Hurt But Not Broken

Chapter Three

My flight was at night but we had to report in the afternoon. So I went to have my last meal with my family before meeting my friends. It was all good until I saw more people from my school starting to arrive. Aiden told me that his friends also went for the trip. I didn't know what they looked like but I did know their names and that they'd be in the same group as me when we arrived in Australia.

You can say that I was nervous to see his friends even though I didn't know what they looked like. I was just worried that they knew me and kept an eye on me while I made a fool of myself when I'm with my friends.

However, I didn't let the thought of being on the same trip bother me much. I was finally able to go to another country without my family. I am not gonna waste this opportunity on some guy I have yet to meet. Throughout the whole trip I had loads of fun with my friends and also my group. It was kinda awkward at first but halfway through the trip, it wasn't as awkward anymore.

I did text Aiden almost every night and send each other voice notes. I treasured every single voice note he sent me. On the flight to Melbourne, before we switched to another plane to Adelaide, I would listen to his voice notes while everyone was either sleeping, watching a movie or listening to music. I have yet to meet him but his voice gives me comfort. Plane rides scare me so his voice notes really helped because he would say something funny to make me laugh or smile.

Sometimes during the trip, Aiden would text Faye about me to check up on me. He got her number from the event too. Sometimes he would tell Faye to disturb me like pull pranks on me. My friends would take a video of those pranks and send it to him.

Every night, I would send him pictures of the scenery and text him about whatever happened that day. When I was unable to sleep, he never failed to reply to my texts even though we were in different timezones.

At this point, I didn't know how I felt about him. He was still a stranger because I've not met him yet. But every message he sent always gave me the feeling of excitement. I would literally smile like an idiot when I notice a notification from him.

During the last day of the trip, we were given time to do last minute shopping. Suddenly, I thought of buying him a small souvenir. I really didn't know why I thought of that. I decided to go with a koala bear keychain with the Australian flag on it.

That same night, Aiden's friends followed me on Instagram. I was shocked because we didn't even interact much during the trip. We were just on the same team. That's all. So when I received the notification, I was like, 'oh okay'. I followed them back.

Aiden: wow looked who followed them...

Me: they followed me first

Aiden: just be careful

Me: why? Didn't you say that one of them has a girlfriend?

Aiden: ya... but one of them doesn't. If they try to tackle you, tell them that you're unavailable

Me: why? Why am I unavailable?

Aiden: just say it.

I was confused because I know that we were just talking to each other with no strings attached. Hence, I was confused as to why he was so worried about his friends talking to me & I was unsure what he thought we were. I had no intention to get close with one of his friends romantically.

A week flew by so fast & before we knew it, we were in a plane to go home. I really do miss my family & my bed but the thought of going on a date with someone I only texted with, scares me. He texted me regarding the date details on my way home. I was kinda shocked that he picked a place closer to my area. If you don't know, he lives in the east of the country whereas I live in the west which means there's quite a distance between us.

As soon as I reached home, I got ready for bed & went to sleep. I've a week to mentally prepare myself for the date.