O n e ; A I S L I N G
I hated going to weddings. All the grandmas would poke me saying "You're next!" they stopped doing it when I started doing it to them at funerals. It was as simple as that.
Stella put my bags down in the back seat and exhaled heavily. "What do you have in here, Ais? Rocks?" Stella asked.
"As a matter of fact..." She looked at me, wide-eyed. I laughed. "No, I'm kidding." She rolled their eyes and smiled.
"New Jersey's gonna love you, Aisling. I can see it now..." Stella held her hands up as if she were reading a marquee. "Aisling: nineteen-year-old Klutz and Comedian." she laughed and I just glared half-heartedly at her. She grinned.
“Well, I'd love to stay and laugh at myself some more, but I gotta hit the road," I said, going for the door. Before I could open it and get in the car, she practically tackled me in a hug. I laughed. "I'm gonna miss you," I said, hugging her back.
"Like I won't miss you too!" She said.
I smiled. "Oh, come on, Stel. It's only two weeks. I'll be back before you know it." I got in the car and put my hand on the door to close it. "And I'm going to chop all my hair off and become emo." Her jaw dropped. I laughed. "What's wrong with emo people?" I asked. "And haven't I taught you anything in the past five years?" She shook their head as I closed the car door.
"Bye!" She called.
"Bye!" I called back as I rolled the window down.
The airport was two and half hours away, and I just listened to my iPod the whole way. Dad would talk to me every once in a while, but he seemed to be off in another world today. "Everything okay, Dad?" I asked, taking one earphone out of my ear. "Hmm? Oh, yeah. Fine," he said. I looked at him for a moment, then faced back forward and put my earphone back in.
I tucked a strand of my shoulder-length blonde hair behind my ear and pushed my earphone farther into my ear. Maybe I would cut all my hair off. Just to freak Stella out. I always liked experimenting with my hair. Long hair? Cut it off. Straight? It turned slightly wavy when I was twelve or thirteen. And side bangs with layers? It was a good look for me, I had to admit.
A six hour plane flight. I've had worse, I thought as I looked out the window next to me. It was starting to get dark, and I could just make out city lights below us. I love flying at night. I thought it was the most fun time to fly.
Dad had fallen asleep right after take-off. It didn't matter if it was 9am or 4pm; Dad always fell asleep on flights. Which was nice because if I was in a bad mood, I didn’t have to worry about making conversation.
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Sometimes, things happen when you least expect them to. You'll be waiting, hoping, for something. Something big. Something you really want. But it doesn't happen and you get disappointed. Your dreams crumble around you and you're left trying to pick up the pieces, not only of your crushed dreams, but also of your broken heart.
You think that there's no way you can go on. But you do. You push through, even though you just want to give up and die. You don't give up. You keep pushing on. You might be running on empty, but you are still going.
And just when you think you've had enough, that's when something happens. Something wonderful. Something that will change your life forever. It might be something big and flashy. But it usually starts with something small. Something you don't expect.
But even the most insignificant events can have the most profound effect.
