the light at the end of the tunnel

“Winter break is finally here!” I said “I’m so excited! I’m gonna have to plan a huge New Years Eve party!”

“I can’t wait! You always throw the biggest parties on this island,” said Danielle.

“Seriously, everyone is so gonna be there! Well, not everyone.” said Rachel giving a quirky smile.

We were heading home from our last day of school. My new phone (an early Christmas present) was vibrating. I checked the caller ID; it was my boyfriend, Steven. He said that he would be coming over to the penthouse later on that night to watch a movie. Perfect.

I’ve known Steven for about a month now, and we just started dating a week ago. My previous boyfriend, well, I don’t really want to talk about him right now. We broke up a while ago, and since then, I have been paranoid about relationships. With Steven, I saw the light at the end of the tunnel… or was it another train?

It was a calm and peaceful day; the snow was gently falling down. As we were nearing Rachel’s apartment building, I saw a moving truck.

“New kid to Westmount, I see” Danielle said pursing her lips and raising her eyebrow as she saw a thin blonde haired girl carrying a brown cardboard box inside

Yep, this is Danielle, the anti-social manipulative bitch. I still keep on wondering how I became friends with her again in the first place…. After what she’s done…

“Make that plural” Rachel corrected.

Let me just put you into context. Westmount is where the incredibly wealthy and the retired live. Young people are hard to find in the neighbourhood. New people were often alienated or stared at, in this case.

I turned to look at Rachel, who was looking at the opposite direction with a dumbfounded look on her face. I turned my head to see what she was looking at, and I had a similar facial expression. From that moving van, appeared a rather good-looking fellow. You can’t really tell from the big puffy coat he was in, but he did look quite yummy. I wonder what he would look like without the jacket… Damn this Canadian winter, where’s global warming when you need it? As he was passing in front of us, and us admiringly observing his every move, he caught a glimpse of us, smiled and entered the building.

“Wow, that smile just made my day” Rachel said breathlessly

“Seriously” I agreed, “He even looks hot in a winter coat”

“What are you talking about, Bee? You have Steven.” Danielle reminded

If I’m on a diet, it doesn’t mean that I can’t look at the menu…

The unknown person appeared again. This time, his hands were empty.

“Hey! Are you new here?” Rachel asked

“Yeah, I’m moving here with my sister. I’m actually going to University at McGill this winter. I just wanted to get to know a few people before I started, you know?” said the male specimen.

“Yeah, we totally understand. If you stick with us for a month, you’ll get to know pretty much everyone,” Danielle said

“What’s your name?” Rachel asked

“Ross. And yours?”

“I’m Rachel, and these are my friends Bridget and Danielle”

“Awesome. Do you girls live nearby?”

“I actually live in the penthouse of this building” Rachel said. “They live a few blocks farther down”

“That’s cool!” Ross said “Hey listen, it was great meeting you girls but I have to go unpack these boxes. Nobody invented self-unpacking moving boxes yet.”

With that, Ross went back into the truck.

“You guys, I think I’m in love! I’ve never seen such a beautiful creation!” Rachel said

Rachel is the typical drama queen with a hint of comedy in her. She tends to over react and exaggerates sometimes. Yes, she went to the open load of the truck.

“Hey Ross, since I’m free tonight, do you think I could help you unpack? You’ll have more fun unpacking when there’s someone you can talk to”

Oh brother… I love Rachel with ALL my heart, but this gets so annoying

“Yeah, that would be nice, thanks. My sister knows a few people in the area, so she made plans with them, so I think I’m gonna need the company. And then, maybe later on, when we’re sick of unpacking, do you think you could show me around?”

“Sure! It would be my pleasure!” Rachel said

“Great! I live at 1040. Come by whenever you want, I won’t lock the door.”

“Perfect!” Rachel said, “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to walk my friends home. I’ll see you tonight though!”

“Sounds good! I’ll see you!”

As Rachel was walking towards us, she did a “two-thumbs-up” and smiled very broadly. She had been dreaming of a Ross and Rachel happy ending since the FRIENDS series went off the air. Her dream was finally coming true. She was going to have her very own Ross Gellar. And thank God, with school out of the way, she had all the free time she could ever wish for.