Carmilla found her gate and sat down, pulling out her book. She glanced out the windows every few minutes. From the outside the planes were enormous and it helped her stay calm. Eventually they started boarding and she checked her pass for her seat. The woman called her section and she joined the queue to get on the plane. She hoped this would be like in pictures where they went out onto the tarmac and got into and out of a plane via stairs, but she hadn't seen any of that out the window. She worked to relax her hand and keep her face impassive as she neared the head of the queue. Her ticket was scanned and she followed the people in front of her down a tight hallway. She clutched her book and carry-on bag, knuckles white. They would be in the plane soon. The queue stopped and Carmilla's jaw clenched. If they hadn't been in such a minuscule hallway it would have been a gesture of annoyance. She was certain that if she tried she could touch both walls at the same time, probably touch the ceiling if she stretched. The line moved up a bit and Carmilla was only a few feet away from a window. She dropped her bag to mark her place in line and walked over to the window as casually as she could manage, feigning curiosity. A few men in neon yellow and orange vests worked below, moving suitcases from truck to conveyor belt.

"Excuse me?" A young woman tapped her shoulder. Carmilla spun around to find a girl with long straight light brown hair about her age holding out her bag. "The queue's moving." Carmilla grabbed her bag without comment, moving away from the window. Luckily the hold up had been cleared and the queue moved steadily, if slower than Carmilla liked.

She found her seat (the aisle seat on a row of 2) and held her bag on her lap as she peered out the window, waiting for everyone to board, doing her best to ignore the people putting luggage into overhead bins. She couldn't see much from this vantage point, but it was better than the cramped airplane. She should have saved her money longer and gotten a first class seat.
"Um, excuse me, me again." The girl tapped her shoulder again. Carmilla scowled at her. "I have the window seat?" She pointed to the seat Carmilla had been leaning into. Carmilla stood to let her pass, their bodies bumping together awkwardly. Carmilla clenched her fists, taking deep breaths. The girl had floral scented perfume or shampoo or something. It helped a little. "Sorry." She smiled awkwardly as she sat.

Carmilla opened her book, trying to block out the press of bodies in the confined space. After a minute she gave up trying to understand the words, focusing on breathing. She spotted a safety pamphlet in the seat back pocket in front of her, nonchalantly tucking her book back in her bag and grabbing that, trying to look utterly bored. Her hands shook as she unfolded it and she fumbled to open the tray table. A soft hand covered hers and easily released the catch. Carmilla glanced at the girl, who smiled.
"Are you deaf?" She asked, pointing at her ears and shaking her head.
"No." Carmilla monotoned, realizing she hadn't yet actually spoken to the girl. She smoothed the pamphlet out on the tray table.
"First time flying?"
"What do you think?" Carmilla snapped, leaning over to read the instructions for various emergencies.
"Fear of heights? Fear of planes?" Not only did she have to deal with so many people stuck in a small space they couldn't leave, her neighbor was overly cheery and seemed intent on making friends.
"Option C- None of your goddamn business." She snarled. That shut the girl up for a few minutes as Carmilla read the pamphlet.

"Excuse me, ma'am, but we ask that all tray tables be locked in the 'up' position during takeoff." A curly-haired ginger stewardess smiled, interrupting her.
"We haven't moved yet." Carmilla pointed out through gritted teeth, hoping the entire plane ride wouldn't be like her first 15 minutes.
"We expect to be getting started shortly."
"Fine." Carmilla grabbed the pamphlet off the tray table and pushed it up so fast it jostled the seat in front of her. The man sitting there turned around to scowl at her, she returned the gesture wholeheartedly as she brushed away the girl's hands, trying to help her with the lock mechanism. The ginger frowned at her, but moved on. Carmilla's hands still shook slightly as she refolded the pamphlet and shoved it back in the pocket in front of her.
"They'll do a safety demonstration before takeoff."
"I don't need your pity, Cutie." Carmilla huffed.
"Do you want to switch seats before we have to buckle up?" She offered. Carmilla debated. Being able to look out the window, away from the tiny plane, or being able to get into the aisle unhindered. Be trapped in the corner, or not be able to look out the window.
"... Thanks." She muttered, stepping into the aisle.
"I'm Laura." The girl held out a hand to shake as she entered the aisle as well.
"Carmilla." She replied, sliding into the window seat, leaving Laura with her hand in midair. Carmilla couldn't fathom why Laura wanted to be friends, it wasn't like they were going to see each other after this flight. She opened the shade as much as she could, hunching over to stare out onto the tarmac some more. There wasn't anything happening, no workers to watch, but it was outside the cramped little plane. Laura's floral scent lingered in the air, and the combination of that and the view out the window allowed Carmilla to relax slightly.

Carmilla turned her phone off and watched the curly-haired ginger woman explain how to buckle their seat belts, how to attach the oxygen masks that would drop from the ceiling if needed, and that their seat cushions floated. She dutifully buckled (without help from Laura, though she could feel the girl's eyes on her) staring evenly at the stewardess as she checked on them. She watched out the window as the ground sped by faster and faster until it began to get farther away, the nose of the plane lifting, pressing them into their seats.

No going back now. She was stuck on this plane until it landed in 3 hours. She focused on breathing as slowly and quietly as possible. What felt like an hour later (but her watch informed her was a fraction of that) the plane leveled off and they were informed that they were free to move about the cabin if need be.

Carmilla had been watching the world below get smaller and smaller, glad the girl beside her couldn't see the look of wonder on her face. Now, though, they were too high to see anything and the window ceased being a viable distraction. Carmilla tried her book again, but it didn't help. Her eyes wouldn't stay on the page, shooting from one side of the cabin to the other, from floor to ceiling; her brain unable to make sense of the words past the 'need to get out' mantra that had been looping since she entered that damned hallway to get to the plane. She looked out the window again, though it didn't help. She was stuck on this plane. Her seatbelt suddenly felt too tight, so she unbuckled it. She felt a headache coming so she grabbed her little TSA-approved bottle of pain meds and dry swallowed a few.
"Is it the pressure?" Laura asked, Carmilla ignoring her question. "Because I have mint gum if you'd like some." She continued undeterred. Carmilla wondered if maybe she should have pretended to be deaf to avoid all this chatter. Though she doubted that would stop the enthusiastic girl.
"I'm getting a headache because someone keeps talking to me." She responded with an icy smile.
"Oh, sorry." She seemed chastised, pulling a book of her own out of her bag. Carmilla claimed the middle armrest, staring out the window, trying to will her brain calm. Arguing with her neighbor did take her mind off her situation for a little bit, and the pumped-in air lightly blew Laura's scent her way.

Eventually the stewardess came by with a little cart to offer snacks and drinks. Carm asked for grape soda and cookies, giving the enthusiastic girl beside her a withering look as she pulled her own tray table down. She frowned as she opened the package of cookies to find shortbreads. She ate them anyway, eyeing the bag of chocolate chip cookies Laura pulled out of her bag. Laura got up to use the restroom before finishing her cookies and Carmilla liberated a few for herself. When Laura returned Carmilla went to take her turn, just as an excuse to stretch her legs. She opened the bathroom door and promptly turned around and returned to her seat.
"Was there someone already in there?" Laura asked. Carmilla didn't respond other than grabbing another chocolate chip cookie as the girl stood, moved her snacks to her seat, and flipped the tray table up. "If you wanted a cookie you could have just asked." She huffed. Carmilla ignored her, resting her arm on her tray table as she twisted to look out the window some more.

Outside the plane looked very serene, blue sky, puffy white clouds (possibly raining on the people below) but all Carmilla could think of was "stuck". They were thousands of feet in the air, no way out of the cramped little cabin, approximately 10 feet across by 6 feet high by 30 feet long, crammed full of people.
"Hey." Carmilla whipped round as Laura laid a hand over hers. She hadn't even realized she was drumming her fingers, breathing quickly, audibly. "It's gonna be okay." Carmilla tried to scowl, she didn't need this girl to reassure her. "Is it a fear of heights, would being away from the window help?" Carmilla shook her head, trying to take deep breaths.
"It's..." She whispered, steeling her nerves to tell this complete stranger one of her biggest weaknesses. "It's c-... Cl-." Unable to force the word out, she clenched her eyes shut, her shaking hands into fists. "... I don't like small spaces."
"Claustrophobia?" Laura asked. Carmilla nodded. "How can I help?" Carmilla barked out a single laugh.
"Apart from getting me a seat out there-" She thumbed toward the window. "You can't help."
"Is it the airplane in general, or all the people being so close?"
"Both."
"Should I move back? Are you going to a happy place, should I shut up?"
"Doesn't matter, Cupcake." Carmilla muttered. Actually, having the girl leaning towards her made her floral scent a little stronger, which helped her calm down, but Carmilla wasn't about to say that.
"Okay, I'm gonna call a stewardess."
"What?!" Carmilla's eyes flew open just in time to see Laura's hand descending, the little 'call' button above them lit up. "What did you do that for?!" She hissed. Laura shrank back slightly.
"I'm trying to help you, calm down."

"How can I help you?" The ginger stewardess smiled at them. Carmilla crossed her arms, hiding her fists, glaring at the two women.
"My friend has claustrophobia, are there possibly any unclaimed unannounced seats in first class?" Laura asked the ginger with a smile. Carmilla scowled at the word 'friend'.
"Sorry Sweetie, the entire flight's full. If there were any open first class seats, a coach seat would have been chosen at random for a free upgrade before takeoff. Is there anything else I can do to help?" The ginger woman looked truly apologetic as she looked to Carmilla.
"I'm fine. Here." She handed the woman the rest of her grape soda. She simply could not use the miniscule bathroom, so she wanted to remove the temptation to drink.
"Thanks." Laura told the stewardess.
"Let me know if I can do anything." The woman patted the side of Laura's headrest before leaving.

"Um, would distracting yourself work? Reading your book?" Laura asked nervously.
"If my book helped, don't you think I'd be reading it, Buttercup?"
"Do you want to try my book?" She offered, holding it out. Carmilla glanced down and snorted.
"That was made into a movie years ago. Also, kids lit?"
"Young adult lit. The book is loads better than the movie." Laura defended. "The movie took out the entire message and turned it into romance drama."
"Because that's totally the reason you read books aimed at high schoolers, for the gripping plot."
"Yes! A lot of them are really honest about life, and a lot more entertaining than 'adult' books that are just porn in words." She pulled a scrunched-up disgusted face that was frankly adorable. "If you think my book is so boring, what's yours about?"
"Life." Carmilla responded simply, pulling her book back out of her bag.
"Who's Go-eth?"
"Guh-tuh." Carmilla corrected. "He was a philosopher."
"You read that for fun?" Laura asked, confused.
"You read that inane piece of drivel for fun." Carmilla countered.
"Oooh, I insult your man Goethe and the big vocabulary comes out, huh?" Laura smiled.
"Please tell me you know what those words mean."
"Yes!" Laura defended hotly. "They mean like, stupid, simple, unimportant. Which is totally not true, by the way."
"Enlighten me." Carmilla invited with a smirk. Laura glanced at her in confusion and Carmilla gestured to the book-made-movie. "Why is this such an important book?"
"Oh! Well, it's not as pretentious as your old-as-dirt philosopher, but a lot of the themes draw parallels to what's going on in the world today, class structures, racism, government corruption..."
"Really?" Carmilla asked, surprised.
"What?"
"This trite little book, meant for nothing more than entertainment, contains all that?"
"Okay, A- it's not little, look at it, B- yes! It's not just meant for entertainment, it's also meant to get the future leaders riled up and restless and ready to fix what the previous generation broke."
"Well, I'm sorry to have dragged the conversation on for so long, I can tell you have absolutely no interest in it..." Carmilla drawled sarcastically.
"Sorry, am I talking too much? I know you told me to be quiet earlier but it seemed like we were having a conversation-"
"Cupcake." Carmilla interrupted. "Joking."
"Oh. Well, fine then, Sassypants, what's your book about?"
"I told you, life."
"That could mean anything." Laura pointed out in protest.
"Well, it doesn't really have a plot. It's a collection of essays."
"About..." Laura prompted.
"The purpose of human life, on a micro and macro scale."
"That actually sounds kind of interesting. Want to trade for a little while?"
"I can't." Carmilla admitted in a whisper, gaze dropping to her lap. "I can't... Focus on words right now, draw meaning out of them... It's hard to describe."
"Well, you're holding a conversation just fine. I could read to you? Either book, I really don't mind." Laura smiled encouragingly. Carmilla debated. She could close her eyes and lose herself in a book, Laura's admittedly pretty voice washing over her... But the other people on the plane would assume she was, at best dyslexic, at worst mentally handicapped. "You're not going to see these people ever again in your life, and I think it'll help uh, pass the time." Laura stumbled over the end of her sentence, not wanting to remind Carmilla of her current situation.
"Fine. Your book." Carmilla raised an eyebrow as the girl called the stewardess again, lowering it as she asked for water bottles. Carmilla tried to get comfortable in her seat as her neighbor opened the book and got started.

"Carmilla, you still awake?" Laura interrupted the story.
"Trust me Cutie, I will not be falling asleep in this chair."
"That's the end of the chapter and I need to take a break for a bit."
"Oh. Yeah. Thanks. Sorry." She genuinely felt bad that the girl had read her multiple chapters just to help with her claustrophobia.
"I don't really mind. Reading aloud is slower so you're less likely to miss something. And it's amusing to watch you enjoy my- what were the words you used? Oh yes, my 'inane trite kids book'." Laura teased.
"I also said it's made to entertain." Carmilla reminded her with a smirk, opening her eyes. "Here, let me see..." She pulled her book out and flipped to one of her favorite essays, starting to read aloud. In her peripheral vision she saw Laura grin and settle back in her seat.

The stewardess was apparently in on it, she wordlessly placed a bottle of water on Laura's tray table when Carmilla had almost finished the last one, grabbing the empty a few minutes later.

The 'fasten seatbelts' sign lit up with a 'ding', drawing Carmilla's attention.
"Time to buckle up, Creampuff." She sighed to her neighbor. The tightness didn't bother her as much as it had during takeoff. She continued reading during descent, finishing the current essay a few minutes before they bumped down onto the tarmac. Carmilla resumed staring out the window, watching the Earth get closer and closer. She didn't move as the other passengers shifted restlessly in their seats, trying to block them out.
"Hey, you alright?" Laura asked.
"I'll be fine." Carmilla responded tightly. The workers were unloading their suitcases from the luggage area of the plane. Her brain was starting its 'Stuck. Need to get out.' loop again now that they were just sitting in the unmoving plane.
"Did you want to leave the plane quickly? Like, close to first? 'Cause I can get out of your way if that's the case..."
"I was planning on last."

Carmilla managed to ignore most of the hubbub of people getting their luggage and exiting the plane. She glanced over as Laura got her bag down from the overhead bin and got a glimpse of the girl's midriff as her shirt rode up.
"Okay, all the other passengers have left the plane." Laura announced cheerily.
"Again, I don't need your pity, Cutie." Carmilla scowled.
"I just figured I'd show you where the bathrooms and luggage pick-up are before I leave your life forever." Laura smiled. Carmilla followed sullenly, not reacting when Laura took her hand in the tight little hallway. Laura seemed to take Carmilla not pulling her hand away as a good sign, giving her a little squeeze. Carm finished in the bathroom first and took a second to scribble a note in her book.

They waited for their luggage side-by-side, holding hands again, the silence between them becoming awkward. The other passengers were smiling at them encouragingly. Great, now they assumed the pair were girlfriends. Like Carmilla would be able to stand someone as energetic and cheerful as Laura for an extended amount of time. They took a moment to turn their phones back on, though it did little to alleviate the tension. Laura's bag came around and she pulled Carmilla with her as she pushed through the other passengers to grab it. Carmilla expected her to make her goodbyes then, but she patiently waited, still holding hands. Carmilla spotted her bag and loosened her grip on Laura's hand, but the girl followed her to grab her suitcase.

Laura led her out of the airport to grab a taxi, finally letting go of her hand and turning to her with a smile.
"What's the name of your book? I want to pick up a copy."
"Actually, you can have it." Carmilla held it out. "As apology for having to put up with my stupid ass for hours on end."
"Wow, thank you!" Laura's face changed from surprise and happiness to embarrassed as she accepted the book. "Well, um, I... I wanted to give you this." She held out her own book. "You seemed to be enjoying it as I read it to you so I figured..." She trailed off as Carmilla opened the cover and chuckled.
"I'll have to give you a call then, Laura Hollis."
"That's, um, I don't know what I was thinking." Laura grimaced.
"Relax, Cutie." Carmilla smirked. She gently held the Goethe book up and opened the cover.
"Oh! I look forward to your call, Carmilla Karnstein. And I guess if you don't call soon enough, I can call you."The girls looked up as a taxi pulled up to them. Laura gestured Carmilla towards it.
"Thanks again. For everything." Carmilla murmured, taking Laura's hand and giving it a squeeze before fleeing into the taxi. Laura stared after her with a goofy grin. Carmilla smiled hugely, safe behind the tinted window. She watched out the back window as the taxi pulled away and Laura pulled her phone from her pocket.

"Is this phone call soon enough, Cutie?"