This Is How It Starts

Chapter One

       When I pictured the summer before my senior year of college I pictured applying for internships, building a resume and preparing myself for the real world. What I did not picture was being dragged to the airport by my two best friends and trapped on an airplane for the next seven hours as a last hurrah before we had to be "real adults and do real adult stuff" as Emma so eloquently put it. It was with my comforter ripped from my body at 4:30 in the morning and shrieks from her and my other best friend Daisey that I found myself settled in the window seat staring out of it to a rising sun, praying for sleep to come.

        I awoke to the sounds of the Captain over the intercom letting us know we had begun our final decent into London's Heathrow Airport. As the city came into view, my fingers assumed their rightful position on the arm rests. Death grip and all. I closed my eyes and began my breathing excercises to get my heart under control. I hated flying. Absolutely despised it. My life was in the hands of this piece of metal that should in no way be able to defy gravity for a second, let alone SEVEN HOURS. Everyone knows that the most accidents occur during the first twenty minutes of take off and the last twenty minutes of landing. I heard the landing gear crank open beneath the plane and took another deep breath. This was do or die. Literally. I shot a wish to the universe just as the wheels bounced to a touchdown. The Captain held the plane steady and soon we were coming to a speed my heart could handle.

        Emma, Daisey and I wait for the passengers to begin filing out before we even try to get off. Major downside to booking your flight last minute? You get stuck in the last row next to the bathrooms. Finally, we managed to make our way off of the plane and hop onto the shuttle we need to take us to our hotel. About an hour later we pulled up to The Langham Hotel. Tipping our driver, we hurried inside eager to unpack and start exploring the city. Due to my expert haggaling skills I have developed over the years, I managed to book us their Infinity Suite with only a weeks notice. This also meant that I was able to call dibs on the master bedroom, despite protests from Emma about how she was the oldest. Laughing, I left them to unpack, sticking my tonuge out at Emma one last time before shutting the door. "OH GROW UP AINS-" I heard her yell, trying to mask the amusement in her voice. Sighing, I plop down on the bed and close my eyes. Sleep came to claim me as I sunk further into the mattress. 

        I wake sometime later to the sound of pounding on my door. "Ainsley! Wake Up!! There's Champaaaggnnnneeee." Daisey doesn't wait for me to respond before barging into my room. Brandishing a glass from behind her back, she offers it to me. Emma is two steps behind her holding the bottle and a glass of her own. Thrusting the bottle into the air she proclaims "TO US AND THE SUMMER BEFORE ADULTHOOD!" Dais and I hold up our glasses and repeat her sentimental toast as they clink together, one sound a bit deeper as Emma has taken to drinking directly from the bottle. The next hour is full of drinking Champagne and deciding what we want to do for dinner that night. I offer a quiet evening of dinner and then back for some british televison and sleep, but the idea is quickly shot down by the other two. "Ugh, come on Ains! We're in LONDON! Stop being such a Grandma!" Daisey chides me. “Yeah, come on Ains! This trip is supposed to let you live a little! So LIVE! A LOT!” Emma adds.

        They do have a point. Back home I only go out if it’s for birthdays or an industry event that could potentially help my career. As soon as I’m back stateside it will be back to business and who knows when I'll be able to have this sort of opportunity again? That settled it. This summer I could be anyone I wanted. I didn’t have to be the careful organizer, every detail finalized to a T, Ainsley. I could be a risk taker, taking the bull by the horns, saying Yes Let’s! to any opportunity that comes my way, kind of Ainsley. Call it magic in the London air, or the liquid courage running through my veins but it was Ainsley number two who poked her head up and said yes to Emma and Daisey’s idea to going out. The cheers from the two sent a wave of nerves to my tummy, but I grinned through it and took another swig from the champagne bottle. "You two shits better be lucky I love you so much" I teased.

I could do this. This is how it starts.