Roaming Holiday (Genius in Love #2)

1. Nina

1

NINA

I don’t want to die today.

My fingers ache from drumming them against my thighs for the past ten minutes. I narrow my focus on my tired muscles. If I stop, I think. If I think, every deadly scenario will force its way?—

“Stop,” Maia says, covering my hand with hers.

I inhale and crane my neck to see how many more people are behind us. At least thirty. I study their faces because they might be the last ones I’ll see.

“Is it hot in here? I’m hot,” I say, fanning myself after rolling up my sleeves. I refuse to remove my jacket because I’ll have to put it back on before sitting down so my bare skin doesn’t touch the airplane seat. The thought sends a shiver through me. I exhale.

Calm down, Nina.

“No, you’re just freaking out,” my sister says with annoyance edging her tone. She scrolls through her airplane playlist. “Did you download your music so you can listen during the flight?”

I gather my hair to twist into an updo. “Yes, of course.”

While my fear is the very concept of airplanes, Maia’s is having no music to listen to for nine hours. I tie off my bun, and she silently fixes stray curls for me. Still addled from my anxiety, I text my best friend.

I’m panicking.

Even though she’s busy moving her stuff into her boyfriend’s apartment, her answer buzzes back quickly.

Raven

What’s wrong? Is the flight delayed?

No, but I’d like to delay getting on a flying death trap.

Raven

Aw :( Deep breaths! Take the trazodone as soon as you sit down and you’ll wake up in paradise!

I snort a laugh, shifting the heavy bag over my shoulder.

That sounds like a threat.

Raven

Shit, you’re right.

Zafir says to challenge yourself to not feel stress.

That’s awful advice.

Raven

I know, but he’s a football player. Everything is a competition to him.

You got this. I’ll be waiting for your text when you land! Love you!!!!

She attaches a slew of emojis, and I send a heart before locking my phone. I don’t feel better, but now I focus on how at least one of us is making strides in life. Raven is a year and a half younger than me and on a better track than I am. Even though we both graduated with honors this year, she’s starting the well-paid internship she’d always dreamed about and is moving in with her annoyingly perfect boyfriend. For god’s sake, he nearly lost the interest of the NFL because he delayed a game just to tell Raven how he felt about her.

Me?

Within the last month, I moved back in with my parents after graduation, I dumped my cheating boyfriend of eight months, and I accepted a mid-paying job because I’m too scared to dream bigger.

Rather than panicking about being thousands of feet in the air with nothing between me and the hard ground, I’m panicking about my life path that has absolutely no traces of light.

“Teach me some Maldanian,” Ruby says as she packs her phone away.

“Oh!” I squeal, reigning in my thoughts. My stepmom may not have given birth to me, but she knows when I need a distraction from anxiety.

I tamp down my bubbling excitement; talking about a language is the quickest way to calm me. I can’t wait to be completely immersed in the Maldanian language. I repeat plenty of basic phrases and give her tips on remembering them. Maia slides off her headphones to practice with us.

I avoid falling into a lesson about the foundations of Maldanian because then I’d lose both completely. “Okay, let’s try a conversation,” I say to Ruby. “Ciao, bueninera. Cómi stara?”

She clears her throat. “Stari bueni, gracea. Ke tu?”

“Bueni, gracea. Tu fimare?”

Ruby opens her mouth, but no words come out. Her gaze wanders as she tries to form a reply. “What does fimare mean again?”

“‘Tu fimare’ asks if you’re hungry.”

She huffs. “This is the extent of my knowledge.”

“That’s okay!” I exclaim. “To help with your accent, remember that it’s almost a perfect blend between Italian and Spanish, with a dash of Greek elements.” The line moves slowly along the jetway, and I eventually drop my duffle on the ground to nudge it ahead. I roll my aching shoulder.

Maia snorts. “Step one of learning Maldanian: master three other languages.”

“You took Spanish in high school,” Dad says to her. “Some of it should come easy to you.”

“Why even try, though? I have a translator right here.” She jabs her thumb in my direction. Languages have always frustrated her to the point of tears. A jetway isn’t the place to lecture my younger sister about her own brilliance. She’s a genius in her own right and doesn’t give herself enough credit. I don’t tell her this. I’ve said it so often that it has less value with each utterance.

I sling an arm around her shoulders. “And I have a botanist to tell me all about the flora in Maldana. Which fruit is edible, which isn’t…”

Dad beams with pride at us. “I’m so proud of you girls.” He releases a sharp breath. “Twenty-four with a master’s in linguistics and twenty-one with a bachelor’s in botany. Wow. I’m the luckiest father.”

“Plant biology,” Maia corrects, blushing, “but I get the sentiment.”

I wouldn’t call it lucky that our combined debt is over 200,000 dollars. And if not for scholarships and financial aid, it would have been much worse. My five-year program lasted six, but stretching it out was worth it.

I look over at Maia and her button nose and high cheeks and remember the weekend she’d visited and demanded I cut my workload. The stress would have killed me; she saw it before I did. Gratitude swells in my chest. I spent my whole life taking care of her, and it feels good to know she takes care of me, too.

“You have your inflatable thing for your back, right?” I ask her.

“Psh, of course. I checked five times before we left.” The vacation would start off horribly if her chronic back pain flared because she didn’t have her proper support. I would have given her my neck pillow and then I would be miserable.

At this point, we reach the plane entrance and step onto the winged tube of death. Maia notices my discomfort. She removes the headphones from her neck and places them over my ears. With a couple of swipes and clicks on her phone, soothing ocean and seagull sounds fill my ears and block out the world. My sister smiles at me, and my anxiety dims.