"Flight 1926 from Atlanta, Georgia to Kansas City, Missouri has now landed. Please keep your seat belts on until the plane has fully stopped moving. Thank you for flying with Delta, and we hope you have a great day."
I started shifting in my seat, eager to get out of the small space. All around me people were talking to one another, but I kept quiet, being a rather shy person.
I began standing up as the occupants of the plane began clearing out ahead of me. I was happy to be home, but I already missed New York.
I had gone on a summer trip to the Big Apple to learn more about medicine and becoming a doctor, and I had been gone for over a month. I was the youngest of three girls, and my older two sisters were moved out of the house. My Dad had called multiple times while I was away, but I was rather busy. I knew he missed me, and I obviously had missed him, but the freedom had been nice. I had celebrated my eighteenth birthday while in the big city, and I felt like a true adult coming home.
I knew much hadn't changed since I had left, but I was anxious to just sleep in my own bed. Mentally hurrying the people ahead of me out of the plane, I grabbed my backpack from the overhead bin and walked quickly into the jetway.
There were windows in the terminal that allowed me to see my mom and dad waiting for me. I smiled and stopped following the hoard of passengers to the baggage claim to say hello to my parents.
"Missed you," my dad said as he squeezed me.
"Missed you too, Dad," I said with a laugh.
Sighing deeply before facing the other person present, I turned to my mom. She smiled tightly at me before ushering me towards the baggage claim.
"Great seein' ya, Ma," I muttered, rolling my eyes.
Our relationship had always been strained. I was an oopsie, my mom being 39 when she had me, which was fifteen years after she'd had my second oldest sister. I think she didn't really like being an older mother, it bothered her seeing the younger women around her. She was twenty when she had my oldest sister, so she knew about being a young mom.
My dad always understood me, our personalities being extremely similar. He would make me forget about the dislike my mother had towards me with the unconditional love and affection he showed me.
As we moved towards the area that had my bags, he put his hand on my shoulder; a warm presence behind me in contrast to the cool one of my mother in front of me.
"What do you want for dinner kid? We've got a lot of options in the city," he asked.
I contemplated my options, and told him I had no preference.
"How about Indian food then?" He suggested.
I nodded in agreement while my mother stayed silent. After asking what suitcase I had brought with me, my dad spotted it and grabbed it for me.
"Thanks padre," I grinned.
He saluted and the two of us laughed as we made our way towards the parking lot. A few minutes later, we were pulling out of the airport and heading towards the restaurant. As we ate dinner, I saw my mom nod to my dad. He set down his fork and I braced myself for whatever news he was about to tell me.
"El, you know how Uncle Cash and Aunt Linnie live in England?"
I quirked my eyebrow but nodded anyways.
He hushed his voice as he began to talk again. "Well there's a family there that they've known for years; they're very good friends. Their son has recently gotten very...popular. You see, he's an actor. His parents are worried about the fame and all of the people that are now extremely interested in him. Due to this, his parents wanted him to go somewhere no one really knows about. Somewhere in the U.S. because that's where most of his acting gigs are."
My mouth was opened wide at this point, not truly believing what I knew my father was about to say.
"Oh my gosh, Jack, just tell her for Pete's sake," my mother interrupted.
My father held up a hand to her. "Mel, this is big news. I'm not ripping it off like a bandaid," he told her. "But I do need to just get on with it. El, this young man is staying with us for an indeterminable amount of time. He's already been staying with us for the last week and a half."
I tried to reel in my emotions: shock, curiosity, and a little anger.
"Why did you just tell me now?" I finally asked after a few moments.
"Elouise, stop being difficult. We told you before you got home at least, so be happy about that," my mother began. "We're helping this family out whether you like it or not. He's staying in the spare room right down the hall from you. You'll share the same bathroom, and that is final."
Now the minuscule amount of anger I had was not as small. "Are you kidding me mom? I've been gone for a month and you bring a stranger in? I don't care if you told me now or not, considering that was the damn correct thing you should have done."
"Don't speak to me in that tone, young lady," she said as my father started to say something else.
"El, I know it's going to be an adjustment, but he could be here for all of three weeks. We're not for sure how long he'll be with us."
"Also, Elouise, due to him being rather popular, you're not allowed to have friends over while he's with us. Not that you ever do, but on the rare occasion you want to, just know you can't," Mom started. "Believe me when I say no one is supposed to know he's with us. You will get in serious trouble."
Too stunned to shoot a sarcastic comeback her direction, I set my fork down. I was suddenly not very hungry.
My father heaved a great sigh, and we continued our dinner in silence. Once we got back in the car to drive an hour and a half back home, I put my earbuds in and closed my eyes. I did not want to speak to either parent. It wasn't until I was drifting to sleep that I realized something.
I'd never gotten the name of the boy who was staying in our house.
