PUNK'd

Preface: London Calling

          "Are you sure this is what you want to do?"

          I stood just outside the loading dock to the 8 o'clock morning flight to London. All around me, plain looking business people hurried onto their soon departing flights, leaving nothing behind but the click clack of high heels and suitcase wheels on the cold, hard linoleum.

          "Yes, I'm sure," I smiled, giving her a reassuring smile. "You know I've wanted to do this for years!" Five years to be exact. Had it really been that long?

          "I know, I know," my mother replied in a defeated tone. "You've been talking about doing this ever since your father passed." I looked away. The mood turned instantly somber with the mention of my father's passing, and I could feel my mom grow uncomfortable.

          "London was your father's hometown," my mom began, her frown fading into a reminiscent smile. "I remember your dad always telling you of his life growing up there. How he played in different bands, and caused all kinds of trouble. He was a punk, and now his daughter is one too!" My mom laughed grabbing at my cheeks. I chuckled, thinking back to just how wild and crazy my father was.

          My mother sighed, and pulled her hands away from my face. Her smile was gone now.

          "I know you have to do this. This is the last connection to your dad that you have." I could see the tears build up in my mother's eyes. "You want to see where he grew up and how he lived, and it would be wrong of me to keep you from knowing that part of your father's life."

          My mother wrapped her arms around me. "So while I'm not crazy about my eighteen-year-old daughter being thousands of miles away from me in a whole other country, I support you."

          I hugged my mom tight, taking in her warmth and scent one last time. She pulled away and coughed, trying unsuccessfully to conceal her rising emotions.

          "Well then," she began, her voice scratchy with emotion, "I guess you'd better get going before the plane takes off without you." I gave my mother a sad smile as she leaned in to kiss me on my forehead.

          "Be safe, I love you," she said as she pulled her lips away.

          I smiled and nodded. "I will, I promise," I answered back.

         With that, I boarded my flight, ignorant of all that would happen to me during my time spent in London, England.

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(A/N: Would you be able to move to a foreign country all by yourself?

In the next chapter, Hailey meets her new flatmate, Sheila for the first time in person. 

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Thank you for reading!)