In Our Own World || A Finn Harries Fanfiction

Chapter 1

"Hills cover the landscape, leading to many slightly larger mountains, yet only hidden behind the mountains are more similar hills. On a cloudy day, she frolicked through the mini patches of daisies blanketing the hills, when she suddenly realized her halt would be at the mountain peaks, not knowing the next step in her destiny."

I shut the book quickly, and shoved it into the small storage caddy provided in front of my economy seat. I rubbed my eyes with deep exhaustion and lay back against my seat, trying to tie up all of my life's recent turns and events.

Dad's not feeling well....his condition was getting worse....and now, we're on a plane to Chiswick.

I stared blankly at the window, displaying a bright show of white, puffy clouds and the perfect blue sky. Nothing should be perfect right now. Everything should be dull, drab, and gloomy....like my feelings.

I glanced at mom, who was reading a novel, wearily. My mom usually reads when she feels stressed or anxious, it calms her nerves.

"Mom..."

She looked over at me. "Yes, Kas?" My nickname had been Kas since I was in Kindergarten, it was short for Kassandra.

"Erm....when will we be arriving?"

"Another 3 hours, easily."

"And, will Gran and Gramp be there?"

"Yes, they'll be waiting in the lobby for us."

I bit my lip, hesitant to ask my next question. "....Will we look for our own new house soon?"

We're staying at my grandparents' house temporarily until we're ready to move into another house, but that depends on a lot of other events. I saw my mom's face seem to stiffen a bit.

"That....will be based on your father's health. Until then, there will be no speaking of this. Understand?"

I opened my mouth to object, but remained quiet. I didn't want to bother my mom, she was probably just as frustrated and confused as I am about this whole thing. About everything.

I glanced over at him, sitting in his seat, smiling half-heartedly, watching a movie. His hands were stiff, and he looked as if a million thoughts were racing through his head.

My dad suffers from anxiety and panic attacks, so he ends up having worries all the time, and is pretty depressed. He has a hard time going out to places and talking to people, and wants us to be with him at home. So I'm pretty much stuck at home for most of the time.

In fact, I haven't been to any vacation in at least 1 or 2 years, so while other people in my class are probably in the Bahamas or something, I'm fucking stuck at home reading books and surfing the internet at home in Dolton, Illinois. Dolton....

Man, life in Illinois was the best. High school, my friends...

Well, to be honest, I was never that popular. I was that book loving geek who would sit in the corner reading for hours. But I was still friendly to everyone, talked to everyone, and had an awesome set of friends; it was 6 of us. My best friends Julissa, and Amber, who loved books and a good bit of drama like me. And we have the guys; Noah, Tyler, and Jonas.

I had a bit of a soft spot for Jonas; he had lush, chocolate hair and stunning grey eyes like a thunderstorm. He was a bit shy, but had a tactical mind and good looks. Once you got to know him, he's really sweet and loves to share laughs. We both loved reading books together at Barnes and Nobles or Starbucks with a cup of coffee or cocoa, and would always be there for each other.

So leaving Dolton is awful for me. I'm leaving my friends, home, and school from senior year. This made me fucking mad, because I felt like this year was my impact year. I'd be going to college the next year, and this would be the time of change. Me and my friends could party, I could read as many books from my library as possible, and possibly make a relationship with Jonas.

But none of that is happening. Instead, I'm going to live in Chiswick, England in my grandparents' house, and go to some lame British school with me being a loner. All because it might help my dad feel better.

Life is fucking unfair.

But who knows? Maybe there's a good side to this. That's what my mom always says. I haven't stepped out of Dolton for 2 fricking years, so maybe this is a good thing. But honestly, no one is gonna want to be friends with the new American nerd girl, Kas. That's how life is gonna be.

I looked out the window of my airplane to see green patches of grass, runways, and buildings. We had landed. My mother was gently shaking me, trying to wake me up from my short nap.

"Huh....wha....we landed?" My mom nodded.

"C'mon dear, grandpa and grandma are waiting at the terminal." I lazily stood up and grabbed my backpack, walking down the narrow walkway into the airport.

After grabbing our bags and walking out, we saw a red vintage looking car with a hooked trailer and two folks smiling and waving. I smiled. That's grandma and grandpa!

We walked over to them, exchanging hugs and hello's.

Grandma looked at me. "Why, Kassandra honey, you've grown so much!" She smiled warmly and hugged me. I could smell fresh cookies and....mothballs. She's been cleaning and baking. Grandpa chuckled at me.

"Why, yer just like yer mum, Kassandra! No difference at all." He opened a small tin container filled with white rounds. "Have a mint." I took one and chewed on it while we put our suitcases into the storage trailer. I sat inside, and leaned against the window. Here is the start of a new home, a new place, and a new life.