Definitions

Chapter 42: Customs and Duck Ponds

Perth, noun.
The capital city of Western Australia. See, we have this hashtag called PerthIsOkay. In my opinion, it's very okay. Much good. Many wow. I mean, it's no Vegas, but it's home. It's my home.

Chapter forty two: Customs and Duck Ponds
The warmth from the sun, and the gentle breezes were enough to tell me, even without the announcement from the loudspeaker, that we'd arrived in Perth. We'd just walked down the steps from the plane to the tarmac, and Simon was recording me spinning around in delight, as we headed towards the terminal of the airport.
"I can see why you like this place," said Simon.
"Dude, you have no idea," I began. "It's been so long since I've seen a cloudless sky!"
"Well, it is the middle of summer here," said Josh, who was walking beside Simon and JJ, whilst the others followed behind.
"It's gonna be weird not needing Christmas sweaters," chuckled JJ.
"Hey, that's a bonus, right?" I laughed. We entered the terminal, and after we collected our bags, we made our way through customs to the pick up area.

Getting seven people through customs was a tricky business, especially when two of them were Behz and Jide, but we made it eventually. My mum, and my cousin Meah were there to pick us up, and my mum was almost crying when she saw me. She hugged me tightly, and whispered,
"Im so glad you're back."
"It's great to be back!" I responded with a big smile, returning her embrace. "Meah, how are you, girl? How's Cheer going?"
"Great, and great," she grinned. "And we'll have words on that later. But are you going to tell me which guy is which, or do I have to ask them to start speaking?" We all laughed at her.
"Oh, you watch Jordy's videos?" Asked Simon.
"Yeah, so I only know you guys by your voices," she giggled. "So you must be Simon?" She wiggled her eyebrows at me.
"Oh, shut up, you," I laughed, giving her a friendly shove. "So yeah, guys, this is Meah, my cousin and cheerleading buddy, and that's my mum, and this is Simon, Josh, JJ, Tobi, Manny, and Ethan. And my name is Jordyn."
"Thanks for that clarification on your own identity," said my mum. "None of us knew who you were."
"No worries, that was just incase your early onset dementia got the better of you," I giggled.
"Hey, I'm not that old, you toad!" She laughed. I shrugged my shoulders.
"Old enough to think 'toad' is still a valid insult!"
"Well, you haven't changed any, have you?" She laughed. "Anyway, it's lovely to finally meet the rest of you." The boys said hello to my mum, and to Meah. "Come on," said my mum, let's go home and drop your stuff off, and you might have time to go do something this arvo."
"Ha, I know what that means," stated JJ with satisfaction. Meah and my mum looked at him oddly, but the rest of us dissolved into laughter.
"I'm not even gonna ask," smiled Meah. "Let's just go."

It was strange seeing my best friends in the home I grew up in, since for years I'd never imagined those two things coming together. But it was great to have them there, of course. We had a bit of vlog-ception going on, with seven of us vlogging at once, with Meah killing herself laughing in the background.
"What's your problem, you derp?" I laughed.
"Well, its bad enough having two of you vlogging at once, seven is just crazy!"
"Yeah, well be thankful Lachlan's not home, or he'd be vlogging too."
"Yeah, where is your brother?" Asked Ethan.
"On the Pack ski trip with Vik," I stated.
"Oh, duh," laughed Ethan. "Vikklan, right?"
"Right," I nodded, chuckling. Even Ethan ships it.

"Okay, well, do you guys wanna go for a wander around here, or go into town, or Fremantle... Mandurah... Kings Park... it's up to you, you're the tourists here."
"You forget we don't know most of those places, Jordy," said Josh, smiling. "You're the tour guide, you tell us where to go. I for one, am pretty tired, so something nearby would suit well, I plan on going to bed early tonight."
"I vote we just walk around here and kick a football, or something, and we can go be tourists tomorrow," suggested Tobi.
"Sounds good to me," nodded Simon.
"I'm guessing by football, they mean Soccer?" Meah asked me.
"Yeah," I nodded, with a laugh. "Hey, we can teach them AFL, we've got a footy in the box in the shed, I'll go grab it."
"Shed?" Asked Simon. "You mean the garage?"
"Same thing," I stated, as he followed me into the shed. I tried to reach the wheelie box that was on top of the drinks fridge in there. "Damn, I've not gotten any taller, have I?"
"Nope," chuckled Simon, reaching over my head, and taking it down for me.
"Thanks," I smiled, taking out the footy, and a soccer ball as well. Then we returned the box to the top of the fridge, and rejoined the others, who were in the living room waiting to go.
"Ready to roll?" Asked JJ, standing up from the lounge.
"Let's go," I nodded, chucking him the AFL ball. "Go try that one out." We all headed out the door, and down the road towards the park.
"This is just a squashed rugby ball," stated JJ, who was still turning the ball I'd given him over in his hands. He was examining the thing like it was rocks from Mars.
"Don't ever say that again!" Giggled Meah. She tried to take it off him, but he wrestled it out of her grip, protesting.
"No, at least let me try it!"
"Well, if you kick it in the pond I'm sending you in there to get it!"
"Ew, there's like duck poo in there."
"Yes there is," I nodded, giggling at the two. They were an odd pair, who'd discovered a preference for each other almost as soon as they met, being very much alike in temperament and disposition. The rest of us were usually a pretty noisy bunch too, but we'd been affected more than Jide had by jet-lag, and an almost total lack of sleep. So we left them to their playful quarrelling, most of us opting to sit beside the lake, and watch the fountain, and talk. I rested my head on Simon's shoulder, as he sat beside me, and I felt his arm snake behind me, holding me loosely. I tuned out to what the others were saying, enjoying the sunshine, and the almost unreal reality for me, of the fact that I was home, in the place I'd grown up in, with people who meant the most. I knew much later on, I'd be glad I'd taken a moment to simply enjoy it.

A/N: Perth Skyline is in the media. And that's not the ocean, that's the Swan River :)

K thnx Bai <3