"God, it's windy," I say as I step out of the backseat of the taxi. I take a deep breath as I lift my hand to block a gust of wind before walking to the trunk.
"There you are, miss," the taxi driver says as she lowers my suitcase to the pavement.
"Thank you so much. How much is the fare?" I pull my wallet out of my backpack.
"Seventeen dollars and five cents."
I nod and dig through my wallet for Canadian money, but find mostly euros. "Here," I say as I pass my only twenty.
"Let me get your change," she says as she takes the bill.
"It's fine. You can keep it."
A small smile covers her face. "Thank you."
"It's nothing." I grab the handles of my suitcase. "Thank you for the ride."
"Have a good day."
"You too." I nod as she walks back to the driver's seat.
A smile forms on my lips as I turn and walk across the cement bridge towards the departures lobby of Winnipeg Richardson International Airport. The automatic doors slide open, and I see people scurrying around with baggage in hand.
It's early August, and the airport is full of people leaving on vacations to end off the summer holidays. Or at least, that's what I'm doing.
My friends and I all graduated from high school in June, but we're all pursuing different goals. It devastated us when we realized we'd be separated in the fall, but that's when Paul came up with an idea. We'd go somewhere none of us had been to make some memories. After many discussions and arguments, we settled on a destination: Milan, Italy.
"Wow! We're going to fly on a plane!" A young girl shouts gleefully as she passes by. Her parents, who are holding her hands, chuckle at her excitement with smiles on their faces.
As they pass me, a long sigh passes through me. My grip tightens around my suitcase handle, making my already light skin pale at the knuckles. I look away from them, taking a long breath before scanning the lobby for my friends. We're supposed to meet at one o'clock this afternoon, but I don't see any of them here.
I glance at my wristwatch and see it's only 12:43, over fifteen minutes before we're supposed to meet.
No wonder I don't see any of them. I'm early.
I chuckle as I glance around the lobby, looking for somewhere to wait, when I spot an empty bench near the escalator. I walk towards it, take a seat, and pull my phone out of my backpack, checking to see if there's any text messages. But there's only a message from my dad. I delete the notification on the lock screen, pretending I never saw it and turn it off.
As I stare at the black screen, I notice my blonde hair is a windswept mess. A giggle escapes me as I pull the pieces back into place, catching a glimpse of my blue eyes reflected on the screen.
"Looks like I'm not the only one who was so excited they showed up early," a female voice says from beside me. The woman, who has pale skin, sits beside me as she sweeps her dark black bangs out of her blue eyes.
I lower my phone to my lap and pull her into a hug. "We're two of a kind, Julia."
"How have you been, Aria?"
"I've been good, and you? I haven't seen you since early July." A smile covers my face as we leave our embrace.
"I've been great, but I missed you and everyone else."
"I feel the same. It's been so hard to meet up since we're all so busy."
"But now we get to spend two weeks together. And I'm so excited about this trip! The food! The sights! But most of all, the boys we'll meet!" She squeals.
YOU ARE READING
Renée
Fantasy"Follow your heart and be happy. That is the best advice I can give you." When Aria Harwell and her friends decided to travel after graduating high school, never did she think she would get advice from a strange old woman, or that she would end up d...
