noticing things like hot masculine men are. How broad their shoulders are and how deep their voices are.
Chad’s voice isn’t very deep.
Anyway, I can’t wait to start living a little. All the strict rules are starting to feel confining, like an invisible cage. I have an unfamiliar urge to break free for the first time in my life.
Chad is starting to annoy me a little. He keeps staring at me. He’s trying to be subtle about it, but it isn’t working. He keeps looking at my thighs under the hem of my school uniform skirt. I’ve grown two inches this year and my skirt is pretty short now. He’s also staring at my breasts. I didn’t wear a bra just because it’s such a long trip and I thought I might be more comfortable without one. My breasts are a lot bigger now than they used to be. He’s making me feel self-conscious. I hope my nipples aren’t visible, poking at the thin fabric of my white shirt. This shirt has been washed so many times it’s getting sort of threadbare. If Chad keeps staring I’ll have to put my cardigan back on.
There’s a sudden bright flash of lightning outside the windows of the plane. Everyone gasps.
“Fuck,” says Chad. Sister Eloise gives him a dirty look. “That was so close to us.”
That’s when the entire plan jolts, violently. My cupcake goes flying, hitting the ceiling. So do some of the people. I get jerked against my seatbelt painfully.
People start screaming.
The plane lurches again and there’s a terrible, terrifying sound. Of the engines whining.
Then there’s an even more terrifying sound. Of an engine exploding.
Clara screams, along with a lot of other people. She’s holding on to me.
“This isn’t just turbulence, Evie!” she cries. “We’re freefalling!”
It’s hard to even comprehend what’s happening. Everything goes dark inside the plane and it’s windy. Like there’s a hole. A big one. People are making noises of terror. Crying. Praying. Whimpering. Yelling.
Holy hell. We’re going to crash!
A lot of people are getting out of their seats, I don’t know why. They’re panicking. They’re pleading and scared and angry, even.
I keep my seatbelt fastened, I lean into the brace position and I start praying.
The whole thing is happening so fast but at the same time slowly.
I think of my parents, back in Georgia. They’ll be so upset. My cat, Snowball. Christmas and my cousins and our summer trips to the beach.
My life is literally flashing before my eyes.
The noises are loud and insanely horrifying.
We’re falling fast. So, so fast. It’s so windy.
And then we hit. The impact is unreal. It jars the whole world and all of us along with it.
I black out.
When I come to, I think my feet might be on fire.
But, no, it’s cold. It’s water.
The plane is filling with water.
There’s smoke, too, and I can see that there’s a fire at the back of the plane.
Clara’s slumped next to me. “Clara,” I manage to gasp. I touch her shoulder but she flops sideways. There’s blood all over her head and her eyes are open, just blank and glassy.
Oh my God. Oh, no.
