Perry White
"I always wonder why birds stay in the same place when they can fly anywhere on the earth. Then I ask myself the same question."- Harun Yahya
Just to see if I still can, I roll my eyes as Diana squeals another time into my ear. It's hard to imagine that she can be so excited for a vacation to a place she hasn't even picked out yet.
Diana's laptop is propped against my legs. My sister and her friends, Lisa and Angelina, sit huddled around me. At this point in my 16 years of life, I'm totally used to having older girls around all the time, even if it does bother me by now.
Lisa is 19 and has been out of high school for a year now, so don't ask me why she's still hanging around Diana. Angelina and Diana haven't spent more than five days of their 18 years apart. So it's really no surprise when I find strings of Angelina's vibrant red hair mixed in with our blond strands in the bathroom.
I google their request of "underappreciated tourist sites" and a travel agency is the first thing to pop up. It's really just a list of places with what I guess is the agency's logo in the corner: this black and white logo with obscure lines weaving in it.
Angelina begins to read the destinations:
"Sakung, Brunei."
Her friends shake their heads in confusion.
"Atar, Mauritania," she says. "Where's that?"
The girls groan as they realize they've never heard of any of these destinations.
Angelina stretches out a hand as if to say, "hold up." She points to one of the last places on the list. "I've heard of Chile before! Isn't that in South America?"
As much as I love my sister and her friends, they've never been known for their extensive knowledge.
Lisa yanks the laptop from me, and I'm more relieved than irritated. She begins to read the information. "'Punta Arenas translates to "Sandy Point," in Spanish and is located in the region known as "Antartica Chilena," the southernmost region in Chile. The city was named Magallanes in 1927 after Ferdinand Magellan, but was changed back in-'"
"Enough with the history lesson," says Angelina.
Diana bobs her blonde head. "We should totally go here!" My favorite thing about her is the way she puts time and thought into her expensive international travel.
However, traveling thousands of miles from home on a whim is exactly the kind of thing Diana and her friends would do. Even though I'm two years younger, there's still a protective instinct that tells me it isn't safe for them to go to the bottom of the earth alone.
My parents will probably support Diana's idea, no doubt. For whatever reason, they decided they'd let their first child grow up with total freedom. So for the past 18 years, Diana's been doing her own thing, whereas I have an actual set of rules to follow.
This was most evident when Diana moved into this very apartment. Just as she graduated high school, she humbly proposed that she should begin to prepare for college life by living on her own.
My parents liked the idea so much, they had me move out of the house I grew up in and live with Diana. I don't know why possessed them to think sending their two kids off to live on their own was a good idea. Fortunately we don't live far away, just down the street.
"And you're coming of course aren't you, Perry?" Diana spouts out of the blue.
I almost spit out the coffee I'm drinking. "What do you mean I'm coming with you?"
YOU ARE READING
The Guadeloupe Squadeloupe
ChickLitWhat would you do if you ended up in a plane crash in the wild terrain of South America? What would you do if a killer and mad genius was tracking you down as you tried to get back home? What would you do if you were a member of The Guadeloupe Squad...
