The Notes We Write

2.

"Hailey, honey" Mum shook my awake. I opened my eyes slowly, and rubbed the sleep out of them. "We've landed?" I said in my groggy morning voice. She nodded, pulling my out of my chair by my hand. I quickly grabbed my bag, and followed her down the path. Nova and Dad were in front of us, also walking towards the exit of the plane.

"Had a good flight, Hails?" Dad asked, nudging my shoulders with his. "I was out long, wasn't I?" I chuckled. He laughed, nodding. "You've slept a good 5 hours."

We had to take those little buses, that were driving around all the landings strips to take the people to the actual airport. Our baggage would directly go to our next plane, so we didn't need to go and pick those up.

"So, who's hungry?" Dad asked as soon as we stepped in the airport. Nova started jumping up in down in excitement, saying "me,me!" repeatedly. "Alright Nibbit, we get it" I said laughing, picking her up from the ground. She wrapped her little arms around my neck, giggling highly. "Is Hailey also hungry?" She asked me, her little eyebrows going up in a frown. Now that I came to think of it, I was pretty hungry. Although it was only noon, I had eaten eight hours ago. So I guess I did need some food to fill up my stomach. "I'm really hungry as well" I replied to her, booping her little nose.

We had to follow the signs saying 'transfer flights', to find the correct gate. We wanted to eat something near the gate again, so we hadn't had any chance to miss the flight. We had to walk all the way to other part of the airport. And because the airport was pretty big, that took a while.

I looked around the place in awe, everything looked really modern. All the signs were in both English and French, I saw some Canadian flags every now them, and everywhere you looked were little shops that sell souvenirs. Even the people here looked different. Everyone here looked like they weren't in a hurry, like they were just enjoying everything that was coming at them. Way different then how it was back home, where everyone was stressed out and hurrying all the time. That was one of the things I had always liked about Canada.

"Mum? Can we get a happy meal?" Nova asked pouting her lip, when we came across a McDonalds. She shook her head at the puppy face Nova was making, but agreed eventually. "Only because we're finally in Canada again." Mum told her happily.

Mum always really misses Canada. Although she has lived in The Netherlands for more than sixteen years, she always looked forward to coming back to country she grew up in. Not only because she would she her parents and family again, but also because she always missed the culture. She used to tell me about her time there, how she used to make maple taffy in the winter, and how she and her friends went ice skating in her backyard. She mainly told me about winter there because, just like me, she has always loved the winter. Sadly it's still summer, and it's not really appropriate for me to wear cozy sweaters outside of my house. I mean it's like 25 degrees out there, I'd probably overheat if I would.

Dad went to order, when we went to find a table in the restaurant. It wasn't that busy, so we found one fast. Soon after, Dad came back with our food. I ordered a quarter pounder with some fries because, like I said, I was very hungry. I also ordered, my favourite, a banana milkshake.

When I began eating my mind started drifting off. I had to go to school in a week, a school where I didn't know anyone. All sorts of questions and uncertainties began roaming through my mind, making me very anxious.

Mum shook me back to reality by putting her hand on my shoulder. "Are you alright Hails?" I swallowed a little, "Yeah, I was just thinking of my new room." I lied, not wanting to worry her. She picked up her burger again. "Believe me, it turned out beautiful."

Mum and Dad were the only ones who knew what our new house looked like. On the inside and outside. My grandparents and aunties had furnished the new house for us, with the furniture sent from our old house of course. So the inside would probably look very similar to our old one. One thing that Mum and Dad did tell me, is that my room is in the attic. It means that is bigger than my old room, which did excite me. It meant more space for me being alone. I was very happy that I would have my keyboard back, I honestly couldn't wait to touch those keys again.

After we ate our 'lunch', we slowly began walking to our gate. We had plenty of time left, so we didn't really need to worry. After a while we boarded the plane. This time I sat next to Dad because Nova wanted to sit next to Mum. This flight would only be an hour, which is basically nothing. I ended up listening to some songs on my phone, and playing some games.

Once we landed, we quickly exited the plane to pick up our luggage. We didn't need to take a bus this time, we could just walk in to the airport. We waited for our luggage to arrive, which took awhile. I guess our suitcases were all the way in the back of the plane.

Mum told us that grandma and grandpa would pick us up with their car. So when we walked out of the luggage room, I already saw them waiting for us. I had really missed my grandparents.

I had a really good bond with my grandparents, even though they lived so far away. We always held contact via calls, and Skype and even Facebook. When we visited in summer, I would spend a lot of our time there with them. Same goes for my aunties. My grandparents had three daughters, auntie Angie (Angelina), auntie Rita, and my Mum Liz (Elizabeth). My Mum had always been the baby of the family, so it had been a huge surprise when she moved to The Netherlands at 20. Auntie Angie has two daughters of her own, Lottie (Charlotte) and Grace. Who are twelve and ten. They live, with her husband Ben, near grandma and grandpa in Ottawa. Auntie Rita doesn't have children, she lives with her boyfriend Tom in Ottawa. Mum was the only one who moved away from their hometown, but now she has moved back again. All Clarke girls would be home once again.

"Granny!" Nova let out happily, when she saw them as well. She ran to Granny and jumped in to her arms. "Hello Gramps" I said as I went to hug my grandpa. "Have you cut your hair since I last saw you?" He took a strand of my brown hair in his hand. "I did" I chuckled, kissing him on his cheek. "Nibbit, come say hello to Gramps as well" I said picking her up from Granny's arms. I gave her to Gramps, and hugged Granny.

"Hello Hailey, I've missed you" she told me smiling. "You look so much like your mum with your hair like this." People had tell me this so many times, that my mum and I looked very alike, but coming from my grandma it felt a bit more special.

When Mum and Dad had hugged them as well, we followed them to their car. Ottawa isn't that big, so we only had to drive for like fifteen minutes to our house. During the ride grandma talked about how happy she was we moved here, and about how beautiful our house turned out. She always told me that the aunties, uncles and cousins would be there, waiting for us to arrive.

We drove in to a street I recognised, I knew auntie Rita's house was near here. The street was full of pretty big houses, all including a garage and a car. We drove in to the driveway of one of the houses, and parked there. This house was definitely bigger than our house in The Netherlands. It had light coloured bricks, and a porch.

We got out of the car, and grabbed our luggage out of the trunk. As we went to the front door to go inside, I saw my bike leaning against the side of the house. I smiled a little because I was so glad to have it back. My bike always got me everywhere. It was light green with a basket on the front. I know people here go to school taking the bus or their cars, but I had always preferred my bike. Not that I had a driving license, you're not allowed to take lessons till you 17 in the Netherlands.

As soon as we entered the living room, the rest of the family came to greet us. I hadn't even time to look around before auntie Rita pulled me in a hug. "Oh I've missed you so much Hails" See, auntie Rita was almost like a friend to me. I tell her things I don't tell my mum. She also don't want me to call her aunt or auntie because it makes her feel old, so I just call her Rita.

When she let me go, I took a look at the living room. It looked so similar yet so different to our old house. Even though it had all the same furniture, it didn't feel the same. Our familiar brown couch stood in the middle, in front of it our white coffee table, our tv hanging on the wall, all the same pictures on the walls, even the curtains were the same. The house was very beautiful, but it didn't feel like home to me. It would probably take a while before it would.

After I had greeted everyone, my parents told me to explore the house on my own. I think they saw that I needed some time alone.