BRIDGING THE DISTANCE

CHAPTER 1

SAI

"Gotcha!"

I shouted when I finally catched the damn chicken that I've been chasing for the past thirty minutes.

"Whoo! There we go!" I lead the chicken back to it's coop. I took a deep breath and went inside the house. I went to the kitchen and found my adoptive mother, Archiell, preparing delicious dishes.

I walked towards her and gave her a warm hug. "Wow! That's a lot of food mom! Thankyou! I'm really greatful to have a mother like you."

She looked at me and smiled. "Of course! I'd cook thousand dishes for my wonderful daughter." She cupped my face with her hands. "Besides, it's your eighteenth birthday today! So it's only natural that we have a grand feast!"

I chuckled and helped her prepare. Soon, my adoptive father, Brent, came home with a smile and a bunch of letters. "Where's the birthday girl?"

I immediately ran towards him and gave him a hug. "Happy Birthday sweety." He greeted me happily.

"Thanks dad! Um, what are those?" I pointed at the letters he was holding.

"Oh, just bills. But uh, there's actually one adressed to you. It's from the 'STONEGATES ACADEMY'?"

My eyes widened and quickly grabbed the letter. This is it! Whatever is written in here decides my fate!

"What is that sweety?" Mom asked and looked curious. Dad also looked a bit confused.

"It's the school I told you about! I took an entrance exam and this is tge result!" I excitedly said.

"Wait, you mean the school in the city?" Dad askes with a concerned look on his face.

Oh no, I forgot he hasn't agreed to it yet. We lived in a small farm at a small town, and the city is very far from here. So when I told my parents where I wanted to study for high school, they were reluctant. I managed to convince mom in the end, but dad...

Mom placed her hand on his shoulder and said in a soft tone, "Honey, we already discussed this. She's eighteen now. She's allowed to make her decisions and it's our job to support her."

I looked at mom thankfully. Dad still didn't seemed conviced, but eventually sighed. "Well, I guess...if that's where you want to study, then...I'll support you." He said with a faint smile.

I teared up and said, "Thanks dad, mom. Okay! I'll open it now..."

We all gathered around as I slowly open the letter and read it.

"So? What does it say?" Dad asked curiously.

As I read the letter, I couldn't hold back my tears and started crying. Mom immediately hugged me and comforted me. "That's okay honey. Let it out."

"Your mom's right. It'll be okay. And maybe this is even a good thing, you know? I mean, you could just—"

"I got accepted..." I said in a low voice.

Everyone got silent. "W-what?" Mom asked.

I looked at both of them with a smile and repeated, "I got accepted mom! Dad!"

Their faces lit up as they cheered and got excited. "Oh my gosh! Congrats sweety!! I love you so much!" My mom yelled in tears.

"That's my daughter! Haha! Now there are two things we're celebrating...your birthday, and your success!" Dad said with a wide smile. Mom and I chuckled as we all hugged each other.

After a few minutes of being emotional, we finally sat down at the dining table and ate to our heart's content.

I looked at my parents happy faces.

Imagine, just ten years ago, I was still in the orphanage, not being able to celebrate my own birthday. But now, here I am...with two loving parents, and a lovely home.

I smiled at the thought and continued to dig in.

"Well, now that I got accepted, I'm gonna have to live at the city. School starts nextweek, so I decided to go there by sunday. Will that be alright?" I asked.

"Of course! But where will you be staying?" Mom asked in a concerned manner.

"Don't worry. In that school, once you got in, they'll provide you a dorm...IN THE CAMPUS."

My parents nodded in unison.

***

Wow...

I looked at my bed, my closet, my study table. It looked lovely!! Everything was neat and had a touch of vintage.

We finally arived at the dorm. It was so beautiful. There were two other beds. One was all in monochrome and the other was green themed.

"Wow! What a lovely room you have here sweety. And it seems like your two roomates are quiet neat with their things." Mom said while looking around and dad was just standing by the door.

"Holy shi—!" A girl suddenly entered the room and was shocked when she saw me and my parents. She had medium black hair, and gorgeous gray eyes.

I made an awkward smile. "Hello! Uhm, my name is Sai. This was the dorm that I uh..."

"O-oh, hi!! You must be our new dormmate then. I'm Flare Angeles and  uh..." She looked towards the door and another girl went in. She had short hazel hair and her eyes were jet black. "This is Yssale Jones. Yssale, this is Sai and she's staying in our dorm from now on."

The Yssale girl looked at me and smiled. "It's nice to meet you. I heared you came from the country side. You must've hed such a long journey."

Wow! Well they seem nice. I think I can get used to this.

I unpacked my stuff and went to send off my parents. "Take care sweety. And remember o call us atleast twice a week." My mom said as ters started to form in her eyes.

"Yes mom, I promise. Now you two take care. I love you both." I hugged the both of them tight.

"We love you too honey. Goodbye now!" My dad said as he patted my shoulder. I waved at them as I watched their car disappear from my sight little by little.

This somehow reminded me of something...

I sighed at the thought. Well, it has been a lot of years. He probably doesn't even remember me. Heck, I don't even know what he looks like now!

I went back inside and Flare suddenly invited me on her bed with Yssale. We talked about ourselves and our favorite hobbies.

It's nice to have good friends already even before the school starts.

And speaking of school, I should probably get ready for tomorrow. Who knows what kind of people I'll meet?

Thankyou for reading menn!!
If you liked it, pls dont forget to vote!!
I luv u menn!!🥰