Hey! This is the first part of my new series "The Misadventures of Charlie Hayes" I have this story on Quizilla, but I don't think I'm going to update there anymore... Constructive criticism, suggestions of characters, and reviews are all welcomed! Enjoy!
"Will all passengers please place your seatbelts on, turn off any electronic equipment, and put your chairs all the way up as we prepare for landing. Thank you and we hope you enjoyed your flight with Delta Airlines." I faintly hear the announcement through my blasting iPod. I feel a tap on my shoulder and shrug it off, trying to fall back asleep. The tapping continues and I begin to swipe it away. When somebody shakes my arm, I decide to open my eyes, only to see a flight attendant standing there.
I take my earpieces off and drowsily say, "Hi, can I help you?" confusedly.
"Your chair must be all the way up, you must turn your headphones off, your tray has to fold up, and you must buckle in." She says before walking away to help a child with their seatbelt. I scoff and roll my eyes as I do what she tells me to.
I sit there, uncomfortably might I add, as our flight descends bumpily. All of a sudden, I smell something disgusting and hear a few groans. Eww, someone vomited, that's a bit embarrassing. I hope it was in one of those barf bags they give everyone. I start to chew some gum, so my ears don't pop, and put on my complimentary sleep mask. If I'm going to have a rocky landing, I might as well get as comfortable as I can.
I must have dozed off a bit, because soon I'm being kicked. Next thing I know, somebody's screaming in my ear. I wake up in a frenzy, punching the person right in the face, on accident, of course. I go to say sorry, but see that the person has mysteriously disappeared. I apologize to the people who are in my row, who just so happen to be the people who are kicking me, and make my way off the plane.
"Thank you for flying with Delta airlines, we hope you choose to fly with us during your next travel time." The flight attendant tells everyone. When I get up to her she says jokingly, "How was your nap?" I smile at her and laugh along with her, but when I get out of her sight, I make a face and mock her perkiness.
I wonder where the person who woke me up went off to. I place my iPod on and scroll through the list of songs and see the perfect one. "Tell me all about yourself/Tell me all about your favorite bands/How they're super-indie-neo-hardcore/Tell me all about your favorite hobbies/And the way you love sunsets/Well who doesn't?" I softly sing Eleventyseven's song "Myspace" as I make my way over to baggage claim. Seeing that my luggage has yet to come, I lean against a pole and lose myself to the music.
When I open my eyes, I see that my luggage is coming around. All 3 large suitcases. Hmm…I should get one of those rolling carts that can carry luggage… I look around and see that there's one conveniently placed in the middle of the room. I run over and grab it. Little do I know, but behind me, a woman is frantically looking around for the cart that she just placed there. I hoist my suitcases onto the cart and push it toward the airport lobby, where I'm going to meet my mother, Lanette, and soon-to-be step-father, Jakob, who are here on a business trip.
"Here sweetie, let me help you." My mom says as I get to her. I look at her and see that her dark-red hair, the one that I inherited, doesn't have a lot of gray hairs in it. For being a CEO of a big company, she never seems so stressed.
"How do you do it, ma?" I randomly say. She and Jakob, her fiance, look at me strangely. "I mean, how do you handle all that stress from work?" I look at her, my curiosity getting to me.
"Well, I don't quite know, Charlie. I love what I do and I think it's a lot of fun, maybe that's how."
Jakob continues for my mom. "Actually, it's because Lanette and I often—" But he is interrupted by my gagging and my mom giggling.
"You are disgusting." I say and gag a bit more. "I did not need to know that." I say to Jakob. I turn back to my mother, "I wish I could handle pressure and stress as well as you. I am seriously freaking out about this whole thing." I say while getting into the taxi-cab that Jakob hailed down. We jump in and wait until the man stuffs all my suitcases in the trunk.
My mother turns to me and sighs. "I really wish you would have worn a dress, Charlotte. That pink one looked really nice on you. And why couldn't you straighten your hair before getting on the flight, instead of throwing it up in a disgusting ponytail? And couldn't you have put some makeup on?"
"My name's Charlie, you know that for a fact. I'm not a big fan of pink and I'd rather be comfortable than be fashionable. I'm sorry I can't be as fashionable as you." I say while looking out the window at all the buildings and the people around here.
"Charlie, we need to have a bit of a talk before we drop you off." I look over at my mother and Jakob, seeing on their faces that they are going to give me a lecture before we arrive at our destination. My mother continues when she has my attention. "We are very proud of you Charlie, and all that you've done over the past years. You got yourself here and you have such potential to do whatever you want to do. There are a few things we need you to do though. You must follow all the rules and bzzt bzzt bzzt psht bzzt" I tune out her lecture and think to myself about random stuff. Whoa, I'm going to Martens International Academy…Apparently it's a great school to go to. Plus, it's initials are MIA, which also stands for Missing In Action…Hahaha, that's hilarious. "bzzt bzzt psht psht bzzt" I nod my head in an understanding way, and continue with my own thoughts. I wonder who I'm going to room with. Will they like me? Will they be from another country? What will they look like? I wonder if there's a girls soccer team. I wonder if there's going to be hott guys... "bzzt psht. ... So, are we clear?"
I smile and nod my head. "Yeah of course. Thanks for this incredible opportunity ma! I'm so—"
"LOOK! We're here!" I am interrupted by Jakob who is pointing a finger towards the gate that has a line of cars driving through it. "Science-a. Divine-ita. Oprah. Ver-itas." Jakob says while attempting to read the inscription on the stone gate.
"Ski-ent-eea. Di-ween-ita. Oh-pera. Where-eetas." I say correcting his Latin pronunciation. "It means 'Knowledge. Inspiration. Effort. Truth.' Hey, this place is gorgeous!" I say cheerily, while bringing excitement into my gray eyes. I take out the information pamphlet that the school sent me and read it out loud. "It says, 'When you arrive at Martens International Academy, please go directly to the Administration Building and go to the admissions desk. There, you will receive your schedule for the upcoming term and you will be given your room key.'… You can just drop us off here, sir." I say to the cab driver. He nods and drives us to the curb just inside the school and proceeds to take the luggage out of the trunk.
He is stopped by my mother and Jakob, who take over his job. He turns to me and says in a thick New York accent, "If yooz need help in anything or need a ride anywherez, yooz knows who to call." He says and hands me a business card. I smile and thank him and he drives off, back to the city. Why was he so kind to me? I place the business card into my pocket and grab a suitcase.
"Come on Charlie!" I hear my mom yell from somewhere. I look around for them and see that they're all the way across the green and at the entrance to the Administration Building. I run over to them as fast as I could, which in reality, isn't that fast. I get over to them in a pant. "Get in there and get your info." She says while smacking my butt with a folder she was holding.
I stick my tongue at her and trudge over to the doorway. Sometimes she gets on my nerves, but she's really nice. We just get in arguments on my girliness, or lack-there-of. She thinks I should be preppy, but I want to wear what I want to wear, not what fashion magazines tell me to. She's not really there a lot though, what with her job and everything. In fact, the only reason I'm going to MIA is because she has to move to Munich, and I didn't want to leave the US. I'll miss her, even if I only saw mother-dearest every few weekends.
"Hi, welcome to Martens International Academy. Can I help you?" I look up to see that I am already at the admissions desk. The woman at the desk is in her mid-50's with brown hair that is streaked with blonde, caramel, and black highlites. She looks at me through thick black glasses.
"Umm, Hayes, Charlie. I'm a junior and it's my first year. A bit slow, I know…" I say, a bit embarrassed about the fact that I'm going to a boarding school so late. People are going to know each other and I'll just be an intruder on their relationships.
"Don't worry about it." She says and smiles kindly. "You will be residing in room B211 at Eleanor Hall. Here is your key, a map of the campus, a book of rules and guidelines, and your schedule. I look forward to seeing you 3rd block, Miss Hayes" She winks and I take it as a time to move along. What does she mean 'I look forward to seeing you 3rd block'? I look at my schedule and see that during 3rd block, I have Latin IV. She must be the one they call Dr. Collins. Uh, duh.
"To Eleanor Hall!" I say while jumping down the 5 stairs in front of mom and Jakob. I take my suitcase and hand the papers to him, keeping the key, map, and schedule to myself. I quickly drag my suitcase down the street, taking in my surroundings. I had a tour here last year but it was so long ago, I can't remember where I'm going. After getting lost, I look at the map of MIA and see that the door I am standing in front of is the entrance to Eleanor Hall. Behind me, Jakob and my mom arrive at the building.
"This is called a door, it's a device mankind uses to enter shelter." Jakob jokingly says while entering Eleanor Hall. He heads over to the hallways followed by Lanette. "What room are you in, Charlie?"
"Room 112B." I say while looking at the sheet of paper. "Sweet, I've got a good room! First floor!" We get to my door and I try to open it with my key. It doesn't turn and I start freaking out. What if they gave me the wrong key! OH NO!
"Can I…help you?" A girl says as she opens the door. Behind her, is another girl with dark blue hair in a pixie cut.
"Umm, are you my roommate? It says I'm in 112B." I say, knowing that I have a look of complete and utter confusion plastered all over my face.
She takes my key and reads the room number that is taped on the key, and starts to laugh hysterically. "This key says 'B211'." She says in between giggles.
"Oh. Man. I guess I'm on the second floor then, crap." I say while pulling a face. "I'm Charlie Hayes."
"I'm Xena Fink." She says and points behind her to the blue haired girl who is now making her bed. "That's Janelle Fink, she's my cousin."
"Cool name. Well, I have to go get unpacked. It was nice to meet you." I turn to walk to the stair case and remember something. "Hey, we're supposed to meet at the football stadium at 3:30 right? How do you get there?" I ask blushing. I should really know how to get around the school before classes begin.
"Janelle and I can take you if you want. Just meet us in the lounge here at, like, 3 and we'll go down together." She smiles a bright, toothy smile and waves goodbye. Her wavy blonde locks twirl around her as she goes back to unpacking.
"You made a friend already, I'm so happy for you sweetie." Jakob says while wiping imaginary tears from his eyes.
"Oh hardy har har, such a comedian." I say sarcastically. There is a moment of silence before I shout "Last one to my dorm is a rotten egg!" I start to run down the hall, dodging incoming parents, families, and students. Behind me, I hear Jakob and my mom running after me toward the staircase, to bad this place has no elevator or escalator. This is such crap.