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“Hello,” I said in Spanish, figuring she probably didn’t speak English.
“Are you...” she trailed off before beginning again. “Señor Emilio’s novia?”
“I’m not his girlfriend, no,” I said.
“Ah, I was mistaken. I’m sorry.”
“It’s nothing,” I told her. I hoped that I had all of my things, because I was heading out to the hostel. I’d grab the Ecovia. I’d stay away from Finn McCool’s from now on. I could only imagine the embarrassment of running into him again. I’d go to the hostel, journal about tonight, and move on.
I felt so free, freer than I had ever felt in my entire life. I didn’t know why I felt so empowered, but I knew that a new door had opened for me.
Maybe I could have sex like that every night...it seemed easy enough to haunt bars and take men home. I was pretty enough, I supposed.
I snorted. One step at a time. It wasn’t like having sex for the first time was going to turn me into a raging nymphomaniac.
I climbed the steps up to my room, and then went into the shower at the hostel to clean up, feeling sore in places that I didn’t know that you could be sore.
I changed into fresh clothing after my shower, because I didn’t want to wear yesterday’s clothes.
What would I do today? I opened up my laptop to check on things.
My mother had sent me several more emails, but they were less panicky. She figuratively sh
ook her finger at my impulsivity, but she said that she had talked to my dad about what had happened and she understood why I had gone. She said to take whatever time I needed to heal.
I sighed. I was afraid of my mother in a way that I’d never be afraid of my dad. He’d never be disappointed in me, but she frequently was very disappointed in my choices. At least she’d leave me alone about ditching Brayden.
I didn’t know what I would do here, half a world away from my family. Ecuador was almost like another planet. I could still talk to them easily — call them if I wanted to — but I was far, far away from Brayden, Jenny, and the mess that I’d left at home.
I needed to find something to do while I was here.
I thought about going back to the alternative school, but I discarded the idea, I’d worked there and loved it, but it was weird to go back without a huge group. They’d probably push me out.
I wasn’t going to stay in a hotel room for the whole time that I was here. I flipped open my guidebook.
What should I go see while I was in Quito?
There were a couple tourist sites that I wanted to check out. I’d already been to the famous church Iglesia de la Compañia, a Jesuit church which had a ton of gold in it.
The last time I was here, we hadn’t had time to go up to the TeleferiQo, which was one of the highest points in Quito.
I opened up my laptop and checked out TripAdvisor. Apparently there were horses up there and I could eat lunch at the top of the mountain.
I went down and hailed a cab. There were more yellow cabs than normal cars. As soon as I stuck my arm out, a taxi came screeching to the curb.
TeleferiQo
Naelle
“TeleferiQo, please,” I told him.
“No problem, niña.”
I then went on one of the most terrifying car rides of my life.
My taxi driver had no problem cutting off other cars. There were loud honks every time that he did it, but he ignored them as if they were pleasant flute music.
I was gripping the seat in front of me and afraid to scream, in case he got distracted.
