Let's Get Lost

Chapter 4

"Remember that time when we got lost in Rome? It was fun!" The short-term effects of the drinks Tom had had earlier that night were beginning to fade and he looked at us vivaciously, as if he was coming back to reality.

We had explored the city in Italy when we went on a school trip, with our history English class. The teacher gave us some free time to wander around, but Tom had forgotten the pocket map in our auberge room. We ended up not finding a tourist shop around us. So, instead of visiting the Fontana Di Trevi and The Roman Forum, we found ourselves following the signposts to who knows where, lunching the typical Italian dish at a side walk restaurant, admiring the talent of the wondrous street artists and visiting an odd art museum. We were living the dolce vita, weren't we? Eventually, Mrs. Valerie, our teacher, showed us the Coliseum. We acted like if we were in awe of the beauty of the old architecture.

"The trip was exceptional!" David agreed and his ablaze gaze met mine. He smiled timidly, like he did after we shared our first kiss in the city of Rome. They say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. It doesn't work like that for Rome. Instead, what happened there brought us together when we came back to Valencia.

"You were still dating Emily back then!" I took my eyes off of his handsome visage and landed them on Nick, talking about a redhead girl with almond-shaped eyes that used to be our friend, before she started running after an influent older guy,  blinded by the fear of rejection. Nick, as his ex-boyfriend, started to run after her even after being ditched. He was like the ocean and she was like the shore, no matter how many times he had kissed her, she sent it away.

"Have you heard about her lately?"

"Not at all. For fuck's sake, it's been four months, when will she open her eyes to realize that guy is a fool?" He answered. The sincerity of his words empowered his heart. "My arms will still be open for her if she ever comes back."

They say people don't change, they just become more of who they truly are. Sometimes, I still believe that she misses him. No matter who you lost and how you act like you got over it, a vestige of them remains inside your heart, ready to whirl around your mind whenever something reminds you of them.

As minutes turned fast into hours, and the heavy air of summer nights turned into a balmy fresh breeze, we swung in the hammocks of the balcony. Joy floated in the air but we knew the night was about to end. We could survive two more hours until the sunrise, couldn't we?

"The first person to fall asleep has to pay the rest of us a lunch!" Tom proposed. Ridiculously, he was the only one who closed his eyes, afterwards. When he was ten years old, Tom was considered the weird guy. Last year, when he failed the year and turned seventeen, only one year older than all of us, he became our classmate and people started calling him the goofy one, as he made people laugh. It wasn't in a bad intention but, after that, Tom believed being funny was his only talent. He was like a candle afraid of losing its flame.

Cuddling with David while looking at Nick's wide smile and Sara laughing at Tom, I realized I was afraid of losing them someday. I was afraid that they would leave, just like Emily did. Sometimes change is unpredictable, and it scared me. That night, I captured everything from the dark blue shades of the sky to the features of my friends, fearing that one day the moment would fall into oblivion. I knew life is not about being fearless, but I also knew there would come a time where we would face our fears. I just didn't know that time would be so close.