“So that’s what the little drummer boy wants to do,” she whispered, turning her head slightly and pulling away at the very last possible second.

“Wha? Uh…oh…no,” I gulped.

“Well, it’s not that…I…uh…” I stammered. A burning sensation rose to the surface of my face. Struggling to free myself from the desert that suddenly appeared inside my throat and quickly made a mute out of me. I swallowed, shifted in my seat, and turned my head to gaze up into the night sky.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” I whispered out loud, more to myself than anything else. I needed the space to compose myself. Her closeness made me lose the already tentative grip that I had on my senses, reducing my faculties in a blink of a blurry eye.

Her touch brought me out of the clouds in a languid fashion. Turning and tilting my head in her direction, those two pools of liquid mercury unblinkingly stared right back, stealing my mind from me. Forcing myself to grin, I yanked the remnants of the steely nerve that served me so well to the fore.

“Yeah, quite beautiful,” I murmured, at once answering my own question, and forcing the confidence back into my voice.

“Beautiful?” Her smile was serene, barely hinting at the mischief that lay beneath the surface. “If you were talking about me then that’s really sweet of you…” she breathed, “but if not, then suppose I should be upset.” A look of playfulness creased her lips.

“Well, uh…” I said haltingly, clawing at any vestige of my once unflappable ego. “Yeah, you are…” I said with a half-smile, pausing as thoughts raced through my head. I grimaced inwardly at my faltering steps, unsure of myself, having lost the trust I usually placed in my instincts.

“What did you want to do?” she asked, interrupting my mind in mid-swagger.

“How bout we just take a walk?” I suggested, figuring that a walk might help clear the air.

“I’d like that,” she replied, adjusting my sweatshirt tighter around her, and tucking her hands into the sleeves.

Wandering around in the cool darkness, we traversed the main road and aimlessly explored the smaller well-lit streets in the vicinity. With lamps overhead blazing, I could make out her hips shifting from side to side, as she seemed to lightly dance and sway to some unknown music that was imperceptible to me. A quick look from her caught me watching, while she silently floated along the cobblestone street.

“And what was the little drummer boy looking at?” she teased, smiling more for her benefit than for mine.

“You like to dance,” I stated, more like an observation than a question.

“I do. I’ve been dancing since I was quite young, lessons and all that… Do you dance?”

“Oh, me? Dance? I don’t know what I do would actually be called dancing,” I chuckled.

“So you do dance, but only when no one’s watching, huh?” she giggled. “Want to dance?”

“Oh…no, no…I don’t really dance,” I stammered.

“Come on, please? No one has to see. It’s only me,” she whined.

It was a cute girlish whine that most guys would have melted for, but I braced myself for it. I wasn’t going to cave in so easily. “But there’s no music or anything…what’re we supposed to do, spin around in a circle?” I asked, my grin teased, but my tone was incredulous.

“How about next time?” I stalled. “I promise, next time you ask, I’ll dance, but not right now.” I stated, trying my best to bargain with her.

“Hrmmm…” she mused, “ok, next time like you promised. It’s getting late, and cold out here. Let’s go inside.” She grabbed my arm, and nudged me gently toward the doors.

We didn’t say much while walking up the stairs. When we arrived at the door to her hotel room, she let my arm go and walked out ahead of me. Turning around, she clasped her hands in front of her, tilted her head to one side and asked, “So now what? Are you going to go get some sleep too?”

“Yeah, I probably will. There’s no telling what kind of insane itinerary my uncle’s got planned for us tomorrow.”

“Oh I see, well, goodnight then,” she said monotonously.

“Are you doing anything tomorrow?” I ventured. “I mean, after you’ve come back from whatever your family is doing.”

“No, I don’t think we’re doing anything. Maybe some supper, but that’s about it. Why do you ask?”

“Well, I liked spending time with you tonight, so maybe, we can do it again tomorrow?”

“It’s a date.” She smiled, and winked at me, her eyes lingered on me for a split second as wordless thoughts charged through the air, electrifying the space between us. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“Sure,” I barely managed, before she turned around and disappeared through the door, with the image of her smile, still lingering in my mind. The door closed behind her, and I was left standing there, in the quiet emptiness of the open hallway, still pondering what that smile and those eyes told me.

Part: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, to be continued…

Sitting on a bench outside, we kicked our feet and watched the sun set, her hand still clasped in mine. The slowly drawn shades of night darkened the sky, and a brief chill whipped through the air causing her to shiver suddenly. Her momentary shaking gave me pause, and I took my sweatshirt off, offering it to her to shield her from the cold.

“Aren’t you going to get cold?” she asked.

“Nah, I’ll be ok. The cold doesn’t really bother me.”

“You know, those stories were so funny!” she squealed. “I didn’t know that you were such a cute kid,” she cooed teasingly, accepting my sweatshirt and tugging it over her head.

“No, no, no…blah…,” I shook my head and sighed, trying to elaborate further. “My aunt and uncle exaggerate, really,” I said. “You can’t believe everything that you hear…”

“They’re just stories…they didn’t all happen exactly like that.”

If my face could be represented by a modern day emoticon, it would have looked something like this >_<. Those stories were not only embarassing, but they also showcased some of my less than perfect moments.

Over the course of dinner, not only did my childhood antics come up, but so did some of my less popular traits. My own famly outing me to a bunch of complete strangers, and they all laughed heartily while exchanging their experiences and observations about their own children. Unfortuantely for me, my stories seemed to come up the most often. There's not much to say. I always knew that I wasn't the most trouble-free child out there.

"It's ok though," she said, trying to reassure me. "Those things you did, and the things you said as a kid. What a laugh!"

Seeing the look on my face, she changed her tone a bit. "Ok, so if you weren't exactly like that, then how were you really like as a toddler?"

"Okay, I was a bit of a trouble-maker, but who isn't?" I asked, wide-eyed full of feigned innocence.

"So you're telling me that you never tied Lynn's door handle closed with a bungee cord, to another door handle right across the hall?" she asked. "Or how about the one where you convinced other kids to eat hot chili peppers, convincing them that they weren't 'that' hot?" she asked, raising both eyebrows.

Hearing the slight disbelief in her tone, I figured that I should just tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but.

"Well, I guess there's always some truth in the stories my family shares. I guess I always did things my way cause I felt like it. It didn't really matter what kind of trouble I'd get into, or how much I might get hurt. I'd just do it, even though I knew what kind of consequences I might face later."

"Ah ha," she snickered.

"I'm kinda hard-headed that way." I said sheepishly, a slight grin perched along the edge of my mouth.

"So when your aunt said that you were always a bit stubborn, that wasn't one of these so-called 'exaggerations' right?" she asked, giggling to herself.

I suppose she was imagining me defying all the rules, just to do what I felt like doing, and she wouldn't have been that far off. "I'm not stubborn! I just march to the beat of my own drummer," I protested, a bit too loudly; my grin spreading like wildfire through a forest of ashe.

"Oh? So what does that drummer say to you? Does he always tell you what to do?" she asked slowly. Her nose twitched and the twinkle in her eye jumped from one brightly lit pool to the other.

Sidling up closer to me, I could see her warm translucent breath floating up into the night sky. My face got hot, my breath caught in my throat, when I realized how close she was at that moment. Catching a whiff of vanilla, I breathed a bit easier, and could also detect jasmine, a soothing scent that was distinctively her smell, but barely noticeable unless you were quite close. Pulling myself together, I tried to swallow slowly, but my throat and lips had gone dry.

"Uh..."

"Oh drummer boy..." she whispered.

"Yah?" I breathed, as we both leaned in.

Part: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, to be continued…

“So he’s rounding the corner, drifts into a long slide across the wooden floor, yelling at the top of his lungs ‘I’m outta control!’. And he crashes right into the Christmas tree, knocking things everywhere.”

Laughter burst out around the table while I covered my face with my hands. My uncle had effectively put me into a hole six feet deep, then left me there, desperately trying to bury myself with my own hands. My family typically used me an entertaining scapegoat, due to my constant antics and natural tendency to get into troublesome situations. I had always been the odd one in the family, always marching to the beat of my own drummer.

“rMmmmmm,” I groaned, peeking through my fingers at the bemused expressions splashed across their faces, like haphazardly thrown paint across canvas.

“There are times when having you around is a good thing,” Lynn sneered quietly.

Shooting her glare, I mouthed, “Shut it or else…”

“Come on…why don’t you tell some stories about Lynn? It’s not exactly fair you know. She’s awkward and not that bright…she has some funny stories too.” I knew that I was whining a bit, but I was going to shift the focus off me however I could.

I could feel the scowl and her evil eyes boring into my skull, but I fended them off with a snicker and a grin that only caused my cousin’s scowl to deepen.

“You know, I hear that you get wrinkles if you scowl too much,” I said teasingly, looking in Lynn’s direction. “Isn’t that true?” I asked, my wide-eyed gaze sweeping from my cousin to my aunt, sitting just to her right.

“Oh well…I don’t have problems with wrinkles. But I’m going to go wash my hands before dessert. I’ll be right back.” Hopping up and excusing myself from the table, I started away before anyone could respond.

“Alright. Well, when Lynn was about 5…” I heard my aunt’s voice say, as it slowly mixed into the ambient noise and faded into the background. Finally, I was free.

Strolling out of the restroom, I checked my hands to see if they were totally dry, and ran into Steph as she was coming out of the women’s restroom.

“Oh hey! Didn’t see you there.”

“Hellos. I had to go to the restroom too.” she replied.

“Are my aunt and uncle still telling stories?” I queried.

“Actually, my parents started sharing stories about my brother, so I thought I should go before they started with me,” she said, while laughing to herself.

Her laughter was like the tinkling of silver bells, pure notes of innocent clarity. They floated and danced through the slightly humid air, finding a perch among the rafters. I couldn’t help but smile seeing her laughter light up her face.

“Let’s go somewhere else.”

“But isn’t everyone waiting for us at the table?”

“No, I told our families that we were going to go outside after I found you.”

“Oh…?”

“Come on,” she coaxed, and grabbed my hand with both of hers.

“But where are we…” I questioned her haltingly.

Without saying a word, she smiled, tugged at my hand, and off we ran through the lobby doors and into the darkening night sky.

Part: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, to be continued…

“I’m gonna shower,” I announced, kicking my shoes off and running for the bathroom door.

“Wait a sec! I called it first!” Lynn screamed in protest.

With a 3-4 stride lead on my cousin, there was no way she’d catch me as I dashed for the bathroom. Sure, she mentioned that she wanted to take a shower when we got back to the hotel, but she never actually called it. At least that’s what I remember.

“Too late,” I sang, as I slid across the tile floor, past the open door, and slamming it shut behind me.

I could hear her muttering underneath her breath about annoying cousins, something or another, and I smiled to myself.

My face was covered in grime from the day’s activities. Leave it to my uncle to take us on a whirlwind tour of some of the more obscure historical spots in Paris, coupled with architectural sightseeing. I typically would have appreciated the architecture, but I was way beyond the brink of information overload. At this point, I simply wanted to space-out, while staring at the pale blue sky.

We had been in Paris for almost a week, and I had barely seen Stephanie because of my family’s crazy itinerary. I’d seen her twice at breakfast, once around dinnertime, but it was always somewhat awkward, seeing how both of our families were always around when we saw each other.

I quickly showered and hopped around to get dressed. Hearing a knock on the room door, I opened the bathroom door and peered out, hoping to see Steph’s face. Wishful thinking I guess, because all I saw was my uncle talking to Lynn about something. Not bothering to listen, I closed the door and finished getting dressed.

“Hey, come on, get outta there!” Lynn cried. “You’ve been in there for half an hour! Boys aren’t supposed to take that long!”

“Half an hour isn’t long! Or would you rather I sit here and not come out for another half hour?” I teased.

“Hurry up! My dad told us to meet downstairs for dinner. We’re gonna be eating with your girlfriend’s family!”

“Wait, what?” I opened up the door and quickly jumped out, stumbling over my own feet in the process. “What did you say? Eating with who?”

“I told you, your girlfriend’s family. I guess we’re having dinner with Steph and her family,” she said, sounding smug, guessing that it might make me squirm.

“Oh…,” I replied, not quite sure how to take the news.

“Crap, crap, crap…,” I muttered to myself.

I liked Steph, I really did, but I had never been too fond of any large familial type of gathering. A family dinner, especially with another family, was akin to setting up a situation where I could potentially end up center stage. Having my exploits and antics exposed to the world was not exactly what I had in mind when I wanted to spend some time with Stephanie.

Wonderful. That’s all I needed. A family rodeo.

Part: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, to be continued…

Noticing the concern rimming my aunt and uncle’s features, I slowly pushed myself up off the ground, as a waiter helped me to my feet. A extremely loud, cackling sound bounded toward me, slicing through my self-conscious veil of embarrassment. That laughter could only be my cousin, desperately trying to muffle her laughter in the crook of her elbow. Scowling at her bowed head, I silently vowed that she would get hers later on. Feeling the eyes of scores of people drilling into my back, I quickly thanked the waiter and hurried to the table, keeping my focus on where I was going, to prevent another mishap.

It was embarrassing enough that I fell on my face, and inwardly, even more embarrassing since I was supposed to be a competitive athlete. What kind of athlete somehow misses an entire flight of stairs without any assistance from friends?

Approaching the table at a brisk walk, I saw my uncle give me a knowing, almost imperceptible nod, as if he knew and understood what I was going through, but approved of the way I handled myself. I tried to force a smile, as my aunt fretted over the multitude of possibilities, the “what ifs” that may never come to pass, and that my mom would have an aneurysm if I did get seriously hurt.

“Eh, I’m ok, I’m ok.” I sighed. “Don’t worry so much about it. I’ve done a lot worse and been ok.”

“Well if you get hurt, your mom will kill you for being so careless, if you didn’t die from your injuries first,” my aunt replied.

“Yeah, I know. No worries! I’m sure I’ll break a bone or something before we end up going home,” I sang, trying to force the embarrassing chill from my bones with my usual quips.

Sitting down and shaking her head, she muttered a few more misgivings before it all subsided. Lynn, my cousin, sat up then and eyed me quizzically.

“So what happened? You don’t normally fall like that. Has my lil cousin become a klutz? Or did you just go blind?”

“Eh, shaddup,” I muttered. “It was nothing. Just wasn’t paying attention to where I was going, that’s all.”

“Hrmmm…” she wondered out loud. “Or…was it because you just saw Stephanie on the stairs?” she mused, her eyes boring into me, trying to ferret out the truth. She and I both knew that there was no way she could find out the truth from my demeanor, as I was well-versed in showing little emotion, especially when it came to familial interrogations. Raising her eyebrows, she changed her tone of voice, and proceeded to take shots at me to see when I would shoot back.

“So, how was Stephanieeeee…?” Lynn crowed. Her tone was friendly, but teasing. Her invisible laughter could be heard quivering in the air, perching on the edge of a bubble of amusement, straining at its bonds. She was trying to strike a nerve, playing to the innate traits of my personality and my confrontational nature.

“She’s doing ok I take it? I saw her when I was coming down the stairs, and I think you were right behind me…so you MUST have seen her.” She poked and prodded some more, gauging my reactions.

“Yeah, I saw her. We chatted for a second,” I replied, keeping my voice as natural as possible, exhaling slowly as I spoke. “She said that she saw you, too.”

Reminding myself to breathe slowly, with long, shallow breaths, I could maintain a relatively calm and peaceful facade. It was an exercise that I often used before sparring matches, to calm my excited nerves.

“She asked if we could hang out later, after we both got back from our touristy trips.” A smug smile crossing my face, watching Lynn react to that bit of info. Two could play this game, and I was confident that I was better at it than she was, although she was easily 4 years my senior.

Frustrated but not daunted, Lynn narrowed her eyes, her brain working furiously, trying to figure out an angle to best me at this mind game. “You and her? Hanging out? Together? Later?”

“She’s way too cute for you anyway…” she taunted.

She knew me well, as well as cousins should know each other. And she knew that my foolhardy confidence and ego were some of my greatest strengths, as well as a couple of my greatest weaknesses. But vanity wasn’t one of them.

I simply smiled. “Yeah, Stephanie’s super cute…but it doesn’t matter. We’re just going to hang out for a little, that’s all.”

“Wait, who’s Stephanie?” my aunt asked me, prompting my cousin to divert her attention away from me, at least for a short while.

“Oh she’s this girl that Lynn and I met the other day when we were checking in.” I explained. “I think you might have seen her parents in the lobby. They came in right after we did.”

“Oh, I remember now. And Stephanie is their daughter? That really pretty girl that was looking after her brother?” my aunt inquired.

“Yep! And now he’s got a huge crush on her,” Lynn interrupted happily.

Rolling my eyes, I sighed and just let it go. There was no use in stopping her now. She had a motormouth, almost on par with my younger sister. So when she got going, it was nearly impossible to stop her. The only way I knew how, was to physically interrupt her, usually by throwing something at her, or pushing her, and I wasn’t willing to do that right then. I always saved those “get into trouble on purpose” cards for more important matters. Getting yelled at was the last thing I needed at that moment.

Lynn proceeded to tell my aunt and uncle all about what had happened in the last few days, bringing them up to speed on what had happened outside of their watch. From time to time my aunt would say something, but I hardly heard anything at all.

Munching on my breakfast of bread, cheese and fruit, their voices faded into the background as I stared out of the large windows, the vast cityscape loomed before me. I sighed.

It was going to be a long vacation.

Part: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, to be continued…

“You alright?” I asked again, reaching out to get her attention with a gentle touch. Gazing at her with helpless concern, I furiously ran through all the possible excuses that wouldn’t seem so forced, and couldn’t come up with a single one.

“Uh…yes, I think so. I was just surprised. You came down the stairs so quickly,” she replied. “I guess I froze, and hoped that you wouldn’t run me over.” She giggled slightly, the nervousness still apparent in her voice.

Breathing a slow sigh, the rapid clip of my heart settled a bit with relief, and calm washed over me. I was glad that I didn’t have to fumble my way through an explanation that would have made no sense, like a blind penguin dangling from a hang-glider, searching for breakfast burritos. I could see it now, spitting out some nonsensical yarn to cover up my idiocy.

“Yeah, sorry ’bout that. I tend to shuffle down the stairs that way…” I trailed off, not knowing what to say. Thinking about what to do next, I suddenly noticed how close we were to each other. She smelled like flowers. The smell wasn’t strong, but light, something like orange and jasmine, but I wasn’t sure. Sensing our closeness, she pulled away from me slightly, shifting her weight from right to left, then looked up.

“That girl you were with the other day, she’s your cousin right?” she said, breaking the globe of awkward silence that had smothered us, allowing the sounds of the world to flood back into our ears.

“Oh yeah, Lynn, she came down before I did. We’re getting some breakfast then going to do the tourist family thing again.”

“I see,” she murmured. “I’d better let you get some breakfast then. I need to wake my brother up too.”

“Ahhh…I see, I see…well, I’ll see you around.”

“Ok, buh-bye,” she said, and started up the steps.

It suddenly dawned on me that it could be my last chance, since I had no idea how long she’d still be here. Taking a deep breath, I called out to her.

“Hey, Stephanie?”

Turning, she put her hand on the rail and looked at me quizzically.

“Yes?”

“Think you’ll be around later? Like here, at the hotel, like later on today, like you know…after we all do the family thing…” I babbled, my stomach crawling its way into my throat with each passing word.

“I’ll be here,” she slowly said, “we’re not leaving Paris for another few days.”

“Oh well, I was thinking that maybe you’d like to hang out?” I choked out, my voice betraying me with the hopeful tones of a wishful dreamer. “Maybe sometime later tonight?”

Tilting her head slightly, “I think I’d like that,” her soft voice barely masking her smile.

“Oh ok, great! I’ll see you later, ok?” I was practically yelping with joy. She was going to be here for a while and I was going to see her again. I hadn’t felt this kind of elation in a long while.

Spinning around, I bound through the small lobby, my grin plastered across my face. My mind mired in some obvious daydream, I didn’t pay attention to the few steps leading down into the dining room, which I promptly missed in my haste, and stepped off into thin air. Toppling forward, I grabbed for a railing that wasn’t there.

And landed right on my face.

Part: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, to be continued…

Tossing and turning in bed that seemed a bit too small for me, I finally sat up, glancing at the clock as I did so. Damn the oppressive humidity. I was a California boy; born and bred to deal with dry summers and this humidity was killing me. The lively LEDs screamed at me, 2:30am. It was late and I had to be up early to go do the touristy thing.

This was supposed to be an educational and cultural experience for me. At least that’s what my parents had hoped for. But hey, I was 13, going into high school, and spending my summer in France of all places. What did I care about culture and education? It was all about interesting people, exploring new places and having a bit of fun. Instead, I had been pretty busy running around with my family, checking out different places on my uncle’s itinerary, seeing how he had everything perfectly mapped out.

Sighing inwardly, I reached over toward the nightstand and grabbed the waiting bottle of water. Taking a couple of long pulls from it, I spun the bottle absentmindedly in my hands. My thoughts wandered back to Stephanie, that girl I met while checking in a few days ago. I hadn’t seen her since then, and I couldn’t get her out of my mind. I had to see her again.

Her visage popped into my head, smiling and laughing, eyes full of mirth. Smiling to myself, I lay back down, rolled over and pictured her, as I drifted back to sleep.

Waking with a start, I found myself staring at the underside of a pillow my cousin had thrown at me to wake me. Typical. Just wait, I’ll get her back soon enough. I was probably the last one up, so I needed to hurry before I got into trouble. Rolling out of bed and half stumbling to the bathroom, I grabbed a change of clothes and hit the shower.

Coming out of the shower, I heard Lynn say something through the door that got muffled underneath the towel covering my head.

“What? I can’t hear you,” I yelled out from under the towel.

“Come on, we’re going to be late for breakfast,” she called to me.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming. I’ll meet you downstairs.”

“Okay, but hurry up, or else you’ll be late.”

Hearing the heavy door close shut, I hopped on one foot and attempted to put on my shorts, half stumbling around the room in the process. I must have sounded like a herd of stampeding bunnies hopping around like that.

Grabbing my shirt, I slipped my shoes on and bolted across the room, careening into the hall, slamming the door shut behind me with a loud bang. “Whoops,” I thought to myself. I really needed to pay more attention to my surroundings. One of these days a door would come right off its hinges with my carelessness.

Just like the last couple of mornings, I hoped that I’d run into Stephanie so I could ask her to hang out. Lost in thought, I shuffled down the stairs as fast as I could. Paying attention to my feet so I wouldn’t stumble, I shuffled along faster. At the very last second I looked up and saw her staring at me, wide-eyed, like a deer caught in the headlights of a 175lb mac-truck bearing down on her.

Spinning left, I twisted my body out of the way and jumped the last 2 steps to the bottom, sliding to a stop a few away from her. Looking at her sheepishly, I got out a breathless, “Sorry ’bout that.” As she gazed at me with those dark shimmering pools that made my stomach knot up with nervousness.

What the hell was I thinking doing something like that? I almost felt like hitting myself in the face because of my recklessness. I could have ended up bowling her over. That would have been a great way to say hi.

“Are you ok?” I finally managed to blurt out.

That’s when I heard her sigh.

Part: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, to be continued…

Straight black hair fell to her shoulders, glistening like dark, watery obsidian reflecting the moon’s soft smile. A sudden gust of wind blew errant strands of hair across her eyes. She tossed her head and tucked her hair behind her right ear, letting the hair on the left frame her face. There was enough ambient light to illuminate her elegant features; noticeable even at her young age. She was probably as old as I was, her demeanor expressing a graceful shyness that held me, spellbound.

Mesmerized by her countenance, my eyes dried up causing me to look away, blink rapidly and rub my eyes. She was stunning by any standard; her features were Asian, but not wholly so. I pretended to look around, so as to not stare, as I consciously tried to place her ethnicity.

“‘ello,” she said lightly, a discernible English accent in her voice.

“Oh, hey, errr…hi,” I replied, stammering, unsure of what else to say. Her voice was light and breathless, like whispering leaves playing tag across a meadow. She smiled at me, her sparkling eyes flashed with inquisitive interest. I fidgeted a bit more under her gaze.

“Hey, you’re really pretty,” Lynn said, popping up out of the corner of my eye.

Flushing a slight pink, she tilted her head while looking away and said a quick thank you. Looking back toward us, she smiled and I felt myself getting warm, as if a flash fever had come over me. Feeling a jab in my shoulder, I looked over to see Lynn lean over and look at me,”She’s really pretty isn’t she? Say something,” she whispered fiercely.

“uhmmm…,” I hummed, desperately chasing the tenuous words that floated just out reach.

Saving me from a fate worse than death, her brother bounded out ahead of his family and grasped the handle of the door and heaved. Struggling with the door, his face screwed up into a grimace as he tugged unsuccessfully. Moving quickly to his side, I pulled the handle to help him out. With a gentle whoosh, the door yawned open and I continued to pull till it was wide open.

“Pardon,” he piped up, “Can you hold the door, please? I need to get my bags.”

“Sure, I can do that,” I told him, watching him scamper back behind his sister and grab two small bags that were out of sight.

Their mother came up the walkway, with a bag on wheels in tow. Looking from mother to daughter, I saw the family resemblance, and it was striking. Definitely Asian, with jet-black hair pulled into a pony tail, exceptionally tall and almost regal looking. She was beautiful; slender and graceful, with delicate facial features like her daughter, that radiated contentment and compassion. Overhearing her son ask his question, and seeing me stand there holding the door, she quickened her pace.

“Bobby, you don’t ask other people to hold the door open for you,” his mother scolded, when she got near the door.

“But Mum, he already opened up the door for us,” he protested loudly.

“Don’t argue with your mum, Bobby,” his dad said, “just do what your mum tells you.”

“Alright,” he mumbled.

“Thank you so much for helping out. You didn’t have to,” she said warmly, as she reached out to grab the door handle.

Finding my tongue, I responded quickly, “It’s ok, I’m glad could help.” Taking a step back, I opened the door as wide as it would go, to let her by.

“It’s so very nice of you to hold the door open, but I’m going to leave this suitcase here to prop it open. So you needn’t worry.”

“You’re welcome,” I said, tilting my head in inclination. It was always much easier dealing with adults. At least I knew where I stood with them, after all, I was merely a kid. As long as you were courteous or respectful, most of them treated you kindly.

She went back to grab a couple more bags. “Hurry along now, Stephanie,” she called out, looking at her daughter. “Make sure you’ve everything, and don’t lose your brother.”

One by one, the family filed past me into the hotel. Bobby grabbed the suitcase propped up against the door and pulled it inside. Putting my foot down to stop the door from closing, I watched him pull the suitcase inside, running along as it trailed behind him. Pulling up the rear, Stephanie hesitated and stopped when she got to me.

“May I ask your name?”

“Oh…it’s J,” I replied, looking into her face, gaze transfixed on her wondrous eyes. Those eyes! I had never seen such eyes before. They were dark brown, with green flecks, something akin to hazel, but darker, smokier. But how could it be? I wondered. Asians don’t have green in their eyes, did they? It was a question I’d have to ask her later, if I ever got the chance.

Her eyes resonated with life and excitement, shielding the touch of subdued innocence underneath. They cradled my attention in delicate hands, like precious stones. Smiling, she shyly held out her hand and I automatically reached out and shook it. Soft and warm to the touch, I gulped as the simple touch of her hand made my stomach turn end over end. Oh how I wish I could just hold her hand forever, I thought to myself.

“It’s nice to meet you,” she breathed. “Thank you oh so much for helping.”

“Nice to meet you too. And it was nothing, not a problem really.” I shrugged, regaining my composure.

Looking inside, we saw her parents at the check-in counter, side-by-side with my aunt and uncle.

“I have to go, but you’re staying here right?” she meekly inquired.

“Yeah, that’s my aunt and uncle in there,” I said. Jabbing my thumb toward Lynn, who was hanging out in the distance, “And she’s my cousin.”

“Well, maybe, I’ll see you around…later?” she asked haltingly. She seemed more nervous than I was, which only made my breathing slow to a crawl, fearing that the slightest movement would shatter this moment, impossible to piece back together.

Her cheeks turned red and she quickly turned away, her lustrous hair concealing her face from view. It acted like a momentary buffer, popping the bubble that we were enclosed in. Turning around, she quickly disappeared through the doors before I could say anymore.

Perplexed, I was left holding the door, the image of her face hovering in her wake.

Part: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, to be continued…

Leaning my weight against the heavy oak doors that marked the entrance to the hotel, I waded out into summer’s nighttime air, a slight breeze ruffling the thin windbreaker I wore. Standing outside of the hotel under the pleasant moonlit sky, I hoisted my backpack higher onto my shoulders and waited for my uncle to check-in. Letting my eyes adjust to the deepening darkness that engulfed the skyline, the night came alive with hundreds of glowing streetlamps spread out all over the city. The hazy radiance from the lamps brightened up the cityscape, giving welcome to its visitors.

This wasn’t my first trip to this continent full of classic, historical beauty, but I barely remembered the last one. The sparse number of memories that were left behind from the last trip showcased the importance that this trip represented to me. I never really thought about it until then, but the memories you take with you were as precious as droplets of water in the desert. When they were gone, there was nothing you could possibly do to bring them back. And it was in my best interest to make some new ones.

My father always felt that it was a crucial part of any person’s education; to try and understand other cultures and the philosophies contained within their histories. But my eyes often glazed over from the boredom that I felt within, even though I soaked up the information like a savant; the idiot kind. It was all a bunch of facts that I happen to remember, but never felt that they were significant to me. My desires were much more wild and carefree, tied to my restless spirit, the wanderlust within.

Looking around, the urge to run off in either direction and explore tugged at the puppeteer’s strings that bound me to my earthly shell. My impatience prodded me, vehemently wishing to be set free. But I held fast to the knowledge that there were still many days left in this vacation. There was nothing on either continent to hold me back.

“So what do you think?” Lynn asked, sneaking up behind me and putting her arm around my neck.

“What do I think about what? Being here?” I asked offhandedly. I ignored her arm, steadily trying to pull me over with her body-weight. It was something we used to do as kids, rough-housing and wrestling in sibling fashion. We were physical equals then, not so much anymore.

“Yeah, we’re in Paris! Look how beautiful it is, especially at night,” she said excitedly, yanking me even harder to one side.

“Eh, it’s alright I guess. Lights, buildings, and people,” I said dismissively. I continued to stare off into the distance, consciously hoping that something would happen to illustrate and justify my cousin’s excitement.

“I told you that you can’t mope,” she scolded, cuffing me in the shoulder as she did so.

Raising my eyebrow at her, I gave her a look of doubt. “Don’t make me turn you into a pretzel,” I playfully threatened. “I’m more than big enough now to do it. You’ll wake up like this, looking like a retard,” I said, as I showed her a quick demonstration of what she might look like.

“Oh yeah?” she challenged, and she punched me in the arm instead.

Grabbing her arm, I quickly slid up her sleeve and slapped both of my hands on her bare arm. Twisting my hands in opposite directions, I gave her an Indian rugburn.

“Oow!” she yelped, as I grinned and snickered at her momentary pain. I shuffled to the side to avoid a flailing arm and took off, running in a circle.

“You are so dead!” she yelled at me, and started to chase me around. In between the cars we ran, stopping and reversing direction, weaving and ducking through the gaps. I stayed just enough ahead of her to be out of reach, but close enough that she could almost imagine catching me, all the while laughing at her scowl.

“Like you can catch me,” I taunted, catching glimpses of her over my shoulder.

Having not paid much attention to where I was going, I ran into the path of a man and his family coming up to the entrance of the hotel. I spun out of the way and stopped myself by making hard contact with a lamppost.

Lynn rushed over and half-pulled me out of the way, while I rubbed my shoulder that had collided with the post. “We’re so very sorry for getting in your way,” she apologized breathlessly.

“Hey, next time, pay more attention.”

Looking up, I mumbled a quick apology to him and backed out of the way. Trying to catch my breath, I spotted a girl and a boy peering out from behind the man, who I could only assume to be their father. The boy was younger than I was, not more than eight or nine, but the girl was around my age. Her gaze caught my attention and held it with gentle intensity. She regarded me with an air of curiosity, an innocent smile seeking refuge on her lips.

“‘ello.”

Part: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, to be continued…

The steady humming of the jet’s engines had eased me onto a plane of purgatory, devoid of physical trappings. My thoughts swirled around, constructing a private mental barrier that sound and other distractions could not penetrate. Staring at the ceiling, I thought about the days following my graduation from middle school; routine days of uncertainty and doubt.

There were times when Jess’ image would flicker against the backdrop of my mind’s eye, as I routinely went about my days, casting a heavy iron-laden net over my conscience. There were moments of weakness and self-loathing, for I recalled those very last minutes of our encounter. I had lots of time by myself to ponder the things I said and wondered if I had made the right choice. I had second thoughts about getting on this plane, believing that, maybe, just maybe if I had stayed behind, things might possibly be mended.

But on the other hand, there are some things that aren’t worth salvaging. This might have been one of those times.

If I had stayed, what could I possibly do anyway? Could what we had be mended? Was there any way to piece together what we had? Maybe even a friendship? There wasn’t a day that went by where my logic and my heart refused to fight, shedding each other’s blood on the battlefield of my soul. Weighing the pros and cons turned into some sort of sickness, a torturous way to pass the time.

Nothing could be done about it now, seeing how I was 35,000 feet in the air, soaring east, on our way to France.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Lynn asked.

“Nothing really. Just stuff that happened at school before I graduated.”

“Oh, like what? Girls?” she said jokingly, as she prodded me with her elbow.

I looked over at her, and didn’t say much more, giving her pause to her familial teasing. Shrugging, I went back to staring out of the window at the skies, and the growing darkness that was equal to the growing bitterness that was taking over the space in my heart. I knew that it was supposed to be a fun, family trip, but a large part of myself refused to let me enjoy it. It would rather I suffer the constant soakings in the vat of pain that I had created.

Lynn was my favorite cousin. She was 4 years older than I was, but the closest family member to me in age, aside from my younger sister. She was well into her high school years, and since she was the only child in her own family, she was used to the older sister role in mine. Although she had my respect and love, she knew that she couldn’t push me too far. I was physically bigger and stronger than her, and I often treated her as an equal, rather than with awe and admiration.

“Yeah, some things happen this past year between me and a girl. Another guy was involved, and it’s eating me alive,” I confessed quietly.

“So, what happened?”

Long moments passed before the words slowly tumbled end over end, spilling out of my mouth like a roaring river that had been dammed up for too long. All the sadness, anger, resentment and bitterness that had been suppressed for the last few months was suddenly released in a geyser-like shower. I wasn’t really talking to her, sometimes looking out the window or looking at the floor, trying to keep myself from getting overly emotional. As I recited my story from the beginning, I filled in bits and pieces of missing background along the way. When I was finished, I sat back and sighed, looking out of the window once again. I felt a great weight lift from my shoulders and the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomache eased a bit.

Minutes passed before she leaned over and hugged me tightly, acutely aware of the pain I must have been going through. She didn’t utter a word for a long time, and just held my slumped shoulders in her arms, trying to give me as much comfort as she could. Letting go, she sat back and looked at me with a proud glint in her eye.

“I guess you’re not a kid anymore,” she said with an air of finality.

“Oh? Was I ever a kid to begin with?” I joked.

There was some truth to that, seeing how I somehow found the short cut to growing up, due to my precociousness. Unfortunately, understanding the world around me and growing up quickly didn’t mean that I was mature. My maturity came in random spurts and unpredictable bursts, which more often got me into trouble, than kept me out of it.

“Yeah, you’ll always be a kid, but I’m pleasantly surprised and proud of how well you’ve handled this whole ordeal. There might be hope for you yet.”

“Yeah, well, I understand, but it doesn’t hurt any less,” I said, choking back the sadness that still permeated my skin, like thousands of fiery needles.

“Things will get better, believe me, but try to leave it behind you, if just for this trip. You don’t want them to worry about you, if you’re moping around all the time, do you?”

“No, I guess not. Don’t want them to call home and have Mom get on my case about it.”

An announcement pulled our attention away from the conversation and directed it outside the plane. It was dark out as the wingtips grazed the topmost layer of clouds blanketing the city. They were scant and gave the well-lit city an ethereal feel, like being trapped inside of a fog machine as strobe-lights flashed all about. It was a beautiful sight to behold, the city filled with glittering lights, filtering through the clouds that surrounded the area. We had already begun our descent and spent the next 15 mins getting used to the change in cabin pressure.

A sharp jerk and squeal of the wheels told me we had touched down and we were taxiing toward the gate.

Paris; the city of love, light, and splendor.

“Bonjour, Paris, la ville de la lumière.” I muttered.

We had arrived.

Part: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, to be continued…