How To Date A Greek Boy

Lessons In Backpacking, By Kon

“Run!” Hermes yelled as we started packing up in a mad dash.
The police were dangerously near us when we all started running, each carrying something which had been part of the mini beach party.
Suddenly, I wished Hermes’ fabled winged shoes would show up and be of some help, as the policemen came dangerously close, waving sticks at us and shouting in a foreign language.
“Stop! Stop!” The policeman waved his hands at us! “No permission, no party! You pay fine!”
“He’s going to catch us! I’m going to go to jail before 21!” I shake my head, huffing.
Kon pulled me along. I concentrated on running faster, sweating buckets.

“Do you feel it?” He turned to me while running.
I put a hand to my carotid artery. “Yeah, my pulse is so high I think I’ll faint.”
He laughed, I don’t know how he managed to. I couldn’t even breathe, and he was managing to laugh?!
“No, Leanna. Feel the wind! Feel the joy of running!”
“Are you fucking INSANE?! WE’RE GETTING CHASED BY THE COPS AND YOU WANT TO FEEL THE WIND?! What is WRONG with you?!”
“You’ll feel it soon.” He smiled.

And then, I actually did feelit, the wind.
On my face, picking my hair up behind me, making my jumpsuit flap around in places. I smile at Kon and he got it. He knew I finally felt it.

“Watch.” He smirked. And then, he turned around and did the stupidest thing ever.

He stuck out his tongue at the policeman, followed by some Greek gibberish. And anyone who knew Kon, would bet he just yelled some colorful words at them in Greek.
And to top it off, he winked at them.

“Are you crazy?! They just got even madder!” I screamed.
It was true. Their yells had increased in pitch and volume and anger.
“That’s the point! Now RUN FASTER!” He laughed and pulled me harder.
I try to laugh, I wanted to laugh. I wanted to sit down on the floor and laugh till it hurt. But all that was coming out were short pants of breath.

“Look behind at their faces.” He smirked. I turned slightly and look. One of the policemen had stopped for breath. Another had doubled over, heaving. One young fellow was still chasing us relentlessly. Another was suffering from a red face. It was quite a funny scene.

Finally, huffing and puffing, we reached the end of the beach. I doubled over, resting my hands on my knees, trying to steady my breath. Tiny chuckles still escaped my mouth.

“That was pretty funny.” Kon grinned.
“Did you see the guy with the red face?” I shook my head. Kon laughed even harder.
“The more you see, the more fun you have, Leanna, remember?” He smiled softly.
I remembered him telling me those words even during the festival back at Thessaloniki.
“What is this? Life lessons by Konstantinos?” I joked.
“No, this is… Lessons in Backpacking, by Konstantinos.” He brightened up.

Somewhere in the middle of getting dragged and panting, I’d started to see the humor in the situation and started to laugh with Kon. It was like a scene out of a cheesy movie-Kon and I, running down the beach, hand in hand because he was dragging me along, looking at each other and laughing.

Only, in those movies, the lead pair almost never got chased by policemen. I wonder how.

I now realized how unrealistic some movies were. They gave you false hopes and ambitions. Just like the old me. Pre-Graduation Leanna had hopes, ambitions, and a reputation to maintain. Here, in a foreign country, Post-Graduation Leanna didn’t have to live up to anything, except her own standards.

She could do whatever the hell she wanted, and it wouldn’t make any difference. She could drink, she could almost get arrested, and she could run away from the cops and laugh about it. Hell, she could even dance naked onstage and she didn’t have to care!
No, Lee. I think dancing naked onstage is taking it too far. YouTube still exists. But it’s a good thought.

But still, in that moment, huffing and puffing, grinning at Kon and laughing with the others, I decided I would do whatever I wanted to from now on. Even if it was weird, or not socially acceptable.

We’d had enough of beaches and sightseeing today, and since it was pretty late, and Marie was pretty tipsy, we called it a night.

Tomorrow, we’d be out of the city.

Little did we know the shock that would await us as we woke up the next morning.

First off, a serious thing. I REALLY need you guys to advertise this story. It's been in and out of the charts already. The story is close to my heart, because it's some of the things I've dreamed of doing ( and apparently, you guys have too). I want people to read it, and get it. It's not just a YOLO book. It's more, and it will come forth in the later chapters. So PLEASE PLEASE tell people abotu it. I want the book to be read, and known on Wattpad. I want people to smile, laugh, cry with the book.
Secondly, I'm reconsidering the whole "I'm nice" thing. Cuz I DID take a little longer to update, I DID give you a short one, and I AM leaving you with a cliffhanger
But only so that you guys can tell me what you think happens ;)

So, shoot!

Hera (: