A Swiss Kind of Kiss

1. crash landed in switzerland

The road was bumpy, a glossy pathway that reflected the faces of the tired and lost college students from inside the bus. The driver didn't stop for a second, he was hasty and choppy on the road. April rested her forehead against the window and watched the small, rounded raindrops hit against the window drop after drop. She wasn't fazed by them, neither was she disturbed, she just felt even sleepier.

"It's pretty," a voice said from behind her ear.

That was enough to wake her up. She turned her neck to look at her friend, Jason. "I was asleep," she said monotonously.

"Oh, come on, we're in Switzerland!" Jason said loudly, smiling at her and getting out of his seat to sit next to her.

They'd both decided to sit in separate rows for the journey to the hotel because they needed space and it got quite stuffy on the bus.

April tried to look pleased about it, but all she could think about was her family back at home and how much she had to convince them to let her leave home for the summer and go on a trip halfway across the world. She hated to think about what they'd say when she landed back in New York.

"I'm not sad about it," April said, "I'm just tired, that's all."

"We'll get some rest at the hotel," Jason said, putting an arm around April.

She never made clear how she felt about him touching her like that, but sometimes she enjoyed it; just the warmth of his hand on her shoulder, slowly massaging it and warming her up. He'd want to look at her while he had his arm around her but she refused each time. She kept her gaze outside the window and watched as the road bent and turned like a long snake. The rain got faster and the slapping sound against the window got louder.

"I'd hope so," April said, turning to smile at Jason this time.

He smiled back and in his mind wanted to lean in then and there to give her a small kiss, but he refrained from doing so and instead stared out of the window at the road just as April was doing.

The bus finally pulled up outside the hotel, and a chorus of groans were heard as the students awoke in the bus. The bus driver put his brakes on and parked up neatly. April and Jason waited until everybody else got out of the bus so that they could catch up with Dolly and Natasha at the back of the bus.

"Hey guys," Natasha said, stressing her 's' and throwing an arm around April.

"It looks a lot smaller than I expected," Dolly added in, looking annoyed and snobbishly at the hotel.

She was the richest of the friend group; her dad owned two plots of land in the Southwest and had a mansion in India. She was half black and half Indian, her mother originating from Ethiopia and her father originating from India.

Natasha was the oldest out of their group and was just any old typical white girl from New York. Her parents didn't make much, but they owned a small indie newspaper company in central New York, so Jason always joked that she was making bank by selling lies. The punchline was that they didn't make much from the newspaper company and that the lies were being sold for no reason.

What made Jason and April so similar was that they grew up on the same street since childhood. Their parents were close family friends and they would have sleepovers almost every week.

"That's 'cause it's like one wing of your house back home," Jason said, stopping himself and then smiling widely.

"Okay," Dolly said, rolling her eyes and setting it straight, "it's not that big, plus you speak with jealousy in your voice, Jason."