Summer in Italy

Off to Verona, Italy

June 3, Saturday

Unsurprisingly, I was the first to get to the airport. I'm always on time to events, plus this is something that I really care about.

I greet Mrs. Penny and her husband who offered to chaperone the boys on this trip. I put my things down and triple check that I have everything.

Plane ticket? Check
Passport? Check
Turned in my suitcase? Check
Carry on with all my essentials in it? Check
Snack that Mom packed for me? Check

I get a text from my friend Luna saying she's walking to the waiting area now. I text her back saying I just got here and I take a look around the area so see if I spot her. And I suddenly see a very tired girl dragging herself over to the waiting area. She has her hood up and looks like she barely got out of bed and her Dad had to force her to get up.

I think that actually happened though.

I get up from my seat and go speed walking to her smiling big. I hug her happily and she makes a small attempt at patting my back.

"You ready to go to Italy?" I say the last word in a very bad accent.

"I can see you are, how are you so bubbly this morning?" She says flopping down on her seat.

"Morning Luna" Mrs. Penny smiling as she marks Luna present on her clip board.

"Hi Mrs. P" She lays her head back and closes her eyes.

"What time did you go to sleep last night?" I ask as I sit down next to her.

"1 am" She answers.

"So you only got 4 hours of sleep? Luna!" I scold her.

"Hey don't blame me for being sleepy all the time" She points her finger at me.

"At least your Dad woke you up in time" I point out.

"Yep, who woke you up?" She asks.

"My alarm clock did" I answer.

Luna looks straight at me with her eyes wide.

"You mean to tell me that you woke yourself up at 5 in the morning, had everything ready, and managed to be the first one here?"

"Yes..."

"God damn Ari" She slumps back in her seat and I let her get her energy back.

Our other friend Chloe texts me saying she's going through security right now. Students start to come in, one by one and chat with one another. I decide to read a book to pass the time when I get a message on my phone. I expect it to be Chloe letting me know she's on her way towards us but I take a look at the name tag.

Lover boy ❤️

On my way 🚗

Drive safe ❤️

My secret boyfriend Jason.

I wouldn't say he's ashamed of our cliques, although sometimes it feels that way. As you would expect, he's the popular football player and I'm the girl that has an unhealthy obsession with books.

I don't even know how he liked me. Ever since the day I gave an oral presentation in English class about Italy at the beginning of the semester, he's always had his eyes on me.

He may seem like the guy that would goof around for whatever reason, but I found him to actually be a gentleman. He just has different tones with people.

X

It's now 6:50 am and everyone who signed up for the trip has made it. I'm sitting with Chloe and Luna, Jason is sitting with his football buddies.

Mrs. Penny is going through the rules and expectations for the trip.

"Remember this is a reward for your guy's hard work this semester, don't ruin this for the future. We will be in the air for about 10 hours, I know it's a long time but please no horse play and keep your hands to yourselves. We should arrive in Verona at around 5pm" She explains and we all nod.

We gather all of our stuff and get in line to board the plane.

As I'm in line waiting for my turn, I hear Jason's voice behind me talking to his friend, he lightly caresses my arm to show me affection but in a subtle way. I softly smile and hand in my ticket to the flight attendant once it's my turn.

I board the plane and find the seat that I'm located at. Me, Chloe, and Luna are seated together with me in the window seat, Chloe in the middle seat and Luna in the aisle seat.

"Well I don't know about you guys, but I'm going sleep for the next 10 hours" Luna says putting her head cushion around her neck and a sleeping mask above her eyes.

"You are such a polar bear" Chloe comments.

"I'll take that as a compliment, thanks Chloe" Luna says smiling and Chloe rolls her eyes while I giggle.

I brought a few books and colouring book to keep me entertained for the trip. Don't know how long it'll last me but it should be for a few hours until I decide to knock out like Luna.

I look towards the seats across the aisle from ours and see Jason talking with his friends. He glaces at me and smiles with a wink. I blush lightly and smile. I see him pull out his phone and I look down at mine.

Lover boy ❤️

You excited?

Very excited 😁

I can't wait to be alone with you

Have patience

Not when you look that pretty 😍

I'm literally in my PJs Jason 😐

You look cute

I look up, giving him a small smile and he gives me one back. I suddenly feel the plane start to turn and move down the runway. I quickly text my Mom saying that I'm taking off and telling her I love her. I set it to airplane mode and put it away.

It lifts off the ground and I hold onto the arm rests tightly. Once I feel that the plane is back to being horizontal and not shaking anymore, I continue to read my book.

Time for summer vacation