This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at McGill chapter.

Chapter 11: Who Said You Can’t Enjoy Spring Break When You’re Broke?

For some reason I still don’t understand, not every school has the same spring break week in Montreal. My vacation week is just starting while Concordia University had their spring break, or reading week as teachers call them, in February, so all my friends who study at Concordia are already back to school. Sam’s spring break is also this week, and I was looking forward to spending the week with her, but she’s rehearsing for an Easter concert so she’s very busy. A good thing is that I barely have any homework to do since I’m a good student and already did pretty much everything, but since I’m broke I can’t take a trip anywhere but to the end of my street. It’s the first day of reading week and I’m walking around in my apartment, in my pajamas, a box of 70% off Valentine’s Day chocolates in my arms, not knowing what to do with myself.

Maybe I could go to the Biodome…

…and see the newborn butterflies flying around in their greenhouse! The smell of flowers, the sound of their tiny wings fluttering past me, some sometimes landing on my colorful clothes, thinking maybe I’m a new kind of flower they haven’t tasted yet. The warmth of the greenhouse would maybe satisfy me for a moment and I would stop praying for spring that is far from being here. And if Sam was with me, I could take pictures of her covered with butterflies, I could kiss her and maybe one of the little monarchs would come land on our intertwined hands.

Or maybe I could walk to the Cat Café…

…and spend the afternoon reading a good book with an orange cat napping on my lap. I could give all the cats funny names, play with them by dangling strings in front of them and watch their little paws trying to grab the stings. If Sam were with me, I could beg her to let me adopt one of the cats. I could laugh as she struggles to keep the kittens in her arms, her wanting cuddles and the kittens only wanting their freedom! We could talk about the name we would give to our cat if we were to have one. I like funny names, so I would probably have to fight her to name the cat something like Eggplant or Trumpet!

I could also take a Car 2 Go all the way to Ikea…

and walk around in the store with a cart, picking up cute things I don’t need for my apartment that’s already full of stuff. I would push Sam who would be sitting in the cart like a child. We could try all the sofas and rank them from I would rather die than sit on that to Can I marry this couch, please?! We would walk in the model rooms and pretend it’s our house. I would sit at the dinner table reading a fake book and she would walk over to me with empty plates, whining about having to serve me like a queen. We would play hide and seek in the store until one of the clerks tells us to stop because it’s illegal to play hide and seek at Ikea. We would go eat Swedish meatballs and cheesecake at the cafeteria and walk out of the store with a bunch of decorations for our future place together.

If I feel creative, I could go to the Ceramic Café Studio…

…and paint different mugs with different colors. I would make one that says “you’ve just been poisoned” at the bottom of the mug, another with a cat napping on the side of the mug. Sam would make one that reads Wifey Material! on the side and then, would tell me it’ll be my birthday gift. I would laugh at how much she’s struggling to paint her mug, she would poke me in the face with her paintbrush as a revenge. We would leave the store with our hands and face covered in paint, excited to come pick up our art a few days later.

I could always go to the movies…

…and see three or four in a row. I would eat popcorn until I’m about to explode, and then top that with some candy. My tongue would be forever blue because of all the slushies I would drink. Sam would want to pay for all the movies and I would try to sneak into the projection rooms when the movie is just starting, pretending I just went to the bathroom. We would sit in the last row so we can kiss without bothering anyone. Sam would die of laughter when watching Charlotte a du fun (Charlotte is having fun), I would hide behind my hands during Death Wish and both our hearts would melt at how cute Peter Rabbit is!

Or I could spend the week inside…

…on my couch, with Finley, watching Netflix and sketching in my drawing book. I would try to draw Finley but he would never stop moving, making it very hard for me to even draw his head. I could watch all the Harry Potter movies back to back and feel like I’m a wizard too for a couple of hours. I could bake cupcakes and decorate them, just so I can take a picture, post it on Instagram and then never eat the cupcakes! And I Sam was with me she would make me caramel popcorn and read poetry out loud. We would nap on the couch, cuddled up together under a big blanket. We could order pizza, then Indian food, the Chinese, and pizza again! It would feel like a little cocoon of love, her and I, listening to music while sipping tea on the couch.

Someone knocks at the door. I come out of my daydreaming, still feeling a bit morose because all the things I want to do this week would be 10 times more fun if my girlfriend was with me. I walk to the door with a big blanket over my shoulder and open the door. On the doorstep stands Sam, smiling.

-I thought you had rehearsal all week? I say, surprised.

-Well, they can manage without their pianist for a few nights!

She leans in and kisses me.

-So, what do you want to do now that I’m free all week? She asks.

I laugh!

-I hope you’re ready, because I have a list!

Images obtained from:

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