“I am not even doing the presentation so being here is going to be all about having fun for me,” Penelope said.
“Oh, I am doing it and I will still find a way to have some fun,” Charlotte added.
“Guys, I will take this seriously. No fun,” I replied.
“You have two days to prepare your presentation… just enjoy this time with us.”
We reached floor number three and our room was the first, closest to the elevator.
“We literally have only three days to have fun. I wonder if they let us leave the hotel and go clubbing.”
“You want to club in Philadelphia?” I chuckled as I asked Charlotte.
“We don’t have to ask them, we will sneak out. And there are great nightclubs here.” We stepped into our massive room with two bathrooms. “Trust me, I checked.”
We put down all our luggages and we checked out the balconies. The view wasn’t amazing but still, we had a pretty decent room considering it was a college trip. And there were two bathrooms so we wouldn’t have to fight for it.
We would have dinner soon so I had to change, luckily, I brought some nice clothes as well.
I put on makeup and changed into a long dark red silky dress, tight on my body. Penelope went out of her ways as well, wearing an amazing dark blue short dress with subtle makeup, mostly consisting of eyeliner. She looked amazing. Charlotte was wearing a light lilac dress, going well with her fair skintone and blond curls.
“Wow, damn, we look amazing,” she said. I agreed. I doubt anyone could have outdone us here.
We got a message on the group chat of the trip
Ms. Fitzgerald: dinner is starting, come down
When we stepped out of the elevator, everyone looked at us. There were only professors and students from our university and some from another university I didn’t know about. Many were dressed nicely, but we looked the best.
Mr. Reynolds couldn’t take his eyes off of me when he saw my beautiful dress. My wavy, sun-kissed hair was also perfect despite not having been washed today.
Ms. Fitzgerald of course was next to him, wearing a boring grey dress up to her knees with strident makeup that almost made her unrecognizable. She looked way worse than before.
We all sat at the big table, the other was occupied by the other bus. Mr. Reynolds was sat quite far from me but at least my friends were close, I was sitting in the middle. Amelia sat near my history professor while Isaac was thankfully facing him.
They gave us a menu and we ordered drinks and food. I picked pasta con frutti di mare with a glass of diet coke because I was only 19 and I couldn’t have alcohol yet and my professor chose a glass of red wine with poultry and veggies.
“So healthy,” I pointed out looking at him. Everyone looked at me.
He smiled and looked at the other students too. Ms. Fitzgerald copied him and ordered the exact same thing.
“I never know what to order so hopefully this is good,” she said, “or at least good for my waist.”
I could swear his laugh was forced but maybe I was bitter.
Penelope whispered to me and Charlotte was close enough to hear it. “I saw you laughing with Mr. Hottie. Don’t tell me you’re getting close,” Penelope grinned.
I shrugged. “He’s just nice.” Hoping no one heard us.
“I wish I was the one sat next to him,” Charlotte said with dreamy eyes. I felt a little bit of annoyance at her words.
“What did you two talk about?”
“Just…uhm, mundane stuff.”
They didn’t push it further but I hated how they kept their eyes on me for the rest of the ride which meant I had to be careful at this hotel too. I was scared people would soon doubt something was going on. I was constantly paranoid. I didn’t want to ruin his career, he didn’t deserve this. I couldn’t care less about my reputation… people already expected so little of me.
All our drinks came and I was dying for a little of wine. Penelope was probably dying for vodka. I sipped on my diet soda and I hated it. I never really drank that shit.
Mr. Reynolds was constantly laughing with that stupid biology professor. I was getting sick of the little attention he gave me.
“I’ve travelled to over twenty countries,” she said and I rolled my eyes.
I interrupted her. “Where, exactly?” My friends looked at me, confused why I was interacting with her. Or maybe I sounded too rude.
Judging by Amelia’s expr**sion I did sound rude.
“Germany, Greece, Canada-“
“Basic. I’ve travelled to Asia a lot,” I said. My dad had a lot of international affairs there and Asia was truly a unique place with amazing cuisine.
I could feel her irritation, but Mr. Reynolds didn’t notice.
“Really? That’s amazing. Never been there. Which countries?”
I smiled at him. “South Korea, Japan, Thailand, one of my favorites. Nicest people in the world and also very clean and low crime.”
“What a good conversation while waiting for food,” Penelope said, bored of us already.
“You’ve been to Tokyo?”
“My first visit in Asia, actually. Fantastic place, you should go one day,” I said to him and he nodded.
Ms. Fitzgerald nodded. “Germany is a good place for history lovers, have you been there?”
“No. I prefer older eras. World War Two is redundant at this point.”
I smiled at her failure to change the subject in her favor. With him I felt smart, like with no one else.
Our conversation got terminated when the waiters came with the food. It smelled amazing and I was so hungry. I literally gorged on it and forgot to chat, but others weren’t very chatty either. We had lunch early in the day and the bus trip was boring.
We soon went to our rooms because it was already late and apparently, we weren’t allowed to leave the hotel since the college was responsible for us. It was going to be ha*d for Penelope to sneak out. I doubt she wanted to jump from the third floor.
“Are you going to sleep so soon? It’s only 11 pm,” Penelope asked me. Charlotte was doing her skincare.
“No. I’ll shower first and watch some Netflix.”
“Let’s watch something together!” Charlotte screamed from the bathroom. Her hearing was impeccable.
“Lucifer?”
“It’s a funny show, sure.”
“I want some snacks, though,” Charlotte said with a facemask on.
“Go buy something for us, Nadia,” Penelope said and I nodded. I hoped I could see Mr. Reynolds on the reception floor.
I grabbed my wallet and went to the elevator. There was no one in the hallway, everything seemed so quiet. I reached the first floor and saw a vending machine. I took a few glances at it… what do my friends even want to eat?
I bought some chips and other snacks and when I was going back to the elevator, the doors opened. Mr. Reynolds appeared in front of me. I couldn’t help but smile. And he was alone, for a second the corner of his eyes lifted and he seemed happy to see me.
“Hey, you’re not sleeping,” he said as he came up to me and looked around. I suddenly didn’t feel like taking the elevator.
“Uhm, yeah, my friends and I wanted to do a movie night, with some snacks,” I showed him what I got.
“Really? I’m still full from that dinner.”
“Don’t underestimate a teenager’s appetite.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.