See You In Paris

Chapter 1

My muscles are now exhausted carrying those huge bags engulfing my personal stuffs and mostly are clothes. I climb upstairs my feet are shivering for no walking for more than 3 hours. We have been in a pick-up vehicle for more than 3 hours. Traveling to here, in Cagayan de Oro City, it would be my new hometown.

Well, I live in Buenavista, province of Agusan del Norte. My hometown is not that full of chaos, enormous vehicles. It has no big establishments nor malls. It's just kind of 'ruralish' and quite tranquil. My pure hometown is not a city and, we have no taxis there.

Thus, moving here in this one of the biggest cities in the Philippines is really a culture-shock for me. It's boisterous and vociferous. Cagay-anon's screams, yell, and huge voices crashing in the air horribly. It's really disgusting and pain to my ears. Taxis, buses, and any forms of huge vehicles running from any direction, left to right and vice versa. It's really traffic here, ugh!

I open my room and it jingles the doorknob.

"And this would be my new room," I say and sigh. I smell the the painted-wooded walls. I don't know how long this room has been unused since the previous boarders left. It was supposed to be I would have a company but I couldn't find any roommate to accompany me. So I had to pay this room for expensive enough to crash my pocket.

I start to arrange my bags and organize my stuffs. I clean the room first. It's tiny and quite suffocating but it has a small window so I think it would be fine.

It's now placed and organized. I like organized things but sometimes I like throwing out my stuffs and I love it, messy. I check my phone if I've got a phone call from my granddad and yes, there are 2 missed calls. Oh, sorry grandad, I didn't hear your call. I was so tires in middle of travel even though all I did was just sitting for several hours and my ass was getting stiffed.

Few minutes passed and grandad calls me.

"Pa?" I say. I call him pa, by the way.

"Yeah, are you now in CdO?"

"Yeah, we got here in our boarding room lately and I just get my stuffs organized."

"Good. And how are you there?"

"I'm fine," I sigh inaudibly that he can't hear me.

"That's good. Have you already had your lauch?"

"Not yet, we are just preparing. Sooner, we will just have our launch."

"Don't forget to eat huh? Especially, eat healthy foods there. We're far from each other, no one can take care of you but yourself."

"Yes, I know that pa."

"I'm just reminding you, Stephen," he snaps.

"Okay, I got it. Don't worry about me here. I'm fine. You there, must take care of yourself and also mama."

"Oh, don't worry about us here. Okay, eat launch now. Take care of yourself there Steph."

"Thanks, pa. You and mama too."

I phone down and take one more sigh. I look around and I realize it again, that my room is really small compared to my room there in Buena. It's not that big but sufficient enough to walk and roam around.

I walk down the stairs and I see Milley sitting at the dining table. Milley is a friend of mine and also now my boardmate. We are four here who occupy this borading house. I, Milley, Cassy, and Andrea. Yes, I'm one of the girls. There is one vacant room waiting to be occupied. We are accompanied by the landlady with his son. Thus, we are actually six here in this boarding shelter. Well, unlike some others, it's okay here to accompany with anyone else regardless the gender but you need to trust who you want to accompany in one room. Milley and Cassy are in one room. I and Andrea have separated so we took rooms individually. Well, Andrea's mom doesn't want her to have a male roommate. You know, so she must have to find female roommate, a trustworthy one. And I must have to because it's crashing my pocket, the expenses of living here in this city. But I don't mind if I have a male or female roommate. I am open to anyone else. Just to make sure they are trustworthy roommate ones.

"Let's eat Steph," Milley says and smiles.

"Where are the others?"

"They don't want to eat yet."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, they are still in their room, organizing and arranging stuffs. Come on, eat first. Don't mind them."

I help myself to the table and grab a plate and spoon.

"Have you already set your stuffs in your room?" I ask while serving rice and viand to my plate with only spoon.

"Not yet, so many stuffs to look after, she laughs a bit. "And my room is quite small," she added and I smirk.

A few moments her face gradually turns into quite unhappy one.

"I miss my home. I'm gonna miss my home."

I smile unhappily and think about it for a second. Me either but I miss my room. My room was my safe den and my sanctuary. Everytime the world went into chaos, I just simply went into my room and took a deep breath and let it out. But this time, I am totally out of my comfort zone, this is what I wanted in the first place. The want to take out myself into a whole new world, new ambience, new people to see, and new sky to gaze up at.

I don't know if I can make myself used to this sort of atmosphere where it's totally different from my hometown. I don't know if I will be changed here and become a different one.

My soul and my heart will always be connected to a place where I always feel belonged and open a new door to meet new faces, to meet someone who I hope could open my dormant heart.

"Tsk! Don't think about it Step, you dumbass," I say in my mind.

But honestly, even though my room has been my safest den in my entire life, I have just wanted to go out of my comfort zone and be in a new safest place again where I can put my golden memories with it.

It takes me more seconds to put myself back and take to respond.

"Yeah, and I hope, leaving it behind you would be as worth as finding a place where we could take a deep and gentle breath and meet someone who we could look together at the beautiful sky," I say and pull a gentle smile.