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ROLE, affectionate AGE, twenty MOOD, calm, → scared TAGGED, matteo, peyton, etc
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xxxxxxxthe clacking of the keyboard rung through the seats on the airplane as santiago journaled his adventures thus far. he thought back to europe; the tall, mystique buildings, the delicious food. the group of college students had been to paris, rome, and venice. they were on their way to london. santiago day-dreamed of the eiffel tower, how he wished he could climb to the tipy-top. he lusted for the feeling of the wind blowing through his hair as he gazed over paris. still clacking away at his keyboard, the young man sat next to his older brother, matteo. as far as santi could tell, his brother was asleep. on the other side of his brother was peyton. his mind floated back to paris, then, the plane ride to rome. the colosseum stood in front of him, large and filled with glory. he imagined the gladiators running full speed at each other, fighting to the death. glancing up from the screen, he noticed a flight attendant walking past.
xxxxxxxgently, santiago cleared his throat. she looked back at him, and flashed a pearly-white smile. “may I get a coke?” he asked quietly, as to not wake up matteo. his accent twisted the words, and he only hoped the attendant knew what he was saying. the woman merely nodded and vanished into the back of the plane. santiago looked back at his keyboard, and began a paragraph on venice. he remembered how close the group was so far; especially in venice, they all got to know each other fairly well. their bus broke down on the side of the road, and the group was forced to interact - no cell service.
xxxxxxxsantiago fondly recalled danyal's quiet nature, and how close him and nadir were. something about the stone-cold man felt weird to santi, but he decided to ignore it. on the side of the road was where he got to know sofie, and where she called him "santi" for the first time. he noticed how tallulah and benjamin didn't get along, and always quarreled. the beauty of peyton stunned him, and the two quickly became close. lancelot perplexed the man; he didn't quite understand his humor, or him in general. santiago found him quite interesting. the woman euphoria was an angel, santiago determined in his mind. santiago observed how nosy fern was, and found it quite comical. eleanor was the life of the party, and she made sure everyone knew it. overall, he had no ill will towards anyone in the group.
xxxxxxxa cold drink against his wrist snapped santiago out of his daze. he looked up at the flight attendant, and accepted the coke. “thank you.” he flushed bright red as he realized she was attempting to get his attention for a few minutes. she nodded to him, and went on her way. the flustered man put the coke next to his computer, and noticed a pair of eyes looking at him from the other side of matteo. peyton's eyes taunted him, and he tried to cover his lopsided smile. he turned away from her, and continued on his work.
xxxxxxxsuddenly, the air masks from above dropped into their faces. frantically, santiago looked around the plane to see all of the star-struck faces. he felt the pit in his stomach grow with anxiety as the plane began to nosedive. the intercom buzzed loudly, “please, make sure you're buckled in your seat. stay calm.” babies began to scream, mothers began to weep. an elderly couple in front of him held hands with their eyes closed. santiago turned to matteo and jerked him awake. “matteo,” he whisper-yelled. “despierta! the avión- plane- is going down.” the boy sat forward and looked at peyton - her face blanked, and he reached a hand to hers. his stomach leaped into his throat as the plane gained speed. he quickly put the mask over his face, and tried to slow his breath. again, the intercom blared. “ladies and gentlemen, I'm displeased to announce that our engines on the left side of the plane have failed. we are going down. place all tray-tables up, and hold on to your loved ones. we will try our absolute best to land this plane gently.”
xxxxxxxsantiago tucked his computer away under his seat, and put his tray-table up as he was told. glancing over at matteo, he grabbed his hand firmly. the two were always close, and in this moment santiago wanted to hug him. instead, tears fell from his eyes, and he squeezed his older brother's hand in an attempt to calm himself down.
02. be
