Last Kiss in Paris

Chapter 1 - He Said Bonjour

Suggested Song: Vesoul by Jaques Brel

T'as plus aimé Paris, on a quitté Paris
T'as plus aimé Dutronc, on a quitté Dutronc
Maintenant j'confonds ta sœur et le Mont Valérien
De c'que je sais d'Hortense, j'irai plus dans le Cantal
Et tant pis pour Byzance, puisque j'ai vu Pigalle
Et la gare Saint-Lazare, c'est cher et ça fait mal
Au hasard

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"Omg, he said what?"

"Shush!" Lucas hissed from behind.

"Don't be so loud," Amrisha whispered to her friends. She took out her phone and began to scroll through a series of text messages. "Here."

"Bonjour Amrisha..." Sophie began to read aloud, then stopped, eyes widening. There was a pause, and suddenly she and Mel gave out a loud squeal of delight.

"Shut up," Lucas poked his head out from behind the aisle seat, a look of annoyance across his face. Headphones dangled around his neck, and the faint sound of rock music could be heard playing out of them. "Do you girls really have to shriek every time you gossip about someone?"

"Sorry Lukey," Sophie pouted, giggling. "But don't get jealous when Amrisha ditches us all at the airport to take a long, romantic stroll with her French boyfriend."

At that moment, Alek, a guy with dark brown curtained hair, came over, having just returned from the bathroom. "Lucas, you hypocrite," he snickered as he took a seat next to his friend. "You're the one who screams louder than any girl whenever you see a mere spider."

Lucas rolled his eyes and turned back to the girls. "So, since when did Amrisha ever have a French boyfriend?"

"Since forever I bet," Mel gushed. "She's been friends with Ben for ages so it must have been so disappointing when he moved to Paris in grade 8, right Amrisha?"

"Yeah, I guess," Amrisha murmured, feeling uncomfortable with all the attention she was getting.

"Anyways, it turns out that our host school is right next to the private boys' school Benjamin goes to," Sophie added. "There are gonna be so many hot guys in Paris – I'm so excited. Amrisha is so lucky because I followed Ben on Insta and O. M. G. He is soo hot!"

"Ugh, Sophie, you say that like he's my boyfriend. Firstly, we're just friends, and secondly, I haven't actually seen him in like two years. Oh yeah and one more thing – he's not even French." Amrisha shifted in her seat, trying to ignore the suppressed giggles of the girls and the smirks on the boys' faces. Even so, she could not help but feel the butterflies forming in her stomach.

She had never been able to visit Ben in Paris, and now, the chance had finally come. Sure, it was only a school trip and not a holiday, but Amrisha would have time to meet up with Ben at least a couple of times during her two-week stay. Ben had invited her to have dinner with him the following evening, and already she was beginning to feel nervous. The fact that her friends had a tendency to blow everything out of proportion didn't help either.

After years of being close friends since kindergarten, Ben had had to leave Amrisha at a rather unfortunate time in their relationship. At the end of grade 6, the two had begun 'dating' – that is, going on a few group dates. However, Amrisha's dad had gotten a promotion and they had to move abruptly to the Gold Coast before the start of high school. She flew up to Cairns every holiday in grade 7, but less than a year later, Ben's family had to relocate to Paris. Amrisha still didn't quite know if they were just friends, or something more, and because of all the moving around she hadn't really had a chance to find out.

Now, two years later, a mere hour away from the French capital, Amrisha wondered what Ben would think of her after all this time. Were those moments in grade 6 just a passage of his hormones? Did he think of her as friends and friends only?

Stop, Amrisha thought. Of course they were just friends. He was the best-looking guy she had ever seen, and could have his pick of any French girl he wanted. After two years, who knew what had changed. Still, something inside her yearned for something more in their relationship.

Amrisha started glumly at her half eaten chocolate pudding lying on the tray table in front of her. If she wanted to get any boy to be interested in her, let alone a boyfriend, she'd better stop eating so much. Amrisha patted her belly and glanced enviously at Sophie, who was still talking animatedly to Mel and the boys. Now, Amrisha was nowhere near unattractive or anything, but being constantly surrounded by her glitzy friends meant that rarely anyone paid any special attention to her. Sophie always managed to look good no matter how little sleep she got on the plane, with her Latino good looks, tanned skin and wavy blond-brown hair. She was very loud and generally easy to get along with. Mel was also extremely tall and pretty and somehow had perfect skin even after living in the Australian sun. Compared to them, Amrisha thought she had no redeeming qualities, even if in reality, she was above the average of a teenage girl.

An accented female voice cut across the intercom, pulling Amrisha out of her daze. "Bonjour passengers, we will be arriving at the Paris Charles de Gaulle airport in 1 hour. The current local time is 4:34pm. The aircraft will soon begin its descent, so please ensure you make any last-minute trips to the lavatory, secure your luggage, stow away your tray tables, fasten your seatbelts and prepare for landing."

Amrisha sighed, and pressed her forehead against the cool glass of the plane window. In a little over 24 hours' time, she would be seeing Ben. She didn't care what he thought about her now – how was she so stupid to do so just minutes before? They shared a bond that was different to what she had with Sophie and Mel; she was not going to let a couple years' separation ruin that.

Amrisha gazed out of the window at the beautiful sunset. Hues of red and gold were melting into each other like a watercolour painting, wisps of silky cloud swirling around and blanketed by a canopy of deepening indigo. As the plane drew nearer to the ground, Amrisha glimpsed the sprawling city of Paris.