01

CHAPTERS 01

Airports. I hate them with a burning passion.

I walk through the building in a haze, like a robot if you will. My brain controls my movements but it hardly takes in the bustling people around me.

An hour before we left for the airport, I had sat on the edge of my parent’s bed, gripping the sheets tightly. They had left a letter for me in their will, that I decided to open this morning. I had muffled my sobs with my hand but my eyes had been blurry with tears as they took in every word. I recognized my mother’s handwriting and the faint lipstick kiss she left at the bottom of the page. The letter encouraged me to be strong should anything ever happen to them.

My parents passed away in a car crash a month ago. From there on my life was turned upside down. I am now moving to a town just outside New York, New York with my new guardians who are also like second parents to me ; family friends. I’m starting at a new school in a totally different country, miles away from the U.K. ; my birthplace. Maybe this will be good for me, God knows how miserable I’ve been after their funeral.

I place the letter in my bag and walk out of the door, vowing that I will try to do as they said in the letter : to be happy. It doesn’t last very long unfortunately. As soon as I enter the building I turn into this grumpy grouch who wants to get on a plane and travel rather than go through the security process. Understanding that it’s important, I still itch to be seated on a plane up high in the clouds.

The alarm beeps loudly when I pass through it, making me blush in embarrassment as the security guard backs me up again. The woman waits patiently as I check to see anything I forgot to place on my tray of belongings, finding that my anklet is still on. Face palming, I take it off whilst apologizing before walking through, happy that the security alarm didn’t go off again.

« Idiot. » Damon rolls his eyes with a grin, standing beside me as we collect our belongings.

My new guardians are Theia and Darius Valentine, who were close friends with my parents. Damon Valentine is their son and someone who is like an older brother to me. We are very close after years of spending summers either in America or the U.K.

« It’s always me, every single time. » I pout, hauling my backpack onto my shoulders.

We start making our way towards our terminal, stopping for a few minutes to look around the shops before continuing. Everything is fine…until I lose Damon in the crowds of people either making their way to catch their flights or shopping in stores.

I look around in panic, trying to catch sight of him since I don’t know which terminal we are supposed to be in. Damon had insisted on taking my boarding pass and passport from me, stating that they will be safer in his travel wallet. I find myself walking through a restaurant and towards another terminal, deciding that if I can’t find Damon in the next five minutes I’m going to seek help from the airport staff.

« Oh, I’m sorry ! » I cry out when I bump into a man, turning to face him.

« S’all good, babe. » He slurs, wrapping an arm tightly around my waist.

My eyes widen in shock before my expression changes to one of disgust when his hand squeezes my bum. « What are you doing ? Let me go ! »

He chuckles when I thrash in his hold, curling his hand around my fist when I move to hit him. Instead, he mumbles something incomprehensible as he tries to drag me towards the bathrooms.

« Dude this is an airport, get a grip ! » I grunt, kicking his leg but it only slows him down. « Look, I’m not afraid to hit you. This is your last warning, let me go right now ! »

I’m digging my nails into his hand, kicking and pulling myself in the other direction ; doing anything I can to make him let go of me. There’s people walking around but because we’re in a corner nobody seems to notice or they simply ignore what’s going on. I yell for help, hoping someone will get him off me since he’s putting all his weight on me.

Frustrated, I free one of my hands from his tight grip and shove him backwards, forcefully. He cries out, stumbling and that gives me a chance to turn and walk away from him. But, I hear rushed footsteps which makes me glance behind, only for my eyes to widen when I see him rushing after me.

Breaking into a run, I take a left and disappear into the large and bustling crowd of rushing people before I reach the bathrooms. I skid to a halt outside the two doors and know I have a choice to make. Either go in the women’s bathroom where I, a woman, belongs or step into the men’s bathroom where a woman definitely does not belong.

This is going to be tough decision to make.

I hear his familiar voice, slightly slurred as he stumbles around the corner, I’m surprised he even made it this far. I burst through the door of the men’s bathroom and quietly close it behind me, turning around and grinning when I see the room clear of any males. Holding the door open slightly, I peek and see the drunk man go straight into the women’s bathroom with a victorious smirk, thinking I will be in there.