The Journey Home

Chapter 1

It had been three years since I last saw my cousin Chloe. I was only sixteen when Chloe got a scholarship to study her bachelor's degree in America. Needless to say, I missed her terribly. It was just last week when my mom had told me that Chloe had finally gotten a place of her own and that I could finally go and see her after three years. I was beside myself with joy and excitement at the thought of finally seeing her again. I wondered if she would even recognize me since I had somehow managed to grow a beard within those three years.

The next morning saw me at the airport waiting eagerly for my flight. Thirty minutes later I was in a plane headed off to New York, excitement building up with every passing second that I could barely stay put in my seat. About twelve hours later, which to me seemed like a lifetime, the plane finally touched down on New York International. I took my bags and followed the never-ending stream of people alighting from the plane. As I neared the exit, I came to a sight that had my face turning beet red in embarrassment; Chloe was holding up a large, and by large I mean large, sign with the initials, "WELCOME BABY BROTHER." Leave it to Chloe to publicly embarrass me with absolutely zero chills. On seeing me, Chloe dropped the sign that she was holding and ran over to engulf me in a bone crushing hug that I dropped one of the bags that I was holding.

"I missed you," Chloe whispered.

"I missed you too," I replied while trying to free wiggle myself out of her arms.

As if realizing that she had hugged me for far too long and that I was trying to pry myself from her arms, Chloe finally let me go while giving me a sheepish smile. She then picked up one of the bags that had fallen to the floor during our embrace and started walking whilst gesturing for me to follow her.

After endless turns, we finally arrived at the parking lot. Chloe took out car keys from her pocket and hit the unlock button. My jaw literally dropped to the ground when a silver Lamborghini that was packed just a few meters from where we were standing flashed its lights.

"Close your mouth or else you'll catch a fly, "Chloe said while trying to hide a smirk.

Chloe then proceeded to open the trunk, which to my surprise was actually located at the front of the car. Getting over my initial shock, I went over to Chloe and handed her the bag that I was carrying and then got into the passenger seat while Chloe finished putting my bags into the trunk. She then got into the driver's seat and started the engine.

"Ok, tell me," I told Chloe as we made our way out of the garage.

"Tell you what?" Chloe replied while trying to act dumb as if she did not know what I was talking about.

"Which bank did you rob because honestly, a Lamborghini?" I replied sarcastically.

"Tell you what, if you promise to do my laundry for a week, then I promise to tell you the secret of being rich." She replied while trying to hide a smirk.

"There's no way that this car belongs to you," I replied.

"And what if it is mine?" Chloe asked.

"Then I promise to do your laundry for a week." I replied sarcastically.

"And assist me to copy notes from my roommate," Chloe chirped in.

"And if the car is not yours, then you owe me a brand new PlayStation," I said.

"Deal," Chloe replied.

I was so caught up in our conversation that I had not noticed how beautiful the city was. Chloe noticed me looking out of the window in awe and decided to be my tour guide. She pointed out various buildings and monuments, none of which I paid attention to. The only thing that I remembered from the drive was the Columbia University since it was the school that Chloe was attending. It was indeed a big school.

After what seemed like forever on the road, Chloe finally announced that we had arrived. I exited the car and for the second time that day, my jaw hit the ground. I was standing in front of a rather posh looking house. Chloe had parked the Lamborghini alongside a McLaren. I was now dying to know how Chloe had managed to get these cars.

Chloe exited the car, took my bags from the trunk and led the way to the house. She opened the front door and entered. I followed her closely behind. The inside of the house was just as breathtaking as the outside. The sitting room was well furnished; a large, U-shaped, black sofa taking most of the space, a black carpet with red spiral stripes adorned the floor complementing the sofa. Various wall arts and portraits adorned the white wall. At the far end of the room was a huge flat screen tv about 56 inches mounted on the wall.

Chloe gestured me to follow her, snapping me out of my astonishment. I obliged, following her up the stairs. She led me to the far end of the corridor that was on the first floor to a door. She then opened the door revealing a huge bedroom and then proceeded into the room, with me in tow. She placed the bags beside the queen size bed and exited the room saying that she was giving me time to freshen up and get settled. I took off my shoes and went to the door that Chloe had pointed out to be the bathroom. When I opened it, it was just as everything else in this house, large and expensive. I got into the shower, which I had no clue of how to operate it since it had no knob like the showers I was used to, instead, there was a small screen that was placed where the knobs should have been. I tried to touch it and my assumption was correct, it was a touch pad. I punched in random things, trying to turn on the shower. I almost screamed when the three shower heads released a torrent that was ice cold. I reached out my hand for the touchpad, barely seeing anything because of the pressure from the shower. I managed to close the shower which was a huge relief. I then tried it a second time, which by some miracle I got the water to come out in the right temperature and pressure.

After a long shower, I finally emerged from the bathroom, with nothing but a towel wrapped around my waist. I took out a clean black t-shirt and a pair of grey sweatpants. After changing into the clean clothes, I made my way to the living room, where I assumed Chloe would be. As soon as I exited my room, a sweet aroma invaded my nostrils and my stomach rumbled like a diesel engine reminding me that it had been almost a whole day that I had not put something in it. When I got into the Living room, Chloe was nowhere to be seen but I could hear her voice. Following it, I found myself in the kitchen part of the house where Chloe was talking with another blonde girl. She was about 5'0 with a heavy British accent. She had deep blue eyes that reminded me of the ocean.

I was about to go over to them when I heard my name pop up in their conversation. I then decided to eavesdrop on their conversation for a bit.

"Chloe, you didn't tell me that your brother is so hot," the other girl said.

"Why would I tell you?" Chloe asked while laughing.

"Because we are friends," the other girl replied while holding her chest mocking fake hurt.

"I think he is more of Mary's type, since honestly speaking, they are of the same age," Chloe replied.

"Yeah, I think that they would make a cute couple," the other girl added.

Having heard enough, I decided to make my entranced. I approached them and cleared my throat, since they were so indulged in their gossip that they had not noticed my presence. Both girls turned their heads in the direction that I was in with a look of shock on their faces when they realized that I had overheard every detail of their little conversation.

AN: Hey guys, this is my first book on Wattpad so let me know what you think about it so far.