Inside | Shane Harte

47 | Goodbye Toronto

It's now saturday morning and I'm just about done packing up my stuff in big bags. Father took the early flight to Toronto to help out and support me in everything that has to do with flying out to Ottawa, finding my appartment and moving in. He was going there anyway for business but he might as well help me on the way.

"Are you done?" father asks and I nod, looking at my bags to check that everything is in the right place.

"Yeah, lets grab these and walk out to the car" I say and grab the biggest bag. He grabs the two smaller ones and together we make our way out of the building to the parking lot, where we suddenly stand face to face with everyone on the acoustic department. Dave, the singing teacher walks up to us with a smile on his face.

"Congrats Kayla, you have quite the journey ahead of you now"

"Thanks Dave, I'm looking forward to it" I smile back and Crystal walks up behind him with Theo on her side.

"Girl, I'm gonna miss you like hell" she grins as she hugs me tightly. I smile at Theo who gives me a weird smile back, probably because of that lap dance I did yesterday. I laugh and pull away from the hug.

"I'm gonna miss you too, Crystal"

"Kayla, we have to go now or we'll miss the flight" father says behind me and I nod.

"Bye everyone! I'm gonna miss you very much" I say as I jump into the car. Right when I close it up, I suddenly see the entrance door to the acoustic building burst open. Shane runs out but as he sees me in the car, his steps slow down until he finally stops.

I don't say anything to father to stop him, no matter how disappointed Shane looked when he realized that I've already gone. My eyes still follow him where he stands alone, looking at our car driving further away from him until he disappears behind a large tree. I feel a few tears burning behind my eyelids as I close them, but try6 as much as I can to not let them out.

The airport is just a few minutes away and before I know it we've reached the huge parking lot outside of the biggest building. We grab all of the bags and walk inside to face hundreds of people walking around everywhere, creating one big colourful mess.

"Are you nervous?" father asks me.

"Because of the flight?" I ask jokingly and he looks at me with a 'really?'-look on his face.

"You know what I mean" he laughs and I nod.

"Yeah, I mean it's all one big gamble, you never know how it will turn out"

"It will turn out to be the best choice you've ever made in your life, believe me" he smiles as we walk towards the reception to check in our bags.

I don't say anything in response as we eventually sit down to wait for our flight to get ready. It doesn't take long before we're allowed to board the plane. Father steers me to the business class and I look at him with surprised eyes. He nods reassuringly and I lift an eyebrow before walking into the higher class.

When the plane finally leaves the ground I watch as the buildings, people and nature of Toronto drifts further and further away until the white clouds cover it. The next hour goes by in a heartbeat and suddenly, the buildings of Ottawa pops up beneath us.

The plane glides down into a steady landing and eventually stops. Everyone walks out of the plane and when me and father touch the ground with our feet I turn towards him.

"Can you believe we're actually in Ottawa?" I ask happily. "It's such a relief to finally be here"

Father nods in agreement but what he thinks I mean is not the reality. But it's okay, I want him to think that it's a relief because of the long trip. I don't want him, or anyone, to know that the real reason is because I can finally move on from everything that happened in Toronto.

Finally, I'm free.