City of Love
"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most importantly, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition." Her speech was touching, of course. But mainly, I just wanted to grab my diploma and leave. There's no looking back, just going forward from here on out. "Are you ready, Max? 48 hours and counting until we reach the City of Love!" Nudge squealed in my ear. Which earned her a few stern looks from a couple of students sitting close enough to over hear. I couldn't hide my excitement. For the first time in a long time, something was going my way. I looked at Nudge and gave her my biggest smile. She grabbed my hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. I squeezed back. It was our thing, to squeeze each others hands to let each other know that we're together every step of the way. I sneaked a glance at Nudge. She has really grown up these last four years of high school. Her old curly, frizzy black hair is now straight and smooth. Her perfect olive skin is flawless and she got her braces off last year. She's even a whole cup size bigger than me now. I'm proud of her. She's gone through so being called brace face and flat chested, she still came out on top. I couldn't help but smile.
"We did it!" Nudge yelled once we were outside. We both ran to Ella, who was standing next to my dad, Jeb. Ella was only a year older than me, but we looked like twins. She had the same golden brown hair and oval-shaped eyes as I did. She had a smaller nose and a couple of freckles. Her eyes were green and mine were honey brown. "You guys looked amazing!" Ella squealed along with Nudge. I just chuckled and hugged Jeb. "You were great, sweetie." Jeb said as he nudged my shoulder. I laughed, "Thanks, da-.", "MAX!" I turned at the sound of my name just as Ella came sprinting to hug me. She tackled me to the ground and we both busted out in a fit of giggles. Nudge walked over and tapped me with her shoe "So, not to be a downer and ruining your guys' giggle fest here, but can we go home and change? This teal gown really isn't looking good on me." I smiled and picked myself up off the ground. "We'll be at Ella's apartment, Dad. See you later?" I said, hoping to get away before he insisted we all go out for a family fun event. "That's fine. But be back at the house around dinner time. I have a surprise for the two of you before you leave." Well, that's great. For all I know the surprise will be leg warmers or another subscription to Fitness Magazine.Hah. Like I'm interested in 'Droping two sizes.'
We got to Ella's apartment in 10 minutes, when it's really a 45 minute drive. "Ella, you're allowed to drive under 85 miles per hour, y'know." Nudge suggested as she climbed out of the car. Ella climbed out and glared at her. "I just think it's better to drive faster, than slower. We only have a short amount of time to get everything in tip-top shape before we leave for Paris!" Ella said, clapping happily. I scrambled out of the car and ran up the steps of the apartment building. It was the nicest apartments in Oregon. The front doors were huge, with big glass handles that had swirly carvings all over them. I let myself in and waved to the counter attendant. A ragged old woman with long grey hair, named Lidia. She was sweet, but could barely speak English. "Hola, Maximum." She said without looking up from her computer screen. "Hi, Lidia." I said smiling, waiting for Nudge and Ella to come inside. They were walking up the steps laughing and squealing about something. Probably what shops to go to in Paris. "Oh! But we have to go to all of them. Get a pair of shoes from each store was our deal, remember?" Ella winked at Nudge as they casually walked inside. Huh, shoes. Figures. We all walked upstairs to the third floor where Ella's apartment was. We reached her door as Nudge bent over gasping for air. "Do we have to take the stairs every time?" She said between gasps. "Yes, silly. The repair men still haven't fixed the elevator. There is no way i'm going in that monstrous hell hole. It could get stuck!" Ella said with a horror filled face. "Are you kidding? That monstrous hell hole is so much better than walking up three flights of stairs." Nudge said plainly. "Suit yourself." Said Ella with a wave of her hand. She unlocked her door and walked in, leaving it wide open for us to walk in behind her. "I get the shower first!" I said, rushing to the bathroom. "Not going to happen! You took all the hot water last time, Max!" Nudge said racing after me. I reached the bathroom first and locked the door before she could make it inside. "Max!" Nudge screamed as she banged on the door. I snickered and took my hair out of the complicated braid Ella put my hair in this morning. As I stared at myself in the mirror, I imagined myself in Paris. Wanting to be someone someday, but being a complete nobody, is hard. I feel like this trip isn't only about what shoes to buy, and touching the Effie Tower, but finding myself. And maybe, just maybe, I could find someone who loves that part of me as well.
BANG! "Nudge!" I yelled as I ran to the bathroom door. "Are you okay?", "Ahaha. Yep. Hahaa. I just slipped on something slippery!" She said giggling at herself. "Uhm. The soap?" I said joining in on the giggles. "Oh! Well would you look at that. The soap!" She said surprised. I rolled my eyes and walked to Ella's room. "Is Nudge alright?" Ella said, concern creasing her forehead. "Yeah, she's fine." I said giggling a little. "Well, what do you think of this?!" She said, barely containing her excitement. I turned around to see her wearing a short sparkly navy blue cocktail dress. "Ella," I sighed "We're only going to the airport." She looked at me like I just shot her dog. "But its gorgeous. As always." I said smiling at her. She smiled right back and squealed "I'm so excited!" I looked out the window at a passing airplane over head, and whispered "Yeah, me too Ella."
We drove back to my house to say goodbye to Jeb and grab my suitcases. We dropped Nudge off so she could say goodbye to her family as well. We were going to pick her up on the way to the airport. Ella pulled up and turned off the car. We sat there for a couple of minutes in comfortable silence. "We have to leave dad's house in 45 minutes exactly. If we don't, we won't make it to the gate in time for our flight." Ella said staring off into space. I climbed out of the car at the same time saying "Sure thing sis." We got inside and sat down so our dad could give us our 'surprises'. He handed me a tiny box, and Ella a bigger box. Her's was a dress. That was obvious. Ella was easy to shop for, all she ever wanted was dresses and shoes. But me? It's more difficult to shop for me. I'm not interested in buying all those sparkly dresses and shoes. I like the little things. Which my dad knew, considering this tiny box. Ella tore her box to shreds, leaving a floor length cream-colored dress in her lap. It was beautiful, and shimmered when it hit the light at a certain angle. Ella was speechless. She kept opening and closing her mouth, just smiling at the dress. "Thank you so much dad!" She said, and jumped up to hug him. "Max, it's your turn. Go ahead and open it." He said smiling at me, excitement all over his face. I ripped the paper gently, and opened the box. A small silver bracelet fell out and onto the floor. I bent down to grab it and was surprised to see what it actually was. It had the Effie Tower on it as a little charm bracelet. It was just dangling on this simple little silver chain. I was absolutely in love with it. I smiled and breathed "It's beautiful." My dad smiled and hugged me, telling me it was nothing. I put it on right away. I couldn't stop staring at my wrist. It was by far the most beautiful thing I owned.
The airport was one of the tallest buildings in the city. We got there with only minutes to spare, all three of us running to the gate. "Ella! You speed everywhere we go, but you couldn't drive a little faster to get us on time!" I said, reaching hysteria. If we missed this flight, everything would be ruined. We reached the door just as they were closing. "Wait!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. They stopped and looked back just in time. We gave them our boarding tickets and walked onto the airplane. We all took our assigned seats as the flight attendants started introducing themselves. I sat closest to the window, Nudge sat in front of me, and Ella sat next to me. "Goodness. We made it." Nudge said, letting out a big breath. "Barely." I said, looking at Ella. "Look, I said I was sorry! I had to pick the perfect shoes to match the dress!" She said with big puppy dog eyes so I wouldn't smack her. "It doesn't take an hour and a half to find shoes, Ella!" I said, but my anger quickly turned into exhaustion. We finally made it on the plane. Only half way there to Paris. I sighed, "I'm going to sleep. Don't wake me up." I said closing my eyes, resting my head on a pillow.
The clouds were soft and fluffy. I reached out and then I was falling. Falling from the sky, it was completely terrifying. I couldn't breath or scream for someone to help me. But it was also exhilarating in a way that I can't describe. Being free, falling to who knows where. Then someone grabbed me. Strong hands, but dark. Pulling me up to the light. All of my senses were telling me to run. Get out of his grasp. Get as far away as you can, before it was too late. But I stayed. There was something about him that I couldn't get enough of. He smelled of mint and honey. He was saying something. Whispering. It was so soft and gentle. "A dream is a wish your heart makes, when you're fast asleep. Have faith in your dreams, Maximum." Was he singing? How does he know my name? I tried speaking but something was holding it back. I looked up to see two dark, dangerous eyes looking down at me. With that, I woke up. It was dark on the airplain, Ella and Nudge were fast asleep. I looked out the window, and whispered to myself "A dream is a wish your heart makes."