There’s this place called Alberta. Where girls like me don’t live and there isn’t a soul with a Southern accent. Where the boys play hockey and smoke cigars. Where the residents live in igloos and use polar bears as their main method of transportation. Or so I’m told.

That’s all according to the only Canadian I know. Canadians don’t live in North Carolina that I know of. It’s amazing that in three days that certain Canadian taught me reality. Or maybe I was living in reality and he taught me to live in a fantasy or something similar and equally as cheesy. Three days was all it took to realize that my world doesn’t have to revolve around long gone memories and a shattered heart. I can make all the new memories I want now. Maybe I’ll even glue the pieces or my heart back together. Or tape them, given the materials at hand. He helped me a little with that. So I’ve got some new memories now and I’ll hold onto them without turning them into weapons to break down the pieces of my heart into smaller chunks.
*

*

*

*






Savannah scooted closer to the edge, dangling her tanned legs and focusing on the chipped pink polish on her toes. She watched the black water being churned below by the massive propellers, masked by an unfazed stare.

Distant laughter of teenagers fell in the background. Savannah ignored it, pressing her forehead against the cool metal railing.

“Hey!” A female voice called. “What are you doing all alone?”

Savannah flinched and ignored the voice.

“You okay?” The voice asked, closer this time.

“Yeah,” Savannah turned to find a group of teenagers staring blankly at her. There were four boys and five girls. Savannah wondered what they were doing up at two in the morning like herself.

“You want to come with us?” The owner of the voice before, a Hispanic girl, interjected coming closer towards her. “I’m Natalia, what’s your name?”

“Savannah,” She breathed, reluctantly standing.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you around. But we’ve been hanging out the whole trip and you’re welcome to join us.” She referred back to the group of teenagers each awkwardly shifting their weight and exchanging glances.

Savannah tucked a wavy blonde stand of hair behind her ear. “Yeah,” She forced a smile glancing at the teenagers. “I’d like that.”

“Where are you from, Savannah?” The tallest of the four boys asked in a heavy Midwestern accent.

“North Carolina,” Savannah answered.

“We’ve got a Southerner.” A boy with messy sandy-blonde hair grinned. Savannah met eyes with him and found herself unable to look away for a brief moment.

“Hey, isn’t that where the biggest ball of string is?” The tallest boy asked genuinely. Natalia giggled and touched his arm, indicating he was off limits.

Savannah laughed, finding herself loosening up as she rolled her eyes. “I actually have no idea.”

He turned to the rest of the group. “Let’s go somewhere else.”

“Lead the way,” A brunette girl with braces said, gluing herself to Natalia’s hip as the group gravitated towards the stairway.

“I’m Sidney,” The boy with sandy blonde hair indicated.

Savannah shot him a flirtatious be-real look as she placed a hand on the banister, entering the stairway.

Sidney mocked her look. “I’m serious,” He flashed Savannah a bright smile. “And do you mind saying ‘Carolina’ again?”

“Carolina,”

“Yup, you have a funny accent.” He laughed.

Savannah blushed and the boy on Sidney’s right grinned at her, daring her to say more in her accent. “I thought Sidney was a girl’s name.” She teased.

“Hey now,” He mocked her be-real look again.
“So, where are you from Sidney? If that’s even your real name.” She eyed him devilishly.

“I’m from Canada. And I’m not even going to bother with telling you what province I live in because you won’t have a clue to what I’m talking about.”

Savannah reddened at the fact she did not know what a province was.

“And yes, Sidney’s my real name; it’s French.” He glanced at her, brown eyes gleaming as they came to the end of the stairs.

Savannah’s eyes shot down to the ground. “So where exactly are we going?”

“San Juan, Puerto Rico.”

“I meant which part of the ship.”

“I don’t know,” Sidney prolonged shrugging his shoulders. Savannah liked how carefree he was about it and smiled to herself.

The group finally stopped in the café, which was empty of all passengers for what seemed like the first time. “I guess here,” Sidney answered as the teenagers huddled around the frozen yogurt machine. “What kind do you want?” He asked Savannah.

“Strawberry,”

Sidney filled a waffle cone up to the brim and handed it to her with smiling eyes.
*

*

*

*


“Wake up!”

Savannah groaned, whipping a thin arm out from under the snow white sheet.

“The ship starts to let passengers off at eight o’ clock! Get up!” Savannah’s mother shook her as Savannah peered between her eyelashes, matted with last night’s mascara. “Do you know what time you got back to the cabin last night?”

Savannah stared sleepily at her mother.

“Three in the morning,”

Not so bad, Savannah thought silently to herself. She thought back to meeting Sidney, how he’d walked her back to her room but had failed to even give her a good-night hug. Savannah’s thin pink lips curled up at the thought of his goofy shrugs and imitations of the looks she gave him.

“Wash your face.” Her mother crinkled up her nose. “And meet me at the Promenade for coffee.” She swiftly grabbed her sunglasses and room key, stuffing them into her bulky Coach bag she brought everywhere she went. Savannah always thought it was ridiculous to carry such a big purse. Her mother slammed the door shut on her way out.

Savannah rolled out of bed and stared into the mirror. She had put her plaid pajama pants backwards and was wearing the same tank-top as she had on the night before. She jumped in the shower, picking off clumps of mascara from her eyelashes and flicking them down the drain. Savannah didn’t bother with her make-up and tucked her loose blonde curls into a messy bun, threw on her favorite pair of now faded jean shorts, a T-shirt, and plastic flip-flips she had purchased at the “Dollar-Deal!” at Old Navy. Savannah hid behind a pair of over-sized black sunglasses and headed out of the room.

Savannah caught the elevator and pressed button nine. The elevator started clunking upwards and stopped at the very next floor it reached. A chubby family of three piled in, forcing Savannah into the corner. The elevator stopped again before she had reached her destination to pick up even more people. Savannah groaned impatiently. Sidney entered the elevator, also hidden by a pair of sunglasses. She hoped he’d recognize her behind the red-faced travelers.

“Hey, Savannah,” He grinned as if reading her mind. Savannah caught onto an accent she had not noticed last night.

“Floor nine! Promenade!” The elevator speakers interrupted in an overly-excited recording.

“That’s me,” Savannah explained as she squeezed past the chubby family.

“Me too,” Sidney followed.

Savannah turned and grinned at him.

“I’m surprised to see you up so early.” He observed, starting to walk beside her.

“Yeah, well, it definitely isn’t a choice.” Savannah grumbled. “I have to meet my mom for coffee.”

“That’s not so bad.” He looked down at his feet. “Do you mind if I join you?”

Savannah hesitated, partly at his usage of proper grammar, but mostly because he was willing to meet her mother. “Um, sure. If you really want to.” She mumbled as the automatic doors opened for them as they exited out to the pool deck, getting blasted by a gust of warm air. Savannah scanned the tables filled with partially clothed, sunburned vacationers. They were looking a little rough considering it was only day three of the cruise. Savannah spotted her mother and headed over, checking behind her just to be sure Sidney had not made a break for it due to second thoughts. “Hi, Mom. This is my friend, Sidney. We met yesterday and he’ll be joining us for coffee.” She stammered nervously.

Savannah’s mother stuck out her manicured hand stiffly to Sidney. He stuck out his left hand impulsively then realized her mother was right handed and switched, turning a bright shade of red. Sidney nervously shook her mother’s hand. Savannah giggled, wondering if that always happened to left-handed people. Savannah’s mother pretended not to notice. “You can call me Teresa.” She smiled graciously.

Sidney gave her a bashful smile. “Nice to meet you, Teresa.”

“We’ll go grab some coffee and be back shortly.” Savannah interrupted. The two scooted out, finding the coffee machines. Savannah grabbed a green mug and filled it halfway with decaf.

“Your mom seems-“

“Stuck up,” Savannah finished his sentence, busying herself with filling her mug with more milk and sugar than necessary.

“I was going to say well put together.” He tensed his shoulders as he reached for his own mug.
Savannah grinned slightly. “Ohhh, so now she’s overdressed?” She teased in a joking manner.
“So now you’re putting words in my mouth, eh?”
Savannah giggled. “Eh?”
“Well I did tell you I was from Canada.” He grinned. “I thought that was enough of a warning.” He finished stirring his coffee and motioned back to the table where Teresa was waiting. Savannah followed him back. The two sat down and sipped their drinks, listening to Teresa babble about her and Savannah’s vacation and about what their family was doing. Savannah started to get embarrassed when her mother did not even pretend to be interested in Sidney.
Savannah tuned her mother out, burying her face in her mug, pretending to enjoy her rather crappy cup of coffee and stealing glances at Sidney. He was nodding politely and even attempting to relate to some conversations, although he was quickly cut off. Nonetheless, he was trying. He turned and smiled at Savannah when it was time to leave. She gave him an apologetic look. Savannah realized at that moment that he was not going to give up on winning Teresa’s approval any time soon. Although she was not so sure about herself.
*

*

*

*


Savannah dangled a shark tooth necklace in front of her face. The tooth was tied to a frayed dark brown rope. She ran the tip of her finger along the tooth’s rough edges.

“So when are you going to explain coming home at three in the morning?” Teresa picked up an oversized ring, examined it, and set it back down on the store’s counter.

“I wasn’t going to.” Savannah grumbled under her breath.

“I can still hear you, you know.” She said coldly.

“I know.” Savannah sighed. “Look, Mom, I just need a little space right now.”

“Space? You’re going to talk to me about giving you space while we’re on our family vacation together? I don’t understand this, Savannah. You were looking forward to this trip so much and then your little boyfriend dumps you and you completely change your mind. Which by the way, was very poor timing of him.”

Savannah bit the inside of her cheek, trying to avoid her explosion of anger that was soon to come. ‘Sorry the end of our relationship was inconvenient to your vacation plans,’ she thought to herself.

“You’ve been so unreasonable and distant.” Teresa started up again, obviously not catching onto her daughter’s anger. “This is my vacation too, you know. Not everything revolves around you Savannah, as hard as you find that to believe. I really want you to change that.”

Savannah hated that her mother actually had a point, as cruel as she was being about it. “I’m sorry, Mom. I just had a lot on my mind last night and I felt the need to be alone for a little while.” She pretended to shop through the knick-knacks.

“I’m tired of hearing excuses, Savannah. What do you think your grandmother is going to think when you’re coming back to our room during ungodly hours?”

“I don’t know, Mom.” Savannah impulsively shoved the unpaid-for necklace in her shorts pocket and stormed out of the shop.

“Savannah! Where are you going?” She heard her mother yelled after her.

She ignored her mother. Savannah raced down the narrow sidewalk slipping on her sunglasses and adjusting her straw hat she had purchased in Nassau. A rusted red bike resting against a bright blue building caught her eye. Savannah hopped on, the natives paying no attention to her. Tourists were not the ones they usually had to look out for when it came to committing robbery. Savannah pedaled quickly down the street taking in all the three story buildings of bright colors. Balconies were covered with ornate flowers. Savannah couldn’t help but thinking that if she was in a movie, the song Paradise by Coldplay would be playing in the background. The foreign city flew by faster and faster, the sidewalk seemingly narrowing. A flood of thoughts rushed to Savannah’s mind and for once not one of them involved her ex-boyfriend back in North Carolina.

She thought of her mother and their fight. She thought back to how she had nothing to come home for. Her traitors she called friends would not mind if she disappeared. In small towns the same old things seemed to happen over and over but here, it was different. Savannah felt different. Maybe it was the change in scenery or the fact she was away from it all (except her family.) Savannah didn’t care, she was just glad to be feeling different. Like she was okay, no matter how bad things were.

Savannah heard saxophone music and turned her bike in the direction absent mindedly. When she found the owner she threw the bike down and stood on the opposite side of the street. The musician was an elderly black man leaning down and expertly moving his fingers across the keys. The shine on his instrument was long gone but the sound was just as brilliant. She thought back to when she used to play. This man must have been playing for decades. The musician swayed to his own music.
*

*

*

*




Savannah leaned against the boat railing, staring into the still water, letting her wispy blonde hair fall in front of her face.

“I thought I might find you here.” Sidney appeared beside her, leaning against the railing.

“What makes you say that?” She asked.

“Well I did meet you out on the deck at around this time.” He looked up at the dark sky and stars looming above them.

“I guess so,” Savannah grinned. She realized that it wasn’t even what he said that made her smile so often; it was his presence, his voice, the way he smiled.

“You aren’t a risk-taker are you?”

“That came out of nowhere,” Savannah observed. “And no, I’m not. I guess it’s that obvious, huh?”

Sidney did his trade-mark shrug again and calmly slipped on the other side of the railing, nothing to stop him from plummeting into the water below.

“What’re you doing?” Savannah asked skeptically, edge clearly in her tone of voice.

“Taking a risk,” He grinned.

“No you aren’t.” She grabbed his wrist through the railing.

“No, I won’t. Not alone at least.”

“You’re insane.”

“Maybe a little bit,”

Savannah met eyes with him, still holding onto his wrist.

“C’mon, it’s not that far.” He insisted.

Savannah peered over the railing. They were on the lowest deck on the ship and considering it was a relatively small ship at that, the drop was only about twenty feet. The beach wasn’t too far from where they were docked. She could make it. But she was a little too stubborn to try. “No,”

“C’mon, it’ll be fun. Plus, how many chances are you gonna have to say you jumped off a cruise ship?” He cocked his head to the side and grinned.

“I think I can live a perfectly happy life without jumping off a cruise ship.”

“No,” He shook his head. “I don’t think you can.”

Savannah slipped out of her flip-flops and joined him on the other side. “This is stupid,” She complained.

“You’re only saying that ‘cause it wasn’t your idea! You wish you were the one to think of it.” He assured her.

“Yeah, that’s it.” She said sarcastically.

Sidney reached out and held her hand, fingers lacing. “Ready?” He squeezed her hand.

“I don’t think this is such a good idea,” Savannah’s forehead wrinkled.

“Well, ya can’t back out now!”

Savannah looked at Sidney. His eyes were bright and hopeful.

“One…” He counted slowly. Savannah stared into the black still water.

“Two…” He said a little louder, still eying her. Savannah’s heart felt like it was going to explode inside her chest.

“Three,” Sidney whispered as her toes curled to the edge of the ship in her last silent objection before he launched himself forward, away from the ship, dragging Savannah with him. She squeezed his hand as air raced around them sending her hair high above her head and her sundress floating like a parachute around her, a parachute that did not work, that is. Savannah closed her eyes tightly and yelped just before meeting the lukewarm water.
She went under, water far over her head as she lost her grip on Sidney’s hand. It was silent and dark. Savannah kicked her legs as hard as she could, in the desperate attempt to meet the surface. She sprang up, taking in big gulps of air.
“Sidney!” She called. Savannah searched the waters frantically just as another head popped up. Sidney rubbed his eyes and shook his head, wet locks sticking up wildly, and greeted her with his warm laugh.
Savannah laughed too and splashed him playfully.
When the two reached shore they headed immediately back up the pier, hand in hand wearing victorious smiles.
“So how old are you?” Sidney asked curiously.
“I’m fifteen,”
“I turn seventeen next month,”
“Well actually I’m fifteen and a half,” She said a little too quickly and cursed herself silently for sounding inexperienced but mostly just lame.
Sidney chuckled and ran a hand through his tousled hair. “So are you in grade 10?”
Savannah’s eyes darted to the ground as she bit her bottom lip. “We call it sophomore, but sure.”
“That’s weird how you call you’re grade numbers freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior.”
“It’s weird how you call tenth grade, grade ten,” She teased.
Sidney laughed again as they reached the entrance to the ship. He clicked the buzzer and they waited for a crew member to let them in patiently. They glanced nervously at each other when there was no answer. Sidney pulled the handle of the metal door.
It was locked. They stared at each other in a surge of fear.
“We’re not getting back in the ship tonight,” Sidney stated blandly.
“My parents are going to kill me,”
“Maybe abuse, not kill,” He shrugged.
Savannah shot him a wide eyed glare. “What’s wrong with you?” Her forehead crinkled in frustration. “Do you realize how screwed we are? We’re locked out. In a country neither of us live in. In a city neither of us know.”
Sidney stared at her flushed angry cheeks and narrowing eyes, seriously contemplating grabbing Savannah and kissing her.
“Can we not use our key cards in the door or something?” She asked searching the area around the metal entrance for some kind of magical button or key slot. Savannah turned back to Sidney, stomping her foot a little over-dramatically. “I don’t have shoes. I’m cold. And this is your fault.”
“You agreed to it,” He stated, in his constantly composed tone of voice.
Savannah shot him a look.
“We can walk into town if you need something,” He offered, feeling a little guilty.
“There’s no use.” She plopped down on the pier, elbows resting on knees. “I don’t have any money with me and something tells me you don’t either.”
“I don’t,” He admitted.
Savannah sighed resting her chin in both hands. Sidney silently sat a safe distance of two feet away from her. “Tomorrow, we’ll get on the ship bright and early, hopefully just when the staff’s just begun moving about and before our parents have woken up.”
“I’m pretty sure they’ll notice when I don’t come back to the room tonight,” She laid on her side, away from Sidney.
Sidney lay on his back, giving Savannah the silence she seemed to crave. After having his eyes closed for a long while, he started to wonder if she’d fallen asleep. “Savannah?” He whispered.
She rolled over to face him. Sidney couldn’t help but noticing how much closer she had scooted towards him. “Yeah?”
“Sorry about getting us locked out. I know it was my fault.” He admitted, thankful for an excuse to get her talking to him again.
“I’m sorry for being a pain in the ass,”
“I deserved it,”
Savannah perked up a little at the sound of his accent coming out. “So what’s it like in Canada?”
“Pretty awesome,”
The two were silent for a while, as they both thought of things to try to make conversation with.
“Are there polar bears?” She asked genuinely.
“Yeah, they’re our main method of transportation.”
“Shut up,”
“I’m not lying. We also live in igloos.” He said in a persuasive tone, keeping a serious facial expression.
“What’s it actually like?” She laughed.
“Well what do ya mean?”
“Um, well, what are the people like?”
“Well, none of them have Country accents like you do.” He grinned. “And they like hockey and smoke cigars. What about North Carolina?”
“Nothing too exciting happens in North Carolina. There are a lot of strip clubs.”
“Sounds like a pretty happening place.”
“You have no idea,” She rolled on her back, admiring the stars. Her green eyes, sprinkled with hazel moved back and forth. Sidney noticed faint freckles spread across her nose and how her wavy blonde locks were paler in the moonlight.
“You’re really pretty,” Sidney whispered.
Savannah blushed violently. “Stop it,”
“Alright,” Sidney grinned, looking up at the sky. “What’s life like in North Carolina?”
“It sucks,” She paused, suddenly becoming serious. “It just seems like everything is more dramatic than it really needs to be.”
“Is that what your family is like?”
“No,” She assured him.
“Well then what’s the problem?”
“I just got out of a year-long relationship.” She started a little reluctantly. “And I have the least supportive friends in the world. And I let myself put up with so much to where now I’m on the breaking point. And trust me, Sidney. You don’t want to hear about it.” Her voice shook.
“I want to know you,” He said. “And you want to talk. So why don’t you talk to me?”
“Because I don’t talk about it, that’s just how I am. I take everyone’s s*** and hold it in and pretend like everything’s always going to get better when it never does.”
“So it’s one of those ‘too nice’ things?” He asked.
“No, not at all. I would tell both him and my best friend what they did wrong. Then I would realize that they weren’t going to listen, and if I didn’t shut up I was going to lose them. So I shut up, and kept shutting myself up because I didn’t think it would be worth it.”
Sidney eyed the ground, his angular jaw line appearing sharper than before. “Did you break up with him?”
“No…”
“So where are you now?”
“My ex-boyfriend and I aren’t speaking. And my best friend and I only really talk at school. She’s too wrapped up in her jackass boyfriend to even realize that I need her now.” She let out a sad sarcastic laugh. “You’d think it would be obvious.” Savannah felt like a weight was lifted off her chest. “It’s nice to get it all out there. Feels better.”
Sidney nodded.
“What about you? What’s life like in Canada?”
“I don’t know. I mean I can’t say it’s either good or bad it’s just life.” He shrugged.
Savannah liked that outlook. There was good and bad in her life, even though sometimes it seemed like the bad outweighed the good. “What’s your story?”
“I don’t know yet. Not really sure where it’s leading but so far, I like where it’s brought me.” He met eyes with Savannah, hoping she knew what he meant. “I grew up in Alberta. Well, still growing up, I guess. My parents divorced when I was young. But it wasn’t too bad, I mean, we get two Christmases. By ‘we’ I mean my older brother and I.”
“What are you gonna do when you get out of high school?”
“I don’t know. That’s kinda what I meant when I said I don’t know what my story is leading to. I’m in grade twelve and I don’t even know where I want to go to college. I want to go into the medical field, that’s about all I know. I’ve made mediocre grades and now I’m limited which drives me insane because everyone tells you that you can be anything you want to be, and now I can’t.”
Savannah rested her cheek against Sidney’s shoulder.
“I was too busy being stupid and taking everything as a joke.” He sighed. “I hang out with guys who party a lot so I got sucked into all that.”
“You can always change that,”
“Yeah, I guess I can.” Sidney looked directly into her eyes, and they suddenly seemed closer as to when their eyes studied the stars rather than each other.
She glanced away. Savannah’s heart started to pound as she looked back up into his intriguing dark eyes and tilted up her chin.
“Why can’t girls like you live in Canada?” He whispered and kissed her softly. Both of them reached for the other’s hand and found each other in the dark, latching on.
*

*

*

*

Savannah’s eyelids fluttered opened, disturbed by the brightening sky. She immediately looked beside her. Sidney’s eyes were still closed and his mouth was slightly opened, chest slowly moving up and down. “Sidney,” She reached over and whispered, shaking him a little. It was early, the ship was bustling with the sound of crew members preparing the ship to leave. “Sidney,” She said a little louder.

“Mmmhh,” He groaned stretching his arms over his head and opening his eyes, a half smile on his face. “Good morning, sunshine.” He directed to Savannah.

Savannah rolled her eyes even as she was thinking how adorable it was that he could wake up with a smile on his face. “We better go,”

“I know,” He stood slowly, and helped Savannah to her feet. Sidney clicked the buzzer, alerting an attendant that they were outside the ship.

“Hello!” A bright-eyed crew member greeted them almost instantaneously.

“We, uh- sort of got locked out,” Sidney held up his key card as proof he belonged on the ship, Savannah, copied his motion.

The crew member chuckled, letting them in. “Good luck,”

Savannah took his comment as a warning and raced to the elevator, frantically pushing the button to her floor. Sidney wobbled in his half-asleep walk over to her, the automatic doors almost shutting him out.

“I don’t know what I was thinking,” Savannah breathed.

Sidney stared at her as she paced back and forth.

She scolded herself. “My mother is seriously going to kill me.”

“Didn’t we go through this last night?”

“Floor Five! Lido!” The elevator doors opened. Savannah started out the door just as Sidney grabbed her hand. Savannah spun around meeting Sidney’s eyes. He kissed her in one swift motion.

“I have to go,” Savannah mumbled staring at his hand holding onto her own, as she pulled away. She raced down the hallway repeating “2059,” her room number, out-loud. Savannah shoved her key card in the door and the button turned green. She turned the knob, pushing the door open, heart racing.

Teresa held a lock of her dark brown hair in her hand, preparing to run over it with her flat iron. She glanced up and Savannah and sighed. “Glad you decided to show up,”

Savannah walked over straight to her mother, hugging her. “I’m sorry. Mom, I didn’t mean to stay out that long.”

Teresa held a blank stare, completely ready to explode on her daughter but now, held it in. “Do you need to catch up on any sleep?” She asked, voice stiff.

“No,” Savannah said. “I actually slept more then I have in a while.”

Teresa eyed her, not quite convinced. “Go clean yourself up and pack. You know this is our last day.”

“It is?” Savannah’s eyes widened, a trace of dread spreading across her face.

“Did you lose track of the days?”

“Yeah,” Savannah stared at the ground, forehead crinkling. She bent down over her suit case, dragging out a clean set of clothes.

Teresa returned to her hair, staring at her daughter through the mirror as she prepared to jump in the shower.
*

*

*

*

Savannah searched the crowd of passengers, desperately.

“I’m sorry, Savannah. But, we need to go now.” Teresa said in a sympathetic tone.

“No,” Savannah pleaded. “I need to say goodbye.”

Teresa grabbed Savannah’s arm softly and led her through the exit. Warm Florida air welcomed her as she lugged her overstuffed tote bag on her shoulder. Savannah tilted her broad sunhat up, scanning for Sidney again.

“Honey, we’re going to miss our flight if we can’t beat the traffic.”

Savannah felt her heart drop in her chest as she followed her mother and grandmother obediently. Crew members loaded their suitcases into the back of the taxi, waiting for them. “Okay,” She swallowed the lump forming in her throat. Savannah looked back one more time, hand on the car door. To her surprise, she saw Sidney loading his own belongings into a rental car.

“Now,” Teresa complained.

Sidney saw her through the crowd of people. Neither of them smiled but just stared, knowing this was it. “Goodbye,” Savannah whispered and got into the taxi. She turned around and watched him from the back window, he never took his eyes off the car as he grew smaller and smaller. He was frozen, suitcase in hand, locked eyes.

*

*

*

*


Savannah took slow careful steps down the steep temporary stairway that helps passengers depart the plane. She tightened the belt on her long raincoat and swung her carry-on over her shoulder. The sky was dark now, as her thin black high heels stabbed at the slick black asphalt. A glow shone off it from the over head streetlights, lighting the track up like a stage.

Attendants shuffled around, in the attempt to keep luggage from getting wet. They wheeled big suitcases around on oversized metal carts into the airport in a chaotic rush. Savannah glanced around before the entrance. She was wearing the bright red lipstick Natalia had given her that she usually did not have the guts to wear in public.

Sidney waited patiently, close to the airport entrance, in worn blue jeans. Savannah raced towards him, jumping into his arms. She ran a hand through his hair, damp and slightly shaggier. He kissed her, holding her tightly. He broke into that same excited grin, his face a little older and more acute. “I told you I would wait for you,” He breathed, as if he’d been holding it in for a long time.


Savannah’s sleepy eyes opened. She glanced around her bedroom, a little confused. Savannah sighed, coming to the realization that it had only been a dream. She rolled over, bed sheets knotting around her body. The bright red flashing numbers on her outdated alarm clock read “2:13 AM.” She could not help but wonder what time it was in Canada. Savannah sighed and wondered if 2:13 AM was the time that she met Sidney.
She was not sure that they would ever see each other again. It was only by chance they had met after all, so how could she expect to see him again? It all seemed so unfair that she only got to see a piece of what they could become. It was like a book left unopened. As if she had picked up a book only reading the back, to get a jest of what it was all about and just left it, unopened and lonely. Without even giving it a chance.
Savannah wondered if it all meant as much to him as it did her. She reached over and grabbed her cell phone and a crumpled piece of paper off the nightstand. She used the phone as a light, reading the messy scrawled telephone number with a different area code. Copying the number into her phone, Savannah felt her heart race faster and faster just as she pressed the call button.

“Hello?” A familiar voice greeted her. Savannah smiled by habit and felt the same rush over her.