The last nine days I had left with my friends for eight months had come and passed, all too quickly. Most of them were spent moping around and complaining about hoe unfair it was that I had to move again. Some of them were spent like nothing was changing at all, and Lexi would tell me that no matter what we could and would remain friends, even though I knew that for eight months it wouldn't be the same. And the very last day was spent clearing most of our stuff from the house, whatever we thought we would need for England. We were staying with one of my Dad's college roommates in his large flat that he insisted would fit all of us comfortably. My dad told me we should be very grateful for his generosity, even though they hadn't been in touch for years.
As I took a glance around my room, I felt a wave of sadness and familiarity come over me. I would miss it here, even if it were only for eight months or so. I turned and trudged down the stairs, feeling tears prick the back of my eyes. I held my breath and counted to five before exhaling, trying to rid of any indication of sadness. When I reached the bottom step, I saw Lexi, Luke, and Will all waiting for me. Lexi ran over to me and attacked me with a huge hug.
"I hope our walkie- talkies work long distance," she joked. I laughed, the first time in a week. Then, she handed me a long silver chain with a circle pendant on the end. I looked at her curiously, and she nodded, telling me to open it. I clicked open the pendant and inside was... nothing?
"I think the point of a locket is to put a picture in it," I said.
"You can. It's to show that there will be more fun times when you come back home, and you can put a picture of us in it from one of those," Lexi said, as a matter of factly.
"Oh. Thanks," I said sincerely.
"Anne?" I heard my mom call from the front door.
"She's not available right now, please leave a message after the tone," Will said.
I heard my mom chuckle, and then I waved one final goodbye to all my friends.
"Bye Anne!" they all said, and I forced a smile.
"Bye," I whispered back. I turned and went over to my waiting mother, before she closed the door behind us.
-
"Hi there, would you like something to eat or drink?" the flight attendant asked me, a fake smile plastered on to her face. The memory of the plane ride to Ocean City sprung to my mind, and I smiled to myself before answering.
"Can I please have some Biscoff Cookies?" I asked politely.
"You sure can!" she said, with false enthusiasm.
I tore open the comforting cookies and let them melt in my mouth, though this time they didn't taste quite as sweet.
"We are now preparing to land," the pilot said, his voice coming over the crackly intercom. I gathered my belongings and looked over to my parents.
"When we get off, stay close. We need to go get our other bags, and then Mr. Myers will come pick us up," Mom said. I nodded, and looked out the window, but to my surprise I couldn't see anything. Maybe we were in a cloud.
When the plane began its descent, I gripped my arm rests until my knuckles were white, and closed my eyes out of fear from dying, and from fear of meeting the new place I would call home for eight months. My parents opened up the overhead compartments and pulled down their bags, and then we stepped off the plane and into London.
The first thing that came to mind was that it was very cloudy and a bit chilly. As we walked into the airport, I noticed the clocks hung high on the wall. I rubbed my eyes a few times to make sure that I wasn't just seeing things. Did it say it was 6:30? In the morning? Didn't we leave at 7:30 yesterday? I must have been standing there for a while, because my dad grabbed my arm and steered me towards the baggage claim.
"It's five hours ahead here, honey," he said.
Oh. That may explain it. Alice was sleeping contently in my mother's arms, and I was hit by a wave of jealousy. I was so tired, I wished I were sleeping right now.
We grabbed our bags and then moved around the airport, searching for Mr. Myers. After a few minutes of confusion, we finally saw a large sign that read, "Hey, Bill, I'm over here!" My dad smiled, and moved toward the sign, chuckling and shaking his head. When we reached the man holding the sign, my dad shook his hand and smiled even wider.
"Hey there old chap! I could hardly recognize you! I don't think age is on your side," he joked. I couldn't help but notice the funny way he spoke. My dad laughed, and Mr. Myers turned to Mom.
"Oh Casey! You look as good as ever! And who is this little cutie?" Mr. Myers said, referring to Alice.
"This is Alice," Mom said, drawing out her name.
"Why hullo, Alice," he cooed. Then he noticed me standing behind my mother, and he slid past her, squatting down in front of me.
"Ah! And you must be Annalise," he said smiling.
"Anne," I corrected politely.
"Okay, Anne. I'm Jeffrey. Jeff, if you will."
"You speak funny," I blurted out.
He chuckled, and my mom wore a horrified expression.
"Really? I thought it was you who spoke funny," he said, poking my nose.
I giggled and shook my head. Jeff smiled and stood up, taking my bag as he did.
"Well, you all must be tired, let's get you back to my place."
We all nodded, and followed him out to his car, loading up the trunk and back seat with our belongings. My dad slid into the driver seat, which I thought was weird because this was Jeff's car. Shouldn't he be driving? That was when I realized that the steering wheel was on the wrong side.
"Uh... Mr. Jeff?" I asked, a bit confused.
"Yes dear," he said as he slid into his seat.
"Er- why is the steering wheel over there?"
"This is where it belongs," he stated simply,"you Americans have it all backwards," he said with a smile.
After a fifteen or so minute drive, we reached a large complex, that looked like apartments, but I knew these were called flats.
"Here we are! Number 21," Jeff said, opening the door with his key, and swinging it open. I looked around and saw that it was a fairly good size, big enough to fit 5 people, that's for sure.
"You like it?" he asked, waiting for our approval.
"Yes. This is perfect. Thank you so much!" Mom said.
"Fantastic! Let me just show you to your rooms." Jeff led my parents to a large room with a queen bed, a good sized dresser, a closet, and a bathroom. In the corner was Alice's crib, which I assumed we had sent over already. They dropped their stuff on the bed, and Jeff showed me to my room next.
"Here we are," he said, swinging the door open. I took in my new room with satisfaction. There was a twin bed wedged between two walls, and furniture similar to my parents'. My bathroom was down the hall though, which I could live with. The walls were painted a pale purple, much like the color of lilacs. My bedroom in Georgia was much better than this one, but I could live here just fine.
"You like it? I tried to pick out a color I thought you might like."
"It's perfectly fine. Thank you!" I said.
"Great, I'm glad you like it. Now, rest up, I know you must be tired," he said, pulling the blinds on the single window shut. I hopped into the small bed, and wrapped myself in the blankets as Jeff shut the door. Closing my eyes, I wondered if anyone back in Georgia was thinking about me.
YOU ARE READING
The Cherry Trees
Teen Fiction"It was then that I heard it. The small, quiet, click. I couldn't turn my head fast enough. When I finally saw her, she had the gun to her head. "I'm sorry," she mouthed. And then the whole forest went silent when the sound of her life being taken e...
