Taking Off

Chapter 9

"Whatever," he said. "Hey, Tia – don't look down!" he added, quickly. She was so confused and surprised by his sudden exclamation, she did look down, immediately regretting it. She became dizzy instantly. Her vision was blurred because of her panic and her breathing became uneven. Aladdin pulled her away from the window as quickly as he could, but not quickly enough to prevent her tears. She felt stupid for crying, weak, but she couldn't help it. She had looked down so suddenly. Her brain had no time to understand what was happening. "Whoa, sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry," Elijah apologised, uncommonly genuine. Tia wiped her eyes hurriedly.

"I hope you're happy now. Have I provided you with enough entertainment, Elijah?" she snapped, though it had far less malice than usual, as she sniffed straight after.

"I told you I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I had no idea you were that afraid," he replied.

"Oh, so you thought I was just putting on an act, pretending to be scared?" she said.

"Actually, yeah, I did," he said, receiving a glare from her. "But now I realise you weren't, so again, I'm sorry," he added. Tia was about to respond very angrily but she spotted Figg advancing toward them so instead, she rapidly wiped her eyes and produced a smile. Elijah's confusion turned into understanding as Figg's voice sounded from behind him.

"Everything okay here?" she asked. They turned to her.

"Yes, of course. We're just discussing the beautiful city and its sights," Aladdin responded from beside Tia. She'd completely forgotten he and Vanessa were there in her anger towards Elijah. She was even angrier because Elijah seemed truly apologetic. Since when did he have a conscience?

"Great! I really urge you to look all over the city – up and down and sideways. It is a beautiful city," she replied. She looked at her watch and gasped. "Oh, well – I hope you've looked all over because it's time to move on," she added. "Time moves so quickly here! Wait here, ok?"

She went around to gather the other students. Elijah turned back to Tia.

"Look, I know you don't like me – even though I've never done anything to you – but I honestly didn't mean to scare you," he said. She looked at him.

"Okay, whatever. Just drop it," she said. He stared at her, incredulously. She really hated him. He had no idea why. But it seemed like she couldn't even say anything nice to him at all.

Figg returned with all the other students and told them to quiet down. She had an announcement.

"Okay. This was fun, right?" she beamed. Some people nodded, others still looked terrified. "Well, this was just the entrée!" Tia stiffened. What was she talking about? "We're going to go higher now. We're going to go into a big glass box. They're going to take us over the edge! We'll be in a glass box 300 metres above ground!" Figg cried, excitement in every word.

Tia's eyes literally almost fell out of their socks. She found her voice enough to ask, "Uh, excuse me? But do we have to do that?"

Figg looked at her. "Oh, you can sit out, but I really, really urge you to do it. Like I said, we need to conquer our fears!" she smiled. "Is there anybody who doesn't want to do it?" she asked.

Tia's hand shot up. "I can't. Sorry."

"Are you sure?" Figg asked. Tia nodded quickly.

"Positive."

"Okay then. Anybody else?" Two other girls put their hands up.

"Uh can we see it first before we decide if we want to go in or not?" one of them asked.

"I guess so."

"Okay then. We'll see it first."

"Great. The rest of you are going in I'm assuming. Excellent! Let's go up!" Figg said. They met Linda at the elevator and split up again.

"You sure you don't want to?" Aladdin asked.

"You're kidding right?" Tia replied. "I'd rather eat a snail." Aladdin shivered. "Sorry..."

-

The glass box was enough to scare Tia, let alone actually getting into it. She stayed behind with the two girls who had put their hands up earlier. Tia assumed there were more people who were afraid of heights, but she guessed that they must have conquered their fears down on the eighty-eighth floor.

"You certain you don't want to go in?" Aladdin asked one last time. Tia nodded vigorously. "You want me to stay here with you then?"

"Oh, no. I don't want you to miss out. You'll regret it," she replied.

-

"That was amazing!" Elijah beamed when they walked back out. "It was like we were flying!" Vanessa and Aladdin nodded beside him.

"I know – we were almost literally walking on air," Aladdin agreed. Tia walked up to them.

"I take it you had fun?" she asked. They all nodded.

"It was awesome!" Vanessa squealed. "A little scary but more fun. You should've come!" she said to Tia.

"Yeah. I might've fainted but, sure it would've been fun!" she replied, sarcastically. Aladdin laughed.

"No need to be rude," Elijah shot at her.

"Please. Don't even go there, Elijah," she laughed back at him.

"What is your problem, Tia?" he said, eyes sparking, hands balling into fists at his side.

"You really want to know?" she asked. He looked back annoyed and confused. "You're my problem." He let out a frustrated sigh.

"What in God's name have you got against me?" he cried, as quietly as his anger would allow. He didn't want Figg hearing. Tia looked away. She didn't want to have this conversation right now – or ever.

"Never mind!" she said and turned around. Aladdin and Vanessa shared a significant look that did not go unnoticed by Elijah.

"Oh, great. What are you two smiling about?" he asked, aggravated, not really wanting to know the answer. They just shrugged, still smiling slyly. He was in the worst mood. He had just come out of a glass box that was absolutely incredible only to have his happiness deflated by this bossy, irritating fool who hated him for no apparent reason. His thoughts were, yet again, interrupted by Figg's voice that had already grown to be very tiresome.

"Well, it is getting late. As I told you, today was a calm day," she said, to which Tia rolled her eyes. Today had been anything but calm. The whole trip wasn't going to be calm – not with Big-Head Jones as her partner. "We're going to go back to the hotel now. You can go to the cafe, have some desserts, mingle some more if you want. You don't have a bedtime," she continued, receiving a laugh from the students. "But you can't leave the hotel at all without me, okay? Especially not at night!" she emphasised. "That clear?" The students nodded. "Oh, one more thing. Every second day we'll be getting back to the hotel early, so you can have some homework time. You can do homework today if you'd like, but it's scheduled to start tomorrow," she explained. "Okay, that's it, let's get going."