Blame it on me' ~ Post Malone

02.

I knew I would end up in a black hole if I didn't do anything about the situation. I knew well enough. That's why I decided to do something about it. I decided to register for an exchange project, and today I sat on the plane. On the way to Los Angeles, a town in America? I didn't care much as long as I was away from home. From the memories and the pain. Only then could I save me.

I went to stay with the Johnson family. A small family. The man and woman were called Sophia & Benjamin. They had a son, Joshua. Furthermore, there lived a cousin in the house. She lived there because her parents died when she was one.

Fortunately, that meant that I didn't have to do boy things all the time. The niece's name was Brenda. I had already spoken to her via text. She seemed nice to me. Not that I made a lot of effort to make friends.

I completely shut myself off since Riley's death. Afraid that I would attach myself too firmly and then get hurt again. I shook my head a little to let the thoughts go. I searched for my mobile in my hand luggage and put the earbuds in my ears.

Oh, I wanna feel you in the dark
I could use, I could use some
But all you left me with was scars
And that's the hardest part
There's nobody like you, nobody like you
I've tried goodbye a hundred times,
not one of them true

Involuntarily a tear rolled down my cheek. Oh, I hated this. Why did I still have this song on my playlist? Maybe because it was our song? My and Riley's? I couldn't just delete it. Delete as if I was already over it out of sight, out of mind. No way!

I thought of something else. Somewhat less frustrating than this. I thought about the host family, and slowly I fell asleep. I only woke up when something was pushing against my arm. It was annoying, and I wanted to hit it. I was sleeping. To be sure, I just opened my eyes and looked up. The friendly, blonde stewardess from earlier stood in front of me again — good thing I didn't hit her. I quickly removed the earbuds from my ears to listen to her. "Ma'am, we'll be landing soon. Do you want to fasten your seat belt?"

I tried to smile in the affirmative, but it probably didn't look very credible. That's why I just took action and fastened my seat belt. A shiver ran down my back when a feeling of fear crept over me. I couldn't stand the plane landing so well. It always gave me the impression that we ran into something. This time it was no different. As soon as I could, I freed myself from the seat, grabbed my hand luggage, and left the plane on to the airport of Los Angeles.

The hall I entered was confusing. Of course, I didn't understand anything about airports. I didn't fly with the plane that often. I followed some people I recognized from my flight, and I arrived at the conveyor belt where the luggage was on. Phew.

As soon as I had placed my three heavy suitcases on the cart, I searched for the hall. They had to stand somewhere in this enormous bustle. But where? How am I supposed to recognize them?

I looked through the crowd and tried to recognize them. It was more difficult than I thought. So many families were walking around with two children. All of them could be the Johnson family. Why didn't I ask for pictures? Then at least, I knew for who I was looking.

I could almost sigh with relief when I suddenly saw a signboard with; MADISON PIERCE. I immediately looked at who was holding the sign, and I saw a girl looking around with a searching face, probably looking for me. She had brown hair and was narrow. Her short curls curled her face, but that wasn't bad.

A boy with medium brown hair but blonde dyed tips and his side shaved stood beside her. He was tall and a little lean. Typically a young adult. Behind them stood a man and a woman. Both seemed excited about something.

The woman had black hair, and her eyes even stood out from here. They were piercing bluely. The man was slightly balding and had a friendly expression.

Something in me told me that all this could be better than expected.