Spaghetti and Meatballs
“Don’t forget to hand in your assignments next Friday!” Mr. Jami said while pointing his finger in the air, twirling it around. “If you cannot pass it to me on paper, you can email it to me. If you do not have my email already, you have failed as a class!”
The bell rang as he was speaking, but we all stayed still until he finished. I gathered my things and stood up from my plastic, worn-out seat. I’ve been using this seat all year, and this was my last week using it. I was excited, but I will miss this place.
At first, I was scared to move here. Sweden was far from home, and I knew no one here. Now that I’ve been here for a year, I will miss it when I go back home to Canada.
Walking down the aisle, Sam smiles at me. Damn, will I miss her. She is my roommate and my best friend. I wouldn’t have been able to get through this year without her. She lives in Canada, too, but hours away from me.
I smiled back and hugged her when I was close enough. “Hey, you going home now?”
“Nah, I’m going to get groceries since you ate everything. Wanna come?” She says as she picks up her bag, and we start making our way out of the classroom at our college.
“Yeah, sure, I’d love to,” I reply. She smiled at me again, and we made our way out of the courtyard to her car. Sam opened the back door first to throw her bag in there. I did the same. After both of us were in and our seatbelts were on, she started the engine, and we started to move.
“BTS?” Sam asked. I nodded and pushed the play button on the speaker. The car filled with the sound waves of BTS's’ Fake Love. We started singing along, even though we do not know the language. We didn’t care if we had the words right or not; we were having the time of our lives.
We came to a stop at a red light and waited for the light to turn green. I looked over to my right and noticed a beautiful drawing of graffiti painted on a brick wall. I pointed in that direction, and Sam’s eyes grew wide! “Oh my God, it’s beautiful!” We both laughed at her reaction, and the car started moving again after the light changed.
“That really was pretty, wasn’t it. But, what was it?” I really loved the picture as well, but I couldn’t make out what it was supposed to be. It looks kind of like a butterfly, but at the same time, an angel.
Sam shrugged, “No idea, but it was pretty. Just like you.” She winked in my direction and focused back onto the road ahead. Sam and I were close enough that some people have asked if we were together. Sometimes I think of her as my partner instead of my best friend. She’s always there for me when I need her, and I do the same for her.
If you were to ask me how I felt about her, I would say I love her. I do; I love her with all my heart. No one made me feel the way she makes me feel. If she asked me how I feel about her, I would say that I was her best friend and I love her as a sister. I don’t want to risk my relationship with her or make it weird by confessing.
Before I knew it, we were at the store. She pulled into a parking spot, and we both climbed out of her buggy and headed for the store hand in hand. We did get some looks, but we didn’t care. We carried on into the store and bought the groceries we needed, including the dinner she was making for me tonight: spaghetti and meatballs; the only thing she knows how to cook. At the checkout counter, we bagged everything and carried it to the car and placed it in the trunk. We climbed back into the buggy and sat there in silence.
Sam was the one to break the silence first, “What do you want to do now?” She asked me while finding the next BTS song to listen to.
“Uh... maybe we can go to the carnival since it’s the last day and we haven’t been there yet?” I suggested. I was really looking forward to going to this anyway; it would make me happy as hell if we went together.
“Yeah, sure, let’s do that!” She lit up with her perfect cheeks puffing up as she smiled. The car turns on and we leave the parking lot. We sing along as well as we can to BTS while approaching.
“So, do you know what rides you want to go on? I heard the zipper is cool.” She asked while parking the car again.
“No, we can try anything, though. I’m up for it,” I respond. I am nervous as I am slightly scared of heights, but I would do anything for her. Anything.
Hand in hand, we arrived at the ticket booth. “Two bracelets, please,” I said at the window.
“That will be twenty dollars, please,” she said, smiling as I handed her the money. She then cashed it and grabbed two bracelets and asked us for our arms. One at a time, we held our arms up for the bracelet to be placed on our wrists. “Please be advised that today the carnival ends at eleven PM. Please have fun!” She smiled brightly and waved as we backed up and walked farther into the carnival.
As we look around, there are lights everywhere and music piercing through the air all around us. She grabs my hand again and tugs me as she starts walking towards our first ride. I look up and see something tall and spinning like a helicopter’s propellers. I gulp. What did I get myself into?
