London Calling.

Chapter 3

I rushed into class trying to keep a low profile. I headed straight for my usual spot at the back of the classroom. Being in the back allowed me to fade into the background of the classroom. No one never really noticed I was there. I just came to class, did the homework, and made the grades trying to make no connections in the process. I was a self proclaimed loner and I liked that about myself. Unlike most people my age, I've never really had a deep desire to create friendships. Of course, I still ended up making a few along the way; mostly all of them shared the same views on life which is why we got along so well. 

I settled into my seat and unpacked my things. I had missed at least the first 30 minutes of class, but judging by the looks on everyone's faces it hadn't been that important. There was some sort of diagram on the board that had messy sketches all around it in different colored dry erase markers. I tried to make out the handwriting but found it impossible and soon gave up. 

After a long and tedious 5 minutes of trying to pay attention, I quit. I began to doodle some sort of monster into the margins of my notebook. I named him James and decided that he was a friendly monster who loved children but never got to play with any because they were afraid of him. And before I could finish my story class was over.

The rest of the day felt as though it had flown by in the blink of an eye. The only thing I had left for the day was lunch with my best friend Emily. As I was walking up the stairs to the campus food court I glanced up to see her with her short, brown her and huge smile looking back at me. She had definitely changed over summer. Her hair had now been cut into a fashionable bob that made her curls behave better, and she had become much more tan since the last time I had seen her. She was trendier than the girl who had left here 3 months ago. I knew her personality had changed to, just like mine had. 

"Caroline!!" she was nearly screaming at this point. "I missed my best friend!" 

She ran towards me and I braced myself for the massive hug that was about to ensue. She literally leaped towards me and at the last minute I held my arms open and caught her. Like usual she had hit my nose in the process and made it feel as though it was about to fall off of my face.

"Em, I swear you don't have to break my nose ever time hug each other."

"Whoops," she leaned out of the hug and put some space between us, "sorry about that."

I rubbed my nose for a few more seconds, then we headed inside to get our lunches. I got my traditional first-day-back PB&J, while Em had pasta. We sat down at a table near the window and began discussing all that we had done over summer. Emily had decided to go to India while the rest of her family went to their vacation home in Alabama. She had fallen in love with the Indian lifestyle. She loved the food, the people, the places, everything. She explained to me how she had made a few friends on her trip and how she missed them terribly and how much she missed her home in India. When her story had come to a finish she stared out the window wistfully.

"I just miss it so much Caroline. I would do anything to go back."

I knew exactly how she felt.

"That's how I feel about London..." I trailed off and looked out the window with her. That nagging thought I had tried so hard to push to the back of my mind was now so prominent that there was no denying it.

"Em... Can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah, of course." Her focus was now completely on me.

"Have you thought about running away yet?" As I said this I looked down at the table with a slight smirk, knowing that she more than likely had. 

"You know I have." she sighed. "I just wish I could leave without anyone's feelings being hurt. I would miss you so much and I would never want to leave you. And I just couldn't stand to see the look on my parents faces when I told them I was leaving for an undetermined amount of time."

"You shouldn't worry about me. I was already planning on leaving. I just hadn't figured out a good enough excuse yet."

I guess I had finally made up my mind. I was leaving. I knew deep down inside of myself that this was the right thing to do. I would never be able to forgive myself if I had just let this opportunity pass me by. 

Emily was now smiling her huge grin again. "We need to come up with a good idea and we can both split it. We're best friends, people expect us to make crazy decisions together."