Collette Archer
"Don't panic, it'll be fine" I said to my reflection in the mirror. This was the first time I was leaving America, and I was freaking out. What if I miss my flight? What if I catch the wrong one? What if the guards don't let me past security? (Because I'm so anxious they might find me suspicious) and what if, I didn't actually get accepted into my dream university and the mail was all just a big scam? This is all just paranoia right? I mean you don't think that mail from LSE (London School of Economics), was not from LSE, do you?
Ok, this is all just in my head, I'm gonna be fine, it's just one plane ride, and then I won't ever do anything alone again. Oh I haven't told you guys yet, I'm living with my bestest friend in the whole wide world, Thalia Pierce, she is literally an angel in disguise. Thalia and I, both got into Universities in London. But well, we both have different courses and Universities, I'm doing Law and she's doing Design so I guess I will have to do some things alone, but it's ok, she'll be there for most things.
Thalia got there earlier because her course started earlier and she also needed to finalise some things with our dorm. And don't get me started on our dorm, it is SO cute. We are going to be living the dream life, away from our parents, studying in our dream university, living together! I can't wait. All I have to do is get through this one flight.
I was so nervous the whole time in the flight that I don't even remember what happened, what did I have for lunch? A sandwich? or was it pizza? Is it normal to forget what you had for lunch or have I just lost my mind? I realised today that I'm not a plane person, and flights are scary as hell, there was this one time it was shaking and I seriously thought it was a malfunction and that I was gonna die, I'm so glad I'm on earth again.
I come out of the airport and there she is, I see her, my beautiful best friend is here to pick me up!
"Ahhhh Lettyyyy" Thalia screams while tackling me for a hug.
"Liaaa, I missed you so much" I cry into her hair.
She's shorter than me so it's always her hair my face gets buried in, when we hug, but her hair always smells sweet like caramel so I don't mind.
Thalia and I have been best buds since we were babies, our houses are next to each other, and our moms are best friends too, so naturally we became close. But I think I would have been her best friend even if all those things did not happen. We just click so well. We have literally always together but during Freshman year in High school, her family shifted away to New Zealand, and we met rarely but I survived, thanks to FaceTime. So, last year her family moved back to town and back to their old house which is right opposite mine, so Lia and I were inseparable again, it really felt like she never left and since then we have been planning our university dream life.
Lia is literally like my sister, I was an only child, but never felt like one, because of her. So after staying apart for so long, we are finally living together now, and it's going to be so great. We talk the whole cab ride and fill each other in on what happened in our lives, then after about 30 minutes we finally reach.
Lia being the sweetheart she is, helped me with my luggage which was so heavy, god knows what my mom put in there, did she stuff my dad in? We were struggling so much with it, but then suddenly it did not feel heavy anymore, the sight of our flat just made me so happy.
When we entered our dorm, there was a man standing inside, he was on the phone, and I knew exactly who he was when I heard his voice. He cut the call, saw us and immediately greeted me with the warmest of welcomes, "Why is my Thalia, carrying YOUR suitcase? You should have only brought the amount of luggage that YOU can carry. Does she look like a slave to you? Thalia give her stupid suitcase back to her".
Such a warm welcome... meet James Pierce and yes, he sucks. I have no clue how he is even remotely related to Lia, they both are stark opposites. James is the Devil incarnate, and I had no idea that he lived here too, in fact, the flat is his and his room is the entire basement. Lia conveniently told me this only in the cab ride. If she had told me before, I would've just stayed in Santa Barbara.
I started hating him when I was five and he was eight and he bullied me for not being able to skate. That rhymed. Once, the three of us, Lia, James and I went to a skating rink and Lia was trying to teach me but he convinced Lia that he would be a better teacher and I'm sure he planned the whole thing from the beginning! He was nice for like the first 30 minutes and was holding me while I skated but then in the middle he just left me and I didn't realise it, so I kept going and when I realised his voice was fading and turned back, I fell and scraped my knees, I had to wear bandages for like a month. He defended his case, by saying that, it was a long standing teaching method. But I couldn't stand for a month, because of that stupid method.
He used many other forms of torture against me too. He always emotionally manipulated me by doing something nice and then being mean or by doing something mean and then saying something nice, he also always blamed me when we fought. But all of those times didn't matter, because I knew deep down, that he could never truly hate me, and he cared for me a little too. All that changed, during Year 9 though, I was 15, and it was two days after Lia's birthday party. I had already had a terrible few days and Lia was going to shift away too, things couldn't be worse, or so I thought. When I'd gone to say goodbye to the Pierces', I couldn't find James so I went up to his room, and he just stared at me for 3 minutes, he looked sad, and disappointed. I just assumed it was because of the whole going to New Zealand thing, but then he just started yelling at me for no reason. He said the worst things to me then, and usually I just ignore his words, but that time it hit different, it felt like he really hated me, like I'd done something terrible and he couldn't even look at me now. That was the day he made me cry for the last time. I never spoke to him after that, he didn't even apologise, which he usually does, every time, but not this time.
Ever since then, whenever he came to visit, he'd only greet my parents and avoid even looking at me. When Lia and her parents shifted back, last year, James was in university so I didn't see him at all and it was great. I'm seeing him now after about 6 years and he looks great, still handsome, but he is an awful person who hurt me so I HATE HIM!Now too, the only thing he'll do is yell at me. "No she's not my slave, she was just being a decent human being and helping me out!" I yell back at him.
"Wow, what do you know about being a decent human being? You're as disloyal as a fox"
"Where did that even come from? You know what, I really don't care what you think of me, you are a -"
"Alright, alright calm down people, I mean it is nice to be fought over but this is getting a little too out of hand" Thalia chimes in, "James, why are you always behind Letty? Can't you let her breathe for a second, she just came, we are literally at the doorstep and you're yelling at her already, how are you gonna live with us, if you have so much of a problem with her?"
"Yes, however are you gonna live with us? Leave. Move out."
"You realise this is my flat, I own it, You can't kick me out, but I can kick you out, so shut up and go up to your room, and stay in there, the lesser I see your face the better"
Ok so he does own the flat, and is letting me live rent free, and that is the only reason I'm going to listen to him and go to my room. "I am going to go to my room, but that's because I'm exhausted, not because you're telling me to" I say and stick my tongue out.
I close my door behind Thalia and give out a sigh of relief. "We're finally out of sight from hitler" I say.
"I really don't know what you guys' problem is, you were fine when we were younger, you used to be friends right? What even happened?" She asks.
"I don't know, and we were never friends, he has always bullied me, but I guess we had a falling out before you guys shifted, but it just came out of nowhere"
"That was like our worst year, wasn't it? Every single terrible thing happened that year" Lia exclaims.
"Let's not think about bygones", I say "We are starting a new phase of our life, let's be optimistic and only talk about good things".
"Yes ma'am, first good thing is that my first day in uni yesterday, was AMAZING!, I made so many new friends, and everyone thought I was really smart"
"Let's go baby girl! I hope my day goes as good as yours!"I skip dinner, so I don't have to see James' face again and prep for tomorrow and fall asleep pretty early, I guess the jet lag kicked in. The exhaustion kicked in the moment I lied in bed and I had dreamless peaceful sleep.
The next day was my First day at uni and guess who i run into.. Satan, actually even Satan would be nicer than James. I should have guessed, with my terrible luck, of course I'd run into him here, he is a successful lawyer and an alumni of LSE law and they usually invite alumnus as guest lecturers as an inspiration for first years, but it was my first day, and there are literally so many alumnus, why did it have to be James?