Chapter 1 ANNA’S POV:
I had been in London for all of a week, and already I was starting to pick up on the lingo. Literally, without even trying, I used the word ‘lift’ and ‘queue’ in casual conversation. I wasn’t picking up a fake accent or anything, but the culture was definitely rubbing off on me. It was so strange to think that only a week ago, my parents had practically shoved me onto a flight from JFK Airport. Boarding School had been their choice, not mine. They had been going through a really bad time lately, fighting a lot, my dad moving out… So I think they just wanted to get rid of me. Although neither of them would ever admit that.
Anyway, here I was; living in a dorm room, in a bedroom the size of my old bathroom, spending my days trying to figure out this new city, these new people, this entirely new life. So far, it was going as well as you could expect. I had made a few friends. Molly, the girl whose room was just next to mine, had been my first real friend and had introduced me to a lot of people. She was really sweet, and I could not be more thankful to be welcomed by her. Like right now, we were currently sitting in one of the common rooms, watching TV and sipping tea from big ceramic mugs.
“So, Anna, you tired of the rain yet?” A boy named Oliver asked. He had reddish brown hair and a few freckles across his nose.
“Ehh, I don’t mind it too much. I kind of like the rain. But ask me again in 2 months, I’m sure my answer will be different.” He laughed and smiled at me. Not to sound completely conceded, but I sort of had a feeling Oliver was flirting with me a lot. And not that he wasn’t cute - because he was, I just wasn’t interested. I turned to Molly who was sitting on a big armchair with her boyfriend, Keenan. He had his arm around her and was whispering something in her ear. I have to admit, when I saw something like that, it sort of made me wish I had a boyfriend. But just that alone wasn’t going to make me hook up with the first guy I see. I had made that mistake before, and I wasn’t going to do it again.
There had been this guy back home, Drew; he had sort of been every girls dream guy. Captain of the lacrosse team, good-looking, popular, probably headed off to some big Ivy League school his parents pushed him towards…. And all of that was great, and for a while I thought I really liked him and we had been sort of going out. But it wasn’t until right before I found out about moving away that I realized I didn’t actually like him that much. I think I liked the idea of being with him, of having someone, but Drew never made me feel special, or wanted, or like I really meant that much to him.
He was nice and all, but it was just extremely one-dimensional. And to be completely honest, I wasn’t really the girl to fall for the popular jock anyway; I think it was just something I thought that I wanted. And everyone had always been telling me how lucky I was that he liked me, so I felt like I was sort of required to like him back. So anyway, Molly and Keenan were adorable.
“So, what’s the plan for this fine evening?” Another guy, Bryce, asked to the group.
“Molly and I were thinking of staying in.” Keenan said, smiling at his girlfriend.
“Well, since the old married couple isn’t interested in having fun, who’s up for the usual pub?” Bryce said.
“Sure, why not.” I responded. I wasn’t technically legal here for another 7 months, but I learned pretty quickly that if you don’t bring too much attention to yourself, no one really cares all that much.
“Good. We’ll meet downstairs at 8.” Bryce said to everyone else who had agreed to come along.
Later that night I was standing in front of my tiny wardrobe, trying to decide what to wear tonight. It’s not like I had anyone to impress, but I still wanted to look decent. I finally decided on a pair of dark jeans, a flowing white tank top, and my favorite leather jacket. I pulled on my black Prada motorcycle boots (that had been an “I’m sorry I’m a sucky parent and am moving out, but here are some shoes to make up for it” gift from my dad. And even though they were a complete bribe, they were really nice and I mean, I couldn’t let them go to waste - as long as he never saw me wearing them). I grabbed my small clutch and made my way downstairs, running a few minutes late, as usual.
