Like Rapunzel, but Not Really ✔

Chapter 21

A/N: I've finally finished the story! But slight editing to this chapter and the next for consistency's sake in the latter chapters were needed. You can just skip all the way down to when she meets her Mom for the minor changes.

------

I was on a plane en route to London.

And apparently, in first class.

"Penny, you didn't have to get us first class tickets," I said worriedly thinking about how to pay her back if my parents cut me off for the stunt I was about to pull. It was the first time I found myself worrying about money and I had to admit, it was a foreign feeling.

Penny's nose wrinkled to mark her distaste. "And be in coach for five hours? Why?"

A pair of couple who overheard Penny's bourgeoisie comment gave her dirty looks as they waddled past us to the economy class seats. If Penny saw their disgruntlement, she made no show of it.

"Look, we are on summer vacation. Let's just enjoy this, okay?"

I refrained myself from whacking Penny back to her senses. "I am most definitely not going on vacation, Penny. This is a real life and death situation right now." To say I was not slightly annoyed at my friend would have been a lie. But another thought invaded my mind.

"Hey, it's summer vacation now?"

"Ari, it's been summer vacation for the past 3 months. School is starting two weeks from now." She muttered darkly before scoffing again. "Ugh."

I had been so out of touch with the world that I had completely forgotten normal things like schools and the holidays. When your school was scheduled next door to your home and classes were scheduled every day of the week, the concept of weekends and holidays lost their meaning. But there was something else that irked me.

"But I swear I've seen Tristan going to school the last month." My perplexed mind tried to figure out this new puzzle.

Penny looked at me confusedly before a look of understanding dawned on her face. She shrugged. "His school runs on a different calendar," was her explanation with a blasé tone.

My confused expression prompted her to continue. "He goes to a private military school of sorts," her nose scrunched up in thought as she figured out how to explain Tristan's education. "I don't really know what they do exactly but they run stuff in their own bubble. I think their holidays are way shorter than ours." She said in after thought and then shrugged. "Sucks to be him."

Huh.

I did not know that about him. In fact, there really was not much I knew about him. My stomach clenched guiltily as I thought about the pathetic note I left as a goodbye. Even if we weren't exactly close and met only out of bizarre circumstances, nobody deserved a goodbye on a piece of a post-it note.

I squashed my guilt away by willing myself to sleep. But it seemed like even in oblivion, my guilt had followed me for I ended up dreaming of obsidian eyes and raven locks, and they stayed on until I finally felt a rough lurch. I woke up sleepily, and there was Terminal 3 of Heathrow Airport greeting me welcome.

~**~

"You can keep the change," Penny dropped two £50 note into the cab driver's hand and gestured for the concierge to grab our banks from trunk.

We had finally arrived at Four Falls, the only hotel in London which met my parents' standards as far as hotels could go. I looked at Penny, who smiled at me encouragingly.

"Let's go," she said, as she linked her arms with mine and proceeded to pull both of us into the hotel.

This is it.