Verona In a Day

Olivia packed her suitcase, Summer was here to stay. The sun shined through the large windowpane as she looked up, she hardly had even said goodbye to everyone last week after Graduation. A long blonde curl hung down in her face before she tucked it away behind her ear. All she knew was that she was leaving in the afternoon boarding a plane alone to Verona, Italy. She had barely enough Italian crash courses to get her by. All the things her parents encouraged her to do, languages was the only one that she could actually use right now. "Buon Giorno, mi chiamo Olivia." She practiced aloud, "Come si chiama?" she rehearsed turning to the open drawer and refolding a pair of jeans before adding it to her suitcase. She took a moment to open her large walk-in closet, her eyes landing on a thin white dress. She took off her t-shirt and shorts and slipped into the dress, walking to the mirror she began a masterpiece of art on her face. Mixing between soft nudes and bronzes, if she wasn't feeling confident but she could at least look like it. She wanted to walk off that plane and look like she'd already been there many times, and decided she'd call Italy home instead of Redding. She ran a brush through her curly hair and tried styling it up and gave up halfway spritzing water through it and scrunching it up, it took very minimal work to curl it since she was blessed with beautiful curls. She took a step back to admire her work, "Not bad Liv, not bad at all." She stood back and pursed her red lips, she took a pair of red heels and slipped them on, and stood completed in front of a tall mirror that hung on her wall. "Olivia, it's almost time to leave!" Her mother called out to the long staircase, "Alright Mom! Chao, Redding, I'll see you in the fall for break. See ya soon." She reached over grabbing her makeup kits and makeup bag shoving it inside her suitcase as she sat on top of it to keep it shut as she zipped it up. She flung her laptop into her bag and scurried down the staircase, before she left she ran to the back door, "I just need a minute please!" she called she struggled to keep her balance in her heels as she ran. She opened the sliding glass door and shut it behind her, "Jax!" she yelled out. A loud bark responded as a large German Shepard greeted her with pants and licks, Olivia bent down and grabbed his face and neck. "Behave boy, don't give them a hard time, please. I'll be back before you know it boy. Thank you for everything, you have been my best friend and I couldn't have done any of this without you. I love you." She grabbed him by the neck and gave him a big firm squeeze as she felt her eyes water and a lump in her throat form. She had to pull herself away, he barked loudly at her and bounced back and forth in front of the door. She reached down and grabbed a dirty tennis ball, "Go get it!" she yelled as she tossed the ball far from the house and snuck through the sliding glass. "I think I'm ready." She declared as she pushed a pair of dark sunglasses on, she lifted her head and walked to the large black suv that waited for her. A tall burly man lifted suitcases into the back on the suv and nodded to her father and stood by the back door when the car was loaded. Her father reached out his slim arms and wrapped her up, "You'll behave? Call me when you land, and when you get to the house?" She laughed and squeezed him tightly, "I will, I will, I promise. I love you and all that mushy stuff." She turned to her mother and it was now her turn to say mushy stuff too. "I love you, Mom, I'll FaceTime and text often. I'll bring you back Italian dresses and bags and coffee... Lots of coffee." She said between tears. She was lost in the time as they whispered into each other's ears as if it was only them standing on the front steps by the driveway. "Call when you land, seriously Olivia. Call us whenever, if you need something let us know. We have a couple of friends that stay near in case you need something I'll forward their info over." A tearful mother reached for her husband and leaned her head over his shoulder, Olivia climbed into the suv and watched as the driver pulled away down the long driveway. The large Jax ran alongside the SUV until they were about to pull onto the street, she waved back one last time and her heart was in her throat as she let out a few tears careful of how she wiped her face not to smudge her makeup.