Crash

Joi Dallas

Part 1

Alexandria-The Rebel

Alexandria Hilton sighed in boredom for the sixth time in ten minutes. Her mother, Holly Hilton, looked at her. Mrs. Hilton never did anything in her opinion so common as to throw a dirty look, but now her eyes twitched ever so slightly as if they knew it was possible.

Alexandria, or Alex as she preferred but was forbidden to be called, watched the small muscle move and smiled inwardly. Her mother was a sensational actor when she needed to be and Alex was proud to be the only one able to break through her mother's careful diamond wall of control. Alex always thought of her mother as a diamond; shiny, cold, and pretty much useless to her.

Mrs. Hilton did take on a certain shine when her husband showed her around like a treasure he was lucky to have. And he was lucky in any man's eyes because Alex's mother was astoundingly beautiful. She had a pale, dainty face with long thick black curls cascading from her head to the middle of her back. Her eyes were the strangest shade of violet. She swears she was born with them, but Alex has her doubts. She thinks her eyes are purple because of red contacts over light blue irises.

Alex, however, did not inherit much from her mother's side. She looked like a small girl version of her father. Mr. Hilton was tall-very tall. He stood proudly at six feet and eight inches. At fourteen, Alex was already five-feet-seven-and-a-half inches. She had her father's beautiful milk chocolate skin and his dark brown eyes-almost black. Alex preferred her dark brown hair in braids rather than the Shirley Temple curls her mother occasionally forced upon her. Mr. Hilton and his daughter's hair was very unique. Dark brown like their eyes, but in the sunlight it was possible to make out beautiful red highlights throughout.

Alex now ran her fingers through out her braids and sighed again. I can't believe she's forcing me to go. I mean he, won the stupid contest-big deal. Why do we have to move?, Alex wondered.

"Alexandria!" scolded Mrs. Hilton "Stop slouching! Sit up straight and get ride of that attitude. Why can't you be happy for your father? He is a Nigerian ambassador now- you should be excited!"

"I am! I'm sooo excited right now. I just love the fact that I get to leave my home for a completely alien place on the other side of the world!" said Alex sarcastically, "And I'm just ecstatic that instead of going to live somewhere cool like LA or New York, we are going to D.C. Really, what's so wrong with New York?"

Alex and her mother have had this argument many times before. Alex had spent her whole life isolated in her small Nigerian town where nothing much happened and longed for the big cities where anything may happen. Mrs. Hilton disagrees saying big cities are dangerous and hold too many moral abominations such as prostitution. She would know as she used to be one. Alex mentioned this to her mother once before and was grounded for a month. Her mother's past life was something that was never spoken of.

Mrs. Hilton sniffed daintily, "We are not having this discussion. Your father and I have already made the decision. We are halfway there already, we can't just turn around on the simple whim of a child." Alex bristled. She hated being called a child. She was almost fifteen. "In any case", her mother continued, "Washington D.C. is the perfect place for us!" You mean for you, Alex though sourly. I'll have a horrid time trying to make friends while you happily show off for the other rich people you love so much.

Alex was not the best at making friends. Years of living without a brother or sister rubbed off on her. She had to entertain herself from day one. As soon as Alex was weaned she was handed off to a nurse. For a long time Alex was perfectly fine playing by herself, but as she grew older she began to crave some company. Some one to share her backyard adventures with. Alex soon realized that she didn't know how to make friends; she'd never had one.

Alex was just about to voice her worries to her mom when a shutter went through the small plane. "What was that?"

"Turbulence probably." Her mother answered lazily, her argument with her daughter already forgotten. "That's common with such small planes, we should be fine in another five minutes." , said Mr. Hilton, speaking for the first time since take off. Mr. Hilton was not a very talkative man but when he did speak it made his words hard to doubt.

Alex sank back into the cushiony pillow behind her head and sighed again, totally convinced by her father's voice that everything was fine. She shot straight up in her chair when the second shutter rocked the plane, this one more powerful. Mr. Hilton calmly got up and headed for the pilot's cabin. Only the color of his eyes gave him away. Both his and his daughter's eyes always seemed to turn darker when they were stressed or worried. Alex could hear low murmuring that sounded reassuring. That's probably the pilot feeding a load of crap about the wind currents or the altitude thermometer what-its Alex thought, I want to know what's going on, too.

She turned to her mother and asked to be excused, smoothly lying that she needed to use the restroom. Alex was a skilled liar and only her father could detect the hidden false note in her voice. Her mother definitely didn't notice as her nose was buried in the latest issue of a People magazine. Alex headed for the cockpit guessing correctly that her mother would be too distracted to notice she was walking in the opposite direction of the bathroom. Alex crouched down quietly and pressed her ear to the cabin door. She heard her father and the captain whispering tersely.

"You said we could make it to the airport in one tank of gas!" whispered her father. Alex was surprised to hear a faint note of fear in his voice.

"I said it then and I say it now. I am a professional and I need you to trust me. Now if you don't mind I would like you to return to your seat, sir." replied the captain.

Alex stood up, about to return to her own seat so she would not be caught sneaking around. She was contemplating whether to share her information with her mother or just keep quiet when another shutter sent the plane reeling. Alex was thrown to the floor and she heard her mother scream. Alex didn't hear a reaction from the other side of the cabin door and she waited crumpled, for her father to come out. She knew he would reassure her that everything was fine and that they would be okay. For three still seconds she heard nothing but the sounds the plane made as it jerked around erratically. Then an ear splitting screech cut through the short silence and it was suddenly cold. Alex had the feeling that she was being sucked out through a huge straw and abruptly she was falling. Before her eyes closed she saw blueness everywhere and wondered why she was falling upwards.