Temporary Placement | 5SOS AU

two

It's been exactly one week since I spoke with my host "mum" on the phone.
She had sent me an email after our one hour long conversation over the phone. The email contained loads of practical information, like which plane I'll be taking and who to look after at the airport, but she also told me little cute things like how she has a son my age, and that she's excited to have a "sort of" daughter.
One week of knowing this woman and I am about to board.
The plane to Sydney was slightly delayed, luckily I have downloaded a bunch of film onto my iPad just in case.

I've always hated flying. One time when I was 5,  mum and dad decided to take me and Peter on a little weekend trip to Germany. The flight was very short, but also very scary. Throughout the entire flight Peter was by my side telling me these horror stories about plane crashes. I would not stop crying till we got to our hotel. Peter. My brother. Only three years older than me. 

It wasn't at all fair. Hell, in what world is it fair for a 23 year old man to just die like that?
My brother was very handsome, my friends always told me that "my brother was hot". He was the greatest person in the whole entire world. 

"In a few minutes we'll be landing in Sydney airport, we hope you all had a comfortable flight and we sincerely hope you would consider traveling with British Airways again on your next trip.

As I go to pick up my luggage it suddenly feels so real. I am no longer in England, in fact I am not even close to England. It's a scary thought, but  I think this was a good decision.

Mrs. Hemmings had told me she would be picking me up on her own. Her son was at school and her husband was at work.
As soon as I get off the plane and get my luggage I start searching the airport for Her. I don't know what she looks like, but she told me she'd have a sign with her.
Suddenly someone waves their hands in front of my face.

"Caitlin?" She says.
I smile. "I'm sorry, I must have been looking somewhere else, but I was looking for you."
"Oh it's okay sweetie. Welcome to Sydney." She gives me a big hug and I hug her back.

This feels good. It feels right. I'm sure it was the right decision to go to Sydney. I love it here already.

"It's lovely to finally meet you." I smile at the blonde woman.
I had pictured her much more... Different. I was kind of intimidated by her at first, but now I see how nice she is.

"Let's go home and get you settled down, alright?" She smiles and puts her hand on my back leading me to the parking lot where her car is parked.

The house looks like something that could be located in England. It looked kind of old from the outside, but the furniture and overall vibe of the inside of the house was definitely more modern. 

I was not expecting my room to be this big. It's so much bigger than my room at home. As I unpack I start hearing voices from downstairs. 

"You seriously didn't actually agree to that did you?" I'm assuming it's her son, Luke. 

I open the door to my room slightly so can hear the voices slightly clearer.
From the five centimeter opening I could just make out Mrs. Hemmings face. She looks mad. She's standing at the bottom at the staircase.

"It's me and dad making decisions around here and we decided to help her out. She's going through some hard times right now. She's really nice, she could become like a sister to you, if you let her in."
Silence.
"You're f*cking insane, do you know? You decided to let her stay here, so it's your job to talk to her."
Again, silence.

She raises her voice. "Go and speak to her, Lucas, right now or I will keep you in your room for the rest of the month, and there'll be no music. And no Calum."

I hear someone walking up the stairs aggressively. Luke. I run to my bed to pretend I have been sitting here the whole time.

"Are you having fun listening to other peoples conversations? Do you like that?" He says standing in the doorway. 

"I... Was not." I say looking him directly in the eye.

He's very tall. Even taller than Pete was.

"Look, we don't have to this" I say when he fails to respond to my previous comment.

"Do what exactly?" 

"Talk, we don't have to do that." I say quietly.

"So you were listening?" 

I open my mouth to talk but got cut off.

"Here's how this is gonna work okay, you're not gonna tell anybody at school that we live under the same roof and that my mum is picking up charity cases from all around the world. Just make up something okay?"

I roll my eyes. What a prick.
"Fine."

He gives me an annoyed smile before leaving and going in to the room just next to mine, slamming the door.