Firsts

3

Finding my black suitcase was very difficult considering it blended in with everyone else's.

After grabbing many that weren't mine, I finally found the one that reminded me of home. My mom had carried hers on the plane as a carry on, so when I found mine we were good to go.

We had another Uber waiting for us out of the airport, who quickly drove us to our hotel that was only about 15 minutes away. We drove past the theatre that I would be in the for m&g tomorrow and it looked, huge.

Huge as in thousands of girls better than me could fit in there, and thousands of girls meeting them.

I didn't wanna be bummed considering I just landed in the worlds most beautiful city so I sat back in my seat and thought about things more positive.

"nous sommes ici!" - which is "we're here" in French.

I studied Spanish in high school so I didn't know one thing in French but luckily my mom knew enough to get us by. Plus, mostly everyone spoke a little English.

"Merci!"

We left the car and entered the Kyriad Mulhouse Centre hotel. It was huge, and beautiful, and made me feel smaller than I already am.

Walking to the elevator, I passed walls covered in brick and vines, tables filled with small Eiffel towers and empty wine bottles, and so many watercolor paintings of beautiful scenery that someone must have painted.

My room key said "113" so I pressed the 2nd floor button in the spacious clean lift. Within a few seconds the doors opened again and I was let off on a yellow-walled hallway where I spotted my room right away.

I opened my door and a cool breeze came in contact with my warm skin. There was a small square open window across the room, the thin white curtain blowing with the breeze. The sweet, fresh, smell of flowers cut through the soft scent of the evening's dewy grass.

I put down my bag that probably weighed around a quarter of me and took a minute to take in the beautiful scenery around me. My mom was already pulling out her laptop to check what movies were on Netflix in this country. Of course.

"Mom! Put that away. Can we go walk around town?"

"Emma! Always wanting more. We just got here, we can't call another Uber right now. Wait a little longer I promise we will walk around town later."

I looked out the petite window and sighed. Adventure- I could smell it in the air. The breeze scrambled past me and wrapped around my thoughts. Thinking about the twins- thinking about loving in this city- was dangerous, but erotic.

I walked to my bed dragging my luggage along and started to take a few things out. Shirt after shirt, I couldn't get my mind off the meet and greet that would be happening shortly and I found myself getting lost in my own imagination.

It sucked, getting caught up in a crush like Ethan, because reality hits hard and it sucks when you can't be with the one person you want most. I'm just imagining our lives together, and because I don't know of any other realities, I stopped and considered that this was the only one I could experience. The only thing I wanted. Humanities own way of escaping reality... but was picturing us together really going to solve anything?

I shut the window. New ideas don't need to be adding to my already jumbled brain.

Turning to my mom, her dark-brown almost black eyes identical to mine are glued to her computer screen. I wasn't sure if I should interrupt her to ask about dinner or just act on my own.

I decided against bothering her so I rummage through some papers on the small counter until I found a menu entirely in french except the word "PIZZA".

"Mom... can we order pizza?"

She paused her movie and looked up at me. I guess I ended up bothering her anyway.

"Sure, if they deliver"

I called up and sure enough they did. 20 minutes later, an attractive blonde arrived at the door. He didn't speak any english, so I slipped him a twenty and let him keep the change. I figured pizza in Mulhouse would be overpriced anyway, and if not then boy can keep up with his appearance.

I was thinking the pizza would be gourmet since we were in France, but poked at it with my fingers, it didn't look too appetizing. Too much dough, too little cheese.

Nevertheless, I ate 2 slices and slid the box to my mother who took a slice without taking her eyes away from whatever movie she was watching.

The room included two queen beds, one on each side so I walked over to mine and took out my phone. I had a few notifications, but not many because I was out of the country and still have not put the wifi password in.

I changed into the pretty silky PJ's I brought, specially for the trip, brushed my teeth and slipped my hair into a loose ponytail before getting under the sheets and sinking in to the soft over laid on mattress. I switched off the table lamp next to me and said goodnight to my mom, who was finally done with her computer.

I shut my eyes, and slowly drifted into deep thought about tomorrow, and the deep lands of France..