Toast

Chapter Thirty Six // Train Tickets

- Priya's POV -

I stormed down the busy corridor where Elizabeth's room was located, I had never felt anger like this before. I felt betrayed, furious, uncomfortable and had a strong urge to punch a wall. There were tears running down my face because I was so angry and that's never happened before.

I understand that all Elizabeth was trying to do was help me or somehow make me happier but she should've told me what she was going to do before acting on it, would she like it if I got in contact with a relative she hadn't spoke to in years? I think not.

I pushed through the crowds of girls who were blocking up the corridor, they seem to think that hanging around outside the dorm rooms is cool when it's not. They gave me evil looks as I walked away from them and approached me and Carrie-Anne's room. I opened the door to see Ashley and Carrie-Anne painting each others nails while listening to music on the TV, I stared at them angrily and they smiled at me.

"Ashley? Could you leave for a minute please?" I asked Ashley calmly, they both stared at me in confusion.

"What the fuck have I done?!" Ashley shouted, I rolled my eyes at her and she gasped. They both continued to look at me because they didn't understand why I was angry and upset. I sighed loudly, stormed across the room and dragged Ashley to the door to throw her out.

"You're a bitch Priya!" She screamed as I slammed the door shut, she hit the door with her fists for a minute or two before there was silence. Carrie-Anne was shocked at the way I was acting, she looked like she was afraid to cross me.

"I just needed to speak to you alone.. Something happened" I told her quietly, I sat down on the bed and Carrie-Anne shuffled closer to me so she could listen.

"Elizabeth found my uncle on Facebook, she messaged him asking if he could meet up with me to talk about my mother.. The reason for her death and stuff.." I explained with my head lowered in shame, it felt awful saying out loud that I didn't know why my own mum had died all those years ago. Carrie-Anne stared at me with her eyebrows raised, she pulled me in for a hug.

"Elizabeth knows a lot about you, I'm sure she didn't want to upset you" She said in a calm tone while hugging me, I nodded.

"I know that, but she should've spoke to me first. Wouldn't you be mad if somebody did that to you?" I asked her with a frown on my face, Carrie-Anne shrugged her shoulders. She looked away from me for a moment and then began to grin.

"I'm not mad at all for what she did, that's the nicest thing anybody has ever done for you" Carrie-Anne said to me, I stared at her in shock and laughed loudly. At first I thought she was joking but she clearly wasn't.

"Elizabeth can obviously tell you need this closure. I know it was a surprise but she was doing it out of goodness.."

I nodded in agreement at what Carrie-Anne was explaining to me, she patted me on the back and chuckled. She knows I get overly angry at things but I think this was a normal reaction to what Elizabeth did.

"My uncle Barry responded to her, he wants to meet tomorrow. He needs a yes or no from me" I told her a minute later, Carrie-Anne sighed and began to play with my hair.

"Well you're going, there's no doubt in that. You have to!" She shouted, I agree. This is a huge opportunity to get the answers I was longing for when I was six years old, all the lies my dad told me to bury the actual truth about what happened to my mum.

"You're right, I need to" I muttered before getting up and pacing around the bedroom, Carrie-Anne watched me while tapping her foot impatiently on the wooden floor.

"Go back to Elizabeth's room then!" She shouted while walking to the door and holding it open for me, I nodded and hurried out of the room. I felt incredibly nervous to be returning after screaming in her face and storming out. I walked passed Ashley who was sitting on the floor outside me and Carrie-Anne's bedroom.

"Fuck you Priya!" Ashley shouted, I looked back at her with a sarcastic grin as I walked around the corner. I pushed passed the usual girls and began to run to Elizabeth's room before she told Barry the meetup wouldn't be happening. Now that I've thought about it, I feel terrible for exploding in her face.

I arrived at the quiet empty corridor where Elizabeth's room was located, I would love to be staying in these dorms because there aren't annoying girls who hang around out here all night. I sprinted down the hall before looking up and seeing an unfamiliar boy leaving Elizabeth's dorm room, I stared at him in shock. He began walking down the corridor, he saw me staring at him and instantly looked terrified. We both froze and watched each other for a minute before he lowered his head and hurried passed me. Who the hell was that?

I tip toed to Elizabeth's door and realised it was still slightly open, I could see what was happening inside. Elizabeth was tucking Amber into bed, she began to pour her soul out to Amber about how people treated her like crap when she was younger. I listened to her talking and I couldn't help but smile, sometimes I forget that other people are struggling too. I always think that everybody else in this world is perfect and I'm the only one with the awful history and a broken heart.

When Elizabeth finished talking to Amber she had fallen asleep, I guess this is my chance to enter. I opened the door an inch more which made it creak, Elizabeth looked over at me and her face lit up slightly. I quietly made my way across the room to avoid waking up Amber, I sat down on Elizabeth's bed and she sat beside me too.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you, I was just shocked. Seeing Barry is a great idea, I want to meet him tomorrow" I whispered to Elizabeth, she smiled widely and opened the laptop that was sitting on her bed. She logged into Facebook and messaged my uncle to tell him the answer was yes, I could feel my heart thumping with anxiety.

We waited in silence for an answer from Barry, it was somewhat awkward. We kept glancing at each other and smiling but that wasn't fixing the vibes that were floating around the room. Suddenly Elizabeth's laptop made a noise which meant she had received a message, she opened her chat with Barry.

"Let's meet at 5:30pm in The Corner Cafe. Priya will know which one I'm talking about, See you then!"

Elizabeth looked at me in confusion after she had read it out, I grinned slightly before lowering my head. My heart sunk in my chest at the memories of the little cafe that my mum used to take me to every Sunday afternoon.

"I've been there a few times, I know where it is.." I whispered to Elizabeth, she nodded. The boarding school was a fifteen minute train journey from the village I live in which was good because I would've hated to take a long train ride to see an uncle I hadn't properly spoken to.

Elizabeth looked up the times that the train would arrive tomorrow evening, she began typing in her credit card details to pay for my ticket. I stared at her in shock before grabbing her wrist to stop her from what she was doing.

"Are you sure about this? I can buy the ticket" I asked her, she rolled her eyes and continued to fill out the information on her laptop. I watched her anxiously before stopping her again.

"C-Can you come with me?"

Elizabeth smiled widely at me and nodded, I sighed with relief and thanked her hundreds of times. I kissed her cheek as she payed for the tickets, tomorrow will be an interesting day.

"Our first adventure together! How exciting!" Elizabeth shouted happily, I laughed before remembering that Amber was asleep in the other bed. Amber began to snore loudly which made me and Elizabeth laugh even more.

"Flip off Luke! Stop stealing my toast!" Amber shouted in her sleep, me and Elizabeth stared at each other in confusion while holding our hands over our mouths to avoid bursting into laughter.

"Who is Luke?" I asked Elizabeth, she shrugged her shoulders and we continued to listen to Amber talking nonsense in her sleep.