After writing my story Backstabbers, here's a wonderful one-shot to make you happy and/or depressed!

I bit down on my oatmeal raisin granola bar and took a swig of my Gatorade which was residing in my very floral and pink water bottle. I was currently running on the treadmill in Chad's personal gym. Now, if you're wondering why, it's because Chad and I got invited to the Celebrities in Space charity program.

Two very known celebrities would go into space and during the event, people could call in and pledge their money to a charity of their choice. The program wanted people that younger kids and teens would recognize and thus would be willing to watch the televised event. So I got picked for the kids ten and under group and Chad got eleven and up. As you can tell, Condor Studios was extremely happy when they found out that two of their actors would get to go into space.

I was getting my body prepared for the trip. The folks running the C.I.S. said that my physique needed to be in tip-top shape. We had already learned all the procedures of going into space, so preparing our body was the only thing we still had to do. So I cut down on cheeseburgers and fries and got into the habit of carrots and fruit juice. I was also getting my heart ready for the sudden change in pressure, hence my cardio workouts.

I was cooling down on the exercise bike when Chad walked in with a towel around his neck.

"My, my, Sonny. Aren't we always slacking off?"

"For your information, Chad, I just spent the last ten minutes on the treadmill."

"I know; I was watching TV and making a smoothie at the same time."

I glared at him. Of course he would take this opportunity to use my effort for electricity and slack off.

He started up the treadmill at a fast pace. I looked at him funny. "Don't you need to warm-up first, or even stretch?" I asked.

"CDC doesn't need to warm-up," he scoffed while starting to run at a brisk pace. I rolled my eyes as I realized that I now had to use the exercise bike. It didn't take long before I heard a groan from my left side.

"Charley horse! Charley horse!" Chad moaned as he fell off the treadmill. I couldn't help but laugh as he rocketed back into the exercise ball.

"Not. A. Word," he growled. I grabbed his hand and pulled him up. He collected himself and flicked his hair to one side. "Better now, thanks for worrying about me."

"Don't worry, I wasn't," I said teasingly. Chad was about to scoff when he seemed to remember his Charley horse and started to wince painfully. I offered my shoulder for balance as I lead him over to a bench. In a moment of sympathy, I loaned him my water bottle. He took it without complaint.

After he chugged down what seemed to be half of the drink, he said, "Nice bottle, Munroe."

"My mom bought it for me!" I said defensively before snatching it away from him.

Chad snickered as he rolled his eyes. "Nice choice of flavor," he said, changing the subject. "Strawberry's always been my favorite."

"But this is Glacier Freeze," I said, wondering if his cramp had messed with his taste buds.

"I know," Chad said, with an all-knowing smile. I suddenly flushed beet red. I remembered the strawberry flavored lip gloss I had put on before going to exercise.

"Well, let's get back to exercising," I said quickly while jumping up from my seat.

"Wait, Sonny!" Chad cried.

"What?"

"My leg still hurts." He put his leg up to where I was previously sitting. "Will you massage it for me?"

I was about to say no in a cry of disgust, but he got this begging expression on his face that I rolled my sleeves (and my eyes) and began to massage his leg. His expression turned into something more enjoyable and after a few minutes, he said, "Thanks, Sonny. I owe you one."

I helped him back up to make sure he could stand again. After being thoroughly sure he was alright, we went back to our exercising.

It was a mad rush of preparation after that. We only had a week left before liftoff. Chad and I were spending most of that week in the gym, him getting Charley horses and I massaging his leg every time, and then afterwards he would make us smoothies with the built up energy we had created. It was a pretty cool cycle; we work hard and enjoy the fruits of our labor after.

Finally, the day of blastoff arrived. Before we got into our suits, we were weighed and had to take a few tests before we were deemed worthy of going into space. When the instructor, Mr. Olson, said we needed to strip and get into our suits, Chad looked at with a huge smirk on his face before Mr. Olson pointed to a dressing room. I quickly scurried off before I could see the look in Chad's eyes again.

When I emerged from the dressing room, Chad and Mr. Olson were fully clothed and ready for the launch. As we were walking over to the shuttle, Chad asked, "So, you ready, Sonny?"

I smiled. "Definitely."

We entered the rocket very dramatically, being the actors that we were. Finally, Mr. Olson said, "Can we move along? We have a tight schedule to run!" We sped up our walking.

We were strapped in very meticulously. "Don't want anyone flying out during takeoff," Mr. Olson chuckled. My eyes turned wide at the thought.

Mr. Olson strapped himself in and spoke through a radio to the administers. I wasn't sure what exactly he was saying to them, but suddenly by body went cold. I lost feeling in my legs. And then I wanted to smack my head up against the walls. I completely forgot about my fear of heights!

I had eagerly agreed to go on this trip without even thinking about my fear. Even when I was doing the stimulation, I hadn't even thought about it. I guess you have to be in the actual thing before you finally remember your fears.

I must have been freaking out or something because Chad turned to me and said, "Nervous?"

I nodded. "A bit. I'm afraid of heights, you see."

Chad looked at me like I was an idiot. "Then why are you about to go into space?"

"Because I thought it would be a good experience! Seriously, how many celebrities do you know that can say they've been in outer space?"

Chad sighed. "Point proven." I noticed then that I was hyperventilating and tried to calm down, but with no luck. Chad gave me a smirk, but he reached out a hand. I couldn't feel the touch through our suit, but I could sense the warmth through the glance in Chad's eyes.

A speaker sounded into our vicinity with a clear voice. "T minus one minute."

I squeezed Chad's hand tighter. I saw a strange look on his face but he didn't say anything. After a few seconds he finally said, "Sonny, if you hold my hand any tighter, you are going to cut off all circulation." I loosened my grip while smiling apologetically.

"T minus 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4," here I began squeezing Chad's hand tighter, "3, 2, 1, lift off!"

Our bodies were suddenly lurched into a position of high pressure and I could almost hear my teeth chatter. I kept reminding myself that I was going to be alright, but I felt Chad's grip on my hand grow tighter. I couldn't help but smirk. Who was scared now?

And then, it was all over. The pressure was off on us, and I could feel myself go weightless. I was in space. Space!

"Wow," I heard Chad say breathlessly in awe. I couldn't help but agree with him. The whole concept was amazing. Not to mention the view. After a few minutes, Mr. Olson said we could move about the cabin. We unbuckled out of our seatbelts and started to float around.

"Say hello to the world!" Mr. Olson said, pointing to a camera.

"Hello, world!" Chad and I said in unison. We all laughed. Mr. Olson went over to a receiver and started speaking to someone, while Chad and I went over to our supply of food. The cabin wasn't very big, so we didn't have to go very far with our limited moving skills.

"So, chicken or tuna?" he asked me.

I thought for a little bit before saying, "What, no meatloaf?"

"Sorry, Munroe, meatloaf is officially banned from this aircraft. Please enjoy the rest of your flight and thank you for flying Tasteless Food 1." I giggled. For a dramatic person, he could be funny when he wanted to.

We were examining the other meal options when I started to smell something awful. "Hey, Chad, do you smell anything bad?"

"What, besides you?" I punched him playfully. He rubbed his shoulder in mock hurt. He took in a deep breath before coughing. "That smells excruciatingly bad!" he exclaimed.

I went over to where Mr. Olson was. "Mr. Olson, we have a problem!"

"Like Houston!" he laughed good-naturally. "What seems to be the matter?"

"It smells awful!" Chad whined. "It smells like someone burnt dirty socks!"

Mr. Olson sniffed the air. His face darkened intensely. All was quiet as he put on his microphone and started to speaking urgently.

"We have a problem. There's a gas leak inside the spacecraft."

You could almost hear dramatic music playing.

"What's going to happen to us?" I asked Chad nervously as Mr. Olson continued to converse with the station.

"We are going to make it out safely," Chad said reassuringly, even though his eyes told a different story. My breaths got stuck in my throat. My worst fear was being proven.

Mr. Olson sat the microphone down sadly. "We have about three minutes left before the craft explodes," he said quietly. "Use this time well." The air was extremely tense. No one spoke a word.

Chad finally snapped. "Don't you have some way of saving us?" he screeched.

"All we have is an ejection seat fit for one person only!" Mr. Olson exclaimed. "And no one here is the right weight for ejection."

"So all that work… all that strenuous exercise and eating habits… for nothing?" Chad cried. "And you don't even have a proper way for us to leave?"

"I'm sorry," Mr. Olson murmured. "Sorry, sorry, sorry…"

Chad slammed his fist down on the wall in anger. "Why did we agree to go on this stupid trip?" he asked himself.

"Well," I said faintly, "if I had to choose anyone to have my final moments with, I'm glad it's with you, Chad."

At that moment, Chad seemed to remember I was there. "Sonny. Sonny… Sonny!" His face brightened with an idea. He turned to Mr. Olson, who was still mumbling that he was sorry.

"Mr. Olson!" Chad yelled, snapping him out of his daze. "You said that none of us were perfect for the ejection seat, right? But that doesn't mean we can't use it."

"Using an ejection seat without being perfect for it could be dangerous," he warned.

"More dangerous than exploding?" Chad countered.

"If you want to try it, be my guest."

Chad turned to me. "Sonny, I want you to be the person who gets ejected."

"Me? If anyone, it should be you," I said, surprised.

"Now's not the time to be modest!" Chad snapped. "You'll get in the seat and be saved. No questions!"

Chad pushed me into the ejection seat and buckled me in before I could object.

"But, Chad--" I said after he had strapped me in tightly.

"Goodbye, Sonny," Chad said forcefully, a tear trickling down his face. I was about to say something when he pushed a button, and I was flying out of the doomed rocket.

I could feel the chair try to steer me in the direction of Earth's atmosphere, but because I wasn't the right weight, I was being steered in the opposite direction. To get my mind off of where I was going, I turned to see the space craft. Through a window, I saw Chad's face.

"Goodbye," I mouthed. I could feel tears starting to form. He mouthed something back.

"I love--" But I never saw the last word, because at that time my world ended. The rocket exploded.

Debris was flying everywhere and hit my helmet and suit. I started to form a headache, but I didn't care. I screamed out in agony and grief.

Space is a vacuum. There's no matter at all. And to hear sound, you need matter, otherwise the sound waves have nothing to bounce off of. So there I was, floating in space. Terrified. The image of Chad exploding stuck permanently in my mind.

And no one can hear me scream.

I've never actually been in space, so I hope I described everything well. Oh, and I dedicate this story to my science teacher, who taught me about sound waves. There I was, sitting in science, thinking about how you can't hear sound in vacuums, and I got the story's title as my teacher told me to pay attention. And so, this is for her. Please review!