My mother was the closest to me in my family. Every morning she would wake me up, with a smile on her face. One day, that all changed Sophmore year when I slept in because my mother hadn't woken me up.

The time was eight twenty-four, and I slept two hours over my alarm. 'Mom? Mom, where are you?" I yelled as I began to panic.

I looked everywhere from the kitchen to the living room to the family room where she usually would sit eating her Special K cereal and reading the newspaper. She was nowhere in sight.

I looked out the window to see that she was home, for her car was still in the driveway, but that black SUV was beginning to make me suspense that something was up, and that my mother was not okay.

My next instinct was to check in her room, because for all I know maybe she had slept in, too. As I entered my parents huge master bedroom, my heart dropped out of my stomach. She was not there, not even in her bathroom. That's when my mind began to race.

'Mom?' I yelled down the stairs.

There was no answer.

'Mom? Mom, please answer me! Are you home?" I yelled once more, this time racing down my black tinted steps, and tripping over a shoe my face met with the ground. As I lifted my self off the ground got enough strength to stand up, I looked out the window to notice that my mother's car was no longer in sight. 

***

Juliet was reading The Giver by Lois Lowry, a book I remembered reading in eighth grade. 

"It's a good story," I told her as she flipped another page, "but the sequels never got to me."

Juliet let out a chuckle. "I'm the same way. I enjoy all these books, but when I hear there is a sequel I feel skeptical because I worry it won't be as good as the first."

I grabbed my phone and remembered that I was supposed to turn my phone on airplane mode or totally off when the plane was going to take off.

'I never told you why I was going to Bejing,' Juliet told me as she put her book away and took a sip of the cola she had gotten from the flight attendant. 'My ex-husband told me if I ever wanted to talk to her again, I'd have to go Bejing because she is there on a volunteer trip. I was a little worried at first but after thinking about it I knew it was about time that I see my daughter again.'

'She'll be really excited to see you.' I told her. I didn't know what else to tell her, I mean, I'm not a mother.

She gave me a smirk. 

I put my headphones in and began to listen to my airplane playlist, and before I knew it I was asleep.

The landing of the plane was a bit shaky since a storm was heading into Paris at the time. I had to stop in Paris before I got to Bejing since there was no direct flight to there from St. Louis.

'You ever been to Paris?' Juliet asks me as she begins to put things into her purse. The book she was reading, her iPhone, and a package of gum she had just taken out.

I shake my head. 'I've always wanted to, though.' I tell her. She gives me an interesting look like she was waiting for me to tell her a story. 'I have this wall in my room full of postcards of places I've wanted to visit. So, I came up with this idea that I was going to dedicate my whole summer to travel to all the places I've ever wanted to go to. With this flight to Bejing, I get to kill two birds with one stone!'

'What an awesome idea! With this six hour layover, you could probably see a few tourist spots and go to one of their restaurants.'

I nod and grab my stuff before exiting the plane, and getting ahead of Juliet. The sky in Paris was a beautiful tint of sky blue, with only a few clouds lingering here and there. THe aroma of the air smelled like coffee since there was a small cafe just a few blocks down. As I began my journey down the brick layered, a young guy crept up behind me. His scruffy blonde hair and blue eyes caught me off guard, as I had never seen someone so beautiful before.

'Can I help you with something?' I ask him.

He shrugs his shoulders and put his hands into the pockets of his dark black jeans. 'Not really, I just couldn't help but notice how beautiful you are.' 

My cheeks turned to a tinted red, and I'm pretty sure he noticed that I was blushing.

'Why don't I treat you to some coffee?' he asks as he pulls his phone out to check the time. 'It's only two thirty and my meeting is at five. I got time.'

'I never caught your name.'

'Ross Harper.' he tells me, as we both head on our way.