Going Down Under
"Boarding flight 340, I repeat boarding flight 340" the voice boomed over the speakers.
I rolled my eyes, out of annoyance. Mostly because I still couldn't get over the fact that my parents were shipping me off to live with my aunt in a foreign country. I hadn't done anything wrong really they just thought it would be "enriching to my knowledge of the world" or so they say. But I knew what this was really about. It was because they thought my friends were a bad influence. One skipped curfew and bam! I'm off to Australia. I rolled my eyes again and headed towards the line.
"Next" the attendant said in a nonchalant voice.
I handed her my ticket and she peered at me suspiciously.
"Unaccompanied Minor?" she asked wary of my every move.
I nodded. She pointed down the end of the tarmac and told me to find my seat. I dragged my luggage all the way to aisle B. At least I had the window, I told myself. I plopped down and lay my head back. Australia, Australia, Australia. The word kept mocking me. I put my headphones on for a distraction and soon fell asleep.
"Good afternoon passengers. We have arrived at your designated destination. Please take all your baggage and carry-on's with you while leaving. Thank you and have a good day."
I took my luggage and started making my way out the plane. I rolled my suitcase all the way down to the pick-up lobby and looked for my aunt.
"Audrey!" a voice called out. I turned and saw my aunt Vivienne and her family waiting for me. I walked towards them and set my suitcase down.
My aunt's family consisted of three people; Her, Her husband Dave, and my sixteen-year-old cousin Matt. I've never really got to know my cousin since they lived halfway across the world, but I could definitely see some Hawthorne in him. We had the same dark curly hair and pale skin.
"Audrey how is your mother?" my aunt asked.
"Oh, she's fine, doing great, actually" I replied while we walked to their car. Dave, my uncle, was stuffing my luggage at the trunk of their BMW. When he shut the trunk, an echoing noise mimicked the sound and vibrated across the airport parking lot. It was dark inside because the lot was covered with concrete. We all got into the car. My aunt and uncle sat in front, while I sat in the back with my cousin. He took out his Ipod as I looked out the window. We were moving very slowly, but I didn't mind. Canberra was beautiful. It was a combination of country and city. While you passed along there would be a park right in the middle of the city. I've never seen anything like it. My aunt noticed me staring.
"You like it?" she asked.
I nodded not taking my eyes off the window.
"That's good. If you want to see more Matt and his friends can show you around. Right, Matt?"
My cousin looked from me to my aunt and said,"Blaine will attack her" then burst out laughing. Surprisingly, my aunt and uncle laughed along.
"Who's Blaine?" I asked.
"He's my friend and he acts like he's never seen a girl before. So just a word of advice, but never go somewhere alone with him" My cousin prompted.
"Thanks, i'll keep that in mind." I replied already distracted by the houses we were passing.
"We're here!" My aunt announced in a sing-song voice as my uncle pulled up the driveway. The house looked cozy with brick walls, a tall chimney, and an front porch with a swing. On the inside, it had three floors, five bedrooms, and four and a half bathrooms.
"You'll be sharing the third floor with your cousin" my uncle informed me while we climbed up the stairs.
He held the doorknob to a room on the right and opened it.
"This is your room" I took a peek inside. The walls were bare and in the middle of the room was a queen sized bed with my black and red sheets covering the top.
"We left the walls bare because we knew you might want to redecorate" my aunt said then added, "Well if you need anything Matt is right across the hall and we're just downstairs"