York Is The New France || By Aiisha RR

Chapter 2 -

Chapter 2 -

I feel the urge to run back to mon père, but my brother must've somehow read my thoughts and grabs my arm in a tight hold. We continue walking until we got to a small line where the flight attendant is checking tickets. Darby lets go of my arm and faces me.

"We're in this together." He speaks softly as I stare into his eyes. I see them as cloudy as a rainy day sky. I smile in response and squeeze his hand.

"Bonjour, welcome aboard!" The flight attendant with a name tag printed 'Willa' speaks happily. Darby gives her our tickets and she directs us with her hand of where to go. Darby leads the way to our seats, which are 2 seats on the left side. He tells me to sit next to the window as he puts our carry on bags in the overhead lockers. He soon sits down next to me when we both sigh simultaneously.

"This is really happening." I look out the window in hope to clear my eyes yet again. My voice is to the point of breaking, as I believe Darby's is also as I hear no response from him.

***

We have been on the plane for about 5 hours and I need to get up and walk around. I stand up and squeeze myself around Darby trying not to wake him up. I go straight towards the lavatory and stuff myself inside. I immediately am thrust upon a mirror staring at my dreadful appearance. My blonde hair has been messed up in all the wrong places, and my eyes are blood-shot red from silent tears, and my skin looking unnaturally pale. I quickly freshen my face with water and fix my hair before using the toilet. I wash my hands before finally exiting the lavatory and walk back to my seat. Darby is still asleep, with his mouth half open. I squeeze past him again and fall into my seat, feeling a crumpling sensation in my pocket. It was then I realise I still have the letter mon père gave me. I pull the envelope out of my pocket and pull down the tray-table in the process.

I quickly open up the envelope and empty its contents. Two pages of paper and a few photos are scattered on the tray-table. I pick up the pieces of paper and decide to look at them first. It is 2 full pages of writing, all in printed ink. I take a large breath of air and let it out, as I begin reading.

Dear Darby and Clémentine,
Hello! Surprise, you will be staying with us for a year! As you know, our names are Alice and Vincent. We have met you a few times before, and we're positive that we will be a lot closer by the time you have to go home. We decided to made this letter for you both, to enlighten you about our family and home town, so hopefully not everything is as daunting for you when you get here. We are not sure of what your parents told you, but hopefully this letter answers some questions and takes up some time from the boring plane ride.

This letter is so sweet, as do Alice and Vincent sound sweet too. I am excited to see them again.

Our house is in a lovely and friendly town called La Brouchet Clémentine, you will be attending Merideth High School, which starts back from Summer break 2 days after you arrive. We have included a picture of your new school in the envelope.

I look through the pictures and find one with 'Merideth High' written in thick black marker on the back. It was large, its sports field was bigger than my entire school.

Vincent, is a hotel manager, which makes him a very busy man. He spends very long hours at work, and stays at the hotel overnight on Fridays and Saturdays when it is at its busier times. He comes home late, and tries to not wake anyone up. (It will take you a while to get used to this.)
I stay at home and look after the house except for Friday and Saturday as well, when I help out at the hotel overnight. You will be seeing me a great deal more than Vincent. There are some pictures of our house and of Vincent's hotel for you to look at.