6547

"... na... Ana! Are you listening? What are you staring at?" My roommates nasally voice broke the silence of our room, and my head instinctively shifted to look at her. She was a pretty woman with light brown skin that seemed to glow with her warm undertones. My eyes focused on the small mole that found its way to the inner corner of her cheek.

"My slides... I think I will throw them out. They look worn out, and I've been thinking to get some new ones anyway," I responded as I looked away from her again and back down at the black and white addas slides that lay neatly across the room by the door. Her voice went up three octaves as she began to say more: a warning of the nagging that was to come.

"What? Throw them away? They look fine. If you want more shoes, just buy more. No reason to throw those ones away. We are literally in Korea right now. Slides are perfect here. You can wear them around the dormitory, to class, or even in the bathroom, or do you want your socks to get soggy from stepping into the wet room?" She continued speaking, but my mind was already elsewhere.

Korea. That's right; I am in South Korea, but those shoes... they aren't from here. They are from the same place I'm from. A place 6547 miles away. From the place I had worked so hard to flee even if only for a few months. Those shoes held too many memories, too many stories.

I let my attention return to her as she began to wear herself out. She shook her head at me as she moved onto another subject. "What are you doing tomorrow? Are you going to Seoul? I really want to go before classes start up."

I nodded before replying, "yeah, I want to go tomorrow too. Do you know which bus we are supposed to take? I don't really want to end up loss in Korea, but I can't figure out how to switch the bus app to English."

She told me the bus number before abruptly ending the conversation as she turned her attention to the faint chiming of her phone, no doubt her situationship letting her know how much he misses her. The warm smile she bestowed her phone was all the confirmation I needed to know that I should let her focus on her texting.

I flopped back onto my bed and pulled the book I had packed with me from under my pillow: The Way I Am Now by Amber Smith. I flipped to the page I had left off on. The pink woven yarn I had shut the page on made it quite easy to find. My eyes lingered on each word as I read the story of a girl who seemed to have concurred battles I was yet to face. In my defense, I didn't have a childhood best friend to support me or two hot men trying to save me like the main character in the story did. I just had me.

I groaned before slamming the book close again and slipping it back under my pillow. My roommate shot me a look causing me to realize she was on call with her boy toy. I mouthed the word 'sorry' before slowly getting out of my bed, grabbing my phone, sliding on those damn slides, and heading out the door. I didn't really want to have to listen in on their conversation.

I walked down the hallway and pressed the little button to go down the elevator as I hummed 'Lost Boy' softly to fill the empty air.