"Mikey, can you stop!" The sudden yelp from a giggly teenage girl about my age had made me jump. Great. First day in this country and I'm already feeling the need to hide myself.
I backed up a little more behind a corner and did my best to hide in the shadows. The girl that had squealed a couple of minutes ago walked by without noticing me. She was tall, about 5'6, quite slender as well. When she walked, her silky chestnut brown hair swayed at her hips. I could tell without looking at her face that she was gorgeous. Oh how I wanted to walk as confidently as her.
Without realizing that someone was trailing her, I stepped out of the shadows. Right as I did, a boy about the age of 18 ran into me. I stumbled back, tripping over myself. I fell backwards, landing on my butt and hitting my hip against a wall. I yelped out in pain, but quickly silenced my voice. The boy that had hit me was crouched down beside me, examining my hip.
"Are you alright? I didn't mean to run into you, I apologize. Your hip looks fine, though it may be bruised. My name's Michael by the way." He said while standing up and offering me a hand. Michael was quite handsome. His lavender hair was spiked up in all places so perfectly. Gorgeous green eyes looked down at me with curiosity. He bit his perfectly pink lip.
"Oh um I'm Jaiden. I didn't see you there, I'm very sorry." I stuttered while taking his hand. His eyes widened and I immediately thought something was wrong about me. I searched my body, with my eyes and hands, looking for a broken bone or a large gash. But there was nothing and I felt the stupidity sink in. I slowly looked up at Michael, starting to shake a little because I couldn't understand what he was gawking at.
"Your accent," He slurred out, "It's beautiful. Where are you from?"
"I uh," I couldn't seem to find the right words. "I have to go." I looked behind me to see the girl that Michael was trailing, walking towards us. Towards me. And she looked livid. I didn't want to cause any trouble between a couple because of my stupidity. I unwrapped myself from Michael's arm that had mysteriously slithered around my waist, grabbed my bag and quickly walked away.
I was about 4 feet away when Michael decided to chase after me, but his girlfriend caught up to him first. I let out a sigh of relief when I rounded the corner, peeking around it to make sure they weren't coming this way. When I looked back, I could see the girl somewhat yelling at Michael. He just kind of shrugged it off and walked away. A part of me wished he walked towards me, but I knew that wasn't right.
I looked down at my watch. Realizing it was almost 6:30, I picked up my pace as I bobbed between the people on the sidewalk. It was well below 50° and I was definitely rethinking my choice of clothing. When I left Texas, it was a beautiful sunny day. And so when I got ready for my flight, I did not think of the weather here. My ripped jeans and Neck Deep shirt were not going to keep me warm.
-
When I finally made it home around 8:30, after stopping by the store to get some food to snack on, I found a note on the counter from my mom:
I'll be home late tonight sweetheart, go ahead and make you some dinner. If there's not anything to eat, there's $20 on your dresser. And if you don't mind, please take this mail down to whomever it belongs to. It mysteriously ended up in our mailbox.
Love, Mom
I picked up the stack of mail beside the note, reading the address. After realizing it was just a few doors down, I went into my room and changed into sweats and a warm hoodie. I picked up the $40 on my dresser and walked out the door.
I decided to take the mail first, considering I didn't want to carry mail and food at the same time. I read the address and walked about 30 feet before I came to a complete stop. This house was so different than mine. It was so decedent and urban, with a white picket fence and lights going along the walkway. It was so pretty and gave off the vibe of expensive taste. I slowly walked up the steps, trying not to turn around and leave. I rang the doorbell and waited about 2 minutes. Nothing. I rang it again and still nothing. As I was about to walk down the steps, the door opened and I spun around.
