Vacation, Vacation, Vacation

“Flight number 293 will begin boarding in a few moments. Please stand by”

Another chapter in our family adventure, and last year was already an interesting adventure. We went to Hawaii and had a great time, and this year would be a little different. This trip happened to fall on my fifteenth birthday. Not only were we going to Paris, but I was able to bring a friend with me.  I was been so excited.

            Two days ago, as I was sitting in my room dialing my best friend I couldn’t help but smile. I just couldn’t believe the good news I was about to tell her, both our dreams were going to come true.

“Hey girl, guess where we’re goin’ this year for our family trip. You will never believe it.”

“Where, Where, Tell me Where” she chanted. She seemed to be as excited as I was.

            Cortney had been my best friend ever since preschool. We attended the same church, were involved in the same activities and our mothers were friends. We did almost everything together, weekend getaways with our parents, church picnics, sleepovers, play dates, we even shared our birthday parties because our birthday’s were so close.

I screamed on the phone, “Paris! We are going to Paris and my mom said I can bring a friend, and guess who I’m bringing…. YOU!” She screamed on the other end of the phone as I told her the good news; she was just as excited as I was.  We stayed on the phone for hours, talking about what we wanted to do, buy, and see. What we would pack, what we would wear, and how we would match. We planned to go and get our nails and hair done together right before we left, take lots of pictures to make this trip the most memorable trip ever.

In the weeks leading up to the trip, I began to get more and more excited. I woke up extra early to wash clothes and gather everything together to pack.  I shopped all day and all night. Thoughts ran through my head of all the things I wanted to do, all the things I wanted to experience with Cortney, all the fun I was going to have; me and my best friend.

A few days later, when the phone rang and I answered. The caller sounded sad and depressed, and I couldn’t make out the voice. I asked for the name and she responded, saying it was Cortney.

“Well what’s wrong, we are leaving in less than a week for the trip of our lives and you sound depressed. You should be super excited.”

“But I’m not. I have some bad news to tell ya, it’s really gonna hurt your feelings but there’s no nice way to tell you so ima’ just spill it.” I began to get worried, did someone die, was she deathly ill, did she get robbed and all her things were gone. I stayed silent waiting for the news.

“I can’t go on the trip,” she blurted out.
“Well, what’s wrong, why not? You’re not sick, are ya?”

“It’s just…… umm… well something came up and I just can’t go sorry.”

`           “But I just don’t understand, what could possibly be the pro-” and she hung up. What could possibly be so important that she couldn’t come with me, her best friend, on one of the most important trips in our lives? I was crushed. A flood of tears came down my face as I sat in my room all alone. This would be the trip from hell, I would be all alone with no one to share it with. I had been looking forward to this for months, ever since my mom told me I could bring a friend. We were inseparable. I always felt alone on the family vacations because I was the on only one my age, and this time I could bring Cortney.

I sat in the dark cave like room, with buckets of tears falling from my eyes as I sobbed for what felt like eternity. I laid in the bed, door closed, lights off facing the wall hoping to shut out the rest of the world. That night I cried myself to sleep.

After sleeping all night and half the day, I rose out of the dark  room to the rest of the house. I was still hurt and just wanted everything to go away. I needed answers and hoped they would make me feel better. I picked up the phone to give her a call but hesitated. I had no idea what she would say to me or if she would even answer, but it was worth a shot.

“Hello? Cortney? Are you there?” She didn’t say anything but I knew it was her.

“Will you speak? I just wanted to talk to you. You hung up so fast yesterday and I didn’t have the chance to ask you why you can’t come. It would really mean a lot to me if you could just tell me. “

“Man, I told you I just can’t, ok? Leave it alone and don’t ask anymore. It’s none of your business.”

I quickly hung up the phone. Feelings of anger and deceit began to build up inside of me and I was ready to explode, if I could turn red I would have been as red as a fire truck.  I couldn’t believe she really got an attitude with me. Who did she think she was, talking to ME like that? I invited her, I did her a favor and she was gonna be mad because she let me down.  I let out a loud scream of frustration and anger and the buckets of tears began to flow out again.

“We will now be boarding flight number 293 non-stop to Charles De Gaul. May I have sections one and two step up to begin boarding?” I sat in the airport waiting with the rest of my family to board the plane. The voice of the flight attendant punctured my ears as it came across the loud speaker. Am I really going on this trip? This is going to be the worst trip ever, I should have just stayed home and played sick with my grandmother, I would’ve had more fun. Here we go! I guess I’m a little excited, but it would be better if Cortney were here. I gathered my backpack, pillow and blanket and headed towards the door with the rest of my family. I couldn’t believe she really did this to me.

            I had a window seat just the way I liked it. I could sleep, cry, look out the window, do anything I wanted and I didn’t have to be bothered by anybody.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, we are preparing to take off. If you could please insure that your seatbelts are fastened and all items are secured. We shall be taking off in the next few minutes.”

This is it, no turning back. I’m headed to Paris, alone. Leaving fourteen years old, returning fifteen and upset. This was sure to be the worst trip. Oh well, here goes nothing’,

I searched through my bag, pulled out my iPod, attached the headphones to my head, laid my head back and closed my eyes.

When I woke we were well into the air and food was being passed out. I looked at the seats next to me, and down the aisle searching for Cortney, then remembering she wasn’t there. I sat in my seat staring out the window looking down at the white fluffy pillows of clouds below us as we traveled at the speed of light.

“Ma’am would you like something to drink, or some pretzels?”

I didn’t answer. The flight attendant stared waiting for my response. I turned to look at her and we both stared at each other with much intensity. I could feel the energy between us as we both waited for the other to say something. She began to get impatient. I couldn’t wait to get off this plane and get the trip over with. She walked away and let out a frustrated sigh. Whatever. I turned over towards the window and watched as we passed the clouds, I slowly feel asleep.

I lifted my eyelids to find we were deplaning. I grabbed my things and followed my mom off the plane. I couldn’t believe we actually made it. The plane ride was so long I thought we would never reach the other side of the water. We gathered our things, got our rental car and headed to the house where we would stay. From outside, the house was huge. It looked to be the size of the White House. It was beautiful, hand sculptured designs on the exterior and vibrant colors that stood out.  We proceeded inside and found that the interior was no different. There was a beautiful chandelier hanging from the high ceilings and a spiral staircase that seemed to nearly reach it.   The colors were just as vibrant inside as out and there was a sweet smell of fresh picked flowers. I roamed the house looking in at all seven rooms. It was something like I had never seen before. It gave me hope and excited me, yet I didn’t want to show it.  I picked the room I wanted to have, brought my bags up, and planned on staying in there the whole time.

Two days went by and we didn’t do much. We tried to catch up on the different time zone, and get over our jet lag. It began to really sink in, my birthday was in two days and I was going to be stuck in the house all day with nothing to do and a bunch of old people. I stayed home watching tv, eating and sleeping while everyone else went out on walks, tours and site seeing. I wasn’t up for it. I was just ready to get home. No one my age, means no fun. The closer it got to my birthday I began to get more and more depressed, yet a bit hopeful. The night before I prayed I was going to have a good birthday as much as I hated being there. I prayed for presents, money and a better day.

“Wake up!!!! Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy….” The sound of all my family rang out as they woke me early the morning of my birthday. Once they finished singing, I politely said thank you and turned over towards the wall not wanting to get up.. I know this is going to be the worst birthday. I wish I could just stay in the bed all day and never come out. Don’t remind me that Cortney wasn’t her. I laid in the bed for almost another hour until my mother came up to let me know breakfast was ready.

“I’m not hungry,” I quickly replied and pulled the covers over my head. I was depressed. I want to just scream, I was in a new country without my best friend and it was my birthday and  nothing could cheer me up. I finally got up to join the rest of the family downstairs for breakfast. I slowly dragged my body down the stairs hoping to eat and return back to the room. I walked downstairs to a beautiful breakfast on the deck with flowers and huge boxes that looked to be for me. Was this all for me? Would this turn out to be a good birthday after all?  I was excited to open my present and see what they bought for me. Nothing would take the place of my absent best friend though. I quickly ate my food keeping my mind on my presents, that were there for me to tear open to see what was inside.  There were four boxes one huge car size box and three smaller ones.  What did they get me? How did they bring all of this on the plane? Did they buy it once we got it here? What’s inside the big one? Where should I start? I gotta start with the big one, I can’t wait.

As I began to tear the paper I realized that I could lift the box up.

“Surprise!!” Cortney jumped out with a big smile on her face. She came, she made it!

“I thought you couldn’t come, you had an attitude, and how did you get here, what….I can’t believe...” I couldn’t finish a sentence because I was overwhelmed with excitement. 

I  looked around the room, everyone had now assembled outside. My aunts and cousins to watch, they were all laughing. Everybody must have been in on this. I couldn’t believe she was standing in front of me after all this time she was here.

“OH MY GOODNESS!!!!! Its you! How did you get here, forget that, why did you play that trick on me? Mom where you in on this, did you plan this?”

“Of course I did, Happy Birthday Ambia,” she said with a big smile.

“Thanks mom!” as I ran and gave her a big hug. “Cortney how did you do it?”

“Well me, my mom, and your mom wanted to play a trick on you and do something super different for you birthday. What better way to surprise you HERE in Paris.”

I screamed jumped up and down and cried. No one really understood how much it hurt me for her to tell me she couldn’t come. I no longer cared about the other presents I had or anything else for that matter. I wanted to spend the last three days we had in Paris with my best friend. We had so much to see in only three days, so much to do all the things on our list to accomplish in so little time.

We finished breakfast as we talked about the long plane ride over. I was in awe, speechless.  Once we finished breakfast, I helped her get her things to my room we changed into matching outfits and went out in the town, site seeing , tours and exploring. We did everything on our list and more. Took many pictures, a few home made videos and my birthday in Paris the best it could have ever been.

The last night we were back in our room packing our clothes and preparing to leave the next day, I couldn’t help but feel guilty, as I looked out the window.  How could I be so childish.I had been in this great country and wasted my time being mad, where there was a beautiful city right before my eyes. I must have let my mom down and disappoint her.  As I thought over the last few days, I would never forget this birthday. The best ever and I could share it with my best friend. I had learned my lesson. Life is to short to waste on being upset, if you stay upset for to long you will miss out on the important things in life and no one wants to do that. I was happy me and my best friend.