All I Needed To Know [2]

Le Deuxième Chapitre

My flight was scheduled to arrive in sixteen minutes. Sixteen minutes and forty-three… forty-two… forty-one… forty seconds. In just sixteen minutes and forty seconds, I would be on a plane going straight to Paris, France, and there my Great Aunt Lucy would meet me at the airport.

Aunt Lucy was the only one of my family to stay in Europe when everyone else came to America, so it would be helpful to have a native watching after me. Besides, Aunt Lucy was the youngest of my Nana’s siblings, so she was by far coolest, clocking in at only sixty-two years old, meaning Nana had been fifteen when she was born. I loved my Nana, but she was seventy-seven and only wanted to knit and talk about her cats all the time, which gets pretty boring. The life of Paris kept Lucy young, and you’re never quite sure what she would want to do next. Aunt Lucy was easygoing and exciting, and I couldn’t wait to spend the whole summer with her.

Bryce was intent on keeping me close to him for the remainder of those sixteen minutes, constantly flipping the ends of my hair and staying silent, but there was tension in the air. As soon as the clock hit the fifteen minute mark, Bryce leaned back and looked at me, his eyes grazing my entire face.

“100%.” He mumbled to me with a light in his eyes.

“Really?!” I exclaimed. “That’s great! So you’re going to be visiting? When? Did you get your tickets yet?”

“As of now, the soonest I can get is July 27th, since I have the bare minimum for round-trip tickets, but that’s good, right? We don’t have to go the whole summer without seeing each other.”

I nodded. He was right. It was better, but I’d still miss him like crazy. An announcement blared, informing us that rows one through nine of my flight were boarding- and I was in the eleventh. Bryce pressed his lips to mine hard, without much movement, but I could tell, with feeling. He let me go and I said goodbye to my parents with hugs and kisses. Finally, I came down the line to face Ashton.

“My summer’s gonna be kind of lame, I guess.” She said apathetically, and shrugged. I laughed at typical Ashton and gave her a tight hug. “Write me every day, promise.” She mumbled in my ear. It wasn’t a request, it was an order.

“I promise, Ash. I’ll miss you. Hopefully Lucy has a computer so we can chat or something.” We both laughed somberly, imagining an old French woman who actually knew how to work a computer. “I’ll find a computer somewhere.” I added finally, and turned to give the woman in a flight attendant uniform my boarding pass and step on the plane. Turning to wave one last time, I saw my parents holding each other, crying with joy, and Ashton half-smiling, patting the perplexed Bryce. How much I wanted to turn back and hold him one last time, but the woman was about to announce the next set of rows. Instead, I turned to see where I was going and found my seat on the plane.

The ride was long. I’d never tried to estimate how long it would be previously, and after a while, lost track of the hours. I’d left at one and it was way past dark when I landed. The window seat would have been nice- I might have even been able to snap a few photos- but I was stuck sitting next to a scrawny man in a tie, clicking away on his iMac.

Other than that, it wasn’t so bad. I listened to the complimentary satellite radio and looked over the pictures already on my professional digital camera. A lot of them were lilies planted in my front yard, our aquarium of exotic fish, and random things I found in the kitchen. I wasn’t very impressed, but as long as the academy people were, that’s all I had to worry about.

Aunt Lucy was never someone to be at a loss for words- especially now. As soon as I stepped off the plane I was greeted with hugs, kisses, and words of welcome. She treated me to my first French coffee as we made our way to her car, where the interesting conversation really began.

“I think I like Yves best.” Lucy commented while telling me about her boyfriends, the number of which I had lost track of. “He’s the best dancer… and the best kisser.” She added with a dreamlike daze in her eyes.

“Aunty!” I almost scolded.

“Well what, what? Do you want me to lie to you, Nièce?” She asked melodramatically. “And why does it matter? What is wrong? Just because I’m sixty doesn’t mean I can’t kiss. You’re sixteen and you do it, so what’s to stop me?”

I sighed, a few chuckles coming through. “Some details should just be left out, Tante. And… you’re sixty-two.”

Lucy shrugged. “I started counting back this past year.” She told me. Yes, Aunt Lucy was definitely staying young… in her own odd ways.

“So how about you, huh?” She asked, trying to stay off the topic of her age. “Do you have a special man? A lover?” At first I was about to tell Aunt Lucy about Bryce, but the fact that she used the term “lover” scared me away, and I wished she weren’t so fluent in English. It was hard enough to deal with missing Bryce so much, but there was also the confusion about my feelings for him, and together, it was all too much for me to chew. I had to give her something, though, since he would be coming to visit in July.

“Uhm, yeah, well, I have this…friend. The one that’s coming next month. Yeah, we hang a lot, and I think I like him.” I mumbled while picking at my fingernails.

“Oh, a friend.” Lucy leaned over and glanced at me, raising one eyebrow. “Is he cute?”

I shrugged, trying to appear indifferent. “Yeah, I guess you could say so.”

“Mmm.” My aunt leaned back to a normal position and nodded, smirking slightly. The short rest of the car ride was in silence.

“Are you hungry? Tired? What do you wanna do?” Lucy said as soon as we walked into her apartment. “Talk to me.” The truth was, I didn’t feel much besides tired. I was very, very tired.

“I’m… actually just thinking of going to bed, can I see where my room is?” I asked, suddenly weary.

Aunt Lucy’s face lit up. “Of course, dear, and just wait until you see your room.” She led me across the living room and through a tight hallway, turning into a door on the left. The room was small, with a twin bed in the corner and a table by the door. There was also a dresser against the wall, but opposite it was a wide patio door, leading to a cast iron balcony.

“Wow.” I whispered, gazing out the glass of the patio. “This is perfect, Aunty, thank you so much.” She beamed, and I gave her a tight hug.

Aunt Lucy sighed. “I guess I’ll let you be now, to get settled, get ready for bed… marvel at your fabulous view. You know, whatever you want.” With that she opened the door. Before she excited completely, Lucy gently called “Goodnight,” And shut the door.

As soon as she was gone, I slid open the glass patio and stood at the very edge of the woven metal balcony, gripping the railing. The early summer air was lukewarm with the occasional nighttime breeze that made my bare arms prickle. Below me, I could see narrow brick roads and stone buildings of various heights, and the city cast a hazy orange glow in the distance. Rushing back to my suitcase and then returning to this exact spot, I crouched slightly and snapped a photo, portraying the contrast in view between the city and outlying neighborhoods.

I was finally alone. In Paris. I had finally made it to Paris.