I first talked to him in 7th grade near Christmas break. I should of talk to him sooner considering he was in my homeroom, my language arts class and we shared the same friends but it wasn’t until that Wednesday that finally worked up the courage to talk to the cute boy with brunette blond streaked hair and gorgeous hazel eyes.







* * *

Returning for 8th grade year I considered Gabe, the brunette haired boy with blond streaked hair and hazel eyes, a friend.

Eighth grade was the year that they reinstated the Spain trip. I really wanted to go to Spain so I could see Barcelona and Madrid, which were both on my list of places to go. Convincing my mother to pay the $3000 to send me to Spain was a lot easier than I expected, my mom said yes almost immediately. Gabe was also going to Spain, which would prove to be bittersweet.

During the time in between school starting and the Spain trip I got to know Gabe well. He was in most of my classes and I had to see him several times a day. I got so close to Gabe that we were always together. By march most of our grade thought that we were going out and sometimes it actually seemed like we were.








* * *

Spring vacation was only days away and so was the Spain trip. On Thursday my mom would bring my luggage to school early in the morning. We were supposed to be in Mrs. Myers classroom by the middle of period 3 and we would leave for JFK airport after lunch. This whole routine was fairly simple and easy to remember. I was so psyched the night before we left for Spain that I couldn’t sleep. I spent most of the night organizing my suitcase and checking to make sure I didn’t forget anything,

Finally the day arrived. It was the day of the Spain trip. I was so happy to be able to spend a whole 8 days away from the boring town of South Orange. It was the trip of a lifetime and I was excited that I was going.

“Wake up,” I heard my mom say in a kind of loud tone. My mother then quickly slammed the door closed. I laid in bed for another couple minutes before deciding it was time to get up. I steadily opened my closed eyes, my very dark brown eyes once fully opened blinded by the ray of sunlight that brightly shinned through the window directly facing the top of my bed. I stretched out my arms and then legs before pushing my self of the comfortable bed.

After getting ready I went off the school. When I got to school many people greeted asking about the Spain trip.

Before I knew it period 3 rolled around.

“You are so lucky, in 30 minutes you get to leave,” my friend Dillon said to me during science.

“I know right,” I gloated.

After 20 minutes of period 3 an announcement telling the kids going on the Spain trip to report to Mrs. Myers room was made over the intercom.

I ran upstairs to my locker to get my jacket. I took out my baby blue jacket and closed my light blue painted locker.

“Juanica, have fun in Spain,” My friend Casey said from across the hallway. “And tell Gabe I said bye.”

“Okay,” I yelled back.

I ran back downstairs to Mrs. Meyer’s room. I let my eyes search around the room for someone I could talk to when I spotted my friend Avery over by the windows.

“Hey Avery,” I said.

“Hey. You excited about Spain?” Avery asked.

“No not really.” What I told Avery was somewhat true because at this point my excitement about Spain had died down.

“Juanica.” Mrs. Meyers said.

“Yeah.”

“You should eat your lunch now because we won’t get to the airport for a couple of hours,”

I took out a bag of chex mix, which Avery started eating himself. Then I saw Gabe over by Jasmine looking for his luggage so I decided to go over there to talk Gabe while leaving Avery to eat my lunch.

“Gabe, you’re going to Spain?” Jasmine asked surprised.

“Yeah. I didn’t know you were going.”

“Wow you guys are out of it,” I said to the oblivious Gabe and Jasmine.








* * *

When we got to JFK airport the chaperones told us to exit in an orderly fashion but us being teenager we didn’t listen. Kids were pushing and shoving to get out of the bus.

The next task to accomplish was to check in our Luggage. I stood at nearly the back of the line behind maybe 20 other kids talking to Avery, Gabe and Derek.

“Doesn’t he look like a girl?” Avery asked referring to Gabe’s passport picture. I took the passport from Avery and looked at it for myself. I had to admit that it did kind of look like he was wearing lip gloss.

“You kind of look like you’re wearing lip gloss,” I said to Gabe.

“It’s the glaze on the passport,” said Gabe defensively.

After that we ate and waited to board the plane. I listen to my friends talk about ipods and Avery talk to me about something he saw in Diary of a mad black woman.

We eventually got on the plane, which posed another problem. I wasn’t sitting next to any of my friends or more specifically I wasn’t sitting next to Gabe.

“Juanica, you want to switch seats with me?” Asked Daisy who happened to be sitting next to Gabe.

“Yeah,” I handed my plane ticket to Daisy and in return Daisy handed hers to me and then I went to sit next to Gabe.

“You switched seats with Daisy?”

“Yeah.” I turned on my ipod and placed my headphones in my ear and laid my head on Gabe’s bony yet somehow comfortable shoulder.

Mrs. Meyers came over to where we were sitting. “You guys have to sit in the seats on your ticket until the plane takes off.”
“We can’t switch seats?” I asked Mrs. Meyers
“Not until after the plane levels off.” So I switched back and sat next to Alexis which I didn’t mind that much. I spent most of the time until take off trying to figure out a way that I could sit next to Gabe.

“Alexis will you switch seats with David.”

“Maybe after take off.”

After sorting out the seating arrangement my thoughts went to another problem, my fear of flying. As we got closer and closer to take off my heart started pounding faster. When the plane began to elevate into the air I grabbed onto the handle of the seat and closed my eyes tight. I didn’t open my eyes again until the plain was over 10, 000 feet and was beginning to level off.

“Now will you switch with David?” I asked Alexis after my fear had subsided.

“Okay,” Alexis said reluctantly.

I leaned forward to talk to David who was sitting in the seat before me. “ David will you switch seats with Alexis.”

“Why?” David asked.

“So I can sit next to Gabe and you can sit next to Mark.”

“Sure.”

Alexis got up out of her seat and switched with David so that she could sit next to Daisy and David switch seats with Gabe so that Gabe could sit next to me and he could sit next to Mark.

I really didn’t get much sleep on the plane ride. I remember being awake all night talking and watching the movie.

When we arrived in Spain it was 7 o’clock their time and 1 o’clock in America. We all grabbed our luggage and exited through a tunnel like thing. It was raining when we got off the plane so we had to try and avoid getting wet. We then got on a bus that looked like it was suppose to be a ride at an amusement park. After getting off the amusement park bus we got on our tour bus that we would be riding in for the remaining time we would be in Barcelona. We also met our tour guide Jon.

We didn’t get to go to the hotel for an hour because our rooms weren’t ready. We ended up going to the hotel early and staying in the waiting area.

“The exchange rates are on the paper that is being handed out to you,” said Mrs. Dos Santos.

I took the small yellow piece of paper from Mrs. Myers and put it in my black fanny pack (which we were required to bring).

When they assigned the rooms I was set for a disappointment. I had to room with Jasmine who even though she was a friend of my family I didn’t get along with well. When Mrs. Meyers told her that she had to room with me she was so pissed. She went complaining to Brianna how she didn’t want to room with me.

After getting over the roommate situation Barcelona didn’t interest me. I saw some old friends and got to know so new friends but it hadn’t kicked in that I wasn’t in The U.S anymore.








* * *

It wasn’t until Madrid that Spain and my life would get interesting at all. The bus stopped at a street a few blocks away from the Hotel. We got off the bus and headed towards a bunch of tables positioned parallel to a bookstore, a gift shop and a very big restaurant. Gabe and I hadn’t talked all morning mainly because we were both tired and cranky from lack of sleep. This crankiness we both had would prove to be the downfall, of our seemingly indestructible friendship.

“Well you guys can eat anywhere on this block as long as you go with at least 2 other people and check in with Mrs. Dos Santos, Mrs. Reyes, Mr. Jennings or me by 3 o’clock,” yelled Mrs. Meyers as everyone rushed to find a place to eat.

“You guys should try VIPS they have good sandwiches but they’re also kind of expensive,” Jon our tour guide told Gabe, Avery and I.

“So where are we going?” I asked Avery and Gabe.

“I don’t know we could go to VIPS,” said Gabe with his voice exuberant of apathy and nonchalance.

“It’s really crowded,” I said.

“Well where else can we go. There aren’t that many options.”

“So we just have to go where Gabe wants to go,” My voiced hinted a little bit of anger and resentment towards Gabe. This comment would cause a chain effect that led to the deterioration of the friendship Gabe and I shared.

“What did you say?” Gabe asked.

“I said that we shouldn’t have to go where you say.”

“Well, then where do you think we should go?”

“I don’t know but I know that I don’t want to go to VIPS,” my voice at this point was filled of unnecessary anger.

“You just don’t want to go because I suggested it.”

“No, I don’t want to go because it’s too crowded.”

“Are we going to VIPS or not?” Avery asked naively chiming in to the conversation in which he did not belong.

“You know what it doesn’t matter. Gabe is always going to get his way so, why do I try.”

“Juanica, just shut up,” Gabe said to me. I didn’t say anything back to him and instead just rolled my eyes.

While in the restaurant the argument that Gabe and I started outside continued. Neither Gabe nor I could say a word without the other giving a rebuttal. Our fighting was disrupting Avery’s meal.

When the bill came Gabe and my arguing persisted. We fought over something that honestly right now I don’t remember. Our arguing went on for another 10 minutes and in that time Avery paid the whole bill. Leaving the restaurant Gabe and I felt incredibly guilty for making Avery have to pay for the meal.

“Avery come on let us at least pay you back,” I pleaded.

“It doesn’t matter. I just paid because you guys couldn’t stop arguing.”

“Avery you shouldn’t of had to pay,” Gabe said.

“We’re going to pay you back,” I took out a 10-euro bill from my fanny pack and placed it on the table, Gabe did the same.

For the next 4 days of Spain I would go out of my way to tick Gabe off. I would even tick him off without trying.









* * *

“Why do you keep on doing this?” Gabe yelled at me.

“Doing what?” I asked innocently.

“You know what.”

“No I don’t.”

“Juanica, you go out of your way to piss me off.”

“You’re the one always finding something wrong with everything I say,” I responded.

“I can’t talk to you right now. I need time alone to sort this out.”

By the last day off Spain Gabe had calmed down and we were on good terms. I hadn’t ticked Gabe off in 24 hours and I wasn’t going to tick him off anytime soon.

Even though we left Spain on good terms our friendship was damaged so bad that it couldn’t be patched up. I am still to this day trying to sew back together the pieces of our torn friendship but every time I manage to sew on a piece something comes along and tears it again.