Chapter 1: We Have Arrived!
"We finally made it!" a voice shrieked causing me to nearly jump out of my seat. My eyes that had been glued to the window turned to the body next to me.
"Could you be any louder?" I whispered at the overexcited blonde.
"Come on San! We are here! After years of planning and then studying, we did it." She nearly cried as she tugged my arm. I couldn't help the smile that plastered itself onto my face. I had never thought that I'd ever leave the confines of New York, yet alone make it to another country. It took a year for me to get my grades up, but all of that hard work has finally paid off.
"Good morning passengers! On behalf of Virgin Atlantic, I would like to welcome you to London. We will be descending into Heathrow Airport shortly. We ask that all passengers take this time to gather your belonging, place your seats in the standard upright position and close all trays. Thank you for flying today with Virgin Atlantic." Echoed the voice of the pilot.
"Oh my god, we are really doing this. We are here!" I replied nervously. My stomach was officially in knots. "Quinn!" I practically yelled. We let out a loud laugh before placing our seatbelts on and fixing our seats. Around us the rest of the passengers were slowly gathering up belongings that had been strewn all over the place. Due to the emptiness of the flight, most passengers had moved around to different seats allowing themselves to become more comfortable for the red eye flight.
"I wonder how many of them are in the same program as us." Whispered Quinn. I looked around at all the faces. I could see a few young faces that looked to be around the same age as us.
"Hmm, maybe the guy over there." I laughed slightly. He had his hair styled into a Mohawk and seemed to be pretty tall. From the looks of him, he was possibly in his early twenties.
We remained giggling about everything until the plane finally landed. We gathered our carry-on bags and made our through the passageways, following the signs to the baggage claim.
"Look! I told you they called it the 'Toilet' here! Score one for Santana!" I said cockily as I snapped a picture of the yellow colored sign. Quinn just shook her head and continued down the long passageway.
After about 10 minutes of walking, we finally reached the final obstacle before the baggage claim; Immigration services. The line to have your passport checked was ridiculously long.
"Geez, did all the flights land around the same time for foreigners?" Quinn joked. I gave her a look and we proceeded to waiting in the line.
Surprising enough the line went quicker than expected and soon we found ourselves gathering our luggage. "Okay it's 7:00AM, the pick up is scheduled for 8:00AM. We should head over to the area." Quinn only nodded as her hands were currently preoccupied. "I told you to bring only one luggage Quinn." Wrapped around her shoulders were two purses, one was large enough to hold at least three pairs of clothing with matching shoes. To match, she had two suitcases, including a very large brown one that I'm surprised was even allowed as a checked-in bag. Her second bag was only slightly smaller. "I gots this San." said Quinn with confidence. To my surprise, she actually managed to get her bearings and somehow hauled them towards the meet up point with ease. Lucky for her there were elevators.
"So they said to meet in front of the main terminal exit right? I think this is the right place" I said looking around. I noticed that next to us was a large grouping of seats. "Let's put our stuff here and see if anyone else from our group shows up" After dumping out belongings onto some of the seats, Quinn and I took turns using the bathroom to freshen up. As I waited for Quinn's return, I took out my now useless Iphone. My parents decided against giving me an international plan as we had cheaper options like Imessage, Skype and Facetime. My only concern was that I needed minutes to add to my unlocked phone so I can find Quinn while in School. Hopefully the rates are cheap here. I opened my phone and opened a new game of FreeCell to keep myself occupied.
"Excuse me" said the most annoying voice ever. "I looked up to see a short brunette staring at me.
"Uh yes" I replied annoyed that she ruined my chances of beating my prior high score.
"Oh good, you're American. Are you part of the SUNT Cortland study abroad program?" Relief instantly flooded me and my anger faded away.
"Yes!" I practically shouted.
"Oh thank god. I thought for sure we had gone the wrong way" I stared at her confused that is, until a wave of blonde hair came into view. My focus immediately became clouded by the most bright blue eyes I'd ever seen. She smiled at me causing me to smile back.
"Wow did you really need this much luggage?" asked the annoying brunette completely freeing me from my daze.
Before I could respond another voice interrupted me.
"San! Look at you making friends!" said an overly happy Quinn. In her hands were two fresh cups of coffee.
"You are amazing", I said excitedly taking the coffee from her. "Sugar?"
"2 sugars and one creamer. Don't look so surprised, I've lived with you long enough to know how you take your coffee." she smirked. "Anyway, who's your new friends?" I looked back at both girls; the brunette nd blonde had already managed to put their stuff in the seat across from mine.
"Oh sorry this is..." I then realized I never asked for their names. I put my hand in my hair nervously. "Sorry, I never actually asked did I?" I said causing both girls to laugh.
"I'm Rachel Berry and this is my friend Brittany Pierce." Said the short brunette.
"It's great to meet you. I'm Quinn Fabray and my rude friend here is Santana Lopez." Replied Quinn. If my face could turn any redder, I'd be a tomato.
"Hey! I was a bit preoccupied." I said embarrassed, "Anyway, Rachel to answer your question, this luggage over here in my lap is mine. That pile over there belongs to Ms. Princess Quinn." Quinn scoffed while Rachel laughed.
"Rachel can't talk." Giggled a soft voice, " These bags are actually hers." Brittany pointed at the two overstuffed book bags on the floor in front of her.
"Brittany!" Shrieked Rachel, "We're in another country for an hour and you're already turning on me? Oh no, I'm going to have to find a new best friend aren't I?" said Rachel dramatically.
I looked at Brittany. "Is she a drama major?"
"Music actually. Drama is her minor"
"Ah" Quinn and I said in sync.
"Hey there!" yelled a loud voice. We all turned to see a dark skinned girl heading towards us. "Are you all from the Cortland Study Abroad program?"
"Yes" said Rachel enthusiastically.
"Great! I thought for sure I was going to get lost. I'm Mercedes" She said all in one breath.
"Hi Mercedes! I'm Rachel. This is Brittany, Quinn and Santana." As they talked, I looked around. I wonder who else is sitting around us from the same program?
"Thinking about anything interesting?" said a voice next to me. I looked over to see the curious eyes of Brittany. Quinn and Rachel had occupied the seats across from me with Mercedes and were in the middle of what seemed to be an interesting conversation.
"Not really. I was wondering who else is part of our group." I shrugged. She looked around as I had earlier.
"Hmm, maybe him?" She said. The same guy with the Mohawk on the plane sat at a nearby bench and was fiddling with his phone.
"He was on the same plane as Quinn and I!" I laughed. "Sorry, I have no idea why I am so excited about this." I admitted now embarrassed. "I blame jet lag" Brittany laughed at this and agreed.
"So where are you from?" asked Brittany. She moved closer as if anxiously waiting for my answer.
"Born and raised in New York City." I said proudly, "What about you?"
"I live in Poughkeepsie, NY." She replied, "Do you go to SUNY Cortland?"
"No. I go to SUNY Albany. This was the only program available for Quinn and I to both go to together. Our only other option for England was attending a school in New Castle." I replied all in one sentence. Her eyes remained on me causing me to start feeling less confident. Please tell me my hair isn't a complete mess. Oh my god, I must have something on my face.
"I go to SUNY Oneonta." Said Brittany, completely unaware of my thought process.
"Oh wow, that's really close to us! What, like an hour away?" I asked excitedly. Instantly my phone was in my hand as I tried to open Google Maps. "Oh shoot, no service" She laughed which caused me to join.
"What are you two giggling about over there?" interrupted Quinn.
"Look!" exclaimed Rachel before I could respond. A man was now standing towards the terminal doors with a sign that read, SUNY CORTLAND STUDY ABROAD.
We all scrambled to gather our belongings. Quinn and I shared a smile before following the group. Hopefully this trip will be everything I need to move on from my past.
Author's Note: Thank you for reading my first chapter. I plan to develop the characters more as the story progresses. Let me know what you think so far.