If Helen were there, she would have told him that this was what he got for not flying first class, but Gansey didn’t mind. First class travel was luxurious, but it was lonely and he would happily trade lonely for the bustling, lively crowdedness of economy class. Granted, as he looked around there seemed to be no available seats and the people waiting behind him were growing impatient. At last, his gaze fell upon an empty seat in the far back and he made his way over.
A boy about his age sat in the window seat. When Gansey neared closer, he looked up from his hands.
“Is this seat taken?” Gansey asked. He smiled politely and gestured to the seat.
The boy shook his head. “No. It’s yours if you want.”
“Thank you.” Gansey was about to place his suitcase in the luggage compartment, but stopped when the boy began to speak again.
“I just want to let you know that I, um, might throw up, so if that bothers you…” The boy trailed off, embarrassed.
Gansey felt a sting of pity. Immediately, he shook his head and smiled. “I don’t mind.”
The boy smiled back, halfheartedly. “Okay.” His voice was faint, but relieved.
Gansey returned to shoving his suitcase into the luggage compartment. When he had succeeded, he sat down in his seat and held out a hand. “My name is Richard Campbell Gansey the Third, but please feel free to call me Gansey.”
The boy shook his hand. “Adam. Adam Parrish.”
Gansey settled his bag at his feet and situated himself into a comfortable sitting position. “So why are you going to Virginia? Returning or visiting?”
“Returning,” Adam said. “I was visiting the college I’m going to next year.”
He is the same age as me, Gansey thought to himself. “That’s nice. I’m going to college next year, too. What are you going to major in?”
“Engineering,” Adam answered. “What about you?”
“Well, you see my parents work in politics, so it should be natural that I do, too, but for the longest time I haven’t been so sure,” Gansey said. "In all honestly, I think I might take a year off." Hush. He doesn’t want to know your whole life story.
“What are your interests?” Adam asked. “Instead of politics, I’m sure you could major in something you’re really passionate about.”
Gansey smiled. “What do you know about Welsh kings?”
Gansey looked up from his book as the pilot announced over the speakers that the plane would be experiencing some minor turbulence. He thought nothing of it and was about to return back to reading when he heard the sound of what sounded like a whispered word being repeated over and over again from Adam’s direction. He glanced over.
Adam was hunched forward with his forehead pressed to his clasped hands – hands that were shaking uncontrollably.
Concern fell over Gansey. He placed a hand on Adam’s shoulder and felt that it was shaking uncontrollably as well. “Adam?”
Adam didn’t reply. Or maybe he hadn’t heard him.
This was serious. Gansey hurriedly put his book back in his bag and patted Adam between the shoulder blades. “Adam, what’s wrong? Can I do anything to help?”
“Nervous breakdown.” Adam’s voice was tense and hoarse. “I told myself I wasn’t going to have one, but damn it. I hate flying so much. I don’t like trusting my life with aircraft. I mean, what if I need to escape? I can’t, that’s what. I can’t–”
“Adam, Adam,” Gansey cut in. “Thinking that way isn’t going to help you.”
Adam’s miserable groan let him know he was right.
Gansey ran his hand in circles around Adam’s back, hoping that that would soothe away some of his nerves. “What do you usually do when this happens?”
“Wait it out and try not to make a scene.”
He couldn’t be serious. His mind isn’t in the right place. I have to help him organize his thoughts. Gansey leaned towards Adam, kept his voice calm and even. “When I have a panic attack, I try to think of something I find comforting.”
“Does it work?” Adam asked.
Gansey hesitated. It usually didn’t, but he didn’t want to admit that. “What’s something you find comforting?”
“Being off this plane.” Adam let out a dry laugh. “I knew I shouldn’t have flown. I’m so, so stupid.”
Okay. This was not going to work. Gansey took his hand off Adam’s back and searched through his bag for his mint leaves. “Here. Chew on a mint leaf. I know menthol oil derived from mint can help soothe nausea. I don’t have menthol oil with me, but hopefully this helps so at least you won’t throw up.”
With trembling fingers, Adam reached for the mint leaf and placed it in his mouth. His face was unbelievably pale.
"That’s right. Keep chewing,” Gansey said in encouragement. He took out his MP3 player and eyed his earbuds. The earbuds were high-quality, but he doubted they would do much to block out sounds. He glanced at the passengers around him, spotted a man with headphones sitting diagonal from him, and reached over to pat him on the arm.
The man didn’t turn.
With a bit more force, Gansey patted him again.
This time the man turned around. He frowned and took off his headphones. “What is it?” he demanded.
Gansey used his most polite tone of voice. “Could I please trade my earbuds for your headphones? I promise I’ll give them back.”
“No way,” the man said. “Viking metal sounds the best on headphones, not some crummy earbuds.”
Gansey did not know there was a music genre called “Viking metal”, but he pushed aside his curiosity and offered, “I’ll give you twenty dollars if you trade me your headphones.”
Interest flashed across the man’s face and even though he took a second to consider it, Gansey knew he had him. “Make it fifty dollars and it’s a deal.”
“Great.” Gansey looked at Adam, saw that his face was still pale and his hands still shaking. Feeling less than helpful, he offered Adam another mint leaf before digging up his wallet and pulling out a fifty-dollar bill. He switched the money and his earbuds for the man’s headphones. “Thank you so much.”
“No, thank you,” the man said.
Quickly, Gansey turned and placed the headphones over Adam’s ears. He plugged the headphones into his MP3 player and scrolled to a specific track before pressing play. It wasn’t a song, but it was something that had helped calm him down plenty of times before. It was a recording of birds chirping, water running down a river, and leaves rustling in the wind.
“Pretend you’re in a forest,” Gansey advised soothingly. “Forget about now.” He glanced at Adam’s shaking hands and took them in his, gently rubbing his thumb on the backside and lightly tracing his fingers around in swirls on the palm and along the fingers. He did this for a long time, but he didn’t mind.
Eventually, the color returned to Adam’s face and his hands began to stop shaking. Then, he realized Adam had fallen asleep.
Gansey left the headphones on in case and took one of his hands away, but the other he kept placed over Adam’s.
“Gansey. Wake up.”
Gansey opened his eyes, blinking tiredly. It took him a moment to recall where he was.
Adam was looking at him. The hand Adam had shaken him awake with still stayed on his shoulder. “The plane landed.”
“Oh.” Gansey sat up, more alert. He realized the headphones were now gone and Adam held up his earbuds.
“Some man tore the headphones off me and tossed me these,” Adam explained.
Gansey took his earbuds. “Thanks for understanding. He really needs the headphones for Viking metal.”
Adam laughed.
Gansey smiled. Laughing Adam was definitely a much better improvement.
“I owe you,” Adam said. “How much did you have to give him?”
Gansey shook his head. “Oh no, you don’t owe me anything. I’m just happy to have been of help.”
“No, please, it wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t pay you back,” Adam said. He flushed. “I kind of need the money I have now, but I’ll pay you back later. We should keep in touch, so that I can do that.”
Gansey was surprised, but he very much liked the idea. “Okay. Yeah, that’d be great.” He reached around his bag for his phone and pulled it out. “What’s your number?”
Adam recited out a number to him. “I don’t have a cell phone yet, but that’s the number of the place I’m staying at,” he explained, looking slightly embarrassed. “So if you call, just ask for me.”
Gansey nodded, doing his best to look as accepting and understanding as he felt. “That’s cool.”
“And, um, thank you for helping me out,” Adam said. “I thought I was going to be a goner and make a big scene of myself or something, so I’m glad that you were there.” He smiled a bit timidly. “It’s not everyday a guy with mint leaves and nature recordings is sitting right next to me.”
Gansey grinned. “Glad I could be that guy.”