Back to Summer '19

CHAPTER 1 - NINA

How can you forget a summer love?

That was Nina's first thought of the year, just because Karol mentioned him.

"It's been- what? 4 years?" she stated, trying to avoid that conversation.

"And? I know how much you guys loved each other." The other brazilian said, trying to convince her friend that she should go after him, while Nina sipped in more wine looking through the window of the small apartment and hearing the fireworks explode in the first minutes of the year.

They might have not loved each other immediately, but she did truly develop stronger feelings for him back then. It was a fact and everyone who got to know her 4 years ago knew that.

"But that was long ago and we never saw each other again..."

She could see that those emerald green eyes wouldn't take that as an answer and she sighed.

"We literally had an ocean between us. It would have never worked." she justified looking away.

"Ok, fair enough. But now it's different, you're literally going to spend a whole semester in his hometown."

Even though Nina wouldn't admit it, all she could think about after she got the opportunity to study at the Geneve School of Diplomacy and International Relations was him. Actually, she was terrified of bumping into him during that semester in that city, because she didn't know what she would feel. The thought of, maybe, having to deal with a no-longer-idealized relationship scared her. Of course, she was grateful to him. He helped her become who she was now, but at the same time, she was scared of her own sentiments now and didn't think she was capable of being in a relationship with him again, knowing she would have to leave him one more time in a near future.

"You must at least send him a message Nina." Karol said enthusiastically, with a beggar look.

"Você tá doida?" she panicked. "We're probably not even gonna see each other." she hoped, for the sake of her own mental health.

"You're saying that, but I know that deep down you wanna see him."

Maybe Karol was right. Maybe Nina actually wanted to see him. But that was her last semester of university and she got the amazing opportunity to finish it with an interchange programme in Switzerland. Geneve, precisely, which was her summer love's hometown. She wanted to live those months in the best way possible, creating amazing memories and doing her best at her studies. However, entering a relationship with no future, with whoever it was, was not Nina's ideal of going back home with good memories. And that was all she wanted: to forget a long lost love and finally move on.

Oh, the sun. How good Nina felt when she just laid at the beach, listening to some music and with the waves breaking in the background. It was January and the Brazilian summer was at its peak. Nina had just arrived at her favorite resort with her family, just like every other year. She was finally tanning her white skin, owning her country's stereotype, and relaxing after a long trip.

After a while in the sun, Nina decided to go back to the hotel to have lunch. Since going to that resort was basically a family tradition, Nina and her parents always spent the whole day by themselves and then they would meet for dinner to talk about their day. She entered the hotel's main restaurant, looking at all of those familiar statues and listening to different people talking. That felt like home somehow. When she entered the area where the food was served, Nina smiled seeing that it was an Italian themed lunch. While she was waiting in line to get her spaghetti, she heard two girls behind her talking in English. That caught her attention, since they were in the middle of the state of Bahia.