Trent Reedy - Stealing Air

“Awesome,” Brian said. “We can send a copy to Frankie, and if he tries to be a tough guy again, we’ll just threaten to put the video online.”

“Guys, seriously, this was probably the coolest thing I’ve ever done. This was something real.” Alex rubbed his knuckles under his chin. “Magazines, television… They’re going to pay so much for our story.” He laughed a little. “I’m going to start tracking down people who owe me money. B.A. has some winnings coming too.”

Knowing they’d be back for Blackbird soon, they walked out of the woods and headed home.

At one o’clock the next day, Alex, Brian, and Max were up in Brian’s room. “Gentlemen, ties.” Alex tossed pre-knotted neckties to the other two. “Brian, you said your shirt was stained.” He looked at Brian’s dingy dress shirt and handed him a jacket. “I brought this from home. See if it fits.”

The jacket’s sleeves came up several inches too short when Brian finally wiggled into the thing. He sighed and put his hands on his hips.

“Better than letting everyone see those mud stains,” said Alex.

“It is an improvement.” Max did not sound very convincing.

The sound of a car outside drew Brian to his window for the hundredth time. Earlier, he had watched Max and his parents arrive in their Prius and Grandpa in his pickup. A few minutes after that, Alex and his mom, dad, and sister had pulled up in their Lexus. The latest car rolled right by — not the vehicle he was hoping for.

“Brian,” said Max, “no doubt everyone downstairs is wondering why we called this meeting. It was not easy to get my parents to come.”

“Yeah,” said Alex. “My dad was supposed to drop Mom and Katie off at the mall when he went in to the office. It took some time to convince them this was important.”

“We wouldn’t even be having this meeting if you hadn’t uploaded the video to the Internet,” Brian said.

Alex held his hands up. “Dude, what could I do? Someone put up a crappy video he took with his phone. It was starting to get a lot of views. I had to put up our good video to stay on top of publicity. How was I supposed to know it would go viral so fast?”

“In any case, Brian, we can’t change what is already done,” said Max.

They were right, and they couldn’t just leave everyone downstairs wondering what was going on either. “We’ll just have to start,” Brian said.

“Remember, play it professional.” Alex straightened his tie and picked a piece of lint off his blue jacket. He looked like one of those guys at expensive boarding schools that Brian had seen in movies. “They’re going to find out about Blackbird soon anyway. We might as well tell them ourselves.”

“It’s the most logical approach,” said Max.

Alex rolled his eyes. “Thanks, Spock.”

Max frowned. “I consider it a compliment to be compared to the greatest Vulcan who—”

“Oh, come on,” Brian said, leading the way out of the room before Max and Alex could get into a Star Trek debate. This meeting would be like skating, flying, or almost anything else. It was best to just go for it.

Downstairs in the living room, Brian’s and Max’s parents sat on chairs brought in from the dining room, while Grandpa sat in the old leather recliner. Mr. and Mrs. Mackenzie occupied either end of the couch, with Alex’s little sister Katie pouting in the middle. She perked up when Brian and the guys entered the room, giggling and giving Brian a little wave.

“What’s this all about?” Brian’s father asked once again. Even with Max and Alex at his side, Brian felt his courage slipping away.

“Yes, I’d like to know too,” said Alex’s mom. “Alex, if you wanted us to meet your new friends, you could have—”

“I’ll handle this,” said Mr. Mackenzie. “Alex, you said this was important business and—”

“Can I have your attention please?” Brian spoke loudly. If this was going to work out right, they would have to be the ones to lead the discussion. “We have to tell you something that is probably going to surprise you.”

“But it’s good!” Alex cut in.

How did Dad know how to run meetings like this? Brian smiled. Dad made it up. “That’s right! It is good. So just, please, listen to the whole presentation before you make judgments.”

“Oh no,” Brian’s mom said. “What’s wrong?”

Brian shot a questioning look at Max, who shrugged. No help there. Alex was fiddling with his iPhone.

Brian took a deep breath. There was no delicate way to put this. “Max built an airplane, and we flew it.”

“You built a toy airplane?” said Alex’s dad. “Like radio controlled? There’s no way you could have built a real plane.” He rubbed his hand over his bald spot.

“Why doesn’t anyone ever believe me?” Max whispered.

“ Blackbird is totally real,” Alex said. “Brian and I flew it, flew on it, yesterday.”

He finished messing with his iPhone and held it up, showing the video of Blackbird in action. Everyone went still and quiet as they watched, except for little Katie, who kept smiling at Brian.

As the video ended, the adults all seemed to erupt into conversation at once.

“You could have been hurt flying around on that thing!” Brian’s mom said.

Mrs. Mackenzie leaned forward in her seat. “You didn’t even wear a helmet?”

“Were you working from a kit or plans you found online?” Dr. Warrender asked.

Max cut in, “Actually, I designed Blackbird myself.”

Mr. Warrender raised an eyebrow. “The results are remarkable.”

“Even if the methods are a bit unorthodox,” Dr. Warrender added. Max’s parents were the only ones smiling, though his mom looked like she was trying to conceal it. Max made no effort to hide his big grin.

“You were supposed to be grounded, Brian,” Mom said. “Am I going to have to send you to your grandfather’s house after school to make sure you don’t go running off before I get home?”

Brian risked eye contact with Grandpa. The old man seemed very serious, but there was a little gleam in his eye. He only nodded.

Alex’s father stood up, still rubbing his bald spot. “You boys will be in junior high next year. It’s time for you to start being serious and thinking about your reputations and your futures. This kind of… cowboy stuff won’t help you.”

Brian thought he heard Alex laugh just a little bit. Cowboy stuff? Futures? Fixing the future of Synthtech was what the whole flyer thing was all about. At least, that was how it started. He looked over at Max and Alex. The Blackbird project had become a lot more than just a cool experiment or a way to help Dad’s company.

Dr. Warrender frowned. “The material of that plane looked rather familiar. What is it made from?”

“Yeah.” Brian kept up that business smile until his cheeks hurt. “It’s Plastisteel.” He held up his hand against the outburst from his dad and Dr. Warrender.

“I’m sorry,” said Mrs. Mackenzie. “Plasti-what?”

“It’s my invention,” said Dr. Warrender. She explained Plastisteel and Synthtech to Alex’s family. Alex’s dad raised his eyebrows, and his mom looked similarly impressed. Dad’s face was bright red as he glared at Brian. Instead of being angry, Brian’s mother turned away and wiped tears from her eyes.

“Just wait a second,” Brian cut in. Alex elbowed him, and he remembered his manners. “Please.” He tried to act casual. “When we borrowed… stole the materials for the flyer, we didn’t realize how difficult it would be for you all to make more.”