Enamored by Italians

Chapter 1 - Trip To The Prettiest Place Ever

I woke up to the sound of my phone's alarm, blaring loudly, reminding me that this day, I would travel to the most beautiful place ever. I slowly rubbed my eyes, trying to get them to get used to the morning light, which came through the silk curtain hanging in front of my window. As I walked to the window, my eyes wandered through my room, widening slightly at the fact, that my suitcase was still on the floor, not a single dress inside it.
"Shit." I exclaimed, realizing that I should be packing my stuff together lightning fast. I dove into my wardrobe, rummanging through clothes, as I was still cursing, this time, in French.
"Putain de connerie..."
My French roots often came out of me when I was angry or upset, which made it literally impossible to hide my legacy.
I finally found some clothes, and threw them in my suitcase, not even caring if they get crumpled. At the moment, I was trying to get my shit together as quickly as I could. Until my phone ringed.
"Great. Who in the world would be calling me at fucking 4AM?" I muttured under my breath, annoyed that I got disturbed in my hurried packing.
I pulled my phone out from my pocket, realizing that one of my best friends, Antonia was calling.
I picked phone up, talking groggily as I was still half asleep.
"Morning..."
"Are you okay, Mar?" She asked me, her tone tired like mine, but it was laced with concern for me.
"I'm okay, I'm just running on like... How many? Yep, exactly on 3 hours of sleep."
"Jesus, you're so stupid. How many times do I have to tell you to sleep before midnight? You wouldn't be like washed shit that way."
I laughed at her comment, knowing that's she's right. Again.
"Sorry, Nia. I was just staying up checking my grades."
"Until 1AM?"
"Yes. Until 1AM." I repeated what she said.
"Then you're even stupider than I originally thought. Idiot."
I just kept on laughing as she started to curse me in French.
"This is really not funny. If I see you, I'm gonna strangle you with your fucking silk curtains."
I kept on laughing like an idiot, but at this point, Nia already got used to it.
"And I'd bet my life on it that you're still packing your shit up." She said, starting to laugh along with me.
"Of course, you know me."
"Anyways, I gotta go and finish packing up my stuff too. I'm not done yet. See you at the airport."
"See you, curlyhead." I said, as I hanged up.
I put my phone on the glass table in my kitchen, and went back to pack my suitcase.

30 minutes later...

"Okay, everything is in there. Good." I said, finishing the circus going on my room. I stood in front the mirror, looking at my outfit. I wore a white t-shirt, beige shorts and white sneakers. I looked pretty basic, but in my own charming way. I chuckled, grabbed my bags, along with my suitcase and exited my apartment.
As I stood in front of my block's door, holding my umbrella, I waited for a taxi to pull up. Standing on the streets in Paris, the rain pouring... well, it was a magnificent view. But the more I thought about going to Capri, the more I forgot that I was still in my birthtown.
Suddenly, a taxi stopped in front of me, signaling.
I quickly got inside, and soon, I was looking at the avenues of Paris from the air conditioned cab. As I looked outside, I saw pastry shops opening, people standing in line to try freshly baked goods. This brought up nostalgic memories for me. There were times, when I walked with my parents, hand in hand, as we headed to our family's favorite pastry shop named L'amour's Bakery. I used to eat delicious cherry pies and lemon meringue cookies there all the time. I loved going to there, but after some time, I only went by myself. My parents were always busy with opening their own bakery, and barely had time to do anything outside of baking and managing a little shop. Of course, at special occasions, like Christmas or birthdays, we went there to celebrate, but it still wasn't like in the old times, when I was still a careless kid. My parents often apologized for not being able to go with me, and I never blamed them, but they still felt bad about it. I could never blame them for having dreams of having a bakery. Never.
I went back to just staring pointlessly in the air, my eyes glassy with exhaustion. That was until I got to the airport. The taxi suddenly stopped, making me wake up from reminiscing old family memories.
"It will be 8 euros and 65 cents." The driver said.
I pulled my purse out, handing him a 10 euro bill.
"Keep the change. Thank you." I said, as I got out the car. I got my suitcase and bags out, thanking the driver once again fir his service. He bowed his head and drove away, leaving me standing in the rain with my luggage. I walked inside the airport, seeing my classmates and friends, Antonia and Alison. I squealed, starting to run towards them with a smile, happy to see them after a week of anticipation from this school trip. I studied marine biology at a local university with them, and we finally got the chance to analyze the sea life at Capri. I was waiting for this opportunity for my whole life. I always wanted to go to Italy, especially to Capri. I dreamed of going there, sipping alcohol as I tanned on the beach, listening to the crashing waves of the sea. I often daydreamed, people knew that about me. Just like how I overthinked everything. Every single thing. No matter what it was, I always had a way to make it more complicated than it already was.
I continued walking towards my best friends, while they did the same thing. We crashed in a group hug, hugging out the past week's stress and tension. I sighed contentedly, hugging the girls tighter. Until Nia spoke.
"I hate to break it to you guys, but our flight is leaving in like... what? 15 minutes?"
"Oh shit, really. We should get going, Mar." Alison spoke, urging us to get going, while trying to fix her necklace's pendant.
We started running to our class, mingling in between people of many nations. Running towards the check-in gate, I looked around swiftly, turning my head in different directions to check out the big ass airport I was currently at. Buffets, fast food restaurants and other airporty shops. I glanced at them one last time, before turning my head and attention back at running to check in. The whole class finally got there, and soon, everyone got checked in. We walked towards the plane, looking at the iron vehicle like it was some kind of sorcery. It was gigantic compared to humans.
"Everyone, get inside the plane! And do as the captain says!" My professor, Mr. LeBlanc yelled at our class, not leaving room for arguments.
We got on the plane, me, Alison and Nia settling beside each other comfortably. I pulled out my phone, putting on airplane mode, while everyone settled down. We listened to the captain's instructions attentively, making sure to not leave any details out. We buckled our seatbelts, and took off.