Starting out at a brand new school during your Junior year in college is stressful enough. But moving from a completely different country? Insane. Yet, this is the exact predicament Jake English finds himself in on October fifth. After being selected to partake in a foreign-exchange program with America and England, within a week he said goodbye to his friends and was shipped all the way into the town of Del Rio, Texas.
He never expected his grandma to actually be dandy with the idea of leaving her; she was in a nursing home by this time after all. However the minute he proposed the idea, a big smile crossed her face.
"Explore the world. Just like I wanted you to."
And so he did. He left a short time after, visiting his gran one last time before he had to catch his flight out. It was bittersweet, lots of tears. Happy ones nonetheless.
Jake sheds a tear as the airplane lands. "Passengers, please find your carry on. Welcome to Texas," a smooth voice overhead announces. Well, this was it, wasn't it? It was time to start anew. He heaves a short sigh before standing on wobbly legs, grabbing his carry-on from the upper compartment.
Those same uneasy legs carry Jake through security, to baggage claim, and finally to the cab that awaited him.
"Where to, dude?" The scruffy older cab driver asks. He was obviously a born and raised Texan; his accent was so thick, so foreign to Jake that he can hardly understand it.
"To 630 Mabel Drive, if you please," he says, his voice groggy. He realizes for an instant that he's hardly spoken to anyone in about sixteen solid hours. He makes it a point to call his gran as soon as he gets back to his hotel.
The drive was surprisingly short, and Jake pays the man (not without a bit of difficulty, of course. American money was a tad complicated). He's barely able to thank the driver before he speeds off, leaving Jake to gawk at the huge hotel before him. He gulps, and takes his first steps into the lobby.
The chaos of getting situated in the hotel was barely chaotic at all, which Jake was extremely thankful for. His bags were carried for him; something that didn't usually happen in the less extravagant hotels in England. The jet-lagged and starving brunette flops down on the stale sheets in his hotel room, orders room service, and then calls his grandmother. She answers within two rings of the telephone.
"Jake darling? Is this you?" Her frail voice murmured through the receiver.
"Hi gran it's Jake."
"Oh I see you made it!"
"That I did! It's only noon here can you believe it?"
"That's certainly something, Jakey. Now please be a good boy over there, okay?" Her voice wavered a bit. Jake knew that was a sign she was going to cry.
" I will, I promise. I'll be sure to send you a postcard."
"Please do, I've always wanted to go to America. And Jake, dear?"
"Yeah gran?"
"Be careful out in that big world," she says. A sniffle is heard from the other line.
"…I will. I'll make you proud, gran." It was Jake's turn to cry a bit now. "I love you. Make sure you have Reggie get the right medicine for you."
"Will do, Jakey. I love you too."
"Bye gran."
"Good evening, darling." Click.
Tomorrow is his first day at the University. The foreign-exchange workers didn't give him much time to adjust, did they? No matter. He would have been just as nervous if it were a week from now, anyway. The day goes by uneventfully before Jake finally lets himself sleep.
His alarm clock rings three times before he finally notices it. Shit, he thinks to himself, leaping out of the bed and quickly grabbing new clothes. He's out the door in less than ten minutes, with a bandaid across the right side of his jaw as the result of a shaving mishap.
The first cab he grabs gets him all the way to the University, good luck on his part. But a hefty bill is due to the driver… He really needs a car.
Okay, he thinks, first class is physics. Building E. He looks up. Building E could be seen on the far right.
As Jake is walking, his hands start to shake. He hadn't realized the caliber of the situation he was in until he stops right in front of the double doors to the class. He thinks of his gran, telling him to "explore the world".
Just like she wanted him to.
Here goes nothing.