Page 11 of Puck Me Secretly

My eyes clung to his gaze. I didn’t want my ending to hurt. I preferred for it to be instantaneous. One minute you’re alive and then you’re not. “Do you think this will hurt?”

The noise around us was so big, so life threatening, I almost couldn't hear his voice. “No. It won’t hurt.”

I faced death. A calm sadness overwhelmed me as I mourned everything I had missed.

We stared at each other. His face was so beautiful. I wanted to memorize that face. I wanted to live. I wanted to go back in time and not get on this fucking plane.

“This sucks so bad,” I spoke as everything faded to black.

CHAPTER 4

I opened my eyes.Cornstalks surrounded me. The sky above me was a clear blue. The sun warmed my face. My head lay in Max’s lap.

“Max” I whispered. “Are we dead?”

He glanced down at me. His cheekbone had a small cut.

“We survived.” He put his warm and comforting hand onto my forehead.

“I’m alive?”

He considered me with a serious expression. “I told you we’d make it.”

I stared up into his blue eyes. I didn’t quite believe him. “I think you’re lying. This field and you, this is my version of heaven, isn’t it?”

“Your version of heaven?”

“I’m glad you made it to heaven with me.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself.”

“Did we live?”

“See for yourself.”

He lifted me up. I gasped. The remnants of our plane indicated it had slid the length of the field, plowing up all the plants in itswake and now lay tilted to the side. People wandered around like zombies with ripped and torn clothing. Passengers cried or hugged.

“Holy fuck,” I breathed. “We lived.”

“We lived.”

“I don’t remember the crash.”

“You blacked out.”

I clawed at my body, making sure I was intact. My yellow life vest hung around my neck like a plastic bib. “How did I get off the plane?”

“I carried you.”

“You carried me?” I repeated, distracted by the passengers that moved in front of us. “Did anyone get hurt?”

“Someone has a broken leg. Everyone lived. Everyone got out.”

I turned and studied his face. “You’re bleeding.”

“It’s only a scratch.”

Emergency vehicles approached from the distance.

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