Sacrifice (Ethan Dolan)

1

"I'm gonna miss you little sis." My brother tells me as he grabs me into a big hug, never letting go.

"I know, I am going to too." I say giving him a huge smile that is hiding behind my tears as I pull out of his strong grasp.

"Flight number 319 from Queensland to Los Angeles is boarding now. Please make your way to the boarding gates with your boarding pass as soon as possible. Thank you." Says a booming female voice over the load speaker.

"Well this is it," I say to my brother staring into his teary eyes. "I'm going to live in LA for the next 3 years of my life."

"I know," he says with a sign of sadness in his voice. "Make sure to call me as soon as you get there." He says giving me one last hug and waving me a goodbye as I walk off to the boarding gates, in the distance. Here I am leaving the airport in Queensland, Australia and making my way to my new life in Los Angeles with no one but myself.

"Attention passengers," a male voice calls out over the plane. "Could everyone please put their seat belts on, tray tables up and chairs to full upright position as we prepare to take-off from Queensland." The captain says to all the passengers on the plane.

I take a deep breath and lean back into my seat as I look out the window watching our plane start to roll down the runway. We pick up more and more speed and I feel the plane finally leave the ground and make its way into the air. I look down at my old home, seeing all the city lights flashing by. When we are in the air I decide that I should probably get some sleep, seeing that it is 9:00 at night and it will be a 14 hour flight. I slowly shut my eyes and try to think about what LA will be like. After about half an hour I finally get to sleep in the uncomfortable plane seat.

I am suddenly woken by a rough landing on the runway in LA. Realising that we have landed I quickly open my eyes and look out the window to try and see what it looks like. I don't see much because we have already landed but I do see a few palm trees which reminds me of home. I try to see as much as I can but we have come to a stop and all the other passengers are getting up to go. I stand up from my uncomfortable seat and stretch my arms and legs. Then I grab my bags from the over head compartment and make my way to the end of the plane. "Welcome to Los Angeles" a cheery flight attendant says to me as I step off the plane. I try to give her a smile but I really wasn't feeling it. For some reason I felt homesick and lonely and I felt a small tear trickle down my face. I quickly wiped it away and kept walking down the ramp to the airport. Don't think about home, don't think about home I tell myself over and over again as I walk through the airport to baggage claim so that I don't break down into tears.

I finally make my way to baggage claim and wait around the belt for my suitcase to come. I see my black suitcase and quickly grab it. Once I've got it I wheel it outside of the airport and wait for a taxi to pick me up.

A taxi arrives on the curb and I load my things into the boot and hop in the back. "Where are you heading miss" the taxi driver asks me. "Thomas Road, California please" I say back to the driver as he pulls onto the road. As we are driving I look out the window and just let my mind wander. Who is going to be my roommate? I wonder, hoping that I can make as many friends as possible while I'm here. As we're still driving I take more notice of our surroundings and realise that we must be in California. The more I look around the more isolated I feel. Everything is so different from Queensland like the high rise buildings and the clean perfect streets. Even the palm trees along the sidewalks are all in a perfectly straight lines and I'm not sure how I feel about California yet.

"Here we are." The driver says and I jump out of the car to grab my things from the boot. "That will be 30usd" says the driver to me holding out his hand. I hand him the cash and start to walk to my apartment building. I make my way through the huge glass doors and walk up to the reception desk. "Hi how can I help you today?" A chirpy young lady asks me from behind the front desk.

"Hi my name is Savannah and I am here to get the key for my apartment that I rented out." I say giving her a warm smile.

"Ah yes Savannah," she says giving me a smile back "I hear your from Australia?"

"Yeh I am" I say back waiting for her to comment on my accent.

"I love your accent so much by the way. Anyway I'm rambling, sorry. Here are your keys," she says as she hands me a set of keys which have my room number on them. "Your apartment is on the 7th floor and you are room number 216. Also sorry I forgot to mention my name. I'm Jazz."

"Ok thank you so much and nice to meet." I say giving her a small wave as I make my way to the elevator.

I reach the 7th floor and pace down the corridor slowly to try and find my apartment number. 214, 215, 216! This is it. I look at the door number to make sure it is the right one. Certain that it says 216 and my eyes aren't playing tricks on me I bring my hand up to the door and knock lightly on it. This is it, this is the apartment that I'm going to be living in for the next 3 years of my life. I listen out for any footsteps on the other side of the door and I can faintly hear someone walking towards me. I take a deep breath just as the apartment door slowly opens.

A take a small gasp not believing who is standing in front of me.