Shine On

As Harper Peterson walked into JFK International Airport, she found herself not feeling as happy to be home as she thought she would. When she left New York City to do an internship in London, she missed home terribly, it took all her might not to jump off the plane and run back to her parents. Now, all she wanted was to fly back to London. She somberly made her way through the airport, luggage in hand, looking around for a familiar face. Her long, wavy blonde hair was pulled into a messy bun. She didn’t care to put make-up on, she knew it wouldn’t stay on. Her green eyes were blood shot. She didn’t see anyone she knew. She thought she had arranged for her father to pick her up at this time. He was never late. Getting a little worried, she found a nearby bench outside and started dialing home. A girl’s shriek came out nowhere, which made Harper jumped in her seat.

“Harper!” She heard. She looked around and saw her best friend running from the parking lot towards her. She felt a wave of relief to see someone she knew finally. She was never a big fan of airports, or planes as a matter of fact.

“Mel!” She squealed back grinning. Finally, she felt a little happy to be home. Melody has been her best friend since kindergarten. Since they met on the swing set, they did everything together. Some would say they’re more like sisters. She was the person Harper missed the most while she was away for the summer. Lexi pulled Harper into the biggest hug.

She groaned happily. “I missed you so much!”

“I missed you too!” Harper really meant it.

“So! How was London? How was your internship? Tell me everything!” Melody exclaimed excitedly as she sped through the streets of NYC. Harper had a small heart attack every time she just missed a red light.

“Well I don’t know where to begin...” Harper flipped through all of her memories in her head. She loved everything about London. She guess that was a start. “It’s so lovely there, you would love it.” She tried to think of her fashion internship; that part was really a blur to her. “My internship was...good. Really interesting.”

“Did you even go to your internship?” Mel asked as she turned a corner fast.

Harper clutched the door handle tight. “Yes! Of course! It’s just so many things went on there, it’s not the thing I remember the most.”

Lexi gave a conniving smile. “What distracted you?”

Harper knew exactly what, or who distracted her. She couldn’t get his face out of her head since he dropped her off at the airport. “A lot of things...”

“Or should I say who?” Mel asked suspiciously. “I heard the guys over there are really hot.”

A smile broke on Harper’s face. His kind, smiling face popped up when she heard the word ‘guy’. She bit her lip thinking of their last kiss that was still lingering on her lips.

Mel gasped. She stopped fast in front of a red light. “Look at you! You met someone!”

Still smiling so much her cheeks hurt, Harper tried to laugh it off hoping Melody would ask her another question. She should have known better, Melody never forgot about the subject of guys. In high school, Melody was the type of girl who was a part of the boyfriend of the month club. Harper was the type who was stuck on one guy who never really loved her back. Whenever a new guy would come into Harper’s life (which was rarely), Melody would make a big deal out of it. “Mel, green light.” Harper said, ignoring Mel’s comment.

Mel step on the gas hard. Harper hated driving with her. Mel drummed on the excitedly. “Oh my God. What’s his name? Is he cute?”

Harper chuckled a bit and sighed knowing she would never get away with this one. “His name is Rupert. He’s very attractive.” She decided to stick with only answering the questions she asked. Thinking about him made her heart race though. He was the nicest person she ever met. His red hair and blue eyes helped a little as well. She started thinking of all the things she loved and missed; the compliments, how shy he was, how he tucked her blonde hair behind her ear, how he could make her laugh in an instant, his infectious laugh, just him.

“With a smile like that on your face, you can’t just leave me with that! Tell me more, girl! How did you meet? Are you together? Oh my God. This is so exciting.” Mel cooed turning another corner almost on two wheels.

“Calm down, Mel!” Harper laughed again. “Um...we met at some pub. We just started talking and he was” Harper stopped to think of the night they met. It was one of her best nights in London. “...really sweet.” She started to like talking about him. It made him not being there less painful. “He was the nicest guy I’ve ever met. And he’s so cute and sexy and kind and...Oh! His accent is so great.” She noticed that they were stopped in front of her parent’s house and wondered how long they had been there without her knowing. Melody was staring at her with a grin on her face. “Sorry. I got carried away...”

“I’ve never seen you like a guy this much since...well...Matt.” Harper smiled when she heard Mel mention Matt. He was the guy she was forever hooked on in high school and he never returned the feelings. When she heard his name, her heart would jump or her stomach would feel sick. This time, there was nothing. Butterflies were in her stomach from talking about Rupert so much. Melody continued. “You really like him. When do I get to meet him?”

The butterflies disappeared. The pain in her heart she felt when her plane left London returned. “I don’t know.” She replied quietly. “We decided to end things since I had to come back home.”

Melody reached over to the passenger side and gave Harper a sympathetic hug. “I’m sorry, honey.”

Harped pulled away from the hug. She didn’t want sympathy. Sympathy would only make her feel worse. She wanted to forget about that part of the trip completely, it only made her hurt more. “It’s okay.” She collected herself. “It was a really great while it lasted. I’m back to reality.” She tried to show that she wasn’t effected by it at all. It worked, because Melody congratulated her on having a summer romance and told her how excited everyone was to see her.