Star Crossed: Promise || Newton Shyn

Chapter 1

"Adeline. Sweetie, please come sit down." My mom says the second I step foot in the house.

I look at her cautiously before walking any closer. Once I make it to the couch, I place myself across from her. I cross my legs waiting for her to speak.

"I've been thinking. No, your dad and I have been thinking." She says slowly. "Remember when you kept asking if you could go abroad for the remaining two years of high school?"

"Yes," I answer not letting my guard down.

"Well, we've decided to let you go."

'Really?! This is it!'

My thoughts ran wild and any caution that was in me completely disintegrated.

"But.." She says putting a stop to my thoughts.

'Ah Dang it. There it is.'

"We are picking the location." My shoulders fell. I was done for. "I know you wanted to go to Thailand because that is our heritage and you wanted to look more into it." She continues. "But, Sweetie, we don't really have any close relatives living in Thailand at the moment." She tries to explain.

"So, can't I just live with a Host Family?" I stop her to ask my question.

"No, I just don't trust that kind of system." She says instantly pushing that possibility away. I sigh as she continues. "But, we do have a family in Kazakhstan and we have-"

"Mom? Kazakhstan?!" I interrupted her in an outburst.

"Yes, and you'll let me finish or you can forget about going anywhere overseas to learn." I hold back a glare as I wait for her to continue. "As I was saying, we have a close family member living in Kazakhstan. She said she could keep watch over you. And I will have you know she even pitched the idea to let you live on your own - of course within close proximity of her home. So how about it? You think you can handle going abroad to Kazakhstan? I know you know the language so at least you won't have to worry about that." She finished.

A little hope comes back. The thought of me living on my own wasn't such a bad idea to me. It would be quieter. It would be different.

"Sure. Ok. I'm up for that." I say confirming that I was willing to go.

"Good. See I knew all those different language classes would come in handy." She says sounding proud of herself.

"Yes, because pounding four languages in my head since I was little was totally a fun roller coaster for me," I say sarcastically. The memories of me trying to learn the three: Kazakh, Korean, Thai while alongside my English. There were so many times I would mix some up and get in so much trouble for it.

She glares at me from the corner of her eyes. She raises from her seat and turns to walk away. She stops not far from the couch, which I was still sitting on, and turns her head to look at me.

"We told her that we would be sending you early. If you're going to go you need to be packed by tomorrow." She says leaving me stunned. I quickly jump up and dart toward my room to pack.

Once I make it in there I run straight for my closet. I jerk the door open and grab my suitcase. When I finally got everything gathered I started stuffing it into the suitcase. I struggle for a few minutes trying to close it. I ended up sitting on top of it trying to put more weight on it. I sprawl across the bed tired. I fall asleep before eating dinner.

I am woken by a knock on my door. I lean up and look at the clock.

'9:45 P.M. I must have crashed. Should have had more sleep. Dang, why do people have to come knocking on my door?!'