What A Coincidence - Ruel van Dijk

11 - A new home

pov rose:

I walked to the arrival hall. A lot of people were waiting there to meet people who were on the same flight as me. They were holding signs like 'Welcome home', 'Happy birthday' and stuff like that. I didn't know who my host family was. I did know their names, but I didn't know what they looked like. I decided to look around. My eye was caught by a big sign that said 'Rose Smith'. That must be for me. I walked towards the sign and saw a family. 'Hi, my name is Rose Smith! Is this the family Wilson?' I asked with a smile. 'Hey Rose, that's right! Nice to meet you! My name is Joyce Wilson.' The woman introduced herself. 'This is my husband Thomas and this is our daughter Olivia.' She said as she was pointing to the two human beings next to her. 'Nice to meet you Rose.' The man said. 'Yes, nice to meet you!' The girl said too. I gave them both a smile. 'Should I take your suitcases to our car. You've had a long flight, you must be exhausted.' Thomas said as he took my suitcases. 'Thanks, I appreciate that. It indeed was a long flight.' I gave him a smile. Thomas started walking to the exit of the airport. Joyce, Olivia and I followed him. 'Are you excited for your time here in Sydney?' Olivia asked. 'Yes very! I've been dreaming of this city for so long. I'm so happy I'm finally here.' I replied. 'Ahw, I'm also happy you're here. I'm an only child, so I finally have some company in the house except for my parents.' Olivia said while laughing. 'You're 16, right?' She continued. 'Yes, you're 19, right?' I asked. 'That's right.' She replied. We got to the car and all got in. 'It's a 7 minute drive to our home from the airport. We live quite close to the coast. If you look out of the windows you can see the beach.' Joyce explained. 'Wow, that must be so much fun to live there. Sounds beautiful.' I said. Joyce started laughing. 'Yes, it's very beautiful, but we're used to it. So it's not really special to us anymore.' She said. 'Yes, I understand.' I said. I looked out of the window. Sydney looks so much different from London. Sydney is way more beautiful. It must be such a blessing if you're able live here.

After a 7 minute drive we arrived at the house. It was so big and it looked beautiful. As soon as I saw the house I knew this family had to be rich. 'This will be your new home for the coming 8 weeks.' Joyce said as she was looking at the house. 'Wow, it looks very beautiful!' I said. Joyce started walking towards the house. 'Let's get inside.' She said. Thomas was taking my suitcases inside. Not only the outside, but also the inside of the house looked very beautiful. I can definitely get used to this. Olivia walked towards me. 'Let me give you a little house tour. I'll also show you your room.' She said. I followed her through the house. We first went to the basement, but there was not much to see over there. After we went to the basement we went to the ground floor. 'This is our living room. My parents only sit here in the evening or at night, during the day they're working most of the time. They're either working in their office at home or they're at work.' Olivia explained. 'They don't work everyday tho, they're off a few days a week.' she continued. 'I only live with my mom. Dad left us for New York. I honestly think it's better like this for both my mom and my dad, but I do miss my dad sometimes tho.' I said. She nodded, I could see she felt bad for me. 'I'm sorry. I couldn't imagine something like that.' Olivia said. 'Let's continue the house tour tho.' I said as I gave her a smile. 'Oh yes, of course.' She said as she walked towards the kitchen. It was a big kitchen with a kitchen island. 'So, this is where you can find me most of the time.' Olivia said laughing. 'By the way, if you ever feel hungry or anything, grab whatever you want. This is gonna be your home for the next few weeks. Just act like you're at home.' She continued. 'I definitely will' I replied. We continued the house tour. The last room she showed me was my room. 'This was a spare room at first. But we set it up especially for you, so you better like it.' Olivia gave me a wink. 'I don't like it, I love it!' I said as I walked into the room. This room was, like the rest of the house, very big. 'A double bed, perfect.' I said as I let myself fall on the bed. Olivia started to laugh. 'I'm going to hang out with my friends tonight, if you want to you can join us.' She suggested. 'Sounds fun, I'd love to join!' I replied with a smile. I'm glad she's involving me in her life, especially because we just met less than an hour. Maybe I can befriend some of her friends. 'Fun! I'll leave you alone for a bit, you can find me in my room if you need anything!' She walked out of my room and closed the door.

I decided to unpack my suitcases. I walked over to the closet and hang all of my clothing I brought with me in there. I put all of my make-up, parfume, deodorant, brushes and so on on the vanity. After that I let myself fall on the bed again. My phone said it's 22pm, while here in sydney it's morning. I figured my phone was still on airplane mode. As soon as I turned airplane mode off the time switched from 22pm London time to 8am Sydney time. I walked over to Olivia's room to ask for the wifi, which she gave. Immediately a lot of notifications popped up. Including a text from my mom and Jade. I had to laugh a little when I read mom's text. She always uses so many emojis. She was also asking so many questions. But it's really cute.

chat between Rose and her mom

Mom
Hi Rose! How was your flight?✈️ And how's your host family? 👨‍👩‍👧‍👧 Does Sydney look beautiful? 😍 And do you like your 'new' home? 🏠 I love you and I hope you are going to have a lot of fun over there!!😘❤️💋

Me
Hi mom!! My flight was long, but I was happy the boys kept me company! I was enjoying it. I did meet my host family not too long ago, so I don't know them that good. They seem very caring and sweet! Sydney looks beautiful and I can't wait to explore the city! The house is next to the beach, if I look out of my window I can see it! My room is very big just like the rest of the house and I have a double bed, love it! I love you too mom 😘

after I replied to my mom's text message I decided to open the message Jade sent me.

chat between Rose and Jade

Jade
AYOO ROSEEE
HOW WAS YOUR FLIGHT
TELL ME ABOUT SYDNEY
I LOVE U
AND I MISS U

Me
AYOOOOOOOOOO JADE
MY FLIGHT WAS LONG BUT I ENJOYED IT BC OF THE BOYS
THEYRE FUNNY
SYDNEY IS SO BEAUTIFUL AND IF I LOOK OUT OF MY WINDOW I CAN SEE THE BEACH
HOW COOL
I LOVE AND MISS U TOO BBY

I turned of my phone and walked over to the window. Not much later I found out it was not just a window, but the door to my own freaking balcony. I still need to let all of this sink in. It's such a big, but exciting change in my life.