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“We earned this,” I say, winking at her “We raised all that et us here on our own, so even before the tie, I want to make this a trip to remember”

The vodka arrives, and Casey grins at ot me To Amsterdam!” She unscrews the bottle and takes a drink, then hands it to me to do the sary, so it doesn’t take long for the vodka tojust had a sex dream on a plane

I don’t know about everything Casey was talking about I’m just an arts student at UCONN, and I’ve never really beenout at the local dive bars and taking care oftotally honest, Casey’s enthusias to A , this is exciting, but it’s alsoI’ve ever done

At the sa to see local alt-rock bands with the local grunge scene is est up-and-coers is a dream come true

So yeah, I guess Casey was right about one thing: this was going to be an unforgettable trip

2

“Oh od, look at the snow!”

We step out of the airport in Aical scene Fresh, pure-white snow covers the world outside, and the chill makes our breath visible as we step out

I’ve had a little tilamorous, I know — and I look a little more like reen eyes are accented by winged eyeliner, but I’ attention to the fact that I haven’t had a good sleep in almost 24 hours

I’antic Arade coat over my flannel shirt and part ofa little more comfortable than et — in this case, what ot me for my last birthday

“There is snow in Connecticut, Casey,” I laugh, and she rolls her eyes as she takesme to the nearest bus

“Okay, yeah, but this is European snow It’s nicer” Her tone is tongue-in-cheek, and I giggle back at her

We take the bus to our hostel — a crummy little place that looks like it has seen better days, but hey, it’s a place to crash for the week, and that’s about the only tiet a chance to really freshen up, shower, and change into decent clothes afterthe place with They’re Casey’s friends, but we don’t really spend et us out on the town

With touched-up ray peacoat and black knit scarf I bought just for this trip is covering s that make me

feel like I’uts me a little bit e step back out into the busy streets

“You cannot be serious — already?” I laugh a fewnize as a pot bakery