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EPIGRAPH
I just... I love you. And I have been trying not to say it. I have been trying so hard to just mash it down and ignore it and not say it. And I just can’t, I can’t think about anything or anybody, and I can’t sleep. I can’t breathe. I can’t eat. And I love you. I just.. I love you all the time, just every minute of every day. And I... love you.
- Grey’s Anatomy
CAYLANI ADA
“Flight 0205 now boarding”
I sent a text to my mother letting her know my plane was boarding and received a smiley face back, very like my mother.
It’s still hard for me to believe. I had been dreaming of moving to England ever since I could remember and finishing high school gave me the perfect opportunity.
Convincing my parents had been difficult at first, but considering my grades and partial scholarship they couldn’t say no.
Finding my seat on the plane I put my carry-on in the cubby above it and attempted to get comfortable. You’d think with my father being a pilot he’d get me a better seat however it was free so I wasn’t complaining.
The flight attendant got on the intercom and went over the usual safety precautions and flight details.
Given the go to use our phones I sent a text to my soon-to-be roommate informing her I’d be there around 10 am her time.
Considering it was a 10-hour flight and Newcastle was 6 hours ahead of Dallas I grabbed my travel pillow, put some music on and shut my eyes
hoping for at least a few hours of rest.
...........................................
“Ladies and gentlemen please fasten your belts we will be landing in Newcastle, England shortly”
10 hours of crying babies, whining passengers, overly chirpy flight attendants and turbulence later we had finally landed.
Walking through the arrivals gate and towards baggage pickup, I couldn’t help but look out the windows it was around the end of August and the airport in Newcastle was surrounded by nothing but pretty fields and a hotel next door.
It took 45 minutes alone for me to get my bags but I was just grateful none of them had been lost. I was strolling over towards the car park to wait on my roommate when my name was called.
Standing a few feet in front of me was a girl in a bright orange sundress waving at me and calling my name.
Only slightly embarrassed I attempted to jog towards her while rolling my two very large suitcases behind me. The rest of my stuff would be shipped out by my mother later this week.
Arriving in front of the girl she quickly pulled me into a hug. I didn’t mind much as I came from a big family of huggers.
“Hi omg I am so excited to meet you. I’m Maybelle which you already know but call me whatever I don’t mind, also I must say I absolutely adore your hair” she had an accent which led me to believe she must have grown up here.
We had texted back and forth after I had found her roommate listing online but hadn’t really spoken much.
“I’m Caylani just for a reminder and thank you it’s a hassle in the mornings but I love it anyway” I laughed which she joined in on.
Being Nigerian I naturally had very kinky hair and considering I’m adopted it took my white mother quite a while to learn how to care for it and even with my father being black he wasn’t much help but as I got older I eventually took on the responsibility and it grew pretty long.
We chatted about my flight while loading my bags in her trunk and Maybelle laughed when I mentioned the toddler kicking my seat the entire time.
We got in the car while she told me our apartment was only 30 minutes from the airport. The car came on and Bruno Mars blasted through the radio, I couldn’t help but laugh when she apologized sheepishly. “Don’t worry I also blast my music and Bruno is the best, we’ll get along perfectly.
We were driving down the highway with the radio on low volume chatting here and there but otherwise comfortable silence. I had found out she was half Taiwanese that clarified some of her Asian features I had seen
Arriving at the apartment building it was nicer than the pictures online, being only 8 floors it was short but on the wider side and had mostly a brick exterior.
I grabbed one of my suitcases and my backpack as Maybelle helped me with the other suitcase. The building only had stairs which wasn’t too bad as our apartment was only on the second floor
Maybelle turned to me when we walked in “Um I don’t know if it’s just a me thing but the floors are carpet so I prefer taking off my shoes at the door but if that’s an issue with you we can compromise also the coat closet is over here it’s where I also keep the vacuum and big cleaning supplies. Everything else is pretty much out in the open so look around, there’s also a connecting door in each of our rooms to the bathroom as well as one in the hall.” she said as she walked around pointing to all the different doors.
I chuckled a bit at her antics “Don’t worry Belle my dad never let me wear shoes in the house either and thanks I think I’m just gonna unpack all my clothes and take a nap”
“Belle it’s different. I like it, people usually go for the basic may and yeah sure sounds good I’m probably gonna run some errands and then we can make supper and watch a movie if you’re up when I get back” she grabbed her keys and waved before exiting the door.
I walked down the hall to the empty room I saw with the door open. The bed frame and all the furniture were black. Unpacking wouldn’t take me too long as I only had my clothes, shoes, makeup and toiletries with me. Which reminded me to see if my mother had shipped all my other things yet.
I pressed play on my chill playlist as I got up and started putting things away.
An hour and a half later seeing as it was 12 already I decided to take a quick shower. That wasn’t very quick as it took me a bit to figure out the nobs in the shower.
I put on a grey pyjama set I had and got into the double bed Belle had already made for me and yawned as I drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
