Bachelorette Party

(Rachel)

"Why are we in Oregon?"

I looked at my sister yet again as soon as we landed at the Portland airport. It was a surprise to me when Santana gave me the ticket at the New York airport indicating where would be my bachelorette party. I expected her to take me to Las Vegas or to Atlantic City to have fun in a casino since Quinn would go to Vegas with the boys. But Oregon? I thought we had closed business there as soon as my time capsule was unearthed two years ago. I didn't expect that. I just follow the instructions of my sister about clothes that I should put in my suitcase and the days when we would stay out.

"You'll see." She said being very successful in keeping the mystery.

"Did you also bury a time capsule with Daddy?"

"No..." Santana smiled. "This thing was only between you two. My thing with Dad was more adventurous."

"Oh my god!" An idea suddenly came to my mind.

"What?" Santana frowned.

"You will make me climb a mountain!"

Santana laughed loose amid the arrivals hall.

"Of course, Ray. I'll make you climb a mountain just to push you up there."

We took a taxi and went straight to the hotel that Santana had booked. My sister decided to divide the room, which, for me, everything was fine. The hotel was nice, the room Santana booked was spacious, with two single beds, and all the comfort needed as TV, Wi-Fi, large bathroom, safe, air conditioner that would certainly not be used that time of the year: it was cool in Oregon, even though a much more pleasant temperature than in New York. In other words, everything was fine, except that I still had no idea of the plans of my sister.

"What do we do now?" I said after chose my bed and settled.

"We can have dinner." Santana replied with indifference.

"Dinner? That's your big plan?"

"For today, yes." Santana smiled. "My schedule for your bachelorette party only starts tomorrow. So today I have nothing in mind: only dinner."

"And do you have some restaurant suggestions?"

"Actually I do." Santana took the tablet and showed me some notes. "I did some research on the best restaurants in the area that could please both of us."

So we did it. We went to a kind of nice restaurant near our hotel and had a good meal. Then we return to the hotel room just to play cards and watch some TV. What an awful way to start my bachelorette.

…

"Won't you rent a car?" I woke up asking questions to Santana. She said we should get up early. This was never a problem for me and the time zone also helped a lot in that.

"Not today." Santana said putting some of her belongings in the room safe.

"What should I wear?"

"Sportswear. I told you to bring something along those lines."

"Fortunately..." I showed my tennis shoes to Santana. "I judged that we would walk some wild trail and I indeed brought a sports outfit."

"Great."

"But why won't you rent a car today?"

"Actually I could. Maybe I will later. I just think that take a taxi is the easiest thing to do today."

"Will we get drunk at the mountain?"

"No." Santana smiled. "Good one!"

"So no Crater Lake?"

"Nope."

"No time capsule?"

"No."

"No rustic resorts?"

"This hotel is just fine."

"So..."

"Ray, just get ready."

I sighed and did what Santana had ordered. Honestly, I hated when my sister gave me such express orders, but there was nothing I could do about it. I wouldn't ruin all the agenda on my bachelorette that Santana planned. And I knew that when my sister planned something, she could be more thorough than me. I put on my pants, tennis shoes, T-shirt and winter coat. Santana smiled and did the same.

"Do not eat too much." She told me when we went down to the hotel restaurant for our breakfast.

"What do you suggest?"

"Drink milk or juice and eat some fruit. Forget heavier things." Santana said with astonishing smoothness. "You won't want to throw it all later."

"Santana..." I began to be afraid.

"Relax and trust me."

I did what she said and my breakfast couldn't be lighter. After a pause in the bathroom, Santana and I left the hotel. She hadn't yet given me any clue of her plans. Nothing. Nada. I got into that taxi blindly, safe only in the belief that my sister wouldn't make me do anything dangerous. She first spoke to the driver when I was away. She showed him our destiny and only then allowed me to get into the taxi. If she wanted to make total and absolute surprise, Santana did it.

Portland's landscape was beautiful: as we got far from downtown, the Mt. Hood view got bigger and better. We don't have something like this in New York and even in Ohio. It was simply beautiful. The taxi driver took us to a secluded place in town and I began to wonder and getting very worried, although Santana remained quiet and even concentrated. That's when we approach a ... oh God! No!

"Oh God, no!" I practically shouted at the taxi when I realized where Santana was dragging me. "You... Santy, you won't do this to me! You can't do this to me."

"I can and I will!"

"I won't do it. I won't get off this cab."

"Stop being a drama queen, Rachel! I promised you an unforgettable bachelorette party, and this is one of the things you will remember with pride all your life. Believe me."

"I won't do it!" I shouted and the driver got scared.

"Of course if you don't get off this cab I will relate all this fiasco on social networks only for your fans take note."

"You wouldn't..."

"I course I would do so. I know very well where trolling."

"Santana Berry-Lopez! I don't believe..." I couldn't even finish the sentence, such was my shock and anger.

"Listen: all this is already paid and you won't up there alone. I'll go with you because this is something that sisters and best friends like us should do together. I can give you the option of give up, but only after listening everything the instructor has to say. If after the presentations you still don't feel safe at all, then fine, we give up and I will take my money back just to give it to you. That's fair."

"Promise?"

"For daddy's soul."

If my sister promised under the name of daddy and abuela, believe it or not, this was a guarantee that she would fulfill her word. So we got off the taxi and entered at the Skydiving headquarters. Santana greeted the instructor and it seemed that they spoke by phone a lot because both were well acquainted with each other despite being the first time they were seeing each other in person. She introduced us and I greeted the instructor, waiting for what he had to say.

Now I don't know if these people do any special training to persuade the most fearful people, because when I realized, I was face down on a table by a quick training and simulation of what was to come. And at the end of the morning, when I least expected, Santana and I were wearing the special clothes and climbing in the plane that would take us 12 000 feet tall for a double jump. And Santana had bought the complete package with the video that started right from the moment we entered the plane.

"I'll kill you!" I yelled Santana when the plane began to run on the track to take flight.

"You'll owe me one." Santana yelled back with a stamped giant smile on her face. "I doubt you will be able to do better for my bachelorette!"

The plane took off and icy cold hit my stomach. My hands were frozen and it was not just because of the cool weather. The aircraft was gaining altitude, the instructor said the last words on security procedures. When the pilot activated the signal that we were at the right height, the instructors attached to us for security locks, we put on the glasses, the camera was ready and the door was opened. Santana was the first to jump and, seconds later, I and my instructor jumped too.

I have no words.

I only know that I shouted.

And then was smiling.

The wind.

The sensations.

I have no words.

It was free-fall.

My stomach jumped like crazy.

The cold.

I saw Santana little below to me.

I had no words.

It was one of the most powerful sensations I felt in life.

I understand why those crazy were happy as adrenaline junkies.

It was unbelievable.

I had no words.

There were 50 seconds of free fall, but that seemed like an eternity.

Then the instructor triggered the parachute.

There was a jolt.

The parachute opened.

Santana's parachute opened and everything was okay in the world.

Another amazing feeling.

That's why the birds sing.

As good as sex.

When my feet finally touched the ground, wasn't exactly classy. I messed up and we both ended up tripping and falling. Nothing that could diminish the sense of wonder, but it was enough for my sister to make fun of me the rest of the day. I'm sure she would joke my fall for the rest of the year and could even include that in her speech at my wedding. Damn: I was happy.

"Thank you!" I gave Santana a tight hug as soon as we freed from our instructors.

"I no longer know if this was just for you... it was amazing, Ray!"

And we began to jump as two silly children, excited at carnival. I would do it again. Not necessarily in Oregon, but I one day I would repeat this with Quinn. She would freak out, just like I did at first, but then I bet she would love as much as I do. And Santana was right about one thing: when she marries (if one day she marries), it will be hard for me to overcome this surprise. Our trip has paid off.

Of course Santana had something else in her pocket, a good outcome, the celebration. As soon as we got back to the hotel to lunch and rest a little, I took a righteous nap.

In the early evening, Santana said she had plans to go to a bar with me to do the traditional part of the party that we get drunk, but an invitation from the parachute club staff changed her plan. She showed me the address of a pub that the band of one of the instructors plays regularly, so we went there. It seemed an interesting place. Not that New York didn't have a pub like that, but the indie atmosphere of Portland was very peculiar.

We took a taxi to the normal, friendly, rustic decor pub with a small stage in the background. We recognize the instructor who jumped with Santana arranging the wiring of the instruments. We stopped to say hello.

"You came!" The instructor stopped his work to greet us.

"So? How does this place works" Santana asked.

"If you want to play or sing, you have to put your name on a list t with that red hair guy over there." The pointed at the guy in question. "When we play, only the first ten in the list are called to play over here. Then there is 15 to 20 minutes of break and the band enters. We played for an hour: sometimes a little more. And then it becomes a normal bar here."

"Fine." I said.

"I know that you are a great artist..." The instructor said shyly. "But will you give us the honor to sing with us? The band is very good and we can do a great Jam session in the end."

"Well, it not a bad idea. I would like to, but don't tell my name."

"How come?"

"There are people who don't know me, people who are fans and some opportunists trolls that could bring me problems. I will sing some songs, just do not say my name."

I refuse to participate in the first part of the evening's activities, although I must admit it was very fun to stay at the table with my sister and these new friends drinking a delicious beer from a local factory, eating good snacks and doing good conversation while the indies and hipsters took the stage. Some were terrible, others were interesting, but all were there to vent somehow. When the band started playing, the bar was quite full and it was clear that they had fans. They began playing their own stuff, very good by the way, before the first cover. It was very interesting to see an unknown band having an audience that knew all the songs. Regardless, Santana and I danced into effect.

When the band announced the lasts songs, the singer invited me to go on stage, as promised, without saying my name. I realized that some people recognized me, but most seemed to have no idea who I was, what was strange and comfortable at the same time.

I sang three songs: Just One Of The Guys, because the music is great and had everything to do with the style of the band; Be My Baby, a classic by the Ronettes that papi used to play when he thought Santana and I weren't watching. The third song was a bis made by the pressure of the public who wanted more. The band talked briefly and the singer asked if I knew Walk by Foo Fighters. Oh, of course! It was an epic end of a sensational show held in a small place. I gave some autographs after the gig and took some pictures with fans who recognized me, but then they let me enjoy a little more the night with my sister and the new friends.

I didn't drink to get drunk, but I was tipsy when Santana and I took a taxi back to our hotel. The sky was clear and starry so as I've ever seen in New York. I took the view from our bedroom window overlooking the balcony of the hotel. I grabbed a blanket and sat on the porch chair to better enjoy the scenery. It was so beautiful and I could see the outline of Mount Hood in the distance.

"You should put this bonnet." Santana sat next to me also covered with a blanket.

"Can't sleep?"

"Kind of."

"By the way, thanks for the amazing day. When you brought me to Oregon, I thought we were doing a road trip like the one two years ago."

"I wouldn't be so obvious. We did an emotional trip here when we were kids and two years ago. But I want to make this one something new. Still, there is one thing in common with that trip when we were kids."

"Really?" I was curious.

"This hotel is the same we stayed on that trip."

"This is absurd. We stayed in a hotel much simpler..."

"But the building was demolished and this one was built. I did my research. It's exactly the same owner and the same place."

"For Real?"

"I wouldn't lie about it."

I took my sister and I knew her well enough to know when she was lying or telling a story just to try to deceive me. At that time, she seemed to be very sure of what he said. Maybe it was true.

"I have something for you. Something for you to use in your marriage. "Santana took a box of jewelry and handed me. "Something borrowed."

When I opened the box, I was surprised to see the Star of David gold pendant. I looked at her confused. Santana had a deadly jealousy of that pendant because it was the last gift Daddy bought her before he died. It was a very beautiful and simple jewelry.

"Thank you." I said with all my heart because I knew how much it meant for my sister.

"You're welcome."

"I wish he were here for my wedding."

"I just wish he was here."

"Have you ever thought about it? What if he was still here? Did he and Papi would still be together?"

"I don't know, Rachel. I just wish Dad was alive."

Santana and I exchanged glances. My sister was right: independent of all the implications that wouldn't be our business, it would be good if Dad was alive.

"I think this is the best bachelorette in history." I commented again. "Thanks again."

"This is nothing... I just wish you to be happy with Quinn."

"I will be, Santy. Don't worry. She is the one."

"Who knew... you and Quinn..."

"Life is really crazy, isn't it?"

"It is."