The One

Chapter 3

The next two weeks had gone by so quick that I don't even remember what had happened. All I remember is that it was early Saturday morning, and I was packing my suitcase for a fun journey. We all piled into the car, buckled our seatbelts, and took off for a weekend full of fun.

"Maranda," Melissa said, "I forgot to tell you something."

"Well, tell me. I'm ready to hear it," I said.

"So tonight for the wedding, it will only be your dad and I going. You and Klaudia will be staying at my cousin Andrew's house and hanging out with his kids, but let me warn you, these boys are around your age," Melissa said.

"Oh great," I mumbled to myself.

Klaudia pointed out the window to a man riding in a horse buggy.

"Ahh, good ol' Wisconsin," my dad said.

A good song came in through the radio as our whole family started singing it. Although we weren't the best singers, we still made sure we had a lot of fun with it. Before we even knew it, we were on a bridge crossing over the Mississippi River. Klaudia and I stared out the window as the water rolled beneath us. As we turned our heads, we saw a sign that said, "Welcome to Iowa!" We were so excited, as our new journey had finally begun.

We passed by many places that seemed so interesting. There were colleges, malls, outlet stores, churches, anything you could imagine. It was all so new and so intriguing.

"Well ladies, here we are, Dubuque, Iowa. This is where our hotel is, but don't get too settled in. We have a little bit further to travel after we get to the hotel," Melissa said.

Klaudia and I just shrugged our shoulders at each other as we were prepared for what came next. We had finally reached the hotel, and stretched as much as possible before walking too far. It was snowy and cold outside. It was also the day after Valentine's Day. I looked up at the sky as small flakes were falling and leaving a light blanket on rooftops of building in the distance. I finally put my head back down to realize that my family had been waiting at the door for me. I give them a warm smile and head inside the door.

We find our room, set our suitcases on the beds, grab whatever we think we'll need and head right back out of the door. My sister and I grab our phone chargers, the iPads, and some Oreos. These weren't the plain Oreos either. These were the cookie dough ones and the marshmallow crispy ones. We pile back into the car, and soon enough, we were on our way to a place that we loved.

Little did we know that we were going to one of our favorite restaurants. Klaudia and I look up at the sign as it reads, "Olive Garden". We both got super excited knowing we were going to eat Italian food and Olive Garden's famous breadsticks. We walk in through the door to a slightly dim room and the smell of fresh breadsticks. We were greeted by a hostess, and followed him to our table. Not long after we sat down, Melissa's family showed up and we all had dinner together.

I got my favorite Italian food; spaghetti. As we finished the bowl of salad, the food had finally got to the table, and we began to eat. As I ate, I looked around and noticed that everyone was dressed super nice for the wedding. I then realized that Melissa's sister-in-law, Beth, was pregnant, and her bump was getting huge. I wondered if she was going to explode if she didn't have that baby soon. I laughed to myself and finished my dinner.

We walked out the door, waved goodbye, and hit the interstate again. I watched out the window to see if anything interesting was out there. Little did I know that all that was out there was snow and an empty cornfield. I began to get sleepy as the ride started to dread on with the snow and the grey colored room. However, I didn't fall asleep, but I just watched the snowflakes on the window melt and disappear.

After about thirty minutes of driving, we got off the interstate and headed into a small town called Manchester. We drove around for a little bit, just looking around and realizing how much Manchester did not look like Beloit. We took a few turns, looked up and down streets, and finally found the house that we would be hanging out at for a few hours. We pulled in the driveway, put the car in park, and all looked at each other. I grabbed my iPad and said, "Let's do this."