+Note: Once again, no proofreading. I've been told to not call myself a sucky writer, so enjoy this piece of average (or below average) writing. Still for a friend. Still no Bastille yet. EXPOSITION.
2:
After a boring and uncomfortable 11 hours with 3 movies, and 4 less than amazing meals of airplane food, the pilot spoke over the speaker.
-We will be arriving at Heathrow Airport at around 5:15 am. Today’s weather should be a nice 70 degrees Fahrenheit with overcast skies. Thank you very much for flying with us on Virgin Airlines and hope you enjoy your stay in the beautiful city of London. Please look to your closest stewardess for instructions as we begin the process of landing. –
Everyone around you started to perk up, or awake from the neck cramping slumber they had dozed off into. You and Maika had already been awake for 20 minutes, staring out the window as you flew over the amazing green landscapes of Scotland. On your TV screen you can see a live map of your flight which included the path of the entire ride, as well as temperature, arrival time, flight time, and airspeed.
As the plane began to descend you looked out the window to see many beautiful buildings, and greenery, and then the airport and runway. Maika was bracing again in her seat and she told you “I read that pilots purposely land hard for traction. Basically a controlled crash.” And it actually made you a little nervous. Where had she learned all of these random facts about planes? Who knows. She always had random facts to share and nobody ever knows where she gets them. The plane bounced and rumbled as it made contact with the runway and the other passengers were getting ready to grab their luggage to exit the plane.
When the plane came to a complete stop, everyone stood and gathered their belongings. You shoved the scratchy airplane blanket and useless pillow onto your seat and moved into the aisle with Maika to get your bags out of the overhead compartment. As you exited the plane you were hit with a wave of nausea. I’M SO NERVOUS. OH MY GOSH. CALM DOWN. You took a few deep breaths and realized you had stopped moving and were blocking the aisle. “Oh, sorry.” You apologized to the people behind you, and kept moving. You passed the stewards and stewardesses as you walked out the plane door into the catwalk, and followed close behind Maika, trying to keep up in the crowd of people. Once you arrived at a less crowded area, you pulled off to the side to a small white bench to adjust all your belongings.
“I gotta go use the bathroom real quick, stay here and watch the stuff, and we can switch when I get back. Okay?” Maika said, ruffling her hands through her dark brown hair and stretching after the long flight.
“Okay.” You replied, and sat next to your stuff as she walked down the hall a bit to the restrooms. The both of you were dressed for the hot weather of California, with jean shorts and assorted band tee-shirts. You looked down and realized you should probably change so you don’t freeze to death as soon as you step outside. After a few minutes Maika came back, looking more energetic and refreshed than before. “We should probably change. I mean, the pilot said it wasn’t too cold today, but we’ll definitely look like major tourists walking around in shorts.” You told her.
“Well crap. Didn’t think about that when I just went to the bathroom… By the way, these bathrooms are weird. They’re like… futuristic. The toilets are like super skinny and tall with super narrow seats and the sinks are like some Star Trek Enterprise shit.” Maika added, a tired smile on her face. “I guess you can go change first then since I made you wait here.” She added.
“Okay, I’ll try to be quick.” You said, standing up and heading to the bathroom. You had packed your backpack with jeans and a jacket for when you got here, to be prepared.
After you finished changing, you returned to Maika, and once again she headed to the bathrooms to change. Your outfits again were similar, with a tee shirt and jeans, with a hoodie over it. Your tee shirt was white with a large skull printed onto the middle, and you were wearing dark skinny jeans and some old grey vans. Maika walked back wearing a Khal Drogo shirt from Game of Thrones and grey skinny jeans with white high top converse. “Ready?” you asked standing up from the bench. You pulled your black hair out of the comfortable ponytail you had it up in and put on your black hoodie. It was actually pretty warm in the airport so you rolled up the sleeves and grabbed your case as Maika put on her maroon colored hoodie. As soon as you were sure you had everything, you made your way down the hall, through all of the security, to the luggage carousels.
You walked through the line of carousels until you found the one from your flight.
“I’m going to go get a cart for our bags.” Maika said, walking towards the line of carts (surprisingly free of charge). When she returned you stood beside each other, waiting to catch a glimpse of your bags slowly cruising by. Maika spotted your two cases and pushed up through the crowd of people to lift them off of the conveyor onto the shiny tiled floor. She rolled them towards you so you could put them onto the cart. They were extremely heavy, and therefore were pretty expensive to take, but it carried essentials until you could establish your life in this new city.
“Well, I guess we should find a London Underground station.” You said. Maika agreed and you made your way through the vast halls and rooms of the airport to find an exit. After 15 minutes of confused wandering with your luggage piled onto a cart you saw the exit. Nearby the automatic sliding doors was a currency exchange.
“We need to exchange some of our money until we can get to a bank.” Maika said, digging in her bag for her wallet. You followed her up to the desk and pulled out your phone as you waited for her to change her dollars to pounds.
Your stomach began to rumble and growl, and you felt a ravenous hunger begin to emerge. Maika is now talking on her phone, she says thanks to the man at the money exchange desk and stuffs the money into her wallet as she continues to talk on the phone. You pick up the end of her conversation.
“Yeah, we just landed about 45 minutes ago. We’ll see you soon. Yeah, don’t worry, we’ll go out shopping for what we need for tonight. Thanks Mrs. Palmer.” She said. Mrs. Palmer was the landlady of the flat you were going to rent. You and Maika had been in contact with her for several months before your move so you could sort out everything. She had already put some very basic furniture in your house. She couldn’t get any beds but she had bought two recliners and some decorations as well as an old record player she had in storage. The perfect furniture for you.
“Let’s go catch the next train into the city.” You said, following Maika once again through the crowd.
