Almost Eden

Chapter 6 Who's Going

So it was official, I was going to go to Europe. This was great because I knew how to speak Italian and I had also taken some French classes on the side. This was at my mother's suggestion. No surprise there as romance languages are the epitome of sophistication in her mind. On top of that, anything I didn't know, I could turn to Adam and Willow for help, for they knew both German and Spanish. You see, these were the standard languages being taught in our school.

This trip would allow us all to expand such talents or at the very minimum, add another level of haughty pretention to our personalities. Four tickets were what I was given by my parents and July 8th was the date in which departure was set. We were scheduled to stop in all major cities to visit certain sites and we were to return during the second week of August. This would give us a few days to tour each city.

There was only one final thing that needed to be put into play: Who was I to bring? The two obvious choices of people who were deserving of accompanying me on my first big trip were clearly Adam and Willow, but I still had one ticket left and I had to decide on who was going to receive that and soon.

I contemplated this choice for hours on end until I finally gave up on my independent thinking and came to the conclusion that I needed another's opinion. So I called upon Willow. I got lost in the images on the television screen as the phone began

"Hello? Hello? Hello??!" A voice called out strongly and with that they had my

"Oh, Willow, I'm so sorry, really I am. I was just a little distracted." I responded.

"It's fine. Don't worry about it, I figured it was you anyway." She sounded a bit calmer right up until she screeched at me. "A word of advice: Don't call others and not answer."

"Anyway, what did you call for?"

"Well despite my lack of an attention span, I think you'll love my purpose for calling. For you see, I have great news."

"Before that very lack of an attention span you speak of kicks in, spill already!" She was enthusiastic which meant I had had her interest.

"Damn it Sam! Stop being such a tease and tell me."

"Alright, alright." It was time to share the news. "Today when I came home, I was shocked to find my parents sitting happily in the living room..."

"You have got to be kidding." She interrupted laughing.

"No joke." I continued on revealing the entire story and eventually came to my point of calling to begin with. "...so you're invited, of course, and so is Adam, but I have one ticket left. This is where you come in: Who do I bring?"

"Hmmm..." She paused and thought to herself for a moment and then continued by listing various suggestions. "Well, you could just use the three tickets, but then again the more the merrier. You could invite one of your brothers, but then you'd either get extra supervision or be giving that. There's always..."

"Could you please give me a suggestion that you can't counteract?" I asked frustrated.

"Sorry, just thinking aloud." She paused once more and when she spoke up again, she mentioned a name that left my face red and warm with discomfort.

"What?" I asked as if I had not heard.

"Why don't you invite Duncan?"

"Wouldn't that be a little awkward? I mean he's not exactly a big part of our..." I stumbled to find the right words.

"What? Our circle of friends? You're a friendly person and a social butterfly, would it really come across as that unusual if you were to choose him or any other?"

"I just don't want you and Adam to feel weird or anything, I mean you hardly know him as anything other than my ex." I replied attempting to convince myself that this was in everyone's best interest, when in actuality I truly did not want to deal with this level awkward of essentially asking out my ex-boyfriend. When honest with myself, it was evident that there were still unresolved emotions and who knows if it would be a great idea to process all that on said trip?

"Not a problem. You know Adam and I just want to see you happy. Besides, this is your trip and think of the possibilities, you guys might even hook up or something." Willow snickered as she grew very aware of my internal monologue. I often forget my face pretty much always tells the full story and Willow reads that shit aloud.

"I know you too well." She chuckled afterward. " So... did Adam say..."

"Nope, you were the only one I called about this." I interjected.

"He can probably go anyway. What am I saying? I don't even know if I can go yet. Who cares? I probably can too." She said, recognizing the immediacy of everything.

Our conversation continued on for a while longer and then we said our 'goodbyes' and hung up. I put the phone back onto its cradle which lied on the floor and then lay sprawled across my bed staring at my ceiling. I figured the time was about five o'clock considering the shade on my window was up and it was still dark throughout my room. I sat up for a moment and looked around at the posters that plastered my wall and thought about the day. Upon deciding what to do after that, I was going to call Adam, but found myself dialing another number. Fortunately, it clicked in my head who I had called just in time for me to respond.

"Yes, hold on a sec. Is this Samantha?" Said a woman's voice. "Oh hi sweetie, I haven't heard from you in awhile." It was his mother. "Well tell your mother I said 'hi'. Here's Duncan," Finally! The small talk and chit chat was over and I could find out what path things would take in a matter of a month. "Duncan, it's Samantha." She murmured while walking away.

"Hello?" Duncan answered.

"Hey," I sighed. "I have some great news."

"I'm going to Europe and you're invited to come with me."

"Huh? When did this happen?"

I went on to elaborate on what had occurred that afternoon. Sadly, the conversation ended in disappointment. 'I can't go' was his response.

"I would love to, but I'm supposed to be spending time with my father this summer. Remember how I told you that he was taking me to look for a car this summer? Well along with that, I'll be spending time at his house all summer."

In case of confusion, Duncan lived with his mom and step-dad and sometimes he made plans to spend time with his actual father. He was in the situation that I feared of being in since my parents got divorced. Having a step-parent. Like, who on earth would want someone being an active part of all that was already built? He seemed to be coping alright, but I refuse to embrace some sort of Franken-family.

"I- I- understand" I spoke a little disappointed and with a stutter.

"Uh... that's my mom calling. I got to go. Bye." I hung before he could speak.

For some reason, I was rather embarrassed at the event of the whole conversation. Not only that, but I felt that I had set my hopes a tiny bit too high and now I was let down by my own lack of memory. I sat down to supper within a few minutes of hanging up with Duncan, but I wasn't very hungry. I guess deep down, I was afraid of us growing apart over the summer, but I wouldn't dare admit it to myself then. It wasn't just that that was on my mind though; I still needed someone to fill the extra space on our trip, but who?