“Whaa..” Kalle stuttered, “What time is it?”
“7:30. You better get up now so we’ll be ready to go”
“Oh..ok. Just a minute.” Kalle flipped over and went back to sleep, when the phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Hey hon, ready to go?” her boyfriend Colin's voice woke her up instantly.
“Oh, hey Col. Actually, I was just getting up”
“Oh. Well, I wanted to call and say I love you and I’ll miss you”
“I love you too, but I’m only gonna be gone 3 days!” Kalle exclaimed.
“Yeah, but you know after one day I miss you.”
“True, well, I’ll miss you too”
“KALLE!!! Get off the phone and get dressed now!!” Her mom screamed into the other phone.
“Sorry, Col, I gotta go. I love you. Bye” Kalle said as she hung up the phone.
As Kalle got up, she started to think. Colin and I have only been together for 5 months. We already know we love each other. Am I moving too fast? We haven’t barely done anything with each other yet, just kissed and fooled around a bit. What if I meet someone else? What if he does? Colin was Kalle’s first serious boyfriend. They met at school in class, and he asked her out. They were complete opposites, he liked sports, she liked music. But, somehow they worked everything out and were a great couple. Every girl in school was jealous of her! She was always having second thoughts about their relationship. He was such a popular guy, she thought she’d lose him for some other girl, while she was busy with her music.
She was going to Toronto for 3 days to see some sites, do some shopping, and see “Phantom” just because her mom wanted to. She loved the musicals, but what she really loved was her first musical experience, “Footloose”. She knew all the songs by heart, and her dream one day was to go back to NYC and see it again, and again...
“Kalle, are you ready yet??” Her brother peeked in her room.
“Yeah, Brett, I’m ready.”
“Then come on! Mom’s already mad at you for being late”.
“Ok, let’s go”.
She grabbed her suitcase, went downstairs, and grabbed a bagel and was out the door. Her mother was already in the car waiting. She could just tell it was gonna be a bad trip.
“Sorry about being late mom” Kalle muttered as she hopped into the van.
“You know I’m not fond of this Colin guy, and it’s your fault for being late. What time did you get home last night?”
“Around midnight, that’s when the movie got out. Can we please not talk about this now?” Kalle pleaded, as she put on her headphones. The “Footloose” cd was in her cd player. Perfect, Kalle thought as she listened to Jeremy Kushnier sing his heart out. Not even 10 minutes into the trip, her brother Brett started in on her.
"Hey Kalle, listening to 'Footloose'?" Brett said with a laugh.
"Yeah, you got a problem with it?" she sighed. This is gonna be a LONG trip..
"Yeah, that Jeremy Kushnier guy is such a fag! Look at his side burns!" Brett snickered as he looked at the picture on the back cover of the cd.
"Well at least he can grow side burns!" Kalle argued back. She hated her brother!
"Oh, big deal. All those dumb guys on Broadway are real fruits."
"And who is making more money??" she asked, knowing she had him.
"Yeah...so? You don't need money..oh shit, forget you. You're too busy listening to those fags."
"Better than listening to you, dumbass." Kalle turned up her discman really loud.
"MOM! Kalle called me a dumbass!" Brett whined.
"Kalle, be nice to your brother!" her mom warned.
"Yeah, mom and I suppose you didn't hear him swear?" she yelled. Her mom always went against her. It was NEVER sweet little Brett's fault.
"No, I didn't. And if I did, he WOULD be in big trouble." she stared daggers at Brett though the rearview mirror.
"I didn't swear, mom, honest!" he protested.
"I know honey, just leave your sister alone, ok?"
"Fine. She's listening to her fags anyways." he said
"BRETT! Don't say that!" his mom yelled.
"Whoops, sorry! I didn't mean that mom!" he begged.
Kalle snickered and rolled her eyes as her favorite song, "Almost Paradise" came on. What I wouldn't give to sing this with Jeremy, she thought. As she stared out the window, she imagined herself doing just that. Pretty soon, she was asleep.
3 hours later, she awoke to her brother poking her as they pulled into downtown Toronto. As they made their way to the motel, Kalle stared out the window. I wish Col was here...at least he’d keep me company for these three days of hell, she wished. Finally they stopped outside of their motel, The Imperial Inn. It looked kinda run down.
“Perfect” she said outloud, “we get to stay in a roach motel for three days.”
“Kalle don’t start, or you’ll stay here for three days.” her mom warned.
“Sorry.” she said, getting out quickly to avoid anymore conflict.
“Brett, help me with the bags,” Kalle said as she stared across the street. Why does that guy look so familiar? I must know him from somewhere. She wondered. He had on a baseball cap, so she couldn’t tell from across the street.
“Kalle, MOVE!” her mom said, startling her from her daydream.
“Ok, ok..” Kalle picked up her bags and went inside to check in. Who was that guy?? She couldn’t help but wonder...
