A Trip to Paris

  Sabrina had been waiting -rather impatiently- for this trip for months. Paris was her favourite place in the entire world. Or it would be, once she actually got there. 

  Her vacation to the City of Love was constantly on her mind, especially since she and her former best friend, Willa, had confessed their feelings for each other and started dating. Sabrina had been excited before, but now that she and Willa were a couple, she couldn’t wait to experience Paris in all of its romantic glory.

  She had packed and re-packed again and again, making sure she had everything she could ever need to make this the best trip of her life. Now, her suitcases were in her car, and her carryon was hanging on a hook on her bedroom door. 

  She collapsed onto her bed, sighing happily. She pulled out her phone to text Willa. 

  ‘Are you excited or what?!?!’ 

  The typing bubble appeared immediately after she sent it. Seconds later, Willa replied with a ‘YES OMG’ accompanied by tons of happy emojis.

  Sabrina grinned and rolled onto her stomach, disrupting her cat, Gryffin, who had been curled up in the middle of her bed. Gryffin lept off the bed and started rubbing against the leg of Sabrina’s desk, purring. 

  Sabrina smiled down at him and then went back to texting Willa.

  ‘Make sure you get lots of sleep tonight babe.’

  They were leaving for the airport early the next morning, and Sabrina wanted to ensure that Willa was happy and well-rested for the flight, since she didn’t like airplanes that much. Sabrina loved flying, but Willa got anxious and fidgety.

  Willa promised she would, and then they said their goodnights.

  Sabrina went out to the living room where her mother was sitting to say goodnight. She wouldn’t have to say goodbye until tomorrow, at the airport. Though Sabrina was driving herself there, her mom would be coming with her to bring the car back home. Willa lived in the opposite direction -otherwise Sabrina would’ve picked her up- but she didn’t have her drivers license, so she was taking the bus.

  Sabrina gave her mom a hug and then went into the bathroom to brush her teeth. She looked in the mirror and imagined herself in front of the Eiffel Tower, wearing a fancy scarf and holding Willa’s hand.

  They would be staying in France for four weeks, at the apartment of a friend of her mother’s who was out of the country.

  Sabrina was looking forward to the more cliche things, like seeing all the lights and sharing a baguette over coffee, while Willa was more interested in the places they’d be visiting. She loved architecture, and went all starry-eyed while talking about the Notre-Dame or the Sacré Cœur.

  Willa was very well-organized, (which was good because Sabrina was quite the opposite) and she had made a schedule so that they could see every place on both of their lists. Sabrina decided that she just might try to distract Willa from said schedule, to make sure they had some spontaneous adventures.

  Sabrina pushed her daydreams out of the way and went back to her room to get into her pjs. She snuggled up under the covers, and deciding she wouldn’t be able to sleep from all of the excitement, picked up her book and started to read by the light of her bedside lamp.

  Gryffin came back in at some point while she was reading, and hopped up onto the bed, curling up by Sabrina’s feet. 

  After an hour or two of Virginia Woolf, Sabrina noticed that she was yawning more often than not, and put away her book to attempt to sleep. Even if her nerves kept her awake, resting with her eyes closed would be better than staying up all night. 

  Surprisingly, she drifted off almost immediately after turning off the lights.

  Early the next morning, Sabrina jumped out of bed and got herself dressed and ready in a flash. She then ran down the hall to her mother’s room and knocked to wake her up, and then set about making her morning tea.

  She was adding the honey and milk by the time her mom stumbled out of her room, dark circles quite visible around her eyes. Sabrina’s mom was not a morning person.

  Sabrina leaned against the counter and stirred her tea with a spoon, smiling as her mother groggily started making coffee.

  “We have to leave in fifteen minutes, just so you know.” Sabrina took a sip from her mug and basked in the warm, herb-smelling steam.

  Her mother nodded and ruffled Sabrina’s hair. “I’m gonna miss you.”

  “I know you will.” Sabrina spun around, almost spilling her tea. “I’ll miss you too. Just not half as much.”

  Her mom poured her coffee into a thermos and then replied, “Of course. You’ll be with Willa, having the time of your life, while I’m stuck here at home, all by my lonesome.”

  Sabrina finished her tea in one giant gulp, dropped the mug in the sink rather carelessly, and then skipped back to her room to get her carryon, which was just her old backpack from high school. 

  “Okay, let’s go!” She ran to the door and then paused, remembering something. 

  She dropped her bag and went back to her room, picking Gryffin up off her bed and cuddling him. 

  “I’m gonna miss you. I’m gonna miss you so much. You’re so fuzzy-wuzzy. Yes Gryffin, you are.” She put him gently back on the bed.

  Her mother was at the door, putting her shoes on and sipping her coffee slowly. Sabrina slipped on her converse and grabbed her bag before hopping down the steps and getting in the car. 

  Once her mom got in the passenger seat, they were off. Well, until they had to turn back to get the hairbrush that Sabrina forgot. After a few more trips back to the house for various left behind items, they were well and truly on their way.

  Sabrina fidgeted the whole way to the airport, jumped out of the car as soon as they parked, and then was halfway through the airport doors before she wheeled around and sprinted back to give her mother one last hug.

  Once she got inside, she texted Willa, who said she would be there in 10 minutes, and then sat on a bench surrounded by her luggage.

  She grinned from ear to ear and settled in to wait for Willa, knowing that as soon as she arrived, their vacation would begin.