Everything

A young girl makes her way down a worn, paved street, the heat waves that radiate up from the dark pavement distorting her fragile image as she leaves the airport. She clutches a worn, black backpack to her side, dark eyes darting to and fro, lingering on nothing and yet everything as she processes the sight before her.

She has finally arrived in the city of her dreams, where her best friend and college lie together, yet... this was not what she was expecting.

A shaky breath is inhaled, a full bottom lip trembles, and she blinks rapidly as the heat and noise and buzz of the city overwhelm her while it becomes too much too much too much too much and then… relief.

A name is shouted across the crowds of people. Her name.  The girl turns, and a flurry of blond curls and oversize sweaters, impossibly cool in the sticky heat, are embracing her, her skin becoming all the more clammy in the damp San Antonio heat.

The girl sighs a breath of relief, tucking a dark curl behind in her ear as the sorrow previously rising quickly in her gaze sinks back to wherever such a tragic sadness came from.

Her friend embraces her again, chattering away about apartments and new puppies and surprise parties while the girl finally allows her dark lips to curl into what has the potential to be a smile, her courage having been returned along with the appearance of her friend.

The two walk from the airport to her friend's worn, black sports car, chattering away in rapid fire Italian as they catch up on the latest news between the two, arms linked in friendship.

The girl sarcastically recounts the tale of the man who tried to pickpocket her, her green eyes rolling and hands gesticulating along with her words. "... non posso credere che abbia provato a prendere il mio cellulare!"

Her friend laughs, replying with an inside joke that makes the two giggle in the secretive manner that only friends can.

When they arrive at the apartment, the girl is left alone to refresh herself while her friend picks up food for their dinner, and then, finally, it hits.

She's here. In the United States of America with her best friend for an entire four years, if all goes well. She lets out a satisfied sigh, along with a quick prayer for all to go as planned, and falls dramatically back onto the slightly worn quilt covering the queen sized bed in the guest room.

She takes a hot shower and changes into comfortable clothes, finally sitting down on the deep mahogany leather couch to scroll through whatever channels might be available on their televisions, when there's a loud, confident knock on the door. Expecting her friend, the girl opens it, but is surprised when there is a young man in her friend's place.

The man clears his throat, obviously surprised with her appearance, and speaks something in English, a hand nervously rubbing the back of his head, which holds a loose mop of chocolate hair.

The girl blinks in confusion, saying nothing, showing nothing, as she was taught to do at a young age, but takes a small step back, heart fluttering in fear.

He speaks again, mumbling to himself, and the girl hears her friend’s name, as well as her own, and he then gives her a nervous wave and walks confidently away.

The girl is rather confused, as one may have guessed, and nervous, as hearing both her friend’s name and her own is unsettling to her, especially in a foreign country.

Her friend finally returns with two hamburgers, claiming them to be the best in the state before placing one in the girl's waiting hands.  It tastes of grease, an overload of mayonnaise,  and overcooked meat, but the girl devours it, mentally acknowledging it as her first meal in the United States of America and delighting in the fact.

As they dig in, the girl recounts her second American adventure to her friend, who pales when the girl finishes, shaking her head when further questioning is pushed.

The girl slowly realizes that things in her friend's world may not be as stable as she once thought.

After again questioning her friend on the incident, the friend takes the girl's two dark hands into her two lighter ones and heaves a sad sigh. Leaning forward she shares a secret that she had yet to share with even her parents, a nervous, yet happy blush spreading across her cheeks at the news.

The girl is overwhelmed.

She laughs and cries for her friend, embracing her and whispering her congratulations, the appearance of the man making all the more sense after the secret was shared.

Her friend smiles, showing a row of perfectly even, white teeth, while they together fall onto the couch, exhausted from the day's adventures.

The girl sighs, admiring the curves and dips of her friend’s sleeping face, the blond curls framing the tan skin, the light freckles one could only see up close, the brush of her gold lashes against her sun-gilded skin.

She turns on the television, snuggling down into a soft blanket left on the couch, as she scrolls through the American channels for the second time that day.

A romantic comedy.

An action movie.

The comedic end to a television series.

The girl settles on the news, not understanding the language, but understanding the images broadcasted to the country.

A man with deep dimples and a faintly strained smile begins covering the recent sports news, showing clips of the 

The girl's last thoughts were not pleasant ones, as one's usually are not, recounting the drastic emotions she had felt all in several hours' time.

Sadness

Fear

Grief

Joy

Relief

Happiness

Jealousy

Horror

Acknowledgment

And so so many others.

She had felt

                       ev

                            e

                                   r

                                             y

                                                     th 

                                                                  i  n 

                                                                                              g 

Everything.

Everything.

Everything.

All of it.

This city was going to tear her apart.