Welcome to L.A.

Our mysterious road trip

I'm ordinary. A girl you'll cross around Ottawa's street corners and forget that you saw or ran into if you weren't paying attention. It sounds like I'm complaining, I know. But, to be honest, it's just fine. Since elementary school, I've always been the quiet girl, the good kid. You could've forgotten that I was even there. Time hasn't change a thing, even in University. I'm always paying attention and taking notes, but how I act in a group isn't reflecting me at all. Even though I don't look like it, I'm really outgoing. Once we met, we'll get this kind of connection that you can't forget and that's what makes it special every time. I guess that's how I found where I belong, in psychology, where I can help every single person asking for help.

I know, all this about me brings me nowhere, but all I want to say is that here I am completing the third year of my Bachelor of Honor degree in psychology. There's only one exam left before summer and, then I'm done!!

As we all know, cell phones aren't allowed during exams. I'm usually always on my phone, so anyone can guess what's the first thing I do after every single exam. Normally, nothing that important happens while my brain is about to burst, but that time was different. I got four missed calls from my best friend Maddy. To be short, I've known her since 8th grade and we're best friends since 9th grade. Yeah... and we've come among the worst and the best of these ten years together. Of course, moving out of the Province of Quebec wasn't easy for her and it wasn't for me either, but neither of us wanted to let go our strong and powerful friendship. She left four voice mail messages! Four! All saying that she wanted me to call her back as soon as I get these and she also wanted me to pack my things ASAP, but wouldn't say why...

So, here I am. Finally packing my summer stuff. By calling her back, I knew a few details about her surprise for our ten years of friendship. Our friendaversary is coming up and, since we're in late April, my birthday is coming soon as well. She was so excited that I needed her to calm down a bit to understand what she was saying about what to bring or not. Since I'm done packing, all I need to do is to wait for her in the lobby... Here she is! I can finally know where we're going!

I'm disappointed. She doesn't even bother talking about her plan for this summer together. Instead, she blindfolded me! All I see is darkness  and I don't know if I should be thrilled or worried about it...

Not being able to see what's going on literally freaks me out! If I ever get blind, I don't know what I'll become to be honest. As always, Mads' feeling my fear and turns on the radio while she's trying to plug her phone and drive with only her two hands. She sounds so clumsy that I forget that I'm blind for a while and I can't help but laugh louder and louder as I imagine her struggling with the wires and the wheel. She really is the best.

As crazy as it sounds, this blindfold idea is more fun than I thought it would be. As long as I have her by my side to guide me, I'm good. I guess that's why I can't be left alone in the dark. I needed more hands to hold me a few years ago and a shoulder to cry on. I wouldn't have been able to see light again without everyone around.

Maddy stops the car, we finally stopped moving!! Wait, it's just a false alarm again. She stopped by a little grocery store to get food supply. The AC is finally off and it's nice to feel real air on my face, breathe smells, hear the beat of a city again. This is totally different from what I'd known for the last two days. As I benched over the window to feel the wind on my cheeks, the door opens quickly to let me fall on the ground pretty hard and wonder what happened. It's tough to get back on your feet when you can't see what's in front of you. Before I could even move, a kind hand grabs my arm and pulls me up with a cute laugh. I could've recognized this laugh everywhere around the world.

"Gotcha Big sis!!" I'm mad, really mad at her, but I can't rush on her or try to push her.

"Mads!! What the heck is going on in your head?!"

"Mili, calm down." She can barely breathe, but I can still hear what she's trying to say. "It's just a joke..." After a deep breath, she walks by me, then goes behind me. I can feel her hands on my back guiding me ahead. Where are we?

"We're almost there, keep going on, again, again, stop! Ouch!" She just hit her head on my shoulder. I told her she should've continued to believe in karma...

"Are you ready?"

Ready for what? But... Oh. My. Goodness! After all these hours in her car, forty-three to be exact, all these songs, all these stops we made, after being hungry for two hours to save time and money, after all the questions I've asked uselessly, we finally arrived. And let me tell you that all this wait and stressful experience were worth it.