Turbulence

Alex broke into the American music industy when she left her family in England, with her three best friends. But now she's returned after two of them passed away in a car accident that Alex was lucky to survive.

 Turbulence shook the plane. Her knuckles whitened on the elbow rest.

“It’s alright Alex, just some rough spots. It happens all the time,” Her older brother said, smiling gently.

“I know Fred,” Alex sighed, peeling her hands off the leather and rubbing her eyes. “It’s just, I’m going back.”

“For good reason though. Right?”

“Yeah, sure,” Alex mumbled, moving her eyes away from Fred's. She yawned.

“How ‘bout you get some sleep, eh?” Fred said, pulling a blanket over Alex.

“Thanks Fred.” Alex curled up under the material.

“No problem,” he said. “It’s good to have you back Alex.”

“You too,” Alex murmured as sleep crept into her head.

Fred's voice was the last thing Alex heard before she drifted into a fitful sleep.

“Kick me one more time Josh and God help me, I will make sure you’ll never be able to sit comfortably again!”

*

The traffic light turned red straight from green and Spence pushed hard on the breaks. He managed to get the car to stop right at the crosswalk.

“S**t, that was really close,” Jay said, unhooking his hands from the handle above the door and letting his knuckles go back to their normal color.

“Yeah, we were lucky. Good job Spence,” Alex said. Chase just let out a nervous giggle.

His laugh was the last thing Alex heard before she woke up in a hospital bed.

“Wh-what happened?” She asked the nurse who’d just come in with food.

“You don’t remember?” The nurse asked. Alex shook her head. The nurse pursed her lips then said, “You and your friends were in an accident. A truck was speeding and crashed into the driver’s side of the vehicle. It did a few flips and luckily a witness had enough sense to call for help. You were in critical condition when the ambulance brought you in. but you’re okay now. You should be able to leave soon.”

“Oh my God. How’s Jayden?” Alex asked, the little color she had gotten in her face draining.

“He’s fine; suffered the same injuries you did,” the nurse answered.

“Thank God,” Alex sighed. “And Chase and Spence- how are they?”

The nurse looked nervous. “Er, they passed away at the scene.”

Alex stared blankly at her before bursting into a fit of hysterical laughter.

“I’m sorry, but I thought I heard you say Chase and Spencer were dead.” Alex said, wiping at a tear in her eye. Ever so slightly, the nurse nodded, giving Alex’s world permission to blow up.

*

Alex kicked out, her face full of pain from the ever occurring nightmare. Fred looked down on her, sad that he could do nothing to help stop his baby sister’s hurt. It was like watching her leave for America all over again. Fred remembered the reunition of brother and sister when Alex came back.

*

“Ooh look; we got new neighbors!” Doug's voice shattered the bubble that Fred created when he was writing an article. Fred groaned because he’d almost had an idea. But it had slipped through his mental fingertips when Doug made the announcement.

“Do we?” Hank asked lazily from in front of the TV.

“Yeah.” Doug nodded franticly, looking like a little kid on Christmas. “And there’s a girl who’s way fit!”

“Isn’t that a bit stalkerish?” Fred asked bitterly, still sore about having the good idea taken away from him.

“No way!” Doug shook his head. “If I were a stalker then I’d be watching them from outside their windows, not from inside mine.”

“That actually makes sense,” Josh said. Doug looked proud of himself as Josh turned back to the TV. Josh, Doug and Hank stared at the screen blankly, engrossed by what was on it.

25 minutes later, Fred had the brilliant idea within grapes but it slithered through when Doug cried out, “Let’s go meet the neighbors!”

Fred let his head bang on the table in frustration.

“What?” Josh asked, not noticing, or ignoring, Fred.

“Let’s. Go. Meet. The. Neighbors.” Doug repeated, enunciation each word. “I’m bored.”

Hank and Josh thought it over. “Okay, I don’t see why not,” Hank said. “It’d be a good thing to do.”

“Oh well Josh shouldn’t come then,” Doug said, getting on his shoes. Hank and Josh did the same.

“That doesn’t even make sense,” Josh said, poking out his tongue, while Hank asked, “You coming Fred?” when he realized Fred was still face down.

Fred looked up.

“Yeah, sure,” He said grumpily. He got shoes on his feet too and then the four guys were on their way to meet the neighbors.

They stood awkwardly on the doorstep while Doug pressed the buzzer. They didn’t have to wait long before the door opened.

“Uh hi,” said the sleepy-looking, sad faced girl who answered. She looked strangely familiar but Fred couldn’t think why.

“We saw you moving in and, having nothing to do, we thought we’d come over and introduce ourselves. We live in that house,” Hank said. The girl smiled slightly and Fred gasped.

“Alex?” He asked, wide-eyed. The girl craned her neck and squinted to get a better look at Fred before her eyes widened.

“Fred?” She gasped.

“Yeah.” Fred pushed past his mates to get to his ‘long lost’ sister. He engulfed her in a hug then held her at arms length, studying her.

“God, it’s been forever. How was America? What aren’t you there anymore?” He asked. Alex’s face fell.

“Two of my band mates died in a car accident and Jay and I got sent back here,” she said sadly, tears welling up. “We just came to bring most of our stuff over and get settled before the funerals.” Alex’s voice cracked on the last word.

“Oh Alex, I’m so sorry. Is there anything I can do?” Fred asked, his face etched with worry.

“Actually,” Alex hiccupped. “Would you come back with me for the funeral?”

“I’d love to.”

*

The plane landed and the group of 6 people (Alex, Fred, Jayden, Doug, Josh and Hank) got out of the airport rather quickly. They got into a rental car and drove carefully to the hotel so they could change into their mourning clothes. Everyone was somber and even Doug and Josh had the sense not to make any jokes.

Alex cried through the entire ceremony and even Jayden and Garth, their ex-manager, shed some tears.

When everything was over and the bodies were safely buried in the freshly dug earth, most people had left because of the soft rain. Alex was part of the group that stayed and she went to the graves. Fred followed behind her.

“I love both of you. Never forget that! I hope you’re both waiting for me and Jayden up there,” She whispered, kissing her fingers then touching both the gravestones. She closed her eyes and let more tears spill out. Fred took that opportunity to step up and wrap an arm around Alex’s shoulders, in a protective, older brother way. He didn’t say anything but his presence was comforting enough for Alex.

Besides, in the silent rain Alex could swear she heard Chase’s giggles.