i'll meet you there [ hood ]

Prologue

It's hot and sticky here, just like it is every summer. I don't miss it like I used to, not like when I was little and had nothing to lose and loved everything about the world because there wasn't anything wrong with it yet.

But it's been years since I was that little, and naive. I'm older now, seventeen. And I haven't been to see my grandmother in five years, and I really didn't want to come this summer but she's dying and I don't have a choice.

I guess technically I did, but when your dying grandmother asks you to spend one final summer with her you can't exactly say no. I may be a heartless bitch, but god she was my grandmother. She once diligently cared for me with hands larger than mine, hands that had to learn to love something smaller. Had to learn to be gentle.

Since my grandfather died and my mother had some great big falling out with her I haven't spoke to her, she used to write me letters. Begged me to come see her. But my mother would never have allowed that. I don't know what happened, I still don't.

Sometimes I think of my grandma in her great big house, all alone because everyone had left her. Even me, her only granddaughter, the one who promised to come back but never did.

—

The airport is crowded and full of people in only the way you see on movies, people who won't ever stop moving. It's disorienting, but I'm a big girl now, as my mom likes to remind me. The least I could do is navigate the airport on my own, and I can. No one even pays attention to me, mothers are too busy controlling their wild toddlers, and the men all have briefcases and Bluetooth headphones that scream narcissism. My mother would fit right in, but I just feel out of place.

Especially clad in my distressed jeans, and long sleeved t-shirt, apparently it's like ninety-seven degrees here all of the time so it doesn't actually bode well to wear clothes like that. Which is fine, except for ninety percent of my clothing consisted of jeans and sweatshirts. And I'm sweating, but yeah. Everything's like totally fine.

And I don't even know who's picking me up from the airport, because my grandmother can't really drive and her house isn't in walking distance, and I couldn't exactly fit my car into my suitcase, but like whatever.

I was super irritated and I just wanted an iced coffee, so I lugged my twelve pound suitcase across the airport in search of a coffee shop, because it's an airport, they totally have those here. So twelve minutes later and an iced coffee later I received a text from my grandmother. Who even knew my grandmother could text?

She was sending her neighbors son after me, which wasn't jut weird because I didn't even know she had neighbors but because I didn't know this boy and back home my mother would kill me if I even looked at a stranger, let alone get in a car with one. I wanted to ask my grandmother how well she knew this boy, but I could barely understand her text messages as it was. Just because she could text, did not mean she could do it well, I counted fourteen spelling errors within two sentences.

I gathered that the boys name was Calum, and like I'm not saying it's a bad name. I'm really not, my name is Mai, so I can't judge his parents but who names their kid Calum? I guess it's not his fault that his name is Calum, and like it's fine. It's not even a big deal. I spend so much time reassuring myself that there is nothing wrong with his name that I don't notice a tall figure approaching me.

Just then a distinctly male human clears their throat and it startled me so much I knocked my coffee over and yelped like the annoying poodles girls sometimes fit in their bag, or elderly ladies own. Which works out fine for them because they're so deaf they can't hear the little demons yipping at three in the morning, I get side tracked however and look up to see a very attractive boy. And then I have to compose myself because I'm red in the face, sweating, pitting out something  fierce, and covered in coffee. So like even though I don't care about my appearance or if anyone likes me I was a little embarrassed. Okay, a lot embarrassed.

"Mai?" He asks raising an eyebrow, and clearing his throat again. Surprised probably, but I don't really know because I am scrambling for napkins.

"It's Mai." I stress  the I, because he'd said my name wrong, and even though he was attractive and I was embarrassing it was important he got my name right.

"Right, well I was expecting someone younger." He states, his voice low and gravelly not in an unpleasant way. Just one that takes some time to get used to.

"Why?" I questions curiously, finally gaining some composure. Even though I really just spread the coffee around and ruined like fifty-two napkins.

"Because the pictures your grandma showed me had all been of you as like a twelve year old, so I assumed that's how old you were." He said, his eyebrows knitting together in a very attractive manner. I bit my tongue to keep inappropriate thoughts from entering my mind.

"Well it has been like five years, so of course I am not twelve anymore. Are you Calum? My grandma said that was your name. Also if you were looking for a twelve year old why did you come over here and startle me? I got coffee everywhere and like it's really gross and hot out so it doesn't feel that great." I grumble, I hadn't meant to start out ranting, but it just all kind of tumbled out and by the end of my spiel I just felt angry.

The boy who I assume is Calum looked taken aback,which was wild to me because he was clad in black skinny jeans and some indie t-shirt. He had this whole punk vibe going for him, I could hardly imagine my grandma having tea with him every Saturday. That would be funny, however. To picture that is, not that he did have tea with her. I get distracted easily.

"It doesn't really matter, does it? We should head on out, I know your grandma is excited to see you and I had strict instructions to bring you home as soon as possible." He shrugs nonchalantly, like he picked up teenage girls from the airport and brought them to her grandmothers house every other weekend.

"Let's get one thing straight. This place is not my home." I hiss, suddenly feeling defensive. I would play my part, come down her and endure my over bearing grandmother like I had never left, spend three and a half months in this unbearably hot place, but it wasn't my home. It would never be my home.

"Whatever you say." He shrugs, for some reason I find his lack of compassion, or I guess emotion for anything. He's so casual it's annoying, like he didn't care either way. Which is whatever, it's not like it really matters, it was just irritating.

I exhale deeply and stand, not sure if I'm really ready to face my grandmother. Either way I had to, after all my mother would say I'm a big girl now. Even though I felt really rather small.