Here Comes the Sun

The beginning

Her life was hell.
Well, if hell was considered asshole parents who were about to crucify her for an F on her chemistry exam. Her class had been learning about stoichiometry and she honestly had no clue what her teacher had been saying. It's almost like every time a word left her chemistry tainted mouth it magically turned into Russian, or maybe German. Either way Eleanor had no clue what in the hell was going on; which is why the grade on her paper was less than forgiving.
Eleanor waved somberly at her friends as the walked off to find her bus.
As she sat down in her regular bus seat Eleanor's mind began to wander; she began getting lost in her own imagination. Her life was far from horrible, she was fairly smart, her parents weren't really lacking in money, and she was decent looking; at least sometimes. But that didn't mean every once and awhile she didn't like to daydream.
She liked to delve deep into her mind and pretend that once she got out of high school she'd go to a nice college in Louisiana, or maybe in Texas, and she would get some degree her parents liked then she'd go out into the world and pursue her dreams of becoming an artist or maybe a musician. And she'd meet a nice boy, or a nice girl, and she'd fall in love and travel the world, never truly having a set home.
Her fantasy was truly expansive but the squeak of the bus wheels broke off Eleanor's massive daydream and thrust her back into the dreary reality that was her life.
She wouldn't go to a nice college, she would never be able to pursue her dreams, and let's be honest, who has the money to travel everywhere on what may very well be a minimum wage salary of 4 years?
Eleanor sighed and gathered her textbooks into the crook of her arm, standing up fluidly and rushing off the bus into the warm Florida sun.
Well, more than warm, more like blazing. It was late April, and hot as hell itself already; but that hardly mattered to Eleanor, she was a senior, and her time as a lame high schooler was almost over. In just a few days she would be graduated, free to be a real adult, with a real life, and real opportunities.
But before then she had to ace her exams and pray to God some kind of college would take her. Eleanor's grades were quite good, but she wanted a scholarship into a really good university, and all As and Bs might look alright but she wasn't sure if it would be quite good enough.
A slim black car slid up next to her, cutting into her thoughts almost as realistically as it cut into the curb. The tinted window rolled down and a familiar face raised its eyebrows at her.
"How did your exam go?"
Eleanor blanched at her adopted mother's voice. Maybe it was her imagination mixed with guilt and shame, but Eleanor could almost hear the razor sharp wit of someone who was almost relishing the idea of an upcoming punishment.
Eleanor ducked into the black Nissan and shut the door wordlessly.
"So I take it you failed," her mother retorted angrily.
Eleanor pursed her lips and looked out the window. The best way to deal with her mother when she was angry was to say nothing at all and nod passively.
"This isn't my failure, it's yours. You're old enough to understand when you've fucked up and when you haven't, so I'll let you figure out just exactly what punishment you deserve,"
The car ride back to the house was dead silent, but Eleanor could feel the solid animosity weighing the car down.
The minute the car was put in park in the small suburban driveway Eleanor unclipped her seatbelt and practically flew to her room, shutting her door quietly.
One more month and she was home free.
One more month.
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The next month passed in an agonizingly slow manner. Eleanor began to pack her life into small sections. Her schoolwork was between 2-6, her dinner was 7-8, shower from 8-8:30, research for colleges between 8:30 and 9:30, and at 10 she went to sleep, preparing for the next day of cramming and extensive schoolwork.
Her grades went up a considerable amount, which helped her living situation. Her parents were in a less violent mood because of Eleanor's flawless grades and because of the inevitable possibility of her imminent departure from the nest.
Her parents were all for her going to college, they wanted her to get a good education and a good job and such, normal things most parents wanted. But Eleanor's parents wanted her close; as close as humanly possible. They wanted her to attend the closest college, Valencia, the community college that was 30 minutes away from home. But Eleanor had bigger dreams, of massive campuses and large trees covering every inch of the dorms, big football weekends and bunking with other girls her age, making new friends in a new state. Far away from what she would call home.
Home for Eleanor was two passive aggressive, and sometimes very aggressive, parents. Nobody really questioned the dark bruises on her arms and legs, everybody assumed it was because of Eleanor's clumsy nature, or her pale skin; but Eleanor wasn't that pale, or that clumsy. Eleanor never wanted to address that issue; it was a family matter, and she deserved it most of the time, but that didn't mean she didn't want to get out of it as soon as humanly possible.
So with her good grades and her parents favor, she convinced her mom to buy her a round trip airplane ticket for her to go visit the LSU campus in Louisiana for a few days. She told them she wasn't serious about going there but she wanted to view as many places as she could. Secretly she knew LSU was her dream, but she would never tell her parents that; they would have her on lockdown for the rest of her life. But the moment they handed her that diploma she would be on a plane to another place, all by herself, for the first time in her life. Even if it was just a visit, it would feel exhilarating to be so far from the people she lived with and feared.
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Eleanor's final exams came and went, and somehow she passed all of them, some, of course, were better than others. Her AP stats class was passed with an A, whereas her AP english lit class; barely passing, but passing nonetheless.
After the exams Eleanor's days went by quickly and wonderfully. There was no reason for her parents to be overly angry at her, she had no classes to worry about and her graduation was only days away.
Her flight was scheduled for the same day of her graduation and she had been counting the days, hours even, till that flight.
Eleanor hadn't told her parents, but hidden deep beneath her bed, in an old shoebox, was her acceptance letters from LSU, USC, and amazingly enough, Duke.
Her parents only saw the Valencia, UCF and UF letters, because that's all they would care about. But Eleanor knew that she still had a choice. She was 18, and she could leave if she wanted to, especially since two out of the three colleges were offering her large scholarships.
But that was a decision for another day.
Eleanor gripped her small bag in her hands and slung it over her shoulder as the bell for 4th period rang. She walked down the hall alone, watching these people she had known all her life pass her. They all smiled at her, made a passing remark, or waved maybe, and Eleanor knew she'd miss them all. But the thought of a clean slate, a new life, intrigued and tempted her more than a typical one.
As Eleanor made her way to her 4th period psych class a small hand gasped her own and pulled her back.
"GOD, Eliza don't do that!" Eleanor heaved out a shaky sigh as she took in the image of her closest friend. Eliza's hair was up in a long pony tail with a headband, and as per usual, she was wearing a tank with sweats.
"Sorry man, it's not my fault that you are oblivious to everything," Eliza laughed, releasing Eleanor's hand.
Eleanor rolled her eyes and turned into their classroom, taking the first open seat in the front. Since the final exams were over her psych teacher was playing movies everyday and trying to pass it off as a "learning experience," when it clearly was not.
The lights dimmed and the movie title flitted across the screen.
"Forrest Gump,"
The appreciative grumbles echoed across the room as Eleanor settled in her seat. But as soon as the opening scene was blossoming into life, Eliza decided to do less movie watching and more talking.
"I can't believe you're leaving me, Elle," Eliza said jokingly. Eleanor felt a small smile on the side of her mouth at the use of her nickname. Nobody but Eliza had ever called her Elle, she always said Eleanor was too long for her to be able to call out quickly and effectively.
"Well believe it. Also believe that I'll be visiting you in the capital of consumerism as much as possible,"
"Why can't I come visit you again?" Eliza asked, laughing.
"Cause I'll have bourbon street and you'll have Disney. And we both know which one wins in a fight," Eleanor said quietly. Her teacher was beginning to lose what little patience his little bald head had.
"Fine, but I'm not paying for airfare," Eliza crossed her arms and pretended to huff snootily.
"You-" Elle began.
"Girls if you say one more word in this class period today, believe me, you'll find out exactly what selective mutism is," the teacher's eyes never moved from his computer but you could tell he was dead serious and 100% ready to punish them.
No more words were passed between them that period.
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The days passed slower than they ever had before and Eleanor could barely stand it anymore. She tried to go out as much as possible and she threw herself into her favorite pastime, which was painting.
She'd go to the park and sketch people and take her drawings home, painting them little by little each day, till it was perfect.
But even her art wasn't enough to thoroughly distract her. The days passed like months and she felt useless.
So when graduation day finally came Eleanor wasn't entirely sure how to react. She had spent so long waiting that she couldn't find an appropriate way to show her excitement. She had been trying to relax the whole week prior to graduation day, since she had her senior walk out the week before, and it really hadn't been working. But she did go out to the mall and find the perfect little blue dress that made her skin glow and her figure look more slimming and curvy than usual.
This was the dress she was zipping up as two of her friends walked through her bedroom door, hugging her tightly, both of them already wearing their cap and gowns.
Eliza stepped forward, and Eleanor's other close friend, Iliana, sat down on her bed.
"So are we ready to go to the stadium? To leave our eternal childhood and join the realm of the adults?" Eliza said, grabbing Eleanor's gown and slipping it over her shoulders.
"You're so overly dramatic, liz. Of course we're ready, I mean for gods sake, we are 18 after all. Completely and utterly ready to take on the world alone," Iliana called out sarcastically.
"Thank you for your input Lilly, but I was actually talking to the person driving us to our imminent doom," Eliza said, smirking at the girl on the bed.
"Alright alright, let's get going, we don't want to be late for our imminent doom, do we?" Eleanor cast a glance at Eliza and pulled her cap on.
"Yeah alright, fine," Lilly grumbled.
With a teary-eyed goodbye from Eleanor's mother, and a quick photo of the three girls, they were off to the Amway arena to receive the last goodbye from the school they had spent so many years at.
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The graduation went off without a hitch. It was a normal graduation, it took years it seemed for all the respectable people to stand up and make a different version of the same speech about 7 times, they had a few video montages and many thank yous, and they played the 2015 class song that the students had voted on about a hundred times. That class song being Uptown Funk. What Uptown Funk had to do with the 2015 graduation senior class, Eleanor and her friends could not figure out, but it was the class song nonetheless.
When it was Eleanor's turn to take the paper from the principal of her school she could feel small tears prick the back of her eyes. They weren't really tears of sadness, mostly tears of remembrance. She could still feel what her first day of high school was like, and she could still hear the dull roar of the pep rally early in the morning as she approached the quad; she had never really felt accepted in high school, or in her life at all, but being accepted wasn't really what mattered. It was the memories she had and the relationships she had made that would last a lifetime. And though school was a place of education it was also a place where she had learned to accept herself and other people.
Though Eleanor was leaving, one way or another, she would take all the things she had learned at this dreary and boring school and apply it to what she would find out about the real world; a life without adults, A life where she was the adult.
With the slightly crumpled paper in her hand, Eleanor made her way with her friends outside to take photographs and have one last laugh before she left for her plane.
Her parents were waiting outside with a small camera and a single pink rose for Elle. She gathered amongst her group of friends, smiling and posing properly for the photos. And after a few more hugs, Eleanor was off.
She threw her cap and gown into the backseat of her car and began the 30 minute drive to the airport.
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After parking her car in the large parking garage, Eleanor began to follow the large blue signs leading to the terminal A security check. She had only her carry on and a small purse with her, which made the whole flight a lot simpler for her to navigate. She didn't have to bother with the whole baggage nonsense, though security was a little more difficult than usual.
Eleanor made it through the terminal and found her gate. Though Elle thought she might be late she found that when she looked at the times of her flight it had been delayed for an extra 20 minutes.
She heaved in a deep sigh and spun around, searching for the closest place with coffee. If she was gonna waste 20 minutes, at least she'd waste it on something good.
Elle walked around the corner from her gate, spotting a starbucks.
She stood in line behind a tall man with dark hair, and she really couldn't take her eyes off of him. It wasn't only that he was very good looking and around her age, but also because he was wearing what must have been a thousand dollar suit, and, the strangest thing about him; he had a bodyguard.
Eleanor could tell the bodyguard was just supposed to look like the young man's friend or something, but the rich aura coming off this kid was really obvious and the large bulky man, with crossed arms, really didn't give off the nice friendly aura that a teenagers friend might have. Not to mention the massive age difference.
The young kid ordered his drink then walked to the counter to wait. Eleanor glanced at him for a moment longer then inwardly shrugged and stepped forward to order her own iced coffee.
By the time she walked over to retrieve her coffee the handsome rich man was gone.
What a loss. She particularly loved looking at the back of his well, perfectly groomed head.
Eleanor smiled at her own joke and leaned forward to grab her iced macchiato as the Starbucks employee called out her name.
But as Eleanor turned and started to wander aimlessly she heard an announcement come over the loud speaker of the airport.
"Would Eleanor Smith please report to gate 22 for immediate departure,"
"Oh shit, fuck, damn it," Elle clamored with her bag to find her ticket as she rushed to where her gate was.
As she was practically running to her gate another announcement came over the com.
"Would Nicolas Bertram also please report to gate 22 for immediate departure,"
Well, she thought to herself, at least I'm not the only one who is late.
At the direct moment she found her ticket she also rammed straight into a very tall stranger who she had already seen that day.
"AH, fuck," Eleanor mumbled, looking up at a coffee stained suit.
The same guy who had been standing directly in front of her at the coffee shop was now standing directly in front of her with Eleanor's coffee accessorizing his very expensive-looking suit.
"Oh, oh my god, I am so sorry, I wasn't- I didn't-" Elle stuttered as she threw her damning coffee cup in the trash, where she herself belonged.
He looked down at her with a slight grimace that slowly turned into a smile as she apologized profusely and quickly, her hands fluttering around his chest but never touching him. She had no idea what to do. She couldn't help him dry off and he wasn't really saying much at this point, he was just standing and watching her panic. She felt like an idiot.
"Last call for gate 22, flight to Baton Rouge, Louisiana," the airport called.
"Oh my god I am so sorry I have to go, I am so so sorry, if I ever see you again I'll buy you a new suit, I promise!" Eleanor said, running full sprint towards her gate, her face a blazing red. And he watched her run, a grin spreading across his own face.
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Eleanor somehow made her flight, her face still burning until she took the last window seat in the very back row of the plane.
The flight attendant said the fight would be full and Eleanor glanced warily at the two seats beside her. Maybe they weren't coming? If so she'd have a whole row to herself, which would be totally kickass.
Elle opened her phone and called her mom once more to tell her she was on the plane, about to embark. Her mother wished her the best, told her no to die, and they hung up.
Just precisely as Eleanor leaned up from putting her phone away for the flight, her eyes hit home on a familiar face for the 3rd time that day. Elle's face lit up bright red again and she put her hands quickly to her cheeks to hide her shame, turning her body away as the young, coffee stained man took a seat directly beside her.
Jesus, can this get any worse? Eleanor thought to herself, staring disdainfully out her window.
"Hello, I do believe we've met before," a deep European accent echoed from the man next to her.
Could she just ignore him? Would he go away if she just willed it to be so? Was this all a strange horrifying dream?
Elle breathed in an anxious sigh and turned towards him, removing the hands from her burning cheeks.
"Listen I am so so sorry, I know I totally screwed up and I'm sorry and I really meant it when I said I'd pay for a tux I promise I can, i can just give you my pho-" Eleanor began.
The young man's laugh rang out like a church bell and Elle went silent.
"You're the funniest person I've met in awhile," he said, smiling.
Eleanor blushed again and said "thank you?" very quietly.
"My name is Nicolas, and yours?" He said, offering her his hand.
"My name is Eleanor, or Elle for short," she stammered, reaching for his hand. As she went to go shake it he grabbed her fingers and lifted Elle's hand to his mouth, leaving a small kiss there. Eleanor's eyebrows shot up, unprepared for this sort of introduction.
He lifted his head up and let go of her hand.
"I'm glad we've been introduced Eleanor, this flight will be entertaining,"