Regrets For Ages

An Unforgettable Ride

Olli woke me up at 3 in the morning with his wet hair dripping all over my bedspread and a towel around his neck. 

I yawned and rubbed my eyes, tiredly. "Olli, what are you doing awake and showered?" Looking back on it now, I realize how oblivious I was on what day it was.

"Ro, do you really not remember? We're going to New York today!" He perked up like a little puppy, it was adorable. 

"Oh, right! My bags are packed up over by my dresser, take those to the taxi while I shower."

"You got it!" I uncovered myself and grabbed the outfit I set at the end of my bed the night before. 

"I'll be out in 10, okay," I said. "Tell the driver to go to 7/11 before we head to the airport."

"Have a nice shower!" He waved and I closed the bathroom door behind me. 

Around 7 minutes later, I was out of the shower. I wrung my hair to remove the water and fluffed it with my towel. I grabbed my clothes and put them on hurriedly.

As I pulled my striped overalls on, there was a knock on the door. "Ro, you still in there?" It was Olli's muffled voice from behind the door.

"Yes, I'm almost done!" I said and rushed to close the snaps.

I opened the door and he pulled me into a tight hug almost immediately. He planted a small kiss on my head. My face heated up. 

"That's not--" I started, but the longer he held me, the more I realized he really did want to spend the rest of his life with me, no matter what I did, or who I loved instead, I was his Ro and he was my Olli. 

We hopped in the cab's backseat at 3:45 that morning for the airport after grabbing breakfast at the local 7/11. 

This made me realize how utterly similar the two of us are. Olli and I both only have two people who we deeply care for excluding each other. He has his mom and brother, who's name is Dio, if I remember correctly. I have Dolly, who helps me through the fact my family is a mess and is, therefore, my second mother and best friend, and NaNa, or Melina, who's been my foster mother since my family tragedy. 

We both got breakfast sandwiches and hot chocolates for the ride to the airport and both had enough money to buy some chocolate and a soda each for the plane ride. 

When we arrived at the airport, Olli grabbed his duffel bag and slung it around his shoulders. I buttoned my jacket and hung my small backpack from my arm. The driver opened his trunk so I could grab my suitcase. I stretched out the handle and dragged it behind me as we went up to the entrance. 

When we arrived at our gate after passing through the behemoth that is airport security, I set up shop and planned to sit there for at least another 20 minutes before we were set to leave.

But Oliver didn't wanna sit, however. He grabbed me by my arm and opened his phone camera. We both messed with poses and angles and lighting before finally landing on a good one and snapping a photo. 

"Olli, are you sure we should be running around? The plane is leaving in 10 minutes and trust me, it'll leave without us." 

"I'm very sure, Ro, we'll be fine." He replied.

He still had that goofy grin on his face. This made me realize that we were just kids going to New York and could do whatever we wanted til Sunday night. I embraced this and packed up my bag before getting up and following him around to different souvenir shops and cafes.

"Gate B3 is leaving in 5 minutes, all passengers please board the plane before departure." We jumped at the sound of the loudspeaker above our heads.

"I guess that's our cue, but we can explore more when we come back, right?" Olli looked at me with puppy eyes and whined until we got to our seats. This was gonna be a long ride.