My world was turning upside down. The United States has been suffering a recession and I just recently got a taste of it. I was layed-off from my teaching job. A job I have been trying to get for 2 years. I finished my masters in education at a young age thanks to taking college credits back in high school and I started to work as a full time teacher in September of last year. What a wonderful Christmas gift it was to be told by the principal that due to budget cuts they would have to let me go. I tried for a month to find work as a teacher but it was too late in the year for most schools to hire more teachers. I would have to wait til September of this year.
On top of that, I haven't been in a serious relationship since high school. It's not that I didn't look around in college, I did, but I had other priorities that seemed more important. I spend my nights now with my family. My parents have been arguing more and more lately. It was something about how my dad wants us to get more involved with his side of the family more...a family we haven't seen since I was 15 years old. I guess the shit was finally hitting the fan with that one.
I did find some form of relief however, through a series of books called the Twilight Saga. It was four books consisting of a family of vampires and in particular a male vampire named Edward who falls in love with a human girl named Bella. I fell in love with the series and read it twice in its entirety in a matter of mere weeks. When I didn't feel like reading, I watched the movie Twilight and swooned over the newly famous actor Robert Pattinson. Like a typical 20 year old, I immersed myself in the "twinews" and all that was Rob.
I was calling my friend Iaco for what seemed to be the 30th consecutive night in a row when she thought of a pretty good idea...
"Why don't you come by me for a while Steph." Iaco lived in London. We've been best friends since we were 11 years old. About 3 years ago, she landed a full scholarship at Smithtown University in London for psychology. So she left the US and bought an apartment in London with a roomate. Apparently her roomate is a struggling actor who is rarely around so she was sure he wouldn't mind if I stayed there for a while.
"How am I suppose to just drop everything and come to London." Not everyones' life can be like Eat Pray Love.
"Umm. no offense but...what is left to drop?" She had a point.
"I don't know, I'll think about it." It seemed like a fun experience and it wasn't like I had to pay rent or anything. It was just a big decision to make, I've never been away from my family before.
"Ok..but you know my door is always open" she said. And with that we hung up.
As I went down the stairs to the first floor of my house, I noticed my parents were yelling at each other again. I couldn't stand to be in the house when they fought, so I grabbed my keys and went to take a drive. Right then and there, I decided. I began to dial...
"Yeah??" Iaco answered.
"Ok I'm coming"
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I was almost finished packing for my "holiday" in London. My parents didn't mind me going, they both understood why I would want to get away for a while. I didn't know how long I would stay in London but Iaco said it didn't matter.It kind of sucked not knowing how long I would stay because I didn't know how much to pack. I ended up packing most of the wardrobe that I had. In my carry on I put my makeup, laptop, and my four Twilight books.
My father drove me to the airport for my flight to London. In the boarding area, I had about an idea before we were scheduled to be on the plane so I decided to give Iaco a call.
"Do you have your valium with you?" Iaco asked. She knew I hated flying, the less I was aware of my surroundings on a plane, the better off I was.
"Yeah, I'm going to take it as soon as I hang up with you. I was told to take it about an hour before flying. And I got Edward Cullen with me so I won't get too lonely either." I said that last part while tapping on my Twilight book. I planned on reading it for the third time.
There was a long pause on the phone on Iaco's side. After a while, all she said was, "Ed..ward...Cullen?"
Oh! She must've thought that he's a real guy who I'm bringing to London with me. "Oh no he's not real!" I laughed. "He's a character in these books I'm reading and he's in this movie Twi-..."
"I know who he is Steph." Iaco interupted. She sounded upset now.
"Oh ok...are you alright? You sound nervous." Did I say something wrong? Was she Team Jacob???
On the other end of the line, I heard Iaco take a long breath before she said, "I need to tell you something before you get on the plane."
