Ashamed

Chapter 1:

"Alright mom, I will call you as soon as my plane lands." I say as I embrace my mother into my arms. "Okay, sweetie, I love you very much." She says not wanting to let go. I can tell by the sound of her voice she is holding back her tears that will soon fall once I leave.

I pull away and see her blue eyes watering up. I was leaving for 6 months to Australia, I'm studying abroad for my degree in college. I wanted to become an author. I've always loved to write since my father passed away when I was six. He was on his way home, when a drunk driver hit him.

"I love you, honey." my mom says to me. "I love you too, mom. It will only be six months. Just don't think about it, I will Skype you everyday." I say reassuringly giving a convincing smile.

I give her one last hug before I hear the on the intercom that my plane is about to be boarding.

I kiss my mom on the cheek and walk to the gate. I give the lady my ticket and turn around and wave at my mom one last time before walking through the tunnel that leads to the plane.

It's absolutely huge, it's an airbus which is a two-story plane used to carry passengers over seas. I'm originally from North Dakota, but my mother and I moved to New York when I was seven, and now I attend NYU.

I find my seat, 29C. I get the window seat, which I love. I've always loved plane rides, I don't know why, they just excite me. I look out the window and the excitement builds in my body. I've always wanted to attend NYU and study abroad for English. All of my dreams are coming true, and this plane ride just made me realize it.

I was locked out of my thoughts when I hear someone sit beside me. I look up and see a boy about my age, maybe older. He was very tall and has light brown hair. He looks at me and smiles.

"Hello" he says with an Australian accent, he must be going home.

"Hi" I say shyly.

"What's your name, love?" he asks

"Dylan" I say looking at him.

"Oh, I'm Ashton!" he says happily

Ashton I talked for about three hours before he fell asleep. I discovered that we will both be attending Sydney University, he's an English major as well so we probably have classes together. He was in New York visiting his Aunt and Uncle. I plug in my headphones and slowly drift away to The 1975 serenading me.

The next morning I wake up at 11:30. I still have seven and a half of hours left. I look over and Ashton is still sleeping. I'm glad I found a friend so I won't be completely alone while I'm here.

I pull out the book I've been reading by John Green, Looking For Alaska. It's a really good book. I'm immediately sucked into it that I forget everything around me.

About two hours later Ashton wakes up

"Good morning!" he says energetically

"Good morning" I say calmly

"What time is it?" he asks

"2" I say

"ugh we still have a long time" he says with a slight groan.

We finally arrive in Sydney at 6:30. Everyone departs from the plane and I walk out to find my luggage. Once I get my luggage I go to Personal Assistance.

"Hi, I just flew here from New York, and my mom told me to come here once I land, I'm a student, studying abroad for this semester at Sydney University." I say to her.

She's tall and petite with her hair wrapped up in a tightly sock bun.

"Oh, alright." she says typing in her computer. "Are you Dylan Stewart?" she questions me

"yes, that's me" I say with a smile.

"Alright, well your taxi driver will be here soon to drive you to your new apartment." she says

"Thank you" I say and walk away to go sit down.

Since I study abroad, I don't stay on campus. I don't know why, that's just the rules. But I have my own apartment which is great because I like being alone. My first day of class doesn't start until Wednesday, so I still have two more days to get everything settled in. I spot Ashton out of the crowd. He finds me and smiles and walks over.

"Hey!" he says taking a seat beside me

"Hi." I say smiling at him

"Where are you going?" he asks me

"to my apartment" I say

"you don't live on campus?" he asks

"No" I say

"Oh" he says

I keep quiet until I see a man standing with a sign that says "Dylan Stewart"

"I have to go, maybe I'll see you around campus?" I say standing up.

"Yeah, okay.. here's my number.. in case you get lost or something" he says shyly handing me a piece of paper.

I smile and walk to the taxi driver. Ashton is nice and all, but I just met him. I need to focus on my school work.

Once I arrive at my apartment I set all my five bags down. my mom gave 500 Australian dollars so I could buy things for the apartment and food. I start unpacking, it's a quite nice apartment. there's two bedrooms with two bathrooms, and living room and kitchen. It's fairly big. I like it.

When I finally unpack all of my clothes, I pull out my phone and save Ashton's number and call my mom.

"Hello?" she says

"hi, mom!" I say excitedly

"Dylan! how is everything? how was the plane ride? is your apartment nice?" She asks me.

"My plane ride was good, I met a boy named Ashton who is also attending Sydney and he said he can help me out, which is nice. The plane ride was great. My apartment is really nice, it has a spare bedroom so if you want to fly down and visit!" I say eagerly

"oh that's lovely dear! I'm so glad everything is going good! what are you going to do now?"

"I'm going to go shopping for things here and food!" I say to her. "Alright dear, well, I best be getting off and heading to bed, we will Skype tomorrow, yeah?"

"Alright! I'll call you tomorrow! love you, bye!" I say to her before hanging up.

I grab my purse and make sure I have everything. I grab the key to my apartment and lock the door behind me.

When I walk out, I accidently bump into someone.

"Oh, I'm sorry" I say nicely.

"Please watch where you're going." he spats

I don't say anything but look to my feet. He looked mean. He had tattoo's all over he big muscular arms, He had a lip ring. His skin had a darker complexion. His deep Australian voice echoed through the hall.

"Sorry" is all I manage to say before I walk away to try and find a taxi.