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11• "you matter, Char"

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• C H A R L O T T E •

"Holy shit!" Jess gawked at the private plane as we walked across the tarmac, wheeling our luggage.

"So this is what celebrities feel like," Teal suggested, in an above whisper.

"Brasil, aqui estamos nós!" Em cheered, proudly.

We all darted our stares at her, mostly out of utter confusion. She clearly picked up on our lack of apprehension.

"It means "Brazil, here we come" in Portuguese, duh," she informed, clutching her 'Tourist's Bible to Brazil' and a Portuguese to English dictionary.

"I thought they spoke Spanish there?" Keeks scratched her head like she was attempting to solve a complicated math problem.

"Portuguese is the official language," Em corrected, holding up the Tourist Bible as a reference.

"Consider yourself the translator for this trip then," Sam waved her arm at Em, allocating the duty of navigating communication for our duration in Brazil to her.

"Bitch, I only took a semester in Beginner's Portuguese. Teal is the one who's a quarter Portuguese," Em scowled at Sam.

"But you're the organized hoe with a dictionary and travel guide," Teal stated, nonchalantly, "besides, I only speak English fluently."

Em groaned and tucked her Tourist Bible and dictionary under her arm. I scurried over to her and hooked arms with her free arm, "don't worry girl, I'll take on translator duty with you," I offered, seeing how burdened she felt by the sudden pressure. Em doesn't work well under pressure and she hates being localized off. It makes her feel targeted. It reverts back to her middle school days when she used to be tormented by prissy, rich airheads for being a bookworm. In my opinion, Em's intelligence and organizational skills are admirable.

About Teal's quarter Portuguese thing: her Portuguese relatives are located in Funchal and she's only met them twice (when she was 3 and 7). Her mother is half Portuguese and her father is fully American with English roots down the line in his ancestry. I think her heritage is one of the reasons she's so invested in reaching every corner of the world. It's why I think she went into travel journalism. She's just an intern right now, but she looks up to her mentor, Clarissa, more than anything because Clarissa's been to every continent - including Antarctica.

"Hurry up, bitches!" Sam yelled from the plane, leaning outside the open doorway.

One by one, we scampered up the steps, grabbed a seat each and set our luggage aside. Shortly after we'd settled, two air hostesses transferred our luggage to the back seats which were unoccupied.

"This is insane!" Keeks squealed, grinning wide.

Keeks is a happy-go-lucky kind of girl. She's got a wild side when it comes to adventure, but when it comes to getting personal and past the surface, she's timid and guarded. Her dad walked out on her and her mother when she was 14, so she has fear of abandonment locked in deeply into the inner seams of her being. She's in her final semester of college, working towards breaking into the hospitality industry. She's always said that one day she hopes to work for one of the best hotels or restaurants in the world. She's leaning towards the chef side of things - which is why I love when she sleeps over. It always ensures restaurant-ready icing frosted waffles with raspberry coulis, almond accented cream and chopped strawberries for breakfast.