CHAPTER XLVI
perfume allergies
GRIPPING ONTO THE STRAP OF HIS BAG, Noah shuffled throughout the skinny aisles of the airplane with Michelle, both of them attempting to find their assigned seats.
As they both tried to find their row of seats, they just laughed away at the unnecessary jokes and remarks they continuously made.
But, all of the joking was quickly interrupted once Flash had decided to enter the scene whilst holding a glass of champagne within his hands.
"Yo, Parker!"
That sudden comment made all of his classmates glance up, their gaze obviously falling upon him.
"This is called an airplane. It's like the buses you're used to," Flash commented, "except it flies over the poor neighbourhoods instead of driving through them."
Noah's features tensed up as he glanced to the side, his teeth slightly gritting together. He continued to walk forwards, not wanting to get even more winded-up by Flash.
"Ma'am?" Michelle cleared her throat.
As she spoke, a flight attendant beside Flash hummed in response, slightly nodding their head as well.
"He blipped, so technically," Michelle called out, "he's sixteen, not twenty-one."
"I'll take that."
The flight attendant immediately took the glass of champagne from Flash's hands, only to leave Flash chasing after them as he mumbled away furiously.
As Noah continued to walk forwards, he was still able to get a fine glimpse of the entire situation. He attempted to not laugh, allowing a slight snort to slip from his lips instead.
"Have fun, Flash!" He called out, just as Flash left.
A dark-haired teenage boy, who went by the name Brad Davis, paused for a moment with a bright smile. He glanced down at Ned and Peter, who were already sat in their seats.
"Classic MJ and Noah, right?" He chuckled.
With Ned wearing a joyful expression upon his face, Peter was the complete opposite. He seemed to be quite jealous actually, awaiting for Brad to move further down the aisle.
"Did you know Brad was coming?" He asked.
"It's so weird. Like, one day, he's that little kid who cried and got nosebleeds all the time and suddenly," Ned replied, "we blip back and he's totally ripped and super nice and everybody is after him."
As Ned spoke, Peter peered over. He got a glimpse of Brad and Noah having a conversation. He noticed that Brad had cracked out some kind of joke, which made Noah laugh, his lips curled into a wide smile and his expression bright.
"Not everybody is after him." He stammered.
"No, man." Ned stated. "Everybody is after him."
As Noah laughed once again, Peter grew extremely anxious. He felt as though hearing Noah's laugh no longer gave him flustered butterflies within his stomach. Instead, it gave him nervous ones.
Ned obviously didn't seem as bothered as Peter was. He turned back around, no longer peering over at Noah and Brad.
"Anyway, onto more important things. It's a nine hour flight." He planned out. "We can play Beast Slayers the whole time."
Now, everybody was sat in their seats. Noah seemed to be sitting with Michelle. They both also seemed to be sitting with a girl named Betty. Then, Brad was sat next to Mr. Harrington.
Peter was still focused on the entire situation. He hadn't even listened to a single word Ned had just spoken.
He then turned to Ned, his voice low and quiet as he spoke, his expression looking much more serious than beforehand.
"I need your help to sit next to Noah." He told Ned with a whisper.
Ned seemed to be extremely disappointed. He sighed deeply underneath his breath, now looking ahead of himself.
"Seriously?"
"Yes, seriously."
"What about our plan?" Ned whined. "American bachelors in Europe."
"That's your plan. That's a solo plan." Peter spoke. "Come on, this is my plan."
Those whiny words made Ned glance behind himself once again, able to get another glimpse of Noah. He groaned underneath his breath, looking back over at Peter.
"Please." Peter begged.
Ned tossed his head backwards, a huff of defeat escaping from his lips. He gave in though, accepting Peter's request.
He forced himself out of the seat he was sat on, leaving Peter all by himself. He quietly approached Noah, an awkward expression planted upon his face.
"Hey, guys." He greeted.
Once Ned had stopped before Noah, he glanced up, as well as Michelle and Betty. They awaited for Ned to speak, not exactly sure as to why he was here.
"Uh, there's an old lady sitting in front of us wearing a crazy amount of perfume and it's kind of setting off Peter's allergies." Ned would explain. "Um, you know, MJ and Betty, if one of you could just switch seats with him, that would be-"
"He's allergic to perfume?" Betty would interrupt.
Noah was feeling as puzzled as Betty was. His mouth slightly agape, he blinked rapidly for a few moments, still looking up at Ned. His face now etched with confusion, he slightly furrowed his eyebrows.
"Erm, don't you think he would've told me if he had a perfume allergy?"
Ned grew extremely nervous at this point, immediately regretting helping Peter out altogether. He blinked rapidly, anxiously glancing between the three.
"Well, uh, he doesn't really like to talk about it." He explained. "Because, um, it makes his eyes water and he can't really-"
"Peter has a perfume allergy?"
Mr. Harrington was now peering over, sheer concern completely written upon his face at this point. He glared between the group of four, awaiting for some kind of answer.
Unlike Noah, Michelle and Betty, Ned was much more startled. He hadn't quite expected Mr. Harrington to hear the conversation.
"I'll tell you, from experience perfume allergies are no joke!" Mr. Harrington informed. "I can feel hives breaking out already!"
As he spoke, he unbuckled his seatbelt, pushing himself off the chair he was sat on. He approached the group with worry, obviously overthinking a ton.
"Noah, stand up. Ned, take Noah's spot. Noah, you take my spot." He firmly ordered. "Peter, you come with me, let's get you out of there."
Slowly but surely, each and every student present began to shift around the entire aisles of the airplane, making their way towards their newly assigned seats.
Mr. Harrington gently placed his hand onto Ned's shoulder, giving him a proud pat. He nodded his head, still panicking a little too much.
"Ned, thanks for bringing this to my attention." He told with relief. "Your safety is my responsibility and Mr. Dell's, but he's-"
Within the far distance, Mr. Dell was seen snoring his head off already, positioned in his seat quite comfortably.
"I got it for now." Mr. Harrington would assure. "Let's go, Peter! Let's go!"
Peter was frozen for a few moments, a soft sigh of defeat slipping from his lips. He grabbed onto his bag, swinging it over his shoulder as he gripped onto the strap of it.
Noah being sat down next to Brad already, he glanced up to look at Peter. He had seen Peter staring as well as he walked by. He shot Peter a slightly crooked smile until he was completely out of sight.
He then sighed underneath his breath as his smile disappeared, his sea green eyes fluttering shut for a few moments as he tossed his head backwards in order to relax for a few moments.
"Oh, uh, I got a dual headphone adapter if you wanna watch a movie." Brad suddenly offered.
Noah being slightly startled from the sudden voice, he glanced up, his green eyes fluttering open once again. He saw that Brad was holding out a dual headphone adapter to him.
"Only if it's Star Wars."
Brad nodded his head, a slight smile upon his face. He kindly offered an earbud of the dual headphone adapter to Noah.
Noah smiled back. He positioned himself within his seat for some comfort, quickly inserting the earbud into his ear.