Stars Collide

Chapter 4

"Luxembourg!" The conductor sang. "Last stop, Luxembourg!" I silently gathered my two bags and got off the train, trying to remember the directions father had given me. I resisted the urge to try and find the map hidden deep in my backpack.

"Hello," a man said after I accidentally bumped into him. "Are you Julien Moreau?" I silently nodded. He smiled. "We were informed that we were supposed to pick you up. I'm from the American Schools."

I sighed in relief. "My father said that I would have to find the place on my own."

He laughed. "No, we are going to help you."

"Will I need to tip you?" I blurted out, my mouth working faster than my brain.

He laughed. "No, I'm gong to be your teacher, so that might be kind of awkward. I'm Mister Houghton. Mister, not Monsieur."

I nodded. "My father already told me to call my teachers Mister and Miss instead of Mademoiselle and Monsieur."

"You catch on fast," he said, and I smiled. He eyed my luggage. "Is that all you have?"

I nodded. "Father gave me money to buy stuff over here. If I'll be allowed to, of course."

"You'll be allowed to," he assured me. "Now let's get to my car."

The ride there was much shorter than I expected. In Hazebrouck, it took forever to get from one place to another. But then again, France was much bigger than Luxembourg. When we got there, Mister Houghton dropped me off at the office and I sat there for a few minutes before an angry looking lady came up to me to show me my dorm. It took a few minutes to walk there but we finally reached the "Midwest Dorm". It looked like it came straight out of a western movie and its interior walls were decorated with farmland and lakes. I liked it.

"Okay," the lady said in English. "I'll leave you now."

I didn't understand but I nodded as she abandoned me in my new room. Being the neat freak I was, I began unpacking and placing everything in a specific place. Around thirty minutes later, I had a new, homey room. Now I had nothing left to do. I decided to take out the now crumpled up campus map that Mister Houghton had given me and go exploring. Everyone looked sophisticated and American- they carried themselves with an air of grace and were very comfortable. I felt like an intruder. I didn't belong here. I was supposed to be in a French school where not knowing English is acceptable. I didn't even know if I could find a French-speaking student over here.

Suddenly, my pace quickened as I made my way towards the office. I was going to tell them to take me back home. I couldn't do this. What was I thinking when I said yes to mother and father. I couldn't be independent, especially when I couldn't communicate with most of the people. As I swung the doors of the office open, Mister Houghton walked up to me.

"There you are, Julien! I need you to get your schedule printed out."

Abort, my brain yelled. Abort, abort.

"What?" I asked

"You need to get your schedule," he said slowly.

"Oh," I replied. "Well, where can I do that?"

"Follow me," he said, leading me to a printing room. He punched a few things into a computer and moments later, he came back with a schedule. "It's translated to French on the side, just for you," he added.

I looked at it and noticed that I was in French speaking classes this year, except for my English class. I began to relax- I would be able to survive. The only problem was that I didn't have friends yet. I hoped I would find some in some of my classes. I didn't want to spend my thirteenth birthday alone. It was bad enough that I couldn't spend it with my family and friends back in France.

I still wished that my father would've waited a few more years before sending me to a foreign country for a year. I knew a lot of people who would've said that twelve is far to young to be living without your parents. My sister, Annelise, didn't move out until she was eighteen. My brother, Adrien, is still living at home at the age of fourteen.

Mister Houghton coughed and I realized that I hadn't moved. "I," I said, pointing at the door. "I'll get going."

He nodded. "Yeah, you should. Good luck, Julien."

"Merci," I replied before exiting the office. I smiled to myself. Maybe something good could come out of this.

A/N: I know, I know, it's short but I ran out of things to write about. This chapter served the purpose of getting to know Julien and what he's like and it wasn't meant to be really long. Sorry if my characters are bland, I'm working on building them up.

-StarsInfinite