Uppsala

Chapter 1

Uppsala

Chapter 1

A bead of sweat slowly dripped down Aria's neck, her body's pitiful attempt at cooling down from the smoldering heat. The small petrol station's convenience store air conditioner continued to spin around producing an annoying sound that mimicked a lawn mower and more dry air.

Aria strolled down the store's aisle, in no hurry to get back outside to stand directly under the sun's harsh unyielding glare. I'm going to Greenland next, she thought  to herself. I'm too young to die from a heat stroke. And then she quickly decided that the heat was making her crazy when she started to envy the penguins.

The bell on top of the door chimed,  signalling that someone else had entered the store. Picking up a bottle of water to quench her thirst and some sort of Swedish energy bars, she headed towards the till.

Aria had already been traveling for two months already, and despite the avid explorer blood running through her, Aria still couldn't get the hang of reading maps. The road and rivers seemed nothing more than squiggles and lines in different colours as if a child had drawn a picture in crayons. She shuddered involuntarily when she remembered the last time she used a map; trying to get to a museum and instended ended up in a particularly doggy place and a woman in a skimpy leather skirt kept following her and asking if she needed a job. So she availed the use of maps and decided to ask for directions. Which was also hard to do when in  foreign countries, armed with only a small dictionary bought at a train station or airport.

But somehow whe was doing well so far. Aria had hitched a ride with a trucker from the city, (not the creepy type at all) they had driven for several hours, before she spotted a sign at this petrol station; so rusted that she'd almost missed it.

Setting her items down and producing a small purse from the many side pockets in her enormous backpack; she paid the elderly petite lady at the till.

"Em... Ursäkta mig, när är nästa buss?" Using her dictionary Aria fumbled over her words hoping that she hsd asked the woman when the next bus was coming.

"Ingen buss." Aria didn't know much Swedish but she knew enough without the help of the dictionary to know that she said there was no bus.

"What? But the sign's right there!" She said panicking already. She was stranded in the middle of nowhere! God knew how far an actual station was from here. The lady just stared at her, not understanding english.

"The buses have been out of service for ages." a deep voice with a prominent accent said a few feet to her left, startled she jumped.

Her eyes flicked up the pair of amethyst eyes that stared back at her. Aria was suprised by the colour of them, glossy and bright like honey. Her gaze left his eyes and slid over the man's features. He seemed close to her age maybe a little over a year older than her. His broad shoulders and obvious abs where defined by the thight fitting grey t-shirt he wore. Along with a pair of loose knee length shorts. His skin had benefited from the European climate giving him a nice golden tan. He had a head of brown messy curls, and full swoon worthy lips, Aria thought that would be great for certain acts. Wowza!  She met his eyes again, and just stood there and stared...

Breaking free from his trance only when he coughed. Gosh, he probably thought she was a freak. Blushing furiously she tried to act  casual, as if she wasn't a pervert. "Excuse me?"

"There's a town east of here, but you won't make it before nightfall. "

"Crap." She raised her hand to her forehead.

He scrutinized her for a few seconds, then reached a conclusion. "...You could stay with my mother and I for the night... It's about an hour drive. "

Before Aria let herself think about all the reasons she shouldn't saying yes, she found herself doing so.

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Author's note!

I am not Swedish, nor have i ever been to Sweeden. Uppsala is a place in Sweden but I know nothing about it, except for how cool it sounds!  So I'm apologizing if I ruin anything Swedish in the process of writing this book. Take in mind this is 'fiction' so if I mess up details such as the weather, etc. Deal with it! ;-)

Elizabeth,